Reflecting on 2023

This was a dry year in southeast Nebraska. Watering plants and keeping the water features full was a priority this year in the Cherry Creek Habitat.

Looking at the data, we are on target to have more moisture that 2022. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Weather and Climate keeps monthly and annual precipitation totals (in inches) since 1887.

https://lincolnweather.unl.edu/data/monthly-precipitation.asp

Insect observations seem down this year. Saw very few Monarch butterflies and caterpillars. I observed this year:

leaf cutter bees (Megachile species)

bumble bees (Bombus species)

black swallowtail butterflies (Papilio polyxenes asterius)

painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui)

Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis)

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Plants that bloomed and did well in the Cherry Creek Habitat this year include:

common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum)

partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)

sawtooth sunflower (Helianthus grosseserratus)

hoary vervain (Verbena stricta)

wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa

tall thistle (Cirsium altissimum)

rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium)

chicory (Cichorium intybus)

brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

pitcher’s sage (Salvia azurea)

Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum)

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I am looking forward to a peaceful, restful winter and anticipating the first blooms of next year. What will 2024 bring?

Best holiday wishes, Mary Jane Frogge

Pollinator Week, June 19-25, 2023

Pollinator Week is an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. The week of June 19-25 will spotlight a unique opportunity to learn about some fascinating and important animals, the pollinators.

Tiger swallowtail on Monarda

Often overlooked or misunderstood, pollinators are in fact responsible for 1 out of every 3 bites of food that we eat. Beginning in 2006, pollinators started to decline rapidly in numbers. Participating in Pollinator Week can help save these important animals.

MJ Frogge

What you can do to help pollinators:

• Educated yourself on pollinators that live in your area.

https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/about-pollinators

• Avoid pesticides in your home landscape.
• Plant a pollinator garden using native plants.

https://xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/pollinator-friendly-plant-lists

• Consider certifying your pollinator habitat.

https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/douglas-sarpy/nebraska-pollinator-habitat-certification/

• Provide nesting sites, like bee houses or insect hotels, for pollinators.
• https://xerces.org/publications/fact-sheets/nesting-overwintering-habitat

• Provide a water source such as a bird bath, small pond or water feature.
• Go to the Pollinator Partnership web site to learn more about pollinators. http://pollinator.org/
• Share the information you learn with others.
• Establish green corridorsby working with your neighbors to include several backyards in a pollinator habitat plan.
• Attend a pollinator event.

Pollinator Week

Praying Mantis

We have praying mantis in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. There are two kinds of mantis in Nebraska, the Chinese mantis and the Carolina mantis. The larger, Chinese mantis, have a body length of 3 to 4.25 inches. I mainly see the Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis). They are quite numerous and I often disrupt them when I walk through or water plants in the habitat. They are predators and do eat beneficial insects as well as insect pests. They are fun to watch and it can be challenging to get good photos of them.

MJ Frogge

Baby mantis from earlier this summer

Adult Chinese mantis

Leaf Cutter Bees

In May, I replace a row of nesting blocks in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat solitary bee house. I checked the blocks the end of July to look for nesting activity. The leaf cutter bees have been very active! Leafcutter bees will snip discs of leaf material, about a quarter inch, from ash trees or roses. They take the leaf discs and fold them to construct small tube shaped nests inside pieces of wood or holes in trees. Inside of each cell an egg is placed with some pollen.

To make a solitary bee house, read this NebGuide ‘Creating a Solitary Bee House’: https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2256.pdf

To learn more about leaf cutter bees, visit this site: https://byf.unl.edu/topics/leaf-cutter-bees

MJ Frogge

Teaching Youth About Pollinators

Happy Pollinator Week! This week our office is hosting 4-H Clover College. Twelve youth signed up for my session called Pollinator Party. We discussed what crops need pollinators. They looked at the list and circled foods they eat. I then asked them to highlighted a favorite food. I asked how they would feel if they could never have that food again. The shocked look on their faces was clear. They are starting to understand the importance of pollinators.

It was a beautiful day to be out in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. They notice the native flowers that were blooming. Many were fascinated by the solitary bee house and watching the leaf cutter bees fill the holes that were drilled in the wood blocks. They planted dill and zinnia seeds to benefit caterpillars and butterflies.

After exploring the habitat, each youth made a solitary bee tube house to take home and place in their landscape. It was a fun morning and by the end of the session, the kids had a better understanding of our native pollinators and how their habitat is important to protect. 

MJ Frogge

Pollinator Week 2018!

