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COMMON BLUE VIOLET — A GREAT CONTAINER PLANT FOR WILDLIFE AND BEAUTY

Mar20

       Container gardening for wildlife is gaining popularity across the Peach State.  It offers gardeners the opportunity to bring wildlife onto their decks and patios while at the same time enhancing the beauty of their home landscape.  One plant that does well in such settings is the Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia).

       This Georgia native grows throughout the state. This small beauty grows only 5-7 inches tall.  It produces stunning asymmetrical flowers from late winter into summer that range from dark blue, pink and white. In addition, its heart-shaped leaves remain attractive well after it ceases blooming.

Unfortunately, it is a little-known fact that the plant is a source of pollen and nectar for many pollinators.  In addition, it provides these insects with food in late winter and spring with it is scarce. The insect pollinators that visit the plant range in size from petite syrphid flies (they are especially fond to the violet’s pollen) to butterflies. 

       Violets also serve as host plants for both the Diana and variegated fritillaries. In fact, throughout its range at least 27 other species of moths and butterflies also use this violet as a host.

       After the flowers shrivel and die, several species of birds eat the violet’s seeds.

       I think that if you find a place for the common blue violet in your container garden, you will enjoy it beauty and be amazed at how much wildlife you will attract and enjoy just a few feet outside your backdoor.

       If you would like more information about the Container Gardening For Wildlife for initiative sponsored by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, The Garden Club of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network (TERN), contact Melissa Hayes at melissahayes@dnr.ga.gov

 

 

BLOGGER QUESTIONS USE OF BUTTERFLY BUSH

Mar3

      Recently I posted a blog advising that this is a good time to prune butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii). In response a The blogger’s posted a response that simply stated that since butterfly bush has the reputation of sometimes being invasive, gardeners should plant native plants as an alternative to this non-native. I am glad the blogger brought up this important issue.

       Butterfly bush is native to China.  It is one of the many ornamentals that have been brought to North America throughout our history.  Unfortunately, some of these plants have proven to be invasive and usurp habitats populated by native species and cause problems for native wildlife.

       In the case of butterfly bush, several states have placed it on their invasive species list.  However, to date, the Georgia Invasive Plant Council has not done so in the Peach State. This does not mean it is not a problem in some areas in the state. If it has, I am not aware of it.  My wife and I live in Middle Georgia and have planted butterfly bush for years.  To date, we have never found any evidence that butterfly bush has escaped confines of our yard.

    It is true that an exotic such as butterfly bush can occupy a spot where a native plant can grow.  In fact, many Georgia homeowners are converting their property to strictly natives.  I think this is a great idea.  Others, on the other hand, are just beginning to realize the value of native plants and are methodically adding more natives to their yard each year.  In the meantime, they can continue to enjoy the beauty of zinnias, glossy abelia, and non-natives that are not invasive.

       There are a number of native plants that you can crow instead of butterfly bush.  This list includes joe-pye-weed, goldenrod, blazing star, purple coneflower, buttonbush, and Georgia mint.

       If you harbor any concern that butterfly bush is an invasive in your part of the state, contact your County University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office.  They can advise you whether butterfly bush is a problem in your locale. If you find that it is, please let me know.

       I want to thank the blogger that brought up this issue.  Deciding what we plant on our property can have huge implications on our environment.  When it comes to invasive plants, we do not want to be part of the problem.

WHEN SHOULD BUTTERFLY BUSHES BE TRIMMED AND/OR REPLACED?

Feb25

       In Georgia, the best time to prune butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii) is either late winter or early spring.  At that time cut them back to a height of a foot or two above the ground.  This will help promote new growth and a bounty of blossoms later in the year. 

       The average life expectancy of a butterfly bush is 10-20 years.  Consequently, once older bushes begin producing fewer flowers, it is time to consider replacing them. 

BACKYARD SECRET – TRIFOLIATE ORANGE IS A BUTTERFLY HOST PLANT

Sep20

              The trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata) is a plant sometimes seen growing in brushy fencerows, and around older homes.  It has long green thorns and bears golf ball –size, fragrant fruit.  This plant is native to China.

       With that in mind, you might be surprised to learn that it is a giant swallowtail host plant.

