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Ilona's Garden Journal




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Monarch Butterflies In The Garden

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This year I saw a big uptick of Monarchs, along with many other types of butterflies in my garden. The most promising thing is the many Monarch caterpillars that I see happily munching on my plants.

I don’t begrudge them.

The garden has lots of Milkweed in it ( grown just for Danaus plexippus), but surprisingly the plants that the larvae most love seem to be Ruta graveolens, or better known as “Rue”.

Full grown butterflies absolutely love the butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa and “Butterfly Bush“, which I also grow, but the caterpillars don’t noticeably feed on them. That surprised me.

Other Plants They Visit In My Garden
  • Autumn clematis
  • Sedum spectabile
  • Bronze Fennel
  • Asters
pink asters
Aster buds and flower

This is the the first in a number of years that I have seen promising numbers of butterflies, particularly of the Monarchs. I am glad of it, but must say that it is still not even near the many crowds of them that I would see in earlier years at this time of the season.

The hopeful thing is simply that the numbers are noticeably increasing in my own garden- which has its challenges from surrounding farmland that is often sprayed.

How I Help Butterflies

  • Plantings that they love
  • No spraying ever
  • Small areas of water (like a birdbath and indented rocks)

One thing I started in recent years has been “meadow areas”. This is easy because as an aging gardener I can no longer give the flower beds the upkeep I once did. I have wildlife supportive plantings of prairie denizens and weedy things like goldenrod and milkweed (real milkweed, Asclepias syriaca).

goldenrod
Goldenrod blooming now

I am not bragging about that… it is just a fact of life. I do like the meadow section with its Echinacea and a bit of Monarda. I would actually like less Goldenrod there. The ornamental grasses did not thrive there, but it has been a feature that has been experimentally successful I think. And good for insect life.

If you would like a list of plants and some tips on encouraging butterflies in your garden I have written an article for you to read.

Make Your Yard a Butterfly Destination

Winter Arrived Early

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Blustery Day, Past Year’s Losses

Today is briefly warmer and blustery with high winds and rain, but it is more like a January thaw than the beige autumn Indian summer that we might normally expect.

I don’t know that there is a clear sense of “normal” in our gardens anymore. Still, the patterns of the seasons are not so far off that they would be unrecognizable.

 

Ignore those weeds…. I do

The winds have blown the dawdling leaves off the trees, so I asked my helpers (grown children) to rake up the yard again. The Red Oak still is loathe to let go of his leaves. Despite the fact that part of a gutter and a large branch from a Norway spruce was blown loose.

Nothing compared to the damage from past wind storms which emptied out the Arborvitae of many of its branches, or the bagworm infestation which destroyed a younger Arborvitae elsewhere in the yard. Then there was the peach which blew over this summer, and the Japanese maples which died, and the top part of the Hinoki cypress which was lost. It is still unsure whether this favorite dwarf evergreen will make it through this winter.

So many garden troubles in the past few years.

 

Oops, there goes the gutter pipe

There is still garden work to do if I can catch a break. Like trimming the pyracantha from the window, weeding and cleaning up the driveway beds- they look a mess! Still, the exchange between an organized life inside and a “Better Homes and Gardens” yard is worth it.
Actually, though, I wish I could manage it all.

“Maybe next year”, I say to myself once again.

Nasty Stinkbugs

One of the new normals in my area is the additions of stinkbugs to the previous years influx of Japanese beetles, and prior to that the invasion of Asian ladybugs, and we mustn’t forget the notorious Emerald borers. These are the norm for us now, and so I read up on how to control the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug.

Turns out I have the ideal environment for them. I grow tomatoes and some years have been less than tidy in how I leave my garden. That needs to change.

I also have apples, including a self seeded MacIntosh type that drops apples in the backyard. Now I will have to be assiduous about cleaning up the leavings of those, as well as messy landscape leaves around the foundation of the house. All those places are a drawing card for an infestation.

The bug I found on my lampshade? Carefully scooped onto a napkin, carried outside the door and unceremoniously squashed with the handle of the handy snow shovel.

Just as a warning for other lurkers looking to come into the house from that avenue.

We must adjust to new challenges all the time in life, and the garden is a powerful teacher of such lessons.

