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AFTER FREEZE NECTAR SOURCES
This week much of Georgia suffered through the first freezing temperatures of the season. At our home in Monroe County, the temperature fell to 27º. Realizing that spelled trouble for many pollinators my wife and I brought in two plants (scarlet sage and pineapple sage) that have been hosting cloudless sulphurs for the past few weeks.
When the weather returned to normal, we put them back on our deck. In a matter of minutes, they were once again being visited by cloudless sulphurs, syrphid, and hover flies. While our efforts did not benefit many pollinators, they did provide a few with much-needed food. In addition, we extended the time we can enjoy watching pollinators at work in our yard.
Based on our success I decided to visit our local nursery (Mossy Creek) to see if any of their plants had survived the cold and were hosting pollinators.
I no sooner got out the door of my vehicle when one of the nursery’s staff called me over to look at a stunningly beautiful butterfly. The butterfly turned out to be a zebra longwing; it was the first I have seen this year. The whole time that I was there, the butterfly fed at lavender pincushion blossoms.
While I watched, an American lady joined it. Nearby, an Ocola and fiery skippers, and a couple of American ladies visited marigolds. All of these plants had survived the severely cold weather.
Later, our daughter told us that a hover fly was feeding on a late four-o’clock bloom beside her house. She also saw several pollinators visiting coneflowers at a nursery in Columbia County.
Admittedly, the weather was not kind to our gardens this year consequently; we did not have many sources of nectar available deep into the fall. However, we pledge to do better next year.
If you want to help late pollinators in your yard, the first thing you need to do is find out which pollinator plants can survive cold weather in your neighborhood. One great place to learn find this information is your local nursery. There is no better time do so than after our recent freeze. Armed with this knowledge you will be better able to address the food needs of the pollinators living close by.
When I returned home, I was carrying four pots containing cold-hardy plants that we are going to add to our yard.
BACKYARD SECRET – WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO SEE MONARCHS IN GEORGIA DURING THEIR FALL MIGRATION?
The best time to catch a glimpse of fall migrating monarch butterflies is during the months of September and October. Records, however, suggest the greatest number of these butterflies pass through the state in mid-October.
With that in mind, if you want to see these large orange and black butterflies, spend some time outside during the next few days.
Good luck!
LATE BONESET – AN IMPORTANT POLLINATOR PLANT
Once September arrives, pollinator plants become increasingly more difficult to find. However, a native plant that helps fill that void is an herbaceous perennial known as late boneset (Eupatorium serotinium).
Late boneset provides nectar to a wide range of pollinators such as native bees, moths, and butterflies.
In addition, it is the host plant for the clymene and other species of moths. The dorsal side of this moth is most distinctive. Its wings are creamy and marked with bold black markings that resemble a cross. To me, the markings look much like the symbols seen on the shield of an English knight.
While I often see boneset blooming in old fields and along country roads, I rarely encounter it in backyards. Interestingly, my daughter recently found one blooming in her suburban backyard. She finds this volunteer so fascinating; she plans to let it continue to prosper.
Since the plant is easy to grow and is deer resistant, it is a valuable addition to the backyard of anybody interested in promoting native pollinators.
MY FAVORITE BUTTERFLY BUSH
Over the years, my wife and I have planted a number of butterfly bushes. The flowers produced by these plants varied from yellow, to lavender and dark purple. While they all attracted butterflies, bees, and other pollinators, the one that is most often visited by these amazing insects is a dark purple variety named Black Knight.
As long as I regularly prune the spent blossoms, it produces flowers from late spring into fall. In late August, it is often difficult for pollinators to find food. Since Black Knight is still profusely blooming every time we visit these butterfly bushes, I see several eastern tiger swallowtails, skippers, buckeyes and other attractive butterflies.
While Black Knight does well in our yard, it may not do as well in your yard. If you do try it, I would like to know how it does. In addition, if you have a variety that attracts lots of pollinators in your yard, I would like to know about it.