ORNAMENTAL PLANTS SOMETIMES SERVE AS HOST PLANTS

Apr23

      Some of our butterflies will use both wild and ornamental plants as their hosts.  Here are the names of some of the species use both native and cultivated host plants:

                                                       Cabbage White – Nasturtium

              Gray Hairstreak – Hibiscus

      Painted Lady – Hollyhock

                Common Buckeye – Snapdragon

       If you grow any of these ornamental plants in your garden this year, examine them closely you may find that these beautiful plants are also serving as hosts to butterflies.

BACKYARD SECRET – THE BLACK WALNUT TREE IS VALUABLE TO WILDLIFE

Jan18

       I suspect that most of the folks that have a black walnut tree growing in their yards enjoy the tasty nuts the trees bears, its yellow fall foliage, and attractive shape. However, whenever I tell folks that their black walnut tree is also valuable to wildlife, they are pleasantly surprised.

       The tree serves as a host the banded hairstreak butterfly and more than 100 moths including the luna, royal and imperial.

       A number of small mammals eat the nuts including the eastern chipmunk and both gray and fox squirrels.  In fact, black walnuts can comprise up to 10 percent of the fox squirrel’s diet.

       Whenever black walnuts are cracked open by mammals, or crushed by vehicles in driveways or highways, many birds eat the highly nutritious meat.  In fact, black walnut meat is ranked as a choice food for the eastern towhee, cardinal, white-throated sparrow, brown-headed nuthatch, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, blue jay, and woodpeckers (hairy, red-bellied and downy).

GEORGIA MINT MAKES A MAGICAL CHANGE

Oct26

       I am sure you are familiar with the fairy tale that tells the story of how an ugly duckling magically turned into a beautiful swan. While my wife and I don’t have any swans swimming around the Johnson Homestead, each year we witness the similar transformation of a native plant known as Georgia mint from what many would call a nondescript weed into a beautiful wild flower.   Let me explain.

       If you visited our yard in early summer, you might wonder why we would find room for what some folks might think is an ugly weed to grow in our yard.  However if you returned anytime from late summer well into October you would discover the reason why we are so fond of it.

       At this time of the year, countless pale lavender-white flowers literally blanket our stand of Georgia mint.  Admittedly these blossoms are small, however, what they lack in size they more than make in delicate beauty.

       In our neck of the woods, the blooming period for Georgia mint extends for weeks.  In fact, the plants are still in full bloom as I write this blog.  In comparison, most of our most valued pollinator plants have either ceased blooming or will soon do so.  As a result, with each passing day bees (particularly small bumblebees), and butterflies are faced with an increasing shortage of flowers.  Fortunately, for them, in our yard, Georgia mint serves as a life preserver.

       Currently, our Georgia mint is in high demand.  Small bumblebees, cloudless sulphurs, sleepy oranges, a wide variety of skippers (e.g. ocolas, fierys, whirlabouts, cloudeds and duns), gulf fritillaries and buckeyes make daily trips to forage on the petite flowers.  Although In past years, monarchs have also joined the assemblage of pollinators, we have not seen any this year.

       Each year, when Georgia mint becomes the most visited pollinator plant in our yard, we are reminded that anyone that has the desire to help bees, butterflies and other pollinators should make the effort to provide a parade of plants that supplies these flying gems food throughout as much of the year as possible.  For us, Georgia mint is one of our most important late season nectar plants.

SWEETSHRUB IS A FRAGRANT ADDITION TO YOUR YARD

Jul31

     I am surprised that more Georgians are not familiar with the sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus).   Since it bears some of the most fragrant blossoms of any of our native woodland shrubs, you would think that most folks would want it growing in their yard.

     The sweetshrub’s blossoms are maroon in color and produce a pleasing aroma that my wife and I are convinced smells like apples. However, some describe the scent as smelling like spicy strawberries.  Others inhale the shrub’s pleasing aroma and say it reminds them of a mixture of pineapples and bananas.

     Regardless of how you interpret the pleasing odor, the vast majority of us love it.  In fact, some people think so highly of it they plant sweetshrubs near their outside doors.  This allows them to lean over and take a whiff of the flowers before heading out for the day.

     The sweetshrub is also a pollinator plant.  Although Sweetshrub blooms generate pollen used by native bees and butterflies, sap beetles are the plant’s main pollinator.  However, since sap beetles are small (1.4-inch) and nondescript we often overlook them.

