Pollinators Archives - Nature Center at Greenburgh

November 15, 2023February 12, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Invasives, Native Plants, Pollinators

Privacy Without “O-fence”

Suburban yards are places for families and friends to relax, perhaps enjoy a barbecue, and watch children and pets play safely. Privacy is important.

No wonder, then, that suburban homeowners often decide to plant a “privacy screen.” Hedges of trees or shrubs, planted as living “green fences,” are as common in suburbia as the lawns they typically surround.

But too often, these hedges are made with invasive plants that spread themselves into natural areas causing ecological harm. Top offenders include privet, Japanese barberry, forsythia, bamboo, and burning bush. All of these plants are recognized as invasive species and should be avoided.

Forsythia is not a good choice for a privacy screen

Burning Bush — Burning bush may look good for a minute

Japanese barberry, now banned in several states, spreads by seed into vacant lots, woods, and roadsides and actually increases the population of ticks carrying Lyme disease!

The good news is that the need for privacy does not require bringing any of these offensive plants onto your property. There are so many better choices!

In the Eastern US, the most popular privacy screen by far is Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), also known as Northern White-cedar. Favored by builders and landscape maintenance companies, a row of inexpensive and readily available Arborvitae is often planted along the property line as soon as a new house is built.

Though Arborvitae is a much better choice than any of the invasive plants mentioned above, it is not the only — or best — option. In areas populated by deer, Arborvitae is extremely vulnerable.

Here are some alternatives – beautiful evergreen trees and shrubs, native to the Northeast, that make ideal privacy screens. And because they are native, they also offer value to native birds and pollinators!

American Holly (Ilex opaca) makes a dense, evergreen privacy screen and has the bonus of tiny flowers for pollinators in the spring and beautiful berries that add winter interest to the landscape.

American Holly may be pruned into a hedge

Rhododendron is another good choice for privacy. When European settlers first explored the Eastern US, they struggled through massive stands of Rhododendron maximum that formed impenetrable evergreen thickets. Why not use that same feature now as an effective screen? Our native songbirds love to hide in a thicket!

Inkberry (Ilex glauca), another native evergreen, grows quickly and has shiny, dark green leaves that form a dense screen. More winter-hardy than boxwood and growing taller, Inkberry is a great hedge plant.

Red Twig Dogwood and Switch Grass — Inkberry in a mixed border with Red Twig Dogwood and Switch
Grass

The very best privacy screen, though, is not a row of one species of plant, but a forest! The Northeastern US was once predominantly forest, and many of the plants in those forests are still the best plants to grow here. In suburban yards, we can mimic the beauty, seclusion, and peaceful quiet of a diverse forest simply by planting more stuff! And a bigger variety of that stuff is inspired by our native forests!

Maybe it’s time to reconsider our approach to the “privacy screen.”

Hedges can be great, but they can also be visually boring and ecologically sterile. There is no law requiring homeowners to mark their property boundaries with a row of identical plants. Just because your property line forms a rectangle doesn’t mean your landscape has to be one. A diverse mix of plants – native trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials – planted in masses makes a landscape interesting, lush, ecologically valuable, and very private.

Contrasting approaches – the mixed border of deciduous and evergreen trees on the right offers more interest, and more privacy, than the hedge on the left

white pine, arborvitae, spruce, juniper, and Rhododendron — A mix of White Pine, Arborvitae, Spruce, Juniper, and
Rhododendron completely screens a house from the road

If you already have a hedge or a fence along the property line, consider planting inside it using a mix of native trees and shrubs that change with the seasons. Start with the corners.

Trained landscape designers tend to avoid square corners and straight lines in their designed plantings. You can do the same thing. Map out curved beds that soften the corners and bring more plants further into your yard. Plant taller shrubs at the back, and choose flowering shrubs and perennials to plant in the foreground where you can enjoy them.

Fences along two neighboring properties meet to form a hard corner that is softened, and completely screened, by a curved planting of mixed trees, shrubs, and perennials

So, consider creating a privacy screen that looks more like a forest than a fence. By planting more plants, and a bigger variety of plants in more of your yard, you will have more privacy, more seasonal interest, less lawn to tend, and more habitat for birds, butterflies, and fireflies.