THE BLACK-EYED SUSAN – A BEAUTIFUL HOST PLANT
If you are searching for a native plant that has stunning blossoms, provides food for pollinators, and is a butterfly host plant, look at the black-eyed Susan.
I doubt there is a Georgia gardener that cannot identify the black-eyed Susan. It provides beauty to the countryside and backyard gardens alike. It also does well in containers; my wife has raised black-eyed Susans in large containers on our deck for the last couple of years. While we enjoy the beauty the plants provide just outside our backdoor, we also like the fact its blooms are favorite dining spots for many pollinators. While we occasionally see butterflies such as pearl crescents on the blooms, small bees seem to visit the blossoms more often than any other insects.
On top of all of these virtues, this tall native plant also serves as a host plant for the silvery checkerspot butterfly.
If you do not have the black-eyed Susan growing in your gardens, give this one a try.
BACKYARD SECRET – STAGERING SOWING ZINNIA SEEDS PROVIDES BUTTERFLIES WITH NECTAR UNTIL FROST
Zinnias have long been a favorite of Georgia gardeners. They not only adorn our flower gardens with a wide variety of blossoms, they provide food for a wide range of butterflies and other pollinators. However, since we typically sow zinnias seeds only in the spring, zinnia blooms are scarce in autumn… This is unfortunate as pollinators often find food hard to find late into the fall. Here are a couple of ways you can alleviate this situation.
One way that you can prolong the zinnia’s blooming period is by deadhead plants. This will stimulate the plants to produce more blossoms. The downside of this practice is you eliminate a food source for songbirds.
Another way that you can enhance the availability of zinnia blossoms until frost is stagger the times you sow seeds. By sowing seeds every few weeks well into the summer, when some zinnias fade away, they are replaced by plants just coming into bloom.
This simple practice will enhance the available of nectar and pollen well into autumn a when food is often scarce and add color to your gardens.
BLACK-EYED SUSAN – A NATIVE PLANT OF VALUE TO WILDLIFE THAT CAN BE GROWN IN CONTAINERS
If you are looking for a native plant that can be grown in containers, is both beautiful, hardy, and benefits wildlife too, the Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp.) just might fit the bill.
My wife and I have grown Black-eyed Susans in containers on our deck for several years. The tall plants produce a profusion of gorgeous long-lasting blooms. While the blossoms are visited by pollinators, I would not call it a butterfly magnet. This is because, at best, butterflies only sparingly nectar at the large blossoms. The pollinators I see most often on our plants in search of nectar and pollen are small, solitary bees.
In addition, the Black-eyed Susan is a host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly. Well after the plant’s blossoms have withered and died, a number of songbirds eat plant’s seeds.
The fact the plant is deer resistant make a favorite among gardeners plagued by hungry deer.
THE COMMON BLUE VIOLET – A GREAT CONTAINER PLANT
If you are looking for a native plant that does well in containers, consider the common blue violet Viola sororia).
This Georgia native grows throughout the state; it has attractive heart-shaped leaves and gorgeous blooms. Typically, the plant’s flowers are blue-violet; however, they are sometimes pink, purple, white and yellow.
One of the neat things about this violet is it is also a super wildlife plant. It is a host plant for 29 species of moths and butterflies including the giant leopard moth and variegated fritillary butterfly.
It also produces nectar used by sweat and mason bees, and even ruby-throated hummingbirds.
The common blue violet’s seeds are eaten by juncos and sparrows.
In my neck of the woods (middle Georgia), it blooms from as early as February into August.
To top it all off, even gardeners that do not have a green thumb can grow this plant.
If you try it, I am sure you will like it.
BEEBALM IS A HUMMINGBIRD, BEE AND BUTTERFLY MAGNET
Beebalm (Monardo didyma) is also known as Oswego tea or monarda), is a plant that anyone trying to attract hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators need to plant in their backyard. This perennial native is easy grow and produces flowers from June into September. It grows to a height of one to five feet. Beebalm grows best in moist to dry soil types. It will grow in partial shade to full sun.
