Spring is happening, and one of our favorite native ground covers is ready to impress.
Packera aurea (formerly classified botanically as Senecio aureus) is also known by the common names Golden Groundsel, Golden Ragwort, and Butterweed. It’s hard to think of a ground cover that can match Packera for flower power. In April, it sends up flower stalks that stand 12 to 24 inches above the heart-shaped leaves. By early May, it bursts into bloom with bright yellow daisy-like flowers that last up to two months. It is simply stunning!
Packera just starting to bloom in April
The full razzle-dazzle at the Nature Center in May
When the bloom finally finishes, you can cut back the flower stalks or leave them standing. Allowing the seeds to ripen and fall will keep the plant colony fresh. The bright green leaves of Packera form a weed-suppressing mat that looks good all summer and well into the fall. Packera is vigorous, spreading by shallow runners, and will fill in quickly where it is happy, but it is also easy to control. Transplanted divisions do well if you want to share extras with friends.
Packera in late June with flower stalks remaining
Packera is an effective and attractive ground cover even when it’s not in bloom. The foliage will fill in under shrubs and around tall perennials, but it can overwhelm shorter plants unless you trim it back. Packera is semi-evergreen, and will continue covering the ground throughout the winter, even under snowfall.
Looking good in late September
Packera is still mostly green in December
Hardy in zones 3 through 9, Packera’s native range extends from the upper Midwest throughout the Eastern US. It naturally occurs at the edges of moist woodlands and in wet meadows. It is happy in light shade or part sun, but it can take full sun as long as there is adequate soil moisture. It prefers rich acidic soil.
Packera is very valuable to native bees, especially to small cuckoo and halictid bees who benefit from its early supply of pollen and nectar. The plant is not at all attractive to deer. This time of year, you can find Packera for sale at good nurseries, native plant sales, and on line.
So, are you among the many in our region who use non-native ground covers like pachysandra, ivy, or vinca? If so, we just have to ask…
Can your ground cover do this?
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.
This week in Around the Grounds, we learn about the hostess with the mostest.
Amelanchier invites everyone into the garden, sets an elegant table, and makes sure no one leaves hungry. It is the consummate host plant.
Amelanchier (pronounced “amuh-lank-kee-yer”) is a small tree or multi-trunked shrub that will feed bees, butterflies, birds, woodland animals, and humans, all while looking beautiful. You may know it by one of its many common names: serviceberry, shadbush, shadblow, juneberry, wild plum, sugarplum, or saskatoon. While there is debate about the origin of some of these names, everyone agrees that it was called “shadbush” by settlers in New England because its early bloom time coincided with the spawning season of shad fish in northeastern rivers.
Amelanchier blooms in April, covering itself with delicate white flowers, and providing essential nectar and pollen for the first emerging bees. The elegant white blossoms are a welcome sight contrasting beautifully with evergreens. While the flowers remain, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and moths all come to visit.
The most common form of Amelanchier is a multi-trunked shrub or small tree
The single-trunked tree form can reach up to 30 feet, but remains open and airy
Leaves appear as the flowers fade, but Amelanchier never creates heavy shade. The leaves are narrow and open, so there is plenty of light for underplanting. A true host plant, Amelanchier feeds an estimated 124 species of caterpillar, including the Viceroy, the Striped Hairstreak, and the Red Spotted Purple. That hospitality makes Amelanchier a very appropriate addition to our Pollinator Garden.
Adult Red Spotted Purple Butterfly
Amelanchier right now in the Pollinator Garden at the Nature Center Photo: Travis Brady
Our gracious host really sets a fine table in June when the berries appear. That’s when the common names “Juneberry” and “Sugarplum” make sense. Amelanchier berries are not only edible, they are delicious! About the size of blueberries, but delicately sweet like raspberries, Amelanchier berries can be eaten right off the branch or turned into a very fine pie – but only if you can get enough of them before the birds do. It seems that robins, blue jays, cardinals, and mockingbirds all are willing to eat the berries a day or two before we think they are ripe. And we have seen chipmunks and squirrels risking life and limb to climb way out on swaying branches to get their fair share. Most years, we humans only get a handful or two of berries.