How’s that for a win-win-win-win?!

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.

June 29, 2023February 12, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Native Plants, Pollinators

Call the Marketing Department!

One of our most beautiful native perennials is commonly called “Hairy Beardtongue.” Yes, that’s right: Hairy. Beard. Tongue.

**A lovely plant with the worst common name ever!**
Photo: Travis Brady

While non-native flowers, even the invasive ones, often have charming names like “lily-of-the-valley,” “forget-me-not,” “star-of-Bethlehem,” “Queen Anne’s lace,” and “periwinkle,” many of our most beautiful native perennials are tagged with ugly names like “sneezeweed,” “snakeroot,” “milkweed,” “tickseed,” “spiderwort,” and “bloodroot.” Even in that list, the awful name “Hairy Beardtongue” is the loser! We need a rebranding campaign!

But until then, we can stick with scientific names — especially for the beautiful Penstemon genus, a large and varied family of native perennials.

**A garden full of lovely Penstemons in bloom**

The shape of the flowers explains why most Penstemon species are stuck with “Beardtongue” as part of their common names: Rock Beardtongue, Firecracker Beardtongue, Large-flowered Beardtongue, Rocky Mountain Beardtongue, and many others.

Penstemon flowers typically have 5 petals fused together at the top to form a nectar-rich tube. At the open end, two upper petals curve back and three lower petals reach out to provide a landing platform for pollinators. Each flower has 4 fertile stamens bearing pollen, and one infertile stamen, covered with hairy fibers, that rests on the lower lip of the flower. Presumably, that structure is what caused somebody to think of a “bearded tongue.” Why they didn’t think of a “lady’s comb” or “baby bottle brush” instead is a mystery. The scientific name Penstemon comes from the Greek words penta meaning five and stemon meaning thread or stamen. At least that name makes sense.

**Penstemon flower with so-called “beard tongue”**

**Side view showing fertile and sterile stamens**

Penstemon is the largest genus of plants native only to North America. There are over 250 different species of Penstemon found from the northern reaches of Canada through the southern tip of Mexico. The largest number and variety of these species are native to the mountains and deserts of Central and Western North America. They all have major value to insects and birds, and most of them are very pretty.

In the Northeastern US, there are two species of Penstemon that make especially fine garden plants: the aforementioned “Hairy Beardtongue” (Penstemon hirsutus), and the somewhat less disturbingly named “Foxglove Beardtongue” (Penstemon digitalis).

Penstemon hirsutus (the word hirsutus means hairy) is identified by the many very fine hairs lining its stems. It is a wonderful addition to flower gardens: carefree, drought tolerant, deer resistant, and easy to mix with other perennials. The flowers are 12 to 18 inches tall and a soft lavender or pale pink fading to white. Lance-shaped leaves are widely spaced along the stem in opposite pairs so that the stem almost appears to be piercing through them. At ground level, there is a basal rosette, or tight cluster of leaves that remain semi-evergreen in the winter. Penstemon hirsutus is a clump-forming plant that will gradually expand at the base, occasionally spreading by seed, but it is well-behaved in the garden and suitable for smaller spaces.

Downy hairs on the stems of *Penstemon hirsutus*

Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) is named for its vague resemblance to the popular English garden plant, foxglove, and the scientific name digitalis means finger, referring to the fingers of a glove. It grows taller than Penstamon hirsutus, reaching 3 to 4 feet, and has larger mostly-white flowers, with tiny purple stripes on its lower petals as nectar guides for bees. Its native habitat is moist meadows, but it can tolerate stretches of dry weather once established. It survives without any irrigation in the Meadow at the Greenburgh Nature Center and delights visitors in early summer. It can spread itself around more aggressively than P. hirsutus, but is not at all difficult to control. And while its namesake, foxglove, is famously toxic, Penstemon is not. Indigenous people all over North America found medicinal uses for the many species of Penstemon.