 

     The way in which these beetles pollinate sweetshrub blossoms in a little strange.  The fragrant flowers draw the beetles with the scent they emit.  Once the beetles land on the blossoms, they crawl down inside the bloom and begin gathering pollen. Here is where this gets odd.  When the beetles are ready to leave, they have a difficult time exiting the flower. As such, they often remain there until the flower matures enough for its petals to fold back enough for them to depart.  Once they are on the wing, they fly off carrying granules of pollen.  When they land on another sweetshrub blossom, they inadvertently pollenate that flower.

     Sweetshrub is easy to grow from seed, transplants, and cuttings.  While there are cultivars on the market, I have never planted any of them. If you want to be sure you are planting sweetshrubs that produce beautiful maroon blooms, a pleasing apple scent, and pollen relished by pollinators; you cannot go wrong buying plants from reputable nurseries that deal in native plants.

MISTLETOE IS FAR MORE THAN A SYMBOL OF CHRISTMAS

Nov28

       With our preoccupation with attracting backyard wildlife with supplemental foods such as suet and seeds, it is easy to overlook the fact that those backyards that often attract the greatest variety of numbers of backyard wildlife are also home to a variety of native plants.  One of the most underappreciated plants that inhabit the yards of many of us is American mistletoe.

       Whenever the subject of the mistletoe arises, more often than not one thing comes to mind; most people regard the plant as one of the treasured symbols of Christmas.  Supposedly, if a couple passes through a door adorned with a sprig of mistletoe bearing berries, it is permissible for them to share a kiss.  At the end of the kiss, the couple is supposed to remove one of the berries.  However, it is out of place for a couple to steal a kiss beneath a berryless frond of mistletoe.

       Although this popular legend has been around for centuries, few realize that mistletoe is also an important food plant for many forms of wildlife ranging from insects to birds and mammals.  This very different side to the mistletoe should further endear the plant to everyone that shares an interest in wildlife.  Let me explain.

       This widespread parasitic plant is the host for the great purple hairstreak.  This beauty is the only Georgia butterfly that lays its eggs on the mistletoe. 

       Mistletoe also produces both pollen and nectar that feed countless insects.  Bees frequently avail themselves of the food offered by mistletoes.  Ants, native bees, honeybees, flies, also visit the plant’s tiny flowers.

       Mammals such as white-tailed deer, gray squirrels, and eastern chipmunks eat mistletoe.  Deer are particularly fond of the mistletoe’s protein-rich foliage.

       Many species of birds eat mistletoe’s white almost translucent berries.  Each berry contains two to three seeds that and enveloped in extremely sticky flesh.  Among the birds that gobble up mistletoe berries are cedar waxwings, eastern bluebirds, eastern meadowlarks, American robins, northern flickers, purple finches, blue jays, dark-eyed junco, white-breasted nuthatches, American goldfinches, and eastern towhees.

       Now that you know that mistletoe is a valued wildlife food plant, are you willing to say mistletoe is far more than a magical Christmas plant?  I am.

CAN WOOLLY BEAR CATERPILLARS PREDICT THE WEATHER?

Oct27

       This week I made an exciting find.  While walking from my office to the house, I just happened to look down and spotted a woolly bear caterpillar curled up in the gravel.  This was the first woolly bear I have seen this year.

       The woolly bear is the caterpillar of the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella).  Stiff bristles cloak the caterpillar’s body giving it a fuzzy appearance.  A rusty band extends across the midsection of the insect.  Black bristles cover the front and rear portions of the insect.

       When I spotted to fuzzy caterpillar, it brought back fond memories of my childhood.  Back then, it was commonly believed the width of the rusty band can be used to predict the weather.  According to popular folklore when the rusty band is wide, we are in for a mild winter.  Conversely, when it is narrow we will have to suffer through a severe winter.

       Entomologists tell us that the width of the rusty band is controlled by the age of the caterpillar and not the impending weather.  As the caterpillar ages it goes through a series of molts.  With each molt, the black bristles that comprise two black bands are progressively replaced with rusty bristles.  Consequently, the width of the rusty band is broadest when the caterpillar molts for the last time.

       From the looks of the caterpillar I found, if the woolly bear can actually predict the weather, the winter in my neck of the woods should not be too severe.

       If you find a woolly bear crawling across your lawn or driveway, make a note of the width of its rusty band.  Then next spring pull out the note and see if the woolly bear’s prediction was right or wrong.