Still Open for Business

While today's big storm is bringing about cooler temperatures (just in time for some frigid trick-or-treating, of course!), for most of October it has been warm and beautiful here.  We have yet to get our first frost.

the front garden, a couple weeks ago

Due to the lack of frost, many pollinators are still out and about.  This late in the season, they will take any sources of food they can get - and, of course, the Red House Garden is still open for business.

Hello?  Any food in here?

My favorite perennial available for pollinators in October is my Willowleaf Sunflower, which gets bigger and better every year.  The blooms are sadly now over, but for much of October it was bee-utiful.

Willowleaf Sunflower

Bees go crazy for native Asters, and I am so glad that the groundhogs and bunnies finally let mine get taller than nubs this year.  Some are still in bloom in the garden.

bee on Aster laevis 'Bluebird'

The Montauk Daisies are also still blooming, though looking a little more ragged by now.

Montauk Daisies

The plant that impressed me most this year, however, was the Sheffield Mums.

Sheffield Mums in the greenhouse garden

Every time a big rainstorm comes, they look like they are out for the count, but they just pop right back up again.  Pollinators love them, and the only wildlife that bothers them is the occasional Cucumber Beetle.

"I get knocked down, but I get up again.  You are never gonna keep me down..."

Along with the late-blooming perennials, my annuals are indispensable to the fall buffet. Self-seeding Cosmos, Nicotiana, and Sweet Alyssum pop up every year in my garden and keep going until frost (or even through light ones, as in the case of the Sweet Alyssum.)

Cosmos 'Picotee'

I might actually have to buy more Cosmos seed for next year, as I didn't get as many this year.  The Verbena bonariensis, on the other hand, outdid itself, coming up everywhere and attracting hordes of butterflies to the garden.

Painted Lady butterfly on Verbena bonariensis

Like many other people around the country, I saw an explosion of Painted Ladies in the garden this year.  It was such a good year for these butterflies that a huge mass of migrating Painted Lady butterflies stretching 100 miles wide over Denver, Colorado, was recently caught on radar!  The befuddled meteorologists had to turn to social media for help to figure out what was going on.

Painted Lady butterfly on Verbena bonariensis

I've also been ecstatic to see so many Monarchs in the garden this year, after years of such dangerously low populations.  Unusually warm temperatures coupled with strong headwinds have resulted in the latest migration ever recorded, and I spotted Monarchs in my garden just a couple days ago.  I do hope they can fly down south in time to hibernate before the cold weather hits!

Monarch butterfly on Verbena bonariensis

The weather is turning colder, and I am sure it will be freezing before we know it.  Until then, we stay open for dining, and all bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are welcome!  Happy gardening as always,

and, for the little guys, bon appétit!

Red House Garden Pop-up Restaurant

Have you ever been to one of those trendy pop-up restaurants where a celebrity chef opens a restaurant for only a limited time?

Yeah, me neither (and I'd hate to know just how much it would cost for a meal at one), but I love how right in my own backyard there seems to be an array of different pop-up restaurants for pollinators all throughout the season (and the meals are free!)   All the pollinators and their mothers seem to swarm to the hot new location until the spread is over, and then it's off to the next act that pops up in the garden.  And for the past couple of weeks, the hot new place in the garden was...

....the Carolina Silverbell tree, aka Halesia carolina.

This location has caused quite the buzz (literally).  Pollinators of all kinds have been swarming to dine from its hundreds of white bells full of delectable nectar and pollen.  I have spotted all sorts of bees, bugs, and even hummingbirds feasting here when things were open for business.

The Carolina Silverbell is normally a small understory tree or large multi-stemmed shrub and prefers partial shade to full sun and moist, slightly acidic soil.  It is native to the Southeastern US, mostly found in the mountains and Peidmont sections of the Carolinas, hence the name.  I first saw a Carolina Silverbell tree in flower at Duke Gardens when I lived in North Carolina, and I knew I (and all the local diners) wanted one in my own garden.

a Carolina Silverbell at Duke Gardens

My tree is only about 5 or 6 feet tall now (more like a shrub, really), but eventually Silverbells grow to be 20 to 40 feet tall and 15 to 30 feet wide.   They are hardy from zone 5-8 and like some protection from wind.  The wood is rather soft and close-grained, making it valued for wood crafts.  They bloom their small white bells for about two weeks in April or May.  There are also pink-blooming varieties, such as 'Arnold Pink'.

Carolina Silverbell may be only be a limited-time-only pop-up restaurant for the pollinators in spring, but it does offer more bounty for wildlife at other times throughout the year.  Its leaves are hosts for several different moths and squirrels eat the seeds.  I am also very curious as to how this tree got its nickname of 'Opossum-wood'...  (Anyone know the story to that one?  Should I start expecting opossums to move in and partying at my Silverbell tree?)

It is now almost the end of May, and my Carolina Silverbell has finally finished flowering.  The show is over, the restaurant closed up, and the swarms of hungry diners have moved on to find the next eating establishment to pop up in the garden.

