Goldenrod is blooming in the Cherry Creek pollinator habitat. This late summer and fall blooming perennial of the Compositae family, is native to North America, where there is well over 50 species. They have mostly wand like stems, variously shaped leaves and heads of small yellow flowers. Because they are such common plants in rural areas, some people may think of goldenrods as weedy and unsuitable for the flower garden. Most of these plants are striking in appearance.
These low maintenance, nearly pest free plants deserve a place in your pollinator habitat. This time of year you can find bees, bumblebees, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles and flies all visiting the flowers on this beautiful plant. Goldenrods make nice border plants or do well in a wildflower or prairie garden setting. Goldenrods do not cause hayfever. Their pollen is too heavy to be carried by the wind. Ragweed, which inconspicuously blooms at the same time, is the culprit.
Asters are hardy perennials that bloom late summer until the first hard frost. Many asters are native to Nebraska and a late-season source of pollen for migrating monarchs, other butterflies, moths, bumblebees, solitary bees, honey bees and soldier beetles.
Asters are easy to grow and look great in a mass planting. They can be planted with other native plants like purple coneflower, coreopsis, black-eyed Susan and native grasses.
The main plant disease is powdery mildew. It causes a whitish growth that appears on leaves. To reduce the chance of this disease, grow asters in full sun and space the plants, so they are not crowded.
Heath aster – Symphyotrichum ericoides, 2-3 feet tall with white flowers.
Fendler’s aster-Symphyotrichum fendleri, 6-16 inches tall, white flowers, low growing.
Calico aster- Symphyotrichum lateriflorum, 2-3 feet tall, small flower heads of white or pale purple flowers with reddish-rose centers.
‘Lady in Black’ white flowers with raspberry centers, purplish-black leaves, 3-4 feet tall.
New England aster – Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, 3-5 feet tall with pink, red-violet, purple or blue flowers.
‘Andenken an Alma Pötschke’ is a fast growing, upright, compact plant that grows 30-42 inches tall. It has masses of flowers, 2″ across, with rose pink petals which bloom for 6 weeks or longer in late summer.
Kickin’ series of bushy and compact asters, 2 ft. tall and wide, late summer to fall-blooming with semi-double flowers. Comes in seven different cultivars: ‘Carmine Red,’ ‘Lilac Blue,’ ‘Lavender,’ ‘Pink Chiffon,’ ‘Silver Pink,’ ‘Mauve,’ and ‘Purple.’
New York aster-Aster novi-belgii, 3-4 feet tall, purple, dark pink, white flowers.
We are seeing so many great native plants blooming in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat in June. Bee balm, purple poppy mallow, butterfly milkweed, common milkweed, prairie fleabane and common yarrow. It is important to have a diverse selection of plants for a pollinator habitat.
Right now prairie ragwort is blooming in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. It is a wonderful early blooming perennial that is native to Nebraska. It reaches one foot in height and has sunny yellow flowers.
We have been enjoying beautiful fall days this week in the pollinator habitat. Chris helped me unload another truck load of bark. Thank you Chris and I promise this is the last load for this year. Soni and I spread the bark and placed new pavers, donated by Jim. The pavers make it easier to walk through our dry stream bed that was added for erosion control and direct foot traffic through the habitat. I planted the seeds of native plants that we have collected this month. We also have planted several trees. Redbud, oak and spruce trees will benefit all wildlife when they mature.
MJ
View of habitat in the fall.
New paver walkway.
Praying mantis in container flowers looking for next meal.
Asters are blooming in the habitat. This is an amazing fall blooming plant. It attracts pollinators like butterflies, moths, bumblebees, solitary bees, honey bees and soldier beetles. Consider planting asters instead of garden mums in your landscape for fall color.
At 9 feet, this perennial sawtooth sunflower is standing tall in the Cherry Creek Habitat
My, my, my… how one of our perennial sunflowers has grown!
We have a sawtooth sunflower (Helianthus grosseserratus) in the Cherry Creek Habitat. When grown in tight colonies the sunflowers reach 3-5 feet tall. However, when you plant one by itself (described as a ‘lone wolf’) it can reach up to 12 ft tall. This afternoon, we went out and measured the sawtooth sunflower in the Cherry Creek habitat and it is 9 ft tall. It is glorious! Unfortunately, it is too tall for the space (and could be aggressive), so we’ll have to move it later. There are plenty of pollinators on the sunflower now and it certainly is a standout in the habitat.
