Greetings!
This is one of our favorite times of the HGCNY program year because we get to be outside looking at gardens.
Traditionally, we call our tours Show Me, Help Me tours: the host gets to show us their native plants and habitat features, and we offer suggestions for areas the host would like some help with. All in all, an interesting and educational experience for all concerned.
The tentative dates for these tours are:
Sat. June 26 at 9:00 am
Sat. July 17 at 9:00 am
Sat. Aug 21 at 9:00 am
More details in the next newsletter!
I'll also be giving a presentation on Creating a Bird-Friendly Yard on Thursday, June 17 at 7:00 at Liverpool Library. It's free and open to the public.
Janet Allen, President
Habitat Gardening in Central New York
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Host black swallowtail butterflies
Black swallowtail caterpillar on parsley  | The host plants for the beautiful black swallowtail butterflies are often listed as dill, parsley, carrot, fennel, Queen Anne's lace, or some rues. These plants are indeed used by this butterfly as hosts, but curiously, these are not native plants (one of the few exceptions to the general principle that insects need native plants.)
Black swallowtail butterfly visiting golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)  | So what did this butterfly do before these non-natives were introduced to this continent? One plant native to our region that the black swallowtail butterfly uses as a host plant is golden Alexander (Zizia aptera or Z. aurea).
For a list of some host plants for other butterflies, see our June 2, 2009 newsletter. Even though we usually think of butterflies relying on flowers, it's interesting to see how many of their host plants are not herbaceous plants, but trees! Yet one more reason to plant native trees and lots of them!
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Creating smudge art and other tips for summer in your yard
This monarda (Monarda didyma) would make a vibrant red!  |
The New England Wildflower Society has an interesting list of 10 tips for summer, such as tips on container gardening, reducing turf, welcoming native bees, and others.
One of their tips is about creating smudge art. Create blocks of color by smudging plants onto areas of a piece of paper. Add some brown from leaves, some red or blue from berries, some green
from grass, and voila - a flower powered painting. Let that dry, then
take a fine tipped marker and add lines to define shapes and objects. A good project for kids when they start complaining of being bored this summer! (Young children need supervision so they don't eat the "paints"--especially some of the berries.)
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