I wonder if they will enjoy the next place quite so much?

Pussy Willows to the Rescue for Precocious Pollinators

As winter recedes into spring, the pollinators start emerging on warm, mild days. First the gnats, flies, and beetles, then the bumbles and other bees appear, hungry and ready to forage.  Finally now the early blooming flowers of spring are beginning to open here in New England to meet that demand.  But where did precocious pollinators go before now, on those sporadically warm but still barren days we got before those spring flowers started opening?  To find that answer, we have to look up...

emerging Pussy willow catkins

We don't often think of trees as great plants for pollinators, but they are actually some of the earliest available sources of pollen and nectar.  Here the American Pussy Willow, or Salix discolor, is one of the earliest bloomers around and a wonderful resource for bees and other early pollinators.  They break out of dormancy in late winter or very early spring, the distinctive furry coats on their catkins trapping heat from the sun to keep the developing reproductive parts warm.  

bee on male Pussy Willow tree

The furry emerging catkins open into white and yellowish odd sort of flowers.  Pussy Willows are dioecious, that is, they have male catkins and female catkins on different plants.  The earlier blooming male trees have the most to offer pollinators, with their catkin flowers containing both strongly scented nectar and pollen. The female willow trees, whose more greenish-colored catkins tend to open slightly later, offer only nectar.  

bee on female Pussy Willow catkin

While many trees with catkins are wind-pollinated, the Pussy Willow relies on insects for pollination. Its early flowering time proves beneficial, as there is much less competition for attracting pollinators when hardly anything else is in bloom!

The American Pussy Willow is native to much of the northern half of North America, and grows around 10 to 20 feet tall, usually with multiple stems.   Like many willows, it loves water and sun.  It grows wild all around the Red House Garden in the wetlands and in the detention pond we have out back. I love the Pussy Willows, as they are the first sign of the coming spring here.  Now that other trees and spring flowers are now starting to bloom, the Pussy Willows are finishing up for the season, leaves slowly replacing catkins.  Their job has been done...

a tiny pollinator on a male Pussy Willow catkin

...and what an important job it is to those early pollinators.

December Blooms and... Bees?!

Well, it's now the middle of December.  Here in Massachusetts that surely means it's getting cold out there.  Winter coats and boots have been brought out and snow blowers and shovels made ready for the very real possibility of snow in time for Christmas...

Or not.

The weather this December has been so mild that I could almost call it balmy.

My new Helleborus niger 'Jacob' is in bloom and attracting the pollinators that are out and about in this unusually warm weather.

While I still have some Alyssum and even Yarrow still holding on to blooms, it is the new flowers of this early blooming Hellebore that are the most enticing for the pollinators.

This one's mine!

I am quite surprised to have flowers blooming and bees buzzing in December...

but after last year's record-breaking winter,

I'm definitely not complaining!

Happy gardening!

To find out what else is blooming in other people's gardens around the world this December, visit Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens blog.

The Bee and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I thought that inside this Fall Crocus would be a perfect place to weather out a rainstorm.

The only flaw in my plan seems to be how to get back out...

Woohoo!  Got this leg out!

Help!  I can't get my big bee butt out of this thing!

Maybe the sun will come out soon and open this flower up?

Sigh.

How do I get myself into these situations? 

Abundant Appreciation for Autumn Alyssum

The weather has turned into a yo-yo, dropping into 20's and decimating the garden with frost before bouncing back up into the 70's for several days of gorgeously warm weather.  So what's a pollinator to do with most of the garden blooms gone?  The last remaining flowers are getting swarmed with bees: the Sheffield Mums, the handful of Autumn Crocus, the last of the blooming Asters, and a couple annuals that can tolerate a light frost - including the impressively hardy Sweet Alyssum.

I have talked before about how useful Alyssum is in the garden - it's drought tolerant, easy to grow, makes a great border in the garden, has a great fragrance, and attracts beneficial insects.  But it's also a great boon to a fall garden.  Sometimes it can flag a bit during the height of summer, especially further south, but by fall it rejuvenates.  And, to the appreciation of the local pollinators, established Sweet Alyssum plants can take light frosts.

Alyssum is part of the botanical family Brassicaceae, aka the cabbage and mustard family, interestingly enough.  It is native to the Mediterranean region, Canary Islands, Azores, and the Bay of Biscay in France, among other coastal regions, which is how it ended up with the botanical name Lobularia maritima, with 'maritima' meaning 'of the sea'.  It grows naturally on sandy dunes, which explains why it is so fabulously drought tolerant.

Of course, the ability to be drought tolerant and reseed itself around can be both a blessing and a bother.  As great as it is in my garden, beware that in dryer, sandier areas it can be a little too giving, and in California it has managed to land itself on the invasive list.

Sweet Alyssum thriving in my hellstrip

Would you be surprised to find out that Sweet Alyssum can actually be a short-lived perennial?  In warm climates, it will live more than a year.  It has no chance of living through our type of winter, but for now all the little blooms are a welcome addition to the fall garden...

and much appreciated by a lot of little guys.

