Blog - Page 12 of 21 - Nature Center at Greenburgh

September 29, 2022January 7, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Turning Over an Old Leaf

As fall approaches, we want to remind everyone that leaf litter is critical for many pollinators and other beneficial insects. This post about fall clean-up is worth revisiting…

As we learn more about the critical relationships between plants, insects, and birds, the best advice we are getting about fall leaf clean-up is … don’t!

In the old days, suburbanites taking care of their lawns raked (yes, raked!) fall leaves into giant piles to be burned. The familiar scent of burning leaves was everywhere – and we released tons of carbon sequestered in those leaves into the atmosphere.

So anti-burning ordinances were passed, and we started using gas leaf blowers to form the leaf piles, or bagging leaves for municipal workers to collect – all at taxpayer expense. Municipalities started spending millions to ship leaves out of the county. Enterprising souls then turned our leaves into compost to sell back to us. Not a good deal for us.

**Bagged leaves to be collected at taxpayer expense**

**Leaves at the curb clog storm drains, a municipal headache**

Since that routine makes neither economic nor ecological sense, we started hearing campaigns urging us to use mulching mowers. The idea was to chop leaves into tiny pieces and leave them on the lawn to enrich the soil. That method is a big improvement, and it definitely works — it’s great for lawn health and municipal budgets.

But we have learned that chopping up leaves has an unanticipated cost. Native bees burrow into the ground under leaf litter to survive the winter. Eggs and larvae of butterflies, moths, fireflies, and many other insects hang on to leaves, or hide under them, until warm weather returns. If we chop up or remove leaves to clear the ground in our yards, we are unintentionally destroying insects that baby birds need for food in the spring, as well as insects we need and enjoy.

**Many insects need fall leaf litter to survive winter**

**Mourning cloak butterfly emerging in March at the Nature Center**

**Who is hiding in there for the winter?**

The best use of fall leaves – and the best place for them – is under the trees that dropped them. Trees and all other forest plants evolved growing with a thick layer of leaves in the winter. Dead leaves nourish the soil and everything that lives in it. Leaf litter on your shrub and flower beds protects the roots of your plants and protects early buds from freezing and loss of moisture.

Of course, you’ll want to blow (or better, rake!) leaves off of driveways and paths, and either mulch or clear leaves that fall on lawn. But the best place to put them is in your shrub and flower beds and under your trees. A loose, 6-inch deep layer of leaves will not hurt your shrubs and perennials – quite the opposite. If there are still too many leaves, create a leaf pile in an out-of-the-way area, or add leaves to a compost bin. In spring, once the weather is warm and insects have had a chance to emerge, you can mulch the remaining leaves and return them to the lawn or flower beds, or even put them out for removal with spring clean-up.

**Use your leaves to protect trees, shrubs, and perennials**

Pro tip: Less lawn and more garden makes leaf clean-up a cinch! If your trees are surrounded by garden beds rather than lawn, nature does the work for you!

**Healthy yard maintenance is less work!**

THIS BLOG IS AUTHORED WEEKLY BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.

September 21, 2022January 7, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Bambi Shrugged

A sad, and unfortunately common, sight this time of year is hosta plants looking like this:

Hosta is apparently very popular with gardeners in our region, but it is equally popular with deer. By mid-summer, hosta plants are often chewed down to tattered stems. If you are frustrated that your hosta is just salad for the local deer population, perhaps it is time to consider a great alternative.

*Heuchera villosa* ‘Autumn Bride’ (pronounced “HEW-ker-ah vill-OH-sah”)

Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ (common name Coral Bells or Alumroot) is a native plant about the same size and shape as most hostas, and it grows well in the same conditions. Part shade is fine, and it prefers soil with lots of organic matter, so it is happy under trees and shrubs, especially if fall leaves are left in place. Heuchera is surprisingly drought tolerant once established, so it is an option for dry shade. The leaves are soft and fuzzy and semi-evergreen. They don’t die back completely in the winter, but snow and ice will leave them a bit tattered by springtime. You can clip off any damaged areas before new growth appears. The leaves are far less susceptible to slugs and scorching than hosta leaves, so Heuchera looks better for much longer in the growing season than hosta does.

As the name suggests, ‘Autumn Bride’ blooms with big, white, showy flowers from late summer into fall. The flowers open over a period of weeks, with tiny buds on a stalk rising 6 to 10 inches above the leaves, opening to fluffy flowers loaded with nectar for bees stocking up for winter.

**Heuchera flowers sustain bees late in the season**

**Each stalk holds many tiny flowers full of nectar and pollen**

But the best thing about Heuchera is that deer apparently hate it!

