NOT a baby hummingbird, but a hummingbird moth on one of its favorite nectar plants, monarda

We have a BONUS "Show Me, Help Me" tour this year.

We're bringing back our tradition of having a professional landscaper give some tips at the tour.

Our landscaper will be Laura Shaddak, and we'll be touring Joe and Pat Macie's home in DeWitt near St. Sophia's church.

The Macies have a fairly typical front yard with about half lawn and trees and an attempt at a perennial garden (deer and bunnies permitting). The backyard is heavily wooded (locust, box elder, hawthorn, maple and an old pear tree ) and is full of fairly mature buckthorns that they have spent the summer slowly removing. The ground is full of garlic mustard. They have a struggling veggie garden - struggling because of shade and deer and bunnies.
 
As with our meetings, the Show Me, Help Me tours are free and open to the public. RSVP Joe and Pat by email for the specific address and directions.

I'll be giving some more tours of my yard, too, on the dates listed below. I'll send directions upon receiving your RSVP by email. Please indicate which tour date you will be attending Each tour is limited to 8 people, but "re-visitors" are very welcome!
Sun. July 27 at 4:00 pm
Sat. Aug 2 at 9:00 am

We hope you can attend at least one tour to see habitat gardening with native plants in action! 

Janet Allen, President, HGCNY

Hummingbird enjoying jewelweed

This week it was reported on the Monarch listserv that Allen C. in Michigan had recaptured a banded Ruby-throated Hummingbird that, based on banding records, is at least 9 years old and thus, the oldest Ruby-throat ever confirmed. (The average lifespan is about 4 years.)

This individual bird has been recaptured a half-dozen times over the years since she was banded and always at the same home!

He calculated that she's traveled at least 36,000 miles in her migrations during her lifetime, and possibly as much as 49,000 miles, depending on where she spends the winter.

He also calculated that she has probably produced between 18 and 36 young in the past 9 years, so with an 80% mortality rate of hatch-year birds, 4-8 of those have likely lived to be adults.

If you peruse the USGS's longevity database you'll find that birds are capable of living quite a long time, though most don't. (Outdoor cats are one reason.)

Catching little insects (the little white specks)

Feeding hummingbirds
Many people use commercial hummingbird feeders, but it's difficult to do so responsibly in warm weather. Feeders must be cleaned every few days since sugar water can ferment and bacteria and mold can grow. (Here are tips and the facts from Cornell's Lab of Ornithology.)

It's so much easier to supply the native plants hummers want! No cleaning required! Some currently blooming favorites are the red beebalm (Monarda didyma), native honeysuckle vine (Lonicera sempervirens) and jewelweed (Impatiens capensis).

Here are more hummer-favorite native plants.

But hummingbirds also need insects! As the Audubon website says:
Research has shown that ecosystems with a high percentage of native plants will produce a higher volume of nectar than exotic plantings, and thus support a greater concentration of insects and spiders available as prey for hummingbirds and other birds.

More ways you can help hummingbirds
* Eliminate pesticides!
* Help scientists learn more about hummingbirds to further conservation efforts. Be a citizen scientist for Audubon's Hummingbirds at Home and report your sightings either online or with mobile apps.
* Buy Bird-friendly coffee (certified by the Smithsonian Institution's Migratory Bird Center) to ensure that they have a winter home. Most coffee is produced on sun plantations that are destroying winter habitat in Central America. Read more about coffee.

Some hummingbird fun
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a new citizen science blog that features hummingbirds this time.
Hungry, Hungry Hummers notes that hummers eat 2 times their body weight every day and lets you calculate how much you would have to drink to equal the same!
Beat the Beats is an interactive game that lets you try to click more times in 5 seconds than a hummingbird beats its wings. Try it!

Leaves left on the soil decompose naturally

Just as sustainable agriculture practitioners are realizing that they're actually in the business of growing soil, not plants, we homeowners are also in the "business" of being good stewards of our soil. Given healthy soil, plants will grow.

Some of the important functions of soil are detailed in an article by Thomas J. Akin that revisits his previous article on the same topic published ten years ago, updating it with new scientific discoveries.

Back then he noted that "(h)igher SOM [soil organic matter] levels attract a multitude of arthropods, insects, and animals (both invertebrate and vertebrate), bacteria and fungi. Increased biological activity improves soil quality, which, in turn, strengthens the root systems of plants."

Today, he notes that "(t)he increased biological activity also improves the soil's structure, making the pore spaces in the soil much more resistant to collapse and compaction."

(NOTE: The Symphony of the Soil documentary the article links to is excellent, even though it gets off to a rather slow start.)

Read the whole article on the Ecological Landscaping Association website.

We generally have "live" programs, but we made two exceptions this past program year: we heard a video presentation by Doug Tallamy, and we viewed Catherine Zimmerman's Meadowscaping video. Both were enthusiastically received!

Good news!
Now Catherine Zimmerman is working on a new film, and it's featuring Doug Tallamy. Hometown Habitat is a 90-minute documentary that will show how and why native plants are critical to the survival and vitality of local ecosystems. Doug Tallamy will provide the narrative thread throughout the movie.

The message: "We can change the notion that humans are here and nature is some place else. It doesn't have to, and shouldn't be that way." Each individual has the power to conserve resources, restore habitat for wildlife and bring beauty to their patch of earth.

In the last newsletter, we mentioned that you could donate on The Meadow Project website. We've since learned that Wild Ones is fundraising for this documentary, too. We need $5,000 in donations to get mentioned in the credits. This would be a big boost for Wild Ones and for our goal of encouraging people to plant native plant to preserve biodiversity.

Wild Ones Silent Auction
All profits from the auction will be donated to Hometown Habitat. HGCNY has contributed a few items to the auction and other donations will be accepted, too. Read the Guidelines and bid on the items!

Individual donations to Hometown Habitat
HGCNY will be making a donation, but you can also send an individual donation. Note that it is a donation for Hometown Habitat and send it to Wild Ones at:
Wild Ones
PO Box 1274
Appleton, WI 54912

Wild Ones will pool individuals' donations, donations made by chapters, and the profits from the Online Auction and hopefully we'll reach our $5,000 goal.

In This Issue

Future butterfly on a dill leaf, just hatched and eating its eggshell

St. John's wort

It's not too early to starting thinking about our fall plant sale. 1) Think about which plants you would like to purchase at our sale. We'll try to have them available if we find a source. Email John with your requests.

2) As you observe your plantings this spring and summer, note which plants you'd like to donate to our sale. Consider potting them up early so they're established in their pots in time for our sale on Sept. 13.

Our plant sale profits fund this newsletter and other HGCNY activities.