Wild Ones LogoHabitat Gardening
in Central New York
    Issue #15 - September 5, 2009
In This Issue
Thank yous!
Your garden has a function
Simplify your life
Native plant sale
Sept 27: Media Images of Nature
The scoop on monarchs
Achoo!
Our sponsors

The Plantsmen Nursery
The greatest diversity of native plants and other items of interest to habitat gardeners
Growing Wild Perennials

Maple Hill Nursery

Phoenix Flower Farm

Wild Birds Unlimited
Thank yous!
Thank you to Alice Aylesworth, Ronda Tambasco, Carol Biesmeyer, and John Allen who helped staff our NYS Fair booth last weekend.

Your garden has a function
In the past we have not designed gardens that play a critical ecological role in the landscape, but we must do so in the future. The importance of our doing this cannot be overstated.

We need to quickly replace unnecessary lawn with densely planted woodlots in the East and West, and natural prairies in the Midwest; whatever can serve as habitat for our local biodiversity.
 
Homeowners can do this by planting the borders of their properties with plants native to their region: In the East, native trees such as white oaks (Quercus alba), black willows (Salix nigra), red maples (Acer rubrum), green ashes (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), black walnuts (Juglans nigra), river birches (Betula nigra) and shagbark hickories (Carya ovata), under-planted with woodies like serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis), arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum), hazelnut (Corylus americanus), and blueberries (Vaccinium spp).

Our studies have shown that even modest increases in the native plant cover on suburban properties significantly increases the number and species of breeding birds, including birds of conservation concern.

~ Doug Tallamy from Gardening for Life article published in Wild Ones Journal
 
Simplify Your Life
Another local group, Living Green, Living Good, will co-sponsor with Liverpool Library the Northwest Earth Institute discussion course called Voluntary Simplicity. Here's more information on the course and readings.

The group starts on Sat. Sept. 19, 10:30 - 12:00, and continues for 5 weeks. The manual of readings costs $22 (couples are invited to share a book), payable at the first meeting.

To register, go to the Liverpool Library calendar of events and click on the Sept. 19 course to register online.
Greetings!

Alas, summer is winding down. But a habitat garden provides habitat all year long, so there's always something of interest.

Fall is a great time to plant, and so we're again hosting a plant sale - including trees and shrubs that are so important for supporting biodiversity.

Fall is also the time for the start of our regular monthly programs, which include a mix of "big idea" programs and nitty-gritty how-to programs. All are free and open to the public. Come and bring a friend!

Janet Allen,
President, Habitat Gardening in Central New York
Annual HGCNY Native Plant Sale

This sale has two purposes: first, to raise money to fund our programs, and second, to get native plants planted.
 
We rely on HGCNYers to supply most of the plants for this sale, so please donate your extra volunteer seedlings or divisions to our sale.
*** Native plants only, please!
***


We'll also have a sweetspire (Itea virginica) for auction, donated by Larry Keassa from Maple Hill Nursery in Manlius. Itea's fall color is spectacular, and its spring flowers are beautiful, too. Thank you, Larry!

You'll have an opportunity to order trees and shrubs potted seedlings, too. Here's the list for you to peruse.

Here's the procedure:
* Select plants from this list of plants either by mail or at the plant sale.
* Give us a check for the order (or mail it to arrive by Saturday).
* You'll be notified when the order is in (probably the week of Sept. 20), and you can pick up your purchase at the Allens'.

LOCATION:
The Allens - 401 Parsons Dr., Westvale
DATE: Saturday September 12, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. 
If you're bringing plants, come at 9:00 am and stay to shop before the crowds arrive at 10!
Sept. 27:  "The Significance of Media Images of Nature"

We're pleased to have Dr. Mark Meisner as our first speaker this year. Dr. Meisner, Assistant Professor of Environmental Communication at SUNY-ESF will discuss and illustrate some of the key ways that the natural world is portrayed through the media. These include Nature as a problem, Nature as a resource, and Nature as a victim or patient. The implications of these and other such representations of Nature will be discussed in relation to how Nature is perceived, valued and treated in North American culture.

Dr. Meisner directs the Environmental Communication Network and edits Indications, the Environmental Communication and Culture blog.

DATE: Sunday, Sept. 27 at 2:00 pm at Le Moyne College. SPECIAL NOTE: Although our programs usually take place in the Library's Special Activities Room, this month it will take place in the Coyne Science Center in Room 227. Here are the detailed campus directions and a map.

Our meetings are free and open to the public. Please join us!
The scoop on Monarchs and their journey
  Besides being beautiful, the monarch fascinates people because this small insect completes a long journey to Mexico, a place the individual butterfly has never before seen. How does it do it? [The monarch here is pictured nectaring on Liatris ligulistylus]

Scientists don't have all the answers, but you'll definitely learn a lot about this remarkable journey from the website Journey North. And if you're a teacher, you'll also find a wealth of top-quality science activity materials for your students.

Besides interesting background info, there are weekly updates on the journey south. Here's an excerpt from Sept. 3: "Spectacular roosts were reported in Nebraska this week. With tens of thousands of butterflies, they were the largest yet of the season. Both roosts were found beside blooming alfalfa fields, a welcome source of nectar for migrating monarchs who are traveling through a sea of cropland. Early arrivals continue to be reported from the south."

You could peruse these FAQ about monarchs for hours! It's a wealth of information about monarch characteristics, life cycle, ecology, and conservation. And these answers are all supplied by prominent scientists who specialize in monarchs.

And don't miss out by thinking you're too old to look at the "For Kids" section. It includes information, videos, and more that will interest adults, too. For example, see if you can figure out this amazing "Mystery Photo."

And when you've satisfied your curiosity about monarchs, check out the sections on hummingbirds and other migratory creatures.
Achoo!
  You may indeed be sneezing, but please don't blame it on goldenrod! The idea that goldenrod causes allergies is a myth - a myth that dies hard it seems.

More likely, ragweed (Ambrosia) is to blame. It often grows in areas where goldenrod is growing, though, so which plant do you notice when you start sneezing? The showy goldenrod, of course, not the nondescript ragweed.

Plants such as ragweed are wind-pollinated, not insect-pollinated as is goldenrod. Wind-pollinated plants need huge quantities of lightweight pollen to ensure pollination - and some of this pollen is bound to reach your nose.

Goldenrod and other insect-pollinated plants have smaller quantities of heavy, sticky pollen - all that's necessary to get pollinated by insects, but not to reach your nose.

Ragweed (Ambrosia)~From Wikipedia

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
This is a scanning electron micrograph of an Ambrosia trifida plant, or more commonly known as ragweed. When ragweed pollen is disbursed, many people have a reaction, but because they don't see the tiny flowers on the ragweed, they assume it's the pollen from the larger flowered goldenrod, which blooms at the same time. Note the dispersed pollen granules.

Some beautiful goldenrods

Insects and butterflies will thank you for planting at least one of these nectar-rich goldenrods (Solidago). Here are just two of the many garden-worthy species:

Monarch on stiff goldenrodThis is a monarch enjoying nectar from stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida), one of many species of garden-worthy goldenrod.






Fireworks goldenrod This is the appropriately named cultivar of Soldago rugosa called 'Fireworks.'