**Deer stepped on this Heuchera, and devoured the hosta around it, but they left Heuchera alone!**

The common name, “Alumroot,” refers to the plant’s very astringent quality, similar to the effect of the mineral, alum. Finely ground roots of the plant have been used for generations as an astringent to treat external wounds, including to stop bleeding, and for various internal ailments. The leaves are also astringent, and though deer will occasionally try a bite, they soon learn to avoid it.

Heuchera is a genus of more than 50 species, all native to North America. ‘Autumn Bride’ is a selection of Heuchera villosa, which is native to the Eastern US, though the northern extent of the native range is subject to some dispute. Authorities differ on whether H. villosa and its cousin, Heuchera americana, were originally found as far north as New York, but both species do very well from Connecticut to the Carolinas and west to Arkansas and Oklahoma and are hardy in Zones 4-9.

Horticulture professionals have been busy developing hybrids of multiple species of Heuchera, crossing H. villosa and H. americana with species native to the American West, and inventing an array of multi-colored leaves and bright flowers. They also have crossed Heuchera with Tiarella, another native plant, further expanding the range of colors, leaf sizes, and flowers available in the trade. ‘Autumn Bride,’ at least initially, was a “selection” rather than a “cultivar” because it was propagated by seed from pollinated flowers rather than asexually by cuttings. While most nursery stock now is likely from asexual propagation, ‘Autumn Bride’ does reproduce consistently from seed, which offers some ecological advantage over hybrids or cultivars.

**‘Autumn Bride’ brightens a late-season shade garden**

Combining the lovely white flowers of ‘Autumn Bride’ with other shade perennials is easy. It looks lovely with Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyonnii ‘Hot Lips’), Christmas fern, Canadian Wild Ginger, or White Wood Aster (all deer resistant plants).

Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ is a great garden plant. And it is a definite improvement over all of the non-native hosta we see sadly reduced to celery stalks by voracious deer.

THIS BLOG IS AUTHORED WEEKLY BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.

September 15, 2022January 7, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

How Did That Get Here?

If you like reliable, predictable, disciplined plants that remain where you put them and return every year, then this plant is not for you. Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is unreliable, eccentric, and unpredictable. But it also has the truest, deepest red flowers you are likely to find. It brings hummingbirds without fail, and is absolutely captivating!

*Lobelia cardinalis*, common name Cardinal Flower

Cardinal Flower blooms for weeks in late summer. The flower stalks are 3 to 5 feet tall, and the flowers open in succession from bottom to top. The flowering portion of the stem can be 2 or 3 feet long, and the leaves are deep green, providing a perfect background for the flowers.

**Individual flowers open over several weeks**

Cardinal Flower is nature’s original hummingbird feeder. Hummingbirds are drawn by the intense red color and plentiful nectar. The flowers are precisely shaped for pollination by hummingbirds, and the plant depends on hummingbirds for pollination. The flower’s pistil and stamens arch above the nectar supply, perfectly placed to brush the hummingbird’s head as it feeds. Pollen collects on top of the bird’s head, and when the hummingbird moves to the next flower, pollen is transferred.

**The structure holding pollen just fits the top of a hummingbird’s head like a tiny cap, depositing pollen**
Photo: Courtesy of Mary Anne Borge, @the-natural-web.org

Bees also visit Cardinal Flowers, but most of them can’t reach the nectar deep inside the long tubular flowers, so they have become “nectar thieves.” They bite a hole into the flower tube and suck out nectar from the base of the flower, completely avoiding the pollenating structure. They are considered “thieves” because they take nectar without providing pollination service to the plant. Nectar-for-pollination is the basis of the plant/pollinator relationship, and these bees are cheating! As long as there are enough hummingbirds around, though, Cardinal Flower will survive.

**Honeybee and bumblebee avoiding the pollen structure and stealing nectar from the flower tubes**

Lobelia likes wet, sunny locations, and is hardy in Zones 3 to 9. It is native to American wetlands, along ponds and streams, and is found from New Brunswick to Minnesota and south from Texas to Florida. Lobelia is considered a “short-lived” perennial. The original clump dies back after producing flowers, but it may send “off-sets” or shoots from the original clump into nearby areas, and it may also drop seeds around the original plant, thereby maintaining a presence. Or, it may not. Even in optimal conditions, Lobelia sometimes simply disappears from where it was planted, which is disappointing.

