Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Public House › The ewe planted a meadow
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July 24, 2020 at 6:53 pm #118385wvParticipant
The wv-ewe has planted a ‘native plant meadow’ behind her church in Cincy Ohio.
She sends me bug photos all the time. Bugs on Flowers.She began her Native Plant Journey because of this guy: Doug Tallamy. He’s the Noam Chomsky of the Plant-Native Movement.
I am trying to slowly introduce ‘Native’ plants into my yard. My yard is 95 percent Chinese.
I am finding out what every Native Plant Newbie discovers — Its one thing to learn which plants are Native to your area. Its quite another thing to actually FIND a nursery or greenhouse where you can actually buy said plants.
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===============July 25, 2020 at 4:09 pm #118411ZooeyModeratorHere…
Print this out, soak it in vinegar, and bake it in the oven for an hour.
July 25, 2020 at 7:10 pm #118419nittany ramModeratorI’ve been thinking about doing this as well. I’m mostly in the planning stage at this point.
I was mildly surprised to learn that Black-eyed Susan is native to Vermont. I always figured that was some domestic variety originally bred in a green house.
I’ve also started taking inventory of the native plant species on my property before I start planting.
So far I have Black-eyed Susan.
July 26, 2020 at 7:39 am #118431wvParticipantI’ve been thinking about doing this as well. I’m mostly in the planning stage at this point.
I was mildly surprised to learn that Black-eyed Susan is native to Vermont. I always figured that was some domestic variety originally bred in a green house.
I’ve also started taking inventory of the native plant species on my property before I start planting.
So far I have Black-eyed Susan.
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Well, as you probly know there are a gazillion kinds of ‘black eyed susans’ nowadays. Some might be considered ‘native’ and some not.
At any rate, I’ve planted a lot of them and hardly any bugs ever go on them. Tallamy does not rate them very high, apparently, fwiw.Which brings up the tricky frustrating subject that gnaws at the brains of Native-Plants-Folks — Are ‘Nativars’ just as useful as more ‘pure’ Native plants? (Nativar is taking two native plants and producing something new).
And is every cultivar, inferior to every native? Science sez no. But there’s not a lot of science on it.July 26, 2020 at 11:24 am #118444nittany ramModeratorThat’s a good video. I’ve found this is something you really can’t do without expert sources. As you would expect, just because you find something growing all over wild areas does not mean it’s native (see Japanese knotweed). I have multiflora rose bushes that I really like in my back yard that I assumed (more like hoped) were native because I find them when I’m hiking. *Wrong* – it was brought over here from China in the 1860s and state agencies encouraged its use to prevent soil erosion, and for wildlife cover up until about the 1960s so now you will find it everywhere. It’s now illegal to distribute or sell it in New England. I guess I should remove it. It doesn’t attract many pollinators from what I can tell, but the birds like the red fruit it produces in the fall.
Hosta would be a good example of a non-native cultivar that indigenous pollinators really like. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds really go for it.
I have this week off, so I may drive up to this place at some point… https://www.vermontwetlandplants.com/
July 26, 2020 at 2:08 pm #118457wvParticipantHere…
Print this out, soak it in vinegar, and bake it in the oven for an hour.
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Maybe you should just move to Portland.
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vJuly 26, 2020 at 2:24 pm #118458wvParticipantThat’s a good video. I’ve found this is something you really can’t do without expert sources. As you would expect, just because you find something growing all over wild areas does not mean it’s native (see Japanese knotweed). I have multiflora rose bushes that I really like in my back yard that I assumed (more like hoped) were native because I find them when I’m hiking. *Wrong* – it was brought over here from China in the 1860s and state agencies encouraged its use to prevent soil erosion, and for wildlife cover up until about the 1960s so now you will find it everywhere. It’s now illegal to distribute or sell it in New England. I guess I should remove it. It doesn’t attract many pollinators from what I can tell, but the birds like the red fruit it produces in the fall.
Hosta would be a good example of a non-native cultivar that indigenous pollinators really like. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds really go for it.
I have this week off, so I may drive up to this place at some point… https://www.vermontwetlandplants.com/
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Yeah, i have found it an interesting, complex issue. I’ve looked up everything in my yard and virtually 95 percent of the plants in my yard came from Asia.
I have slowly been reading about what might work in my yard. The Xerces Society is good source according to the ewe. I bought one of their books and it was quite lucid.
Based on what I’ve read, It might be argued that the single most life-affirming act any western-human could do, would be to plant and nurture an Oak Tree.
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Pollinator-Friendly Alternatives to Hosta & Daylily
5/27/201819 Comments
It’s cool if you love your hosta and daylily collection, however their value to pollinators is minimal even if they are easier than bindweed to grow (oh, bindweed, you scoundrel). Neither plant is a host for butterfly or moth larvae, so we won’t be making new pollinators, and the nectar is primarily accessible and suitable to long-tongued generalist adult insects only (think bumble bees).
What could we use instead that would help more pollinators and still be simple to grow? This is assuming you don’t care so much how the plant looks in comparison to a hosta or daylily (no apples to apples here), but simply how it acts and how easy it is to cultivate. So for hosta we’re looking at plants that thrive in dry shade, and for daylily plants that enjoy medium to dry sun. Plus, if you use all 5 suggested plants for each replacement, you’re getting a bigger bloom succession and helping far more adult pollinators.
You’ll find all of the below perennials featured more in depth in our plant profiles:https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/pollinator-friendly-alternatives-to-hosta-daylily
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“Ultimately, every garden is an ideology.”
― Benjamin Vogt, A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain FutureJuly 26, 2020 at 7:06 pm #118469wvParticipantIn all of my native-plant books, this flower is always listed somewhere in the top ten. Usually in the top three.
I plan on raising some next year.
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July 26, 2020 at 8:08 pm #118471znModeratorI have a ton of agastache (though round here the accepted pronounciation is “ahg-uss-STAH-kee”.)
I have 2 colors of it, a blue and a nice deep rose.
Hummingbirds and bees love monarda too, which I also have a ton of.
Here’s a patch showing some of my blue agastache from last year.
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July 26, 2020 at 10:05 pm #118472wvParticipantI’ve got some Monarda (bee balm) too, but mine doesnt last long. Maybe two weeks or so, and its done. The bees do love it though.
I’m trying to plan a garden that has plants that bloom early, and then some that bloom in the middle of summer and then some that bloom late. So the pollinators always have something to do.
I’m thinking of trying to raise some goldenrod for a late summer bloom.
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vJuly 26, 2020 at 11:01 pm #118478znModeratorI’ve got some Monarda (bee balm) too, but mine doesnt last long. Maybe two weeks or so, and its done. The bees do love it though.
I’m trying to plan a garden that has plants that bloom early, and then some that bloom in the middle of summer and then some that bloom late. So the pollinators always have something to do.
I’m thinking of trying to raise some goldenrod for a late summer bloom.
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vMonarda lasts longer here. 4-6 weeks. I love goldenrod but it, it comes in too late and so doesn’t quite work.
You tried to post a pic that failed. Link me to it and I will edit it into your post. I tried to follow it back to the original page, and on that page there are several monarda pics. I don’t know which one you wanted so if you link me and tell me which one, I can fix your post and post the image. (Unfortunately I took out the failed pic url, which maybe on 2nd thought wasn’t a good idea, but if you remember where you got it I can fix it.)
July 27, 2020 at 8:54 am #118491wvParticipantNo need for the picture. It was just a random bee balm.
You need a birch tree.
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