Nursery Labels for Neonicotinoid Pesticides

Many of you know that bee-lovers have been pushing companies to label their plants for neonicotinoid pesticides.  Neonicotinoids are pesticides that are absorbed into the leaves and stem and other parts of the plant from the roots up.  Thus, they are less harmful for humans to use because you don't have to worry about residue or spray drift, but unfortunately they are also suspected to have a detrimental effect on helpful wildlife such as bees.

Recent studies have shown that, even though the low levels of neonicotinoids in plant nectar and pollen don't outright kill bees, it still adversely affects the bees' brains, causing them to struggle to learn and remember things.  Studies have found there is a relationship between neonicotinoid use and the Colony Collapse Disorder of bees, which has gotten so much press lately.

Check your labels!  Systemic products made by companies such as Bayer often contain
neonicotinoids, two of which are Imidacloprid and Clothianidin.

Since many gardeners certainly don't want the plants in the garden to be contributing to the death of bees, people have been petitioning the big box nurseries to label their plants for these pesticides.  I have to applaud BJ's Wholesale Club and Home Depot for stepping up (yay!).  They both have agreed to require their vendors to either stop using neonicotinoid pesticides or to label for them if they do continue to use them.

new Home Depot labels for Neonicotinoid Pesticides

I was at Home Depot the other day and got to see their new labels.  They say, "This plant is protected from problematic Aphids, Whiteflies, Beetles, Mealy Bugs and other unwanted pests by Neonicotinoids."  Wow, I am impressed with their marketing team - here I was expecting them to have a little tiny label shamefully admitting a plant had neonicotinoid pesticides, but instead they were spinning it into a positive thing!

back of the label

Most of their indoor plants had these labels.  I must say, after having battled all sorts of pest problems with my indoor plants, I rather understand why they would want to use neonicotinoids on them.  And since those plants are indoors, they aren't hurting bees.  (However, I do wonder what would happen if my plant-loving cat ate one of those plants...)

What about outdoor plants, though?  Do many of them have labels?

We don't have a lot of outdoor plants in stock yet, as it is definitely still winter up here in the Boston area.  Home Depot only had their berry plants and grapes in.  I was glad to see that most of them were not grown with neonicotinoid pesticides, though there were a couple varieties of grapes labeled for it.

I guess time will tell as to whether or not people will buy them.  Hopefully, the labels will lead people to be more cautious about buying these plants, or, at the very least, cause them to do a little research about what these pesticides are that are on their plants.

And hopefully, people will make different choices in their plant buying - putting pressure on growers to use alternative (and hopefully more wildlife-friendly) pest management.

So has anyone else seen these labels?  Or seen BJ's tags?  I am hoping some Southern gardeners can tell if many of their outdoor plants are labeled with neonicotinoid pesticides.   I am hoping, too, that other big-box stores will follow Home Depot and BJ's leadership in giving their consumers the ability to make more knowledgeable choices!  Kudos to them!

Gaze Into the Cosmos

It is now September.  Gone are the multitude of Purple Coneflowers, but in their place are now one of my favorite cottage annuals - Cosmos!

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Picotee'

I read on a garden website somewhere that if you have trouble growing Cosmos, well, you might just want to take up golf!  I, for one, am thankful for such easy to grow plants that put on such a great display with very little effort from me.

the front garden

Cosmos bipinnatus are ridiculously easy to grow from seed.  In the spring I went around the garden throwing seeds all over right before a good rain, and that was pretty much all the care I gave them.

a Cosmos bud about to open

Cosmos bipinnatus are part of the Aster family and are sometimes called Mexican asters (since they are native to Mexico).  They tolerate poor or dry soil.  Just give them plenty of sun.

The bees love them, and soon the Cosmos will be bursting with seeds and attracting Goldfinches in droves (as well as a couple children that like collecting the seeds for their next year's garden).

center of Cosmos 'Versailles Red'

If it is possible to stop gazing at the Cosmos (they are mesmerizingly beautiful), there are other things going on in the garden.  The chilly weather we've suddenly been having turns a gardener's mind to Asters and Mums, both of which went into my whisky barrel planters.

The Nicotania is still going in the mailbox garden.  

(That stuff is seriously like the Energizer bunny of the plant world!)

The Caryopteris 'Worcester Gold' is in bloom, to the delight of many different types of bees.

Carpenter bee on Caryopteris

This time of the year is also when the Goldenrod blooms.  I didn't personally plant any Goldenrod in my garden (in fact I weeded some out), but all the wild areas around the yard are full of the beautiful golden flowers.

Plasterer bee on Goldenrod

It's hard to believe that the summer is pretty much over.  There's a nip in the air, and newscasters are already talking of possible frost.  I refuse to believe it!  

I'm going back to gazing at my Cosmos and thinking summery thoughts!

I hope you all are enjoying the last few days of summer gardening!

To see what other garden bloggers around the world have blooming in their garden, visit Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens blog.