As Lobelia finishes blooming, seed pods remain on the tall stalks where they ripen, producing lots of very tiny seeds. Larry Weaner, horticulturist, landscape designer, and native plant expert, explains that the seeds need to sit on top of open soil, exposed to sunlight, to germinate. So, he recommends disturbing the soil around Lobelia plants in the fall, and leaving the seed pods in place all winter to open up and drop their seeds. By roughing up the soil around the plants, you provide the open soil necessary for germination, increasing the likelihood of Lobelia coming up again where it was planted.

So, what makes Lobelia unpredictable, whimsical, and even a bit mysterious? We planted Lobelia in a sunny rain garden, theoretically a “perfect” location, but it disappeared after a few seasons. Several years later, it popped up in a dry meadow on the opposite side of the property, hundreds of feet away. How did the seeds move across the property?

**Lobelia planted in a rain garden disappeared after 2 seasons**

**Lobelia appeared 6 years later, an acre away**

The seeds are much too small to be eaten or carried by birds. Although it is conceivable the seeds are carried by wind, literature on the subject is far from conclusive. Larry Weaner’s observations suggest the seeds may attach themselves to soil, which is then carried by rainfall, but inevitably downhill.

So, how did this get here? The Lobelia on this property moved across a driveway, across lawn, and uphill to the other side of the house. A few years later, it also popped up across a patio in a fern garden, and then over a hedge and under a huge cedar tree. Then it mysteriously appeared in a backyard shrub border. And it recently appeared by a downspout.

**Lobelia volunteered in a fern garden**

**Lobelia also popped up in a shrub border**

At the Greenburgh Nature Center, we recently spotted Lobelia next to a path at least 100 yards away and around a corner from the only place on the property it was ever planted.

We are not sure why Cardinal Flower disappears from the places it’s planted, or how it moves around, or why it decides to appear where it does. We are starting to suspect that the seeds are carried on the soles of our shoes as we work in different parts of the garden, but we are open to other theories and observations!

In your own garden, if you want predictable, reliable perennials, there are lots of other great native plants to choose from. But if you enjoy a little mystery, a few surprises, a gorgeous plant, and happy hummingbirds, you will be delighted by Lobelia cardinalis.

**Lobelia cardinalis catching the afternoon sun**

THIS BLOG IS AUTHORED WEEKLY BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.

September 8, 2022January 7, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Late Bloomers

In the last weeks of summer, it is a treat to welcome new flowers to the garden that not only bring fresh color, but also nourish our native pollinators before winter arrives. Two species of the perennial plant, Chelone (pronounced “key-LONE-ee”), start blooming in late August and continue well into fall. Both make great additions to gardens in the Eastern US, and both are known by the rather strange common name, “Turtlehead.”

**Chelone glabra starts to bloom just before Labor Day**

White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) has a wide native range, extending from Minnesota to Newfoundland and south to Alabama and Georgia (Zones 3 to 9). It is found in marshes, at the edge of wet woodlands, and along the shores of streams and ponds. That native habitat makes White Turtlehead an obvious choice for sunny rain gardens and soggy areas, but it will happily endure hot weather with occasional irrigation. White Turtlehead stands 3 to 4 feet tall and mixes well with Joe Pye Weed and Cardinal Flower.

Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) has a much more limited native range. It evolved in the Appalachian region from Georgia to Virginia, but has become naturalized in New York and parts of New England. Our observations suggest that insects in these northern areas have welcomed Pink Turtlehead, making good use of its nectar, pollen, and leaves. Pink Turtlehead is more tolerant of shade than White Turtlehead, and can be found in moist forest areas in dappled sun.

**Chelone lyonii in a protected forest in New York**

Pink Turtlehead also grows 3 to 4 feet tall and has an open, somewhat rangy form. There is a widely-available cultivar of Chelone lyonii called ‘Hot Lips’ that is more compact, only 1 to 2 feet tall, with dark green leaves. ‘Hot Lips’ looks great massed under trees or as a front-of-the-border plant in a light-shade garden.

**Chelone lyonii ‘Hot Lips’ in late August**

Both types of Turtlehead bloom for two months or more, with flowers opening sequentially from the bottom to the top of each stalk.

**‘Hot Lips’ in a shade garden in mid-September**

Both the scientific name and the common name relate to the appearance of the flowers as they open. “Chelone” comes from the Greek word for “turtle.” The name makes sense if you see the flower from the side angle – it does look a bit turtle-ish.