**Foxglove Penstemon (*Penstemon digitalis*) flowers**

*Penstemon digitalis* lights up the Meadow at the Nature Center

Both of these Penstemons bloom for weeks in early summer. They prefer full sun to part shade and are hardy in Zones 3-9. They are not at all fussy about soil conditions and are ideal candidates for low-maintenance pollinator gardens. They are both generally avoided by deer.

Penstemons form interesting seed capsules after pollination and have good fall color. They look great left standing through the winter, providing seeds and shelter for birds, and interesting form and color for gardeners.

**Fall and winter interest: Penstemon in November**

A popular cultivar of Penstemon digitalis called ‘Husker Red’ has purple leaves and pinkish, rather than white, flowers. Although the natural species is of more value to insects, ‘Husker Red’ mixes well with both Penstemon species described here, and adds foliage interest to a mixed flower border.

Penstemons are of special value to native bees and are also visited by hummingbirds. Short-tongued bees will sometimes “cheat,” biting through the tubular base of the flower to reach nectar without trading pollination services. Butterflies also are attracted by Penstemon nectar, and the leaves host a number of butterfly and moth caterpillars. Bumble bees love Penstemon! As they burrow in for nectar, the “beard tongue” brushes pollen off of their bodies, aiding pollination of the flowers.

Come to think of it, why don’t we call that fuzzy 5^th stamen the “bee-tickler” instead of “beard tongue”? Call the Marketing Department! Let’s re-brand the whole genus and declare that the new common name for Penstemon is “Bee Tickle”!

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.

March 23, 2023February 14, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Pollinators

Bird Food Grows on Trees!

Spring is here, and love is in the air for our backyard birds! After a long winter of subsisting on seeds and berries, birds need a new menu in spring. Soon they will be mating, nesting, laying and hatching eggs, and hunting from sunrise to sunset to feed their newborn chicks. That takes a lot of energy, and it requires a special diet.

Baby birds can’t eat seeds or berries. They need the protein and other nutrition found only in insects. And, though baby birds will eat a variety of insects, their favorite food is caterpillars, the larvae of moths and butterflies. Caterpillars are soft, easily digested, and loaded with nutrients. Bird parents need thousands of caterpillars to raise even a single clutch of babies. Where are all those caterpillars to be found?

**A pair of chickadees needs 7,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to raise 3 baby chicks**
Photo: Doug Tallamy

Caterpillars, quite literally, grow on trees – but only on native trees! For example, not one species of caterpillar has been observed growing to maturity (to become a moth or butterfly) on Norway Maple, a non-native tree. A bird searching for caterpillars on a Norway Maple will find nothing to feed her babies. In contrast, many native trees are hosts for hundreds of different species of caterpillars, so they produce lots of bird food.

Among native trees, some species are much more productive hosts than others. Recent studies have ranked native tree species for their ability to host caterpillars. So, which are the best trees to have around if you want to feed the birds?

Oak

The undisputed MVP of caterpillar-producing trees is the native Oak (Quercus spp.). You cannot go wrong planting a White Oak (Quercus alba), Red Oak (Quercus rubra), Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea), Pin Oak (Quercus palustris), Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), or any other Oak tree native to our region. Oaks are host plants for over 550 species of caterpillars! Think of Oaks as the grocery store for bird families.

**Though this White Oak likely holds thousands of caterpillars, it is not at all disfigured by their munching!**

Willow

Second only to Oaks as caterpillar factories are the small trees in the Willow family. Pussy Willow (Salix discolor) is a great garden plant and hosts over 450 species of caterpillars. (The familiar weeping willow tree, however, is not native to North America and is not a host plant.) Our recent blog post found here is full of information about Pussy Willow.

**Pussy Willow in bloom supports native bees**

Black Cherry

Our native Black Cherry tree (Prunus serotina) and the closely related shrub, American Plum (Prunus americana), are essentially tied with Willows as caterpillar producers, with over 450 known species using their leaves as hosts. Both also produce fruit that adult birds enjoy in the summer. Black Cherry is not often planted, but if you have one in your yard, take good care of it, and the birds will thank you. American Plum has beautiful flowers, can form a dense thicket, and is a great shrub for a privacy screen if you have some space.