Amelanchier berries ready for everybody
Get ‘em while they last!
Botanically, Amelanchier is complicated. The genus includes over 20 species with native ranges from Canada and Alaska across the entire northern US, with some species even in Arizona and Florida. The best garden varieties in the northern US are Amelanchier arborea and Amelanchier laevis, both found in the taller tree form, and Amelanchier canadensis, which is more typically the multi-trunked shrub form. All three are hardy in zones 4 – 9 and prefer conditions typical of woodland edges, light shade and moist, fairly rich soil. These and other Amelanchier species freely interbreed both in the wild and in nursery conditions, so natural hybrids are common and very difficult to tell apart. If you’re shopping, you can choose a single trunk or multi-trunked specimen, and take whatever the label says with a grain of salt. But you really can’t go wrong.
After all, a gracious host like Amelanchier never turns a guest away from the garden….
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.
This week in Around the Grounds, we recommend two great plants for attracting beautiful butterflies to your garden.
Ah, butterflies…the “winged blossoms” of the garden! Let’s talk about a couple of our favorite plants for butterflies.
If you want more butterflies in your garden (and don’t we all?), you have to feed their caterpillars. True, adult butterflies will visit just about any flower with nectar. So yes, if you have a butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.), or other non-native flowers, you may attract adult butterflies. But you won’t be making more butterflies unless you provide what their caterpillars need.
Not one species of native caterpillar can survive on “butterfly bush” (Buddleia spp), a non-native plant that is also invasive in many areas
Even very hungry caterpillars won’t eat just anything. They are “specialist” insects, and can only eat certain “host” plants. If butterflies can’t find that host plant, and happen to lay their eggs on whatever is around, the caterpillars will die. So, pollinator and butterfly gardens should include host plants.
In recent posts, we’ve talked about planting Milkweed for Monarchs, and Switch Grass for Skippers. Both are essential hosts for their particular butterfly friends. Here are two more important host plants:
Zizia flowering in May
Zizia (Zizia aurea), sometimes called “Golden Alexander,” is the native host plant for Black Swallowtail butterflies. Maybe you’ve seen Swallowtail caterpillars on parsley, dill, or carrot plants? Although those plants are not native to the US, they are in the same plant family (Apiaceae) as Zizia, and genetically so closely related that Black Swallowtail caterpillars accept them as hosts, and do indeed eat them.
Black Swallowtail caterpillar on parsley
Black Swallowtail adult on Zizia
Zizia is a lovely garden plant. It likes full sun, as do most pollinator-friendly plants, and is easy to grow. It blooms in early summer and often reblooms later in the season. Its flowers are loaded with nectar, so it attracts plenty of pollinators in addition to Black Swallowtails. It prefers moist conditions, but will do fine in average garden soil. Zizia works well near the front of the border where it typically stays under 3 feet tall.
Zizia in the garden
Another excellent host plant is Antennaria neglecta, which has the curious common name “Field Pussytoes.” Maybe the fuzzy white flowers do vaguely resemble a cat’s paw? Antennaria should be used much more than it is. It’s a great ground cover along sunny walkways or at the edge of pavement. It holds up to summer heat, and actually prefers shallow gritty soil, so it’s happy where paving has left gravel in adjacent areas. It does not do well in rich or moist soil.
Antennaria blooming in a driveway bed
Antennaria is the host plant for the beautiful American Painted Lady butterfly. We found this exhausted Painted Lady laying her eggs on Antennaria, and it looked like she was very grateful to finally have found her host plant. It shouldn’t be so hard to find!
American Painted Lady laying her eggs on Pussytoes
American Painted Lady eggs and baby caterpillars
Developing Painted Lady caterpillar
Antennaria is semi-evergreen and survives even where snow plows bury it. In the spring, new leaves come up through the old foliage, and then it starts blooming in April.