 Changing The Subject

I am transitioning to the celebration of the Christmas holidays. Way behind schedule, of course, but ahead of where I usually am by this time.
Still cleaning- I had hoped to be done by Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t look possible.
I brought out all the Christmas decor and am sorting through to decide what goes where. We stuck a few of the outside lights around the lantern, but I need to get something on the front porch. We usually wait until the weather is freezing and the tape won’t stick (sometime about the second week of December). I was really hoping to avoid that this year.
To get in the festive mood,  I wrote a little post on Christmas Greenery. Wanted to get out to the stores to snap some pictures of seasonal garlands and bunches of evergreens, but that will have to be added later. Still it turned out to be a nice page and did the trick: I am officially in the mood to decorate.
Also working on a Christmas projects page, but not nearly done with that yet.
No, I’m not rushing the season. A nice celebration takes preparation. My grandparents made Christmas fruitcakes for gifting in October. I think we forget how the past was full of preparations for the coming seasons.
I don’t make fruitcake- only my Dad and I ate it, and my hips aren’t lying when I say that I should not have any extra calories!
Well, that is enough chit-chat for now… if I want to write more of that stuff I should get a newsletter out!

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© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Diatoms

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diatoms
I happened upon a most amazing picture. Who knew that diatoms were such a lovely lot?

Organic gardeners know that diatomaceous earth is useful for insect control, but I was surprised at its uses. There are food grade and pool grade, the latter being poisonous, but the food grade is good for worming, and to get rid fo fleas. I didn’t know that! Precautions of not being downwind of it, as it is drying to the eyes is something to remember.

Diatomaceous earth consists of the remains of microscopic one-celled plants (phytoplankton) called diatoms. They are fossilized remains of these tiny things from long ago oceans and lakes. These deposits are mined from underwater beds or from ancient dried lake bottoms thousands of years old. diatomaceous earth has an unlimited shelf life provided you keep it dry. – Info from Wolfcreek Ranch

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“[FOOD GRADE] is not the same thing as the DE used in swimming pool filters. Pool grade DE is Diatomaceous Earth produced for pool filters and it is treated with heat, causing the formerly amorphous silicon dioxide to assume crystalline form. Pool grade DE should never be used for pest control. Swimming pool DE ranges from 60% to 70% free silica!” ~Golden Harvest Organics

Emerald Ash Borer

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I wanted to comment on the emerald ash borer news, but procrastinated. Apologies.

Anyway, I read an article in the paper that reported Ohio was going to implement some drastic measures to eliminate the ash borer that has been located in Northeastern Columbus area and in the Northwestern part of the state. Cut down lots of ash trees in the the problem areas. All of the trees in a specific radius.

It is too bad, but it really seems the only remedy. The insects have been moving faster than originally predicted.

Wish I could find that article…… Ok, here it is Emerald Ash Borer report.
Update

I had to find a different article, as the original report went missing, as often happens on the internet. I thought we should list list a few helpful articles now that Emerals Ash Borers are firmly established in our state.

A list of articles on the insect

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I have not yet

  • pruned any trees
  • ordered anything (although I made out the form)
  • worked outside
  • made definitive garden plans for 2004

What I have done is look at the Farmers Almanac prediction. ):(
Supposedly it will be a dry summer. I don’t know how truly accurate those predictions are, but I don’t want to have to try to water lots of new baby plants. If you knew my conditions here with strong, sometimes searing, summer winds, and how difficult it is to keep things watered in the summertime across spread out gardens you would commiserate.

I know you would. But I hate to be too invested in the predictions. The gardener sows in hope:)

Maybe I will go with the middle of the road plan of planting some things, but concentrating on the bones and structure of the garden. Making sure the edges are clean, pay more attention to weeding and renovating, improving walkways; those are the sorts of things that use drought in ones favor.

Nothing like those horrid weeds all shriveled in the sun…….. heh, heh, heh.

Little Moments in Time

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Nice rainy day today. Yesterday my entymologist-to-be daughter captured a red-bodied dragonfly. It was really beautiful. She didn’t have her bug cage handy so we didn’t get to view it for very long. She also pointed out some fish in the water of the ditch. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is always more fun.

The variegated acorus was beautiful in it’s new place. I really hope it does well through the winter. The Ceratostigma (Leadwort) was planted beside the Variegated Weigela… and looks really well-placed there. The bright blue of the flowers against the light yellow and green leaves is really pleasing. It sounds like I have many variegated plants, but I really don’t. I don’t like lots of them. Just the judicious few for special effects.

Relevant posts for this day (from Ilona’s Garden):