**Bees, butterflies, and birds all flock to American Plum**

Birch

Native birches are next in line as caterpillar producers, hosting just over 400 species of moths and butterflies. River Birch (Betula nigra) is a favorite as a landscape plant, and its crazy bark holds a variety of insects that attract woodpeckers all winter. Chickadees, warblers, wrens, and many other songbirds hunt and find caterpillars in the leaves of birch trees.

**The bark of River Birch adds winter interest**

Apple

Malus, the apple tree family, hosts over 300 species of caterpillars and includes the lovely crabapples that bloom so profusely in late spring. Crabapple is another caterpillar host that is of equal value to native bees because of the pollen and nectar provided by its flowers.

Maple

Our native Red Maples (Acer rubrum) and Sugar Maples (Acer saccharum) host 285 species of caterpillars and are gorgeous shade trees. But be sure to choose one of these natives rather than a Japanese Maple or the invasive Norway Maple, which do not host native insect species at all.

White Pine

It may surprise you to know that even our native White Pine (Pinus strobus) is an impressive larval host to moths and butterflies. Over 200 species of caterpillars develop on the needles of native pines, and many of them over-winter on the tree. If you watch carefully, you may spot birds combing the branches of pines and making trips back to their nests with juicy caterpillars for their babies.

**Pine trees are also caterpillar hosts**

It is often said that trees are essential to life. They pull carbon dioxide from the air and store it for years. They produce oxygen, manage storm water, improve soil, provide shade, and shelter so many animals. It is easy to forget, however, that their leaves also feed the little wiggly creatures that make life possible for all of our beloved birds. Our choices – which trees to plant, which to take down, and which to care for – have a huge impact on the world around us. Choose wisely!

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.

June 16, 2022February 13, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Pollinators

Happy Pollinator Month!

June is here — the bees are buzzing, the butterflies are fluttering, and everybody is excited about summer flowers. It’s National Pollinator Month!

At the Nature Center, we are also celebrating the first anniversary of our newest Pollinator Garden. It is astonishing to see how lush, diverse, and colorful our garden has grown in just one year!

Want to know how we did it?

Right next to our big open lawn, in a very visible spot near the beehives, there was a messy patch of weeds. The soil was poor and dry, and there was very little shade. So…the perfect spot for a pollinator garden! The first task, done by Guy Pardee of Suburban Natives LLC, was to clear the area, getting rid of all the weedy invasive plants. Then, the ground was covered with leaves and left for the winter.

The following spring, we cleared it again and prepared to plant.

A good friend to the Nature Center, Bill Boyce of Biosphere Landscape Architects, came up with a great idea for the garden. We would make a literal “pollinator pathway” wandering through the blooming flowers, with signs along the way identifying pollinators. Bill did a “back-of-the-envelope” concept sketch for us on site.

We roughed out the lines in the dirt, and then defined the path with mulch.

Then it was time to plant. We chose tough native plants — species that evolved in our region growing in open dry meadows, able to survive without fertilizer, pesticide, or supplemental water. And though we planned to water and weed the garden for a season or two until the plants were established, we wanted a garden that eventually would need little maintenance. We also needed plants that would not be attractive to deer, rabbits, or woodchucks. We made a plant list, scoured the nurseries, and bought about 450 plants in containers (with funds contributed by multiple donors).

If you would like to know which plants we selected, click on the link below.

Plants-in-the-Pollinator-Garden-at-the-Greenburgh-Nature-Center Download

We started in the middle, planting the “spine” of the garden with tall, deep-rooted Switch Grasses that would support the tallest flowers in the center of the garden.

**The center “spine” of the Pollinator Garden**

We then worked outward, planting clusters of flowering species arranged in descending height. Shorter native grasses and ground covers were added along the edges to fill in and provide texture. We planted densely, aiming to have the plants grow together to occupy all soil areas within 2 seasons, thereby reducing available space for weeds.

