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THE VALUE OF LEAVING DRY CONEFLOWER SEED HEADS
With each passing day, the beautiful coneflower blossoms that adorned our gardens throughout the summer wither and die. When this occurs all that remains are prickly brown seed heads. When this happens often your first impulse is to prune cut them off. If you want to help many of the seed-eating birds that have called your yard home throughout the spring and summer, resist the urge to snip them off.
The reason for this is each seed head contains 200-300 nutritious seeds. Since the seed heads persist into winter, they provide seeding-eating birds with a source of food when food is scarce. Indeed these natural seed feeders are an asset to any backyard.
American goldfinches are particularly fond of the seeds; however, other birds dine on the nutritious seeds too. The list of the birds that compete with goldfinches for this bounty include blue jays, mockingbirds, Carolina chickadees brown-headed nuthatches and cardinals.
BACKYARD SECRET – BUTTERFLIES HAVE AN ODD WAY OF TASTING THEIR FOOD
We taste food by placing it in our mouths; such is not the case with butterflies. Unbelievably, butterflies taste food with their feet. It seems that when a butterfly lands on a flower, before it unrolls its straw-like proboscis and begins dining on the flower’s nectar, they taste the potential source of food through their feet. They are able to accomplish this amazing fete because their feet are cloaked with cells (chemoreceptors) that let a butterfly know whether the flower contains sugary nectar.
BACKYARD SECRET – HOW MUCH NECTAR DOES AN ADULT E. TIGER SWALLOW EAT IN A DAY?
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is one of the largest butterflies commonly seen in Georgia yards. In spite of its relatively large size (wingspan -3.5 – 5.5 inches), this colorful butterfly consumes only 0.0014 – 0.0105 ounces of nectar daily. To put this in perspective, a standard-sized paperclip weighs only 0.04 ounces.
BACKYARD SECRET – SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPERS SHUN YELLOW FLOWERS
Sometimes a wildlife secret hides in plain sight. A good example of that is, in spite of the fact that the silver-spotted skipper visits gardens across Georgia; it is not generally known that this handsome butterfly shuns yellow flowers. While the silver-spotted skipper occasionally nectars at yellow flowers, it by far prefers feeding at purple, red, blue and pink blossoms.
If you want to see if this is true, closely watch which flowers silver-spotted skippers visit in your flower gardens this summer.
SPURRED BUTTERFLY PEA – AN ATTRACTIVE WILDLIFE FOOD SOURCE
Whenever I discover a new native plant or animal in my yard it is a great day. My latest discovery took place this morning when I stumbled across a new native plant growing on my property within minutes of the time I set foot outside. As I began my daily walk around my yard, I spotted a handful of attractive lavender blossoms blooming inches above the ground. As it turned out, I had found a couple of native perennial vines that had just begun flowering. This plant is the spurred butterfly pea (Centrosema virginianum).
Spurred butterfly pea vines attain a length only seven feet or so. A single plant will only spread over an area measuring one to three feet in diameter. My two plants cover far less of the dry, clay hillside where they are rooted.
Although the plant is much smaller than many wildlife food plants, it provides food for a wide range of wildlife. Two species of butterflies (northern cloudywing and long-tailed skipper) use it as a host plant. Its foliage is consumed by white-tailed deer and other herbivores. Even gopher tortoises will devour the plant’s leaves. The butterfly pea’s seeds are eaten by songbirds, and quail. While such uses are important, is perhaps more valuable as a food source for many native bees and other pollinators.
Since this fascinating native plant is a source of wildlife food and is also attractive, you should consider adding it to the list of the native plants growing in your yard.
THE HACKBERRY GALLS – PROVIDES IMPORTANT WILDLIFE FOOD
Most of us recognize that the hackberry is a fantastic wildlife food plant. It is a caterpillar host for a variety of butterflies including the hackberry emperor, tawny emperor, snout, mourning cloak, question mark and comma. The tree’s berries are eaten by at least 48 species of birds and other wildlife. The importance of the hackberry’s berries is compounded by the fact they remain on the tree throughout the fall, winter into the next spring. And yet the tree’s value does not end there. It is a little-known fact that the galls that appear on the tree’s foliage are also fantastic sources of food.
Although the galls are not pleasing to the eye, they do not cause any real harm to the tree. These odd unsightly growths are made by insects known as the blackberry psyllids. Hidden inside the galls are tiny grubs packed full of protein.
Many birds peck into the galls and dine on these tiny morsels of food hidden there throughout the year. The tiny insects housed in galls from late summer into early fall are a great source of food for southbound songbirds.
During rhea winter insect-eating birds also dine on the insects living inside the galls. In spring, when the adult psyllids emerge, they are an important source of protein and fat for breeding songbirds and migrants heading north through the state.
Wow! It is astounding that galls that we commonly overlook are so important to so many.
BACKYARD SECRET – WHAT ARE THE TOP POLLINATORS OF BACKYARD FLOWERS IN GEORGIA?
There are many animals that pollinate flowers in our backyards. The list of the most important critters that perform this critical task, includes European honeybees, native solitary bees, ruby-throated hummingbirds, bumblebees, butterflies and moths.
You might be surprised to learn the most important pollinators are our native bees. It seems there are 500+ species of these valuable insects in Georgia. Some 90% are solitary bees.
CONFLOWERS – A GREAT ADDITION TO YOUR GARDEN
One of our favorite garden plants is a native called purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).
This native perennial is a magnet for butterflies, bumblebees and other pollinators. In addition, its seeds devoured by a number of birds such as sparrows, eastern towhees, nuthatches, Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, and northern cardinals.
One of things I like best about the plant is that it blooms from May until September.
While it will make a great addition to most Georgia flower gardens, when you purchase purple coneflower plants you need to know if you are buying true native coneflowers or one the many cultivars on the market. These plants bear fanciful names such as Secret Affair, Avalanche, Coconut Lime, cotton candy, Fatal Attraction, Lilliput, Meringue, and milkshake.
While these variety might be of value to wildlife, far too often cultivars are showy but lack the ability to produce nectar, pollen and seeds. I can attest to the value of native purple coneflower, however, I know nothing about any of the cultivars sold in nurseries across the state.
If you have found any of the cultivars of value to wildlife, please let me know.
BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PLANT TRUMPET CREEPER
One of my favorite native vines is the trumpet creeper. The problem is experience has taught me you have got to be careful where you plant it.
Trumpet creeper is a great wildlife plant. Its thick foliage provides nesting and escape cover for birds and other wildlife. In addition, the vine’s large showy blossoms are a great source of food for a variety of pollinators ranging from bumble bees, moths, and butterflies to orchard orioles and ruby-throated hummingbirds. It sounds like this is a plant that all wildlife gardeners would like to see growing in their yards; unfortunately, this is not the case.
The problem is that the trumpet creeper aggressively spreads for the spot where it is planted. In fact, it is not uncommon for trumpet creeper to spread 35 feet or more. Consequently, I would recommend that you never plant trumpet creeper close to your home, barn or other structures. If trumpet creeper reaches a building, it will quickly attach itself and potentially cause damage to the structure. It matters not whether the exterior is covered with brick, wood or siding, trumpet creeper will attach itself to the material.
That being said, it does well growing along fences, arbors, and the like. I have even seen it grown beside poles to create a trumpet creeper tree.