Antennaria emerging in spring
Antennaria, or Field Pussytoes, is an underused plant in our landscapes. It is a great garden plant that should be found everywhere — because we really do need to feed those hungry caterpillars!
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.
On this week of Around the Grounds we learn about Switch Grass, a native plant that can replace invasive ornamental grasses.
Do you have this ornamental grass in your yard? If so, it may be time to switch grass!
Miscanthus sinensis, or Chinese silver grass, is a too-popular ornamental grass so problematic that New York State has regulated it as an invasive species. Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum), on the other hand, is a native ornamental grass that is a perfect substitute. Maybe it’s time to switch?
Ornamental grasses have become increasingly popular as modern tastes have shifted to more naturalistic garden designs. Grasses bring year-round interest, movement, structure, and seasonal changes of palette that enhance every garden. Unfortunately, at least this one non-native grass has created an ecological problem.
Invasive Miscanthus sinensis offered for sale on line
Miscanthus sinensis “zebra grass”
Sold under the names Chinese silver grass, zebra grass, maiden grass, and porcupine grass, Miscanthus also has many cultivars, including “Morning Light,” “Flamingo,” “Ghana,” “Adagio,” and over 100 others. Despite being identified as invasive by New York and other states, it is still being sold, and is still spreading itself everywhere. It is invading natural areas because it has no biological controls on this continent.
Switch Grass is just as attractive as Miscanthus, just as easy to grow, and just as diverse. An original denizen of America’s prairies and meadows, it has deep roots and is both drought tolerant and deer resistant. It is increasingly available in a huge variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. And Switch Grass is the host plant for very cute native butterflies called, “skippers.”
Skipper butterflies lay their eggs on Switch Grass Photo: Pixabay Switch Grass is a beautiful native plant
Switch Grass is gorgeous through all four seasons, and its versatility is on full display at the Greenburgh Nature Center. The cultivar “Heavy Metal” is steel blue in summer and grows up to 5 feet tall. It is equally impressive in winter when it provides texture, movement, and contrast to evergreen shrubs.
Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ frames our patio in summer
The golden tones of ‘Heavy Metal’ contrast with Inkberry and Red Twig Dogwood in winter
Another Switch Grass cultivar, ‘Shenandoah,’ is 3 to 4 feet tall and has a graceful vase shape that complements both shrubs and perennials. Because it hosts skipper butterflies, it is a great addition to pollinator gardens. Like all Switch Grasses, it enjoys full sun and tolerates poor soil. No supplemental water, no fertilizer, no worries.
Panicum virgatum‘Shenandoah’ in the Pollinator Garden at the Nature Center
When we planted the Gerrie Shapiro Memorial Pollinator Garden at the Nature Center last June, we started with tall Switch Grasses as the center “spine” of the garden. Along with ‘Heavy Metal,’ we planted ‘Northwind,’ a Switch Grass cultivar that stays tall, narrow, and straight all season long. These two native grasses support tall flowers that would otherwise flop over when in full bloom. Switch Grass evolved supporting tall wildflower companions in American meadows and prairies, so it’s perfect for that job.
Tall Switch Grasses define the structure of the new garden
A month later, ‘Northwind’ Switch Grass supports tall flowers
One of our favorite smaller Switch Grasses is ‘Ruby Ribbons.’ At only 3 feet tall, it’s a good choice for smaller gardens. It has multi-colored leaves in shades of red and purple all summer long, and just gets prettier in the fall. Even smaller is ‘Cape Breeze.’ At less than 2 feet, it makes a great edger along the garden path.
Panicum virgatum ‘Ruby Ribbons’
‘Ruby Ribbons’ in October
And if you want to see what Switch Grass looks like in its natural habitat (almost) come visit our Meadow! After spring mowing, Switch Grasses start showing new growth. By late June, they fill out the Meadow terrain. And in the fall, clouds of tiny seeds hover above the Switch Grass stalks, feeding flocks of birds then and all winter long.