**Plants are spaced 12 – 18 inches apart**

We decided not to mulch after planting, for a few reasons. Some of the invasive plants removed from the area were deep-rooted and would re-appear soon, with or without mulch. Weeds would be easier to see and remove promptly if we did not mulch. We also hoped our new plants would quickly grow together, expanding to occupy the entire ground space, and reseed themselves freely in the garden. Mulch would inhibit those natural growth processes. Finally, mulch would prevent the pollinators we are trying to attract from nesting in the ground, as many of them want to do. We want to support pollinators through their entire life-cycles.

We finished planting the Pollinator Garden on June 2, 2021. By August 2, it was in full bloom and alive with pollinators.

**Two months after planting, August 2021**

As we had hoped, this spring the garden came back full and lush. Weeding is ongoing, but not as difficult as we had anticipated.

**The Pollinator Garden this week, June 2022**
Photo: Nick Macaluso

So, please come celebrate Pollinator Month with a walk on our new pathway, and let the pollinators give you a tour!

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.

June 9, 2022February 13, 2025 Cathy Ludden Around the Grounds, Invasives, Pollinators

The Trouble With Double

One beautiful spring morning, we stood under our Kwanzan cherry tree and noticed that something was missing: pollinators! Not one bee or butterfly was visiting the tree, even though it was loaded with flowers. Not far away, a blooming crabapple tree was literally humming with pollinators! What accounted for the difference?

We realized that the cherry tree has “double blossoms.” Its flowers have been modified by humans to replace all of its pollen-bearing stamens with flower petals. The flowers are beautiful – but only to people. There is no pollen or nectar for bees or butterflies. The flowers of the crabapple, on the other hand, were loaded with pollen and nectar. And the pollinators were all there for breakfast!

**The stamens are missing completely in these sterile double blossoms**

**The stamens in these flowers are ready for pollinators**

Flowers are the reproductive organs of plants. Pollen contains the genetic material that must be transferred from the (male) stamens to the (female) pistil for pollination (fertilization) to occur. In most flowers, the petals form an outer ring and the stamens are just inside, forming a second ring around the pistil. The flower’s colorful petals, its fragrance, and the sweet juice called nectar all are designed to attract pollinators. As pollinators sip the nectar located at the base of stamens, and collect pollen to feed their offspring, they “accidentally” transfer pollen from flower to flower and deposit it on the pistil where pollination happens. Successful pollination results in seeds, which then grow to produce more plants.

But sometimes nature makes little mistakes. Sometimes a plant will develop extra flower petals where the stamens should be. This is not a good thing for the flower, because with fewer stamens there is less pollen, which reduces the chances of pollination and, therefore, reproduction. In nature, plants that continue to develop too many petals instead of stamens eventually would fail to reproduce.

For hundreds of years, however, horticulturists have been fascinated by this “mistake” of nature. Humans enjoy flowers, and we tend to think bigger and fuller flowers are better. So, when horticulturists discover a flower that has extra petals where stamens should be, they can select that plant for special treatment. They can propagate the plants with extra petals and, eventually, even develop plants with so many extra petals they have no stamens (or pollen) at all! Without stamens, of course, those plants are sterile. They cannot develop fruit or seeds or reproduce themselves.

Roses are a good example. Natural roses have 5 petals surrounding a circle of many stamens carrying pollen.

**A simple rose with 5 petals, stamens with pollen, and pistil in the center**

Roses frequently make the “mistake” of trading stamens for extra petals.

**Note the under-developed petals in the ring of stamens**

Over centuries, horticulturists have selected these “mistakes” for intentional manipulation to create roses that are more interesting to people.

**In fully double roses, extra petals replace virtually all of the flower’s stamens and pollen is scarce or non-existant**

Today we have thousands of flowering trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals that are popular specifically because they have double blossoms. But this comes with a cost to pollinators. Butterflies need nectar. Bees need nectar and pollen to feed their offspring. Butterfly and bee populations are declining under pressure from loss of habitat, pesticide, and limited food sources. We can help with our garden choices.

**Double peony with no stamens, pollen, or nectar**

**Double trillium with no stamens or available pollen**

**Double sunflower – native, but not useful for pollinators**

**Single peony with stamens and pollinator**

We humans love our double blossoms, but if you’re making a choice, think about providing a big variety of native single-blossom flowers for our pollinator friends!