The ewe planted a meadow

nittany ram wrote:

That’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
5/27/2018

19 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 Future