What is Blooming in the Habitat-September

Asters are one of my favorite flowers. Smooth aster, Aster laevis, is blooming now in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. This native aster produces an abundance of lavender-blue flowers through late autumn.

Smooth Aster is upright with arching branches and reaches 3 feet tall. It easily grows in dry to medium, well-drained soil in full sun.  Asters are a must for your perennial garden. All bees, bumble bees and butterflies flock to asters.  They are an excellent stopover plant for migrating Monarchs.

MJ

What is Blooming in the Habitat

Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta) is one of my favorite native wildflowers.

Hoary vervain, a native wildflower.

It is blooming in the habitat now.  The plant has beautiful purple-blue flowers and blooms for at least 6 weeks.  It gets 2 feet tall and prefers drier soil conditions.  I always see bumblebees visiting the flowers, as well as butterflies and solitary bees.

MJ

What is blooming in the habitat

Prairie ragwort is a native plant that blooms May through June. This wildflower is a biennial or short-lived perennial that is approximately one foot tall.  It attracts many pollinators like bees, flies, moths and butterflies.

MJ

Prairie ragwort blooming now in the Cherry Creek Habitat.

Teaching Youth about Pollinators

Yesterday Soni and I were presenters at the Outdoor Discovery Program held at Platte River State Park.  The weather was perfect, sunny, with a slight breeze. We taught 4th graders about pollinators and what they need for a habitat. We discussed one out of every three bites of food we eat is there because of pollinators. We asked the youth if they could make a list of pollinators and they easily mentioned bees, butterflies, bats and hummingbirds. The kids were surprised to learn that flies and beetles could be pollinators too. We talked about native solitary bees and showed them bee houses.The youth were able to view pollinators in action since it was a beautiful spring day and there were blooming wild plums near our site.  The kids were provided journals so they could record their observations. Thank you Nebraska Game and Parks for providing youth this wonderful educational opportunity.

M J

Waiting for kids to arrive.

Butterfly Byway in Nebraska!

Butterfly Byway poster by Great Plains Ecotourism Coalition.

I received an early Christmas present from my husband.  I framed this fabulous poster and hung it in my office.  I love that our state is promoting the great assets we have here in Nebraska. Assets that have always been here and will continue to be here if we are good stewards. There are 12 posters in the collection.  Go to Visit The Prairie at http://visittheprairie.com/ to see the collection and order a poster or postcards.  My husband picked up my poster at Hardin Hall here in Lincoln (33rd & Holdrege). The Great Plains Ecotourism Coalition is committed to promoting environmental conservation and building thriving communities through nature-based tourism in the Great Plains. The Coalition includes both non-profit and for-profit members and is coordinated by staff at the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

MJ

Collecting Seeds

Common milkweed seeds ready to relocate by the wind.

Another beautiful fall day!  It is a perfect day to collect seeds from native plants.  Our milkweeds are going to seed, so it is important to collect some before they all go poof in the wind.  After collecting the seeds, you can replant them in a new location as soon as possible. They will germinate next spring.  If you are saving the seeds, be sure to give them time to dry out completely before you store them.  They will rot if not dried properly.  Be sure to label the envelope or container you store them in.

Monarch Watch needs milkweed seed donations to continue their Monarch habitat restoration efforts. Monarch Watch is a nonprofit educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas. Visit their website at monarchwatch.org  to learn more about their efforts in saving monarch butterflies.

MJ

Swamp milkweed seeds.

Butterflies!

The last few days we have notice more Monarch butterflies in the area.  Many butterflies and moths have been seen in the habitat. Black swallowtail, painted lady, cloudless sulphur, pearl crescent and mourning cloak butterflies have been seen this year. Whitelined sphinx, yellow collared scape, chickweed geometer and several skipper moths have also been identified.
It is important to provide a food source for the caterpillars in the habitat. Swallowtail caterpillars feed on dill and parsley. Painted lady caterpillars feed on sunflower and thistle. As we all know Monarch caterpillars feed on milkweed. I am impressed as I drive around Lincoln at how many landscapes have common milkweed growing in them. Even school landscapes have milkweed! It has been reported for several years that monarch populations are declining. A coalition has submitted a petition for the U.S. Department of the Interior to protect monarchs under the Endangered Species Act.
This summer my family raised several monarch caterpillars in a butterfly rearing tent. The eggs were located on very small plants that would not provide enough food or were located in an area in jeopardy of being mowed or stepped on. It was amazing to watch the caterpillars complete their life cycle and a thrill to release the butterflies in our backyard habitat.
MJ

Swallowtail caterpillar on parsley.

Black swallowtail butterfly on tall thistle.

Monarch butterfly ready to leave rearing tent.

Habitat News

View of pollinator habitat.

This morning Soni, Chris and I worked in the habitat.  It was cool and cloudy.  Perfect day to weed, unload and spread mulch.  Thank you for your help Chris! A few days ago I posted a picture of our beautiful dill plants hoping we would have something eating them soon.  Today we spied tiny swallowtail caterpillars on our dill plants!

MJ

Swallowtail caterpillar on dill.

The Great Sunflower Project

Planting sunflower seeds in pollinator habitat for the Great Sunflower Project.

Our Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat will be participating in The Great Sunflower Project.  In May my daughter and I planted Lemon Queen sunflowers in the habitat.  The sunflowers are growing well and will be blooming in a few weeks.  We will then do pollinator counts and report our findings to The Great Sunflower Project web site. They recommend planting untreated seed of Lemon Queen sunflowers. Gardeners from around the United States who planted this one type of sunflower will record their results for the Safe Gardens for Pollinators Program. If you do not have room for sunflowers, do not worry, they have other pollinator counts you can participate in too. To learn more about this project, visit their web site at greatsunflower.org  Consider participating in one of their pollinator counts and take the Great Pollinator Habitat Challenge!

MJ

Use untreated sunflower seeds. The project recommends planting Lemon Queen.

Lemon Queen sunflower plants.

Herbs are Meant to be Eaten

Dill is an excellent larval plant for Swallowtail butterflies.

A corner of the habitat has been planted with herbs. Herbs are excellent larval and nectar plants for butterflies. We have planted borage, dill, parsley, basil, garlic chives, oregano and thyme.  Swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on dill and parsley plants.  The caterpillars feed on the plants until they pupate.  I hope there will be lots of herb eating in the habitat this year.  We can always plant more.

MJ