Other habitat news:
Excited! Jim in our office is busy adding a camera out back so we can view the habitat on the web and share video. We should even have “night vision”.
We’ve also been doing some nitty gritty work with weeding and adding more rock to keep working on the erosion issues with the space.
The activity at the bee nesting structure has really slowed down, although I did see one leaf cutter bee busy at work. Bumble bees have certainly not slowed down their activity – they are still as busy as “bees”.
Today, we saw a lot of monarchs moving south on their migration while working in the habitat.
As we move into fall, it will be time to harvest seed and plant more plants.
Speaking of sunflowers, the Lemon Queen sunflowers may not look as pretty now that the flowers are gone, but they are providing food for birds. This afternoon, a female cardinal and three of her young were busy feeding on the seeds.
Last week I attended Managing Prairies with Pollinators in Mind workshop in Morris Minnesota at the University of Minnesota West Central Research Outreach & Extension Center. It was amazing to be in the company of so many people who are concerned about pollinators. I was able to share our story and pictures of our habitat, bee house and insect hotel.
The participants and speakers I met are making a real impact on pollinator education. We learned about pollinator legislation, pollinator life cycles, how to do a pollinator assessment, endangered species and insect research projects. Minnesota is leading the way on pollinator education and habitat establishment & protection. Currently it is unknown how many native bee species are in Minnesota. Researchers there are going to compile a list. This will be a huge task. I was impressed with the land managers who want to learn the best way to protect and promote pollinator populations.
At this workshop we all realized that now is the time to do all we can to promote pollinators and voice our concern about their decline. Policy makers are listening. Research and education are being funded. I have returned even more motivated to expand our habitat and educate others about pollinators.
Some resources you may enjoy as you plan for spring! Be sure to include pollinator-friendly practices and habitats in your landscape plan:
What you can do right now! Now’s the time to start planning your insect and native bee habitat and nesting structures. We have some photos on the blog to help give you some ideas. From the February 2013 NEBLINE Newsletter (free) Attracting Pollinators to Your Landscape (includes directions to make a native bee nesting block) and Biology of Native Bee Pollinators. Grab those scrap pieces of lumber and start drilling!
Need inspiration? Take a look at these photos from Benjamin Vogt. Vogt lives in Lincoln and has a 2,000 sq ft native prairie garden. It is absolutely beautiful. Here he documents his prairie garden through the year (with some other photos thrown in!) Enjoy The| Deep| Middle – Living and Writing in the Prairie Echo
Reading suggestions to help get you through this cold winter – from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum’s blog “Beneficial Landscapes: the plants, wildlife, soil and water for our gardens” http://beneficiallandscapes.blogspot.com/
Add a Rain barrel – Try Harvesting Rainwater: We have a rain barrel for the Cherry Creek Habitat. Of course, it isn’t big enough to catch all the water run off – but it has been handy when we want to water specific plants. Consider adding a rain barrel and try other rainwater harvesting techniques this year! To help – UNL Extension has a brand new NebGuide. It provides information on how to use, install and collect rainwater. Rain barrels can be purchased or made. This publication is on-line and you can access it free! http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=1612
Just announced! 2014 Artistic Rain Barrel Program: Prairie Theme! The Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center and the City of Lincoln Watershed Management Division are collaborating on a project to educate the community on the benefits of using rain barrels to reduce rainwater runoff and improve water quality. Local artists are invited to paint prairie themed designs on a rain barrel to celebrate the role prairies play in filtering stormwater runoff. The deadline to apply to participate is February 7, 2014. http://lincoln.ne.gov/city/pworks/watrshed/educate/barrel/artist/
Landscape Sustainability: Sustainable landscapes describes landscapes supporting environmental quality and conservation of natural resources. For many people, a sustainable landscape is hard to understand or visualize. Other terms such as xeriscape, native landscape, and environmentally friendly landscape have been used interchangeably to describe sustainable landscapes.A well-designed sustainable landscape reflects a high level of self-sufficiency. Once established, it should grow and mature virtually on its own — as if nature had planted it. This UNL Extension publication is available on-line free http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=203
Here’s to Sharing the Buzz!
Soni
UNL Extension provides research-based information to help you make informed decisions any time, any place, anywhere – http://lancaster.unl.edu
This month we planted wildflower seeds in our pollinator habitat. Many wildflower seeds need a cold treatment called stratification. In nature this happens when seeds drop from the plant in the fall, overwinter in the ground and then germinate in the spring. Seeds we planted include:
The Buzz at Cherry Creek 