**Turtle head! (Actually, this is the Nature Center’s Sulcatas tortoise. And as for those turtle “hot lips”? Just recall beauty is in the eye of the beholder.)**
Photo: Travis Brady

Chelones are beautiful late bloomers, but the best reason to have these plants in your garden? Entertainment! All day long, wiggling bumblebees work their way into the flowers to find nectar. Bumblebees and carpenter bees are just heavy enough and strong enough to force the flowers open, collect the pollen, and fly off to the next flower. Watch them at work in this video clip:

Entertainment!

The nectar pay-off is deep inside the flower, so the bumblebee picks up pollen on the way in and on the way out. The pollen will be transferred to the next flower when the bee brushes against the protruding curved stigma.

Turtlehead is a frequent addition to children’s gardens because watching the bumblebees climb into these beautiful blossoms never gets old.

THIS BLOG IS AUTHORED WEEKLY BY CATHY LUDDEN, CONSERVATIONIST AND NATIVE PLANT EDUCATOR; AND BOARD MEMBER, GREENBURGH NATURE CENTER. FOLLOW CATHY ON INSTAGRAM FOR MORE PHOTOS AND GARDENING TIPS @CATHYLUDDEN.

September 1, 2022January 7, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants

Too Much or Not Enough?

We plant Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) every chance we get. Any sunny, dry place is perfect.

We planted it in the entry garden at the Greenburgh Nature Center.

We planted it in the Pollinator Garden.

**Gerrie Shapiro Memorial Pollinator Garden**

We planted it in the Meadow.

**Native Plant Meadow at the Nature Center**

We bring it into our butterfly exhibit in containers as a nectar supply.

**Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies on Agastache**

Whenever we are asked for advice on planting community pollinator gardens, we recommend Anise Hyssop.

**Community pollinator garden in Dobbs Ferry, NY**
Photo: August Brosnahan

**Pollinator garden on the Hudson River**

And we always recommend Anise Hyssop for drought-tolerant residential gardens.

**Agastache behind Dense Blazing Star and Coneflowers**

We just can’t get enough of this excellent plant! Here are the reasons why:

It is gorgeous!
It blooms from July through September
Butterflies and bees love it
It is extremely drought-tolerant and does well in poor soil
Deer, rabbits, and woodchucks avoid it
It is sturdy, upright, and mixes well with other plants
It is host to several species of moths and butterflies
The leaves are aromatic, edible, and can be used to make herbal tea

Each flower stem of Agastache holds dozens of tiny lavender flowers loaded with nectar. Even when the flowers finally fade, the stalks are attractive and bring around the very last of summer’s bees and butterflies.

**Individual flowers line the stem of Agastache in July**

Anise Hyssop is native to the Great Plains and dry prairies of the American Midwest. Hardy to Zone 4, the only thing it really can’t take is wet soil. It prefers full sun, but can tolerate some shade as long as the soil is very well drained. Plants can disappear over the winter if the ground stays wet for long periods. We replace any that don’t make it with gallon-sized container plants in the spring and they very quickly catch up to the survivors.

Agastache foeniculum grows 3 to 4 feet tall, forms clumps, and doesn’t seem to expand by rhizomes, but it will seed itself around to make new plants in good conditions. There are several cultivars of hybridized plants now widely available in the market. ‘Blue Fortune’ and ‘Black Adder’ both result from a cross between Agastache foeniculum and Agastache rugosa, an Asian plant. Though we prefer the straight species, the hybrids certainly attract bees and butterflies, and have proven themselves durable, at least in Zones 5-7. The hybrids are sterile and will not seed themselves in the garden.

We do have one problem with this plant: deciding how to pronounce the scientific name! Horticulture expert, Bill Cullina, says “ag-OST-ach-ee,” sounding rather like a sneeze. On-line sources, with audio, give the “American” pronunciation as “aga-STASH.” Looking a bit further, however, we find general agreement that the word “Agastache” comes from the Greek words “agan” meaning much or many, and “stachys” meaning ear of grain. Though that description for Agastache foeniculum is a bit puzzling since the flower doesn’t really look like grain to us, the Greek origin of the word does suggest that the appropriate pronunciation is “aga-STACK-ee,” so we go with that. As for “foeniculum,” we pronounce it “fen-ICK-you-lum,” a word that either comes from the Latin “foenum” for hay, or the related Italian word “finocchio” for fennel. The leaves smell much more like fennel than hay!

Unfortunately, the common name, “Anise Hyssop,” doesn’t clear things up. “Anise” makes sense if you smell or taste the leaves, but “Hyssop” is a completely unrelated plant family. In any case, if you’re asking for this wonderful plant, saying either “aga-STACK-ee” or “Anise Hyssop” will work.

So, is this too much of a good thing?