Switch Grass in the Meadow in the fall
So, are you ready to switch grass?
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.
This week on Around the Grounds, we learn about the wonders of Milkweed and why it should be a staple in every home garden.
Last week in Around the Grounds we joined the happy buzz about pollinator gardens springing up everywhere. We know that bees need native flowers for nectar and pollen. Butterflies also need nectar, and they need the host plants their caterpillars eat. So, a good pollinator garden supplies all three resources – nectar, pollen, and host plants. Planting a big variety of native plants is the best way to do that.
However, there are a few special plants that do all three jobs. Top among them is Milkweed (Asclepias spp.). Milkweed, of course, is the only host plant for Monarch butterflies.
A Monarch caterpillar
If you go looking for monarch caterpillars on Milkweed, you may discover an entire, complex ecosystem. A research study in Ohio documented 457 different insect species on just one stand of Milkweed! That’s a lot of biodiversity supported by this amazing plant.
In addition to monarchs, Milkweed is the host plant for 11 other species of Lepidoptera (the insect family for moths and butterflies). One of them is the Milkweed tussock moth. Many a gardener has been shocked to discover a mass of little wriggling black caterpillars rapidly devouring their prized Milkweed plants. But before you panic, consider the careful balance nature has designed.
The Milkweed tussock moth arrives later in the season, after most of the Monarch caterpillars already have eaten their fill and turned into butterflies, so there is plenty of Milkweed for everybody. As these little black caterpillars mature, they wander away from the pack and grow from creepy to… sort of cute? But don’t touch them without gloves. Those funny hairs can sting like nettles.
Milkweed tussock moths are important night-pollinators, and their main predator is bats. Astonishingly, they have developed a defensive sonar-type beep that warns bats away from them.
Another common sight on Milkweed is a large population of Milkweed aphids. You could hose them off, or squish them with your fingers. Or, you could just watch as ladybugs show up to feed on them. Ladybugs are very effective insect-eaters. One ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day. Lacewings, tiny parasitic wasps, and several other beneficial insects also are likely to join the aphid hunt, so the aphid situation seems to take care of itself in our garden.
Ladybugs feeding on Aphids
We’ve found walking sticks, praying mantids, ants, bees, flies, wasps, spiders, and specialized Milkweed bugs and beetles, all living their best lives on Milkweed.
You never know what you’ll find on the underside of Milkweed leaves
A spider sets up shop to see what wanders in
Milkweed bugs eat the seeds in late summer and fall Photo: Travis Brady
Oh! Did we mention butterflies? Milkweed is loaded with nectar and draws ALL the butterflies – not just Monarchs.
Spicebush swallowtails in mating dance on Milkweed
While the best Milkweed for supporting all of this life is probably Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), that species is rather big, coarse, and an aggressive spreader for smaller gardens. Sadly, it’s the loss of Common Milkweed from roadsides, farmyards, and wild places all the way from Mexico to Canada that has caused the tragic decline of monarch populations.
But gardeners are making a difference, and with beautiful Milkweed species for smaller gardens, it’s really easy to do. Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) grows 3 – 4 feet tall and blooms for months. Its lavender-pink flowers blend in with lots of other sun-loving perennials. It is perfect for pollinator gardens, meadows, and mixed borders. And it also comes in white!
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)is a butterfly magnet
Asclepias incarnata ‘Ice Ballet”
Every garden can find a place for Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa). This lovely Milkweed is a perfect front-the-border plant. It grows about 2 feet tall and is fairly compact. It stays where you plant it and is reliably hardy. The straight species is a sunny orange, and there is a bright yellow cultivar called ‘Hello Yellow.’ Butterfly Weed does best in full sun and well-drained soil. It rarely needs supplemental water, and never needs fertilizer.
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) at the Nature Center
Whether or not you are planning a pollinator garden, if you love nature, be sure to add marvelous Milkweed to your spring planting list.
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.