Happy National Pollinator Week!  There are many ways to celebrate pollinator week:

1. Plant Native Plants. Native plants provides native pollinators with food in the form of pollen and nectar. Select plants that have a long bloom time. Also grow a wide selection of plants so you have plants blooming April through October.
2. Let your yard get a little messy. Leave unhazardous snags for nesting places and stack tree limbs to create a brush pile, which is a great source of cover for pollinators. Build an insect hotel or bee house in your landscape.
3. Create or protect water sources. Bees need water to drink. Create a water feature with rocks for insects to land. Be sure to keep birdbaths clean and change the water three times per week when mosquitoes are breeding.
4. Limit or eliminate pesticide use. By using fewer or no chemicals in the landscape you will help keep pollinator populations healthy.
5. Identify non-native invasive plants. Work to remove them from your yard. Do not bring any new invasive plants into your habitat. Invasive plants do not provide as much quality food or habitat as native plants do and can threaten healthy ecosystems.

If you live in or near Lincoln, attend this event:

 “Pollinators on the Plaza”  

Wednesday, June 20, 2018   4-6 pm

Union Plaza, 21st & P Streets, Lincoln Nebraska

Public educational fair for all ages including:

• Pollinator planting/garden tours
• Information/educational booths with handouts and/or hands on activities
• Food vendors using pollinator based products (honey, etc)
• Pollinator bee displays, honey bee observation hive, monarch display, native bees
• Pollinator Yoga
• And more….

MJ Frogge

Monarchs!

Monarch butterflies and caterpillars have been spotted in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. Our habitat has over 300 stems of common, butterfly, swamp and whorled milkweed for monarchs and other beneficial insects. Please consider planting more milkweed and other native plants in your landscape to benefit pollinators.

MJ Frogge

Fields of White & Gold — GRO Big Red

“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” A.A. Milne Who doesn’t love dandelions? They are the most well recognized flower anywhere you go. 473 more words

“…Early spring pollinators need a balanced diet much like people. Too much sugar and not enough protein will not provide the queens with essential elements for healthy progeny. White clover does produce nectar but not in the same quantity as dandelions. However, unlike dandelions, the protein content of white clover pollen is high and contains all the essential nutrients needed for pollinator health…”

“…Dandelions and white clover together make for a happy and healthy diet options for pollinators. However, they do not make for a happy homeowner. The last 50 years we have become obsessed with a thick, lush, weed-free lawn. We spray, pull, and weed-out anything that is not turf grass from the lawn. This leaves very little options for our insect friends….”

Learn more. Read Fields of White & Gold — GRO Big Red from our Nebraska Extension in Douglas-Sarpy colleagues.

Here’s to sharing the Buzz!

Soni

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Resolutions to Help Pollinators

Happy New Year!

Here are a few ways you can help pollinators this year. This is a resolution that will be fun and easy to keep.

Honey bee visiting a birdbath.

Butterfly milkweed

Four sizes of bee houses. Pick one that works best in your habitat.

Offer a Drink & a Home
Bees need water to drink. Create a water feature with rocks for insects to land. Be sure to keep birdbaths clean and change the water three times per week when mosquitoes are breeding. Build a bee house or insect hotel to provide nesting and shelter for pollinators.
Plant Native
Plant native plants in your landscape. There are so many amazing plants to choose from. Here are a few suggestions to get you started: plains coreopsis, pasque flower, pitcher sage, purple coneflower, smooth aster and rough gayfeather. Do not for get trees and shrubs!
Bloom all Season
It is important to have native flowers blooming the whole growing season. Pollinators need plants blooming March through November.
Plant Milkweed
Monarchs need our help. Provide food for monarch butterfly caterpillars. There are several milkweeds to choose from: butterfly milkweed, common milkweed, whorled milkweed and swamp milkweed.
No Chemicals
Protect pollinators by eliminating pesticides from your landscape. Plant native plants that have few pest or disease issues. Maintain a healthy soil by composting. Healthy soils produce healthy plants.
“Bee” Involved
Learn more about organizations that support pollinators such as Pollinator Partnership. You can participate in citizen scientist programs for pollinators such as Bumble Boosters-University of Nebraska, Bumble Bee Watch-Xerces Society, The Great Sunflower Project-San Francisco State University and the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project-Monarch Watch.

MJ Frogge

Frosty Day in the Habitat

Winter is here at the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. The insect hotel we built in 2013 is still holding up well. It is filled with pine cones, logs, twigs, bark, rolled corrugated cardboard and egg cartons. These items are nice hiding places for insects.  Beneficial insects like lady bugs and lacewing over winter as adults, so they need a place to spend winter months. Consider constructing one in your pollinator habitat next year.

MJ Frogge