Create a butterfly garden ~ easy as 1, 2, 3

 

Providing Habitat for Butterflies (with lists of local species)

Providing habitat for butterflies is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1) Eliminate chemicals from your landscape
2) Plant plenty of flowers for the adult butterflies
3) Plant host plants for the caterpillars

Nothing brings life to your yard and garden like an abundance of colorful, carefree butterflies! Since there are so many species of butterflies in North America, providing any type of flowering nectar plant will probably attract one or two to stop by your yard from time to time. But if you really want to make your yard something more than a fast-food fueling spot for these beautiful creatures, you must provide both nectar plants for the adult butterflies and host plants for the larval caterpillars. Yes, caterpillars will leave holes in the plant leaves and chew certain species of host plants down to the ground. But the joy and educational experience of being witness to the entire butterfly life-cycle makes it worthwhile to buy some plants specifically for that purpose.

When an adult butterfly lands on a host plant, if you watch closely, you may see them curve their ovipositor up under the leaf to deposit an egg. Although females can produces hundreds of eggs, most are deposited singly or in small clusters, either on or under a leaf of the host plant. The eggs are sometimes as small as the head of a pin, but within a few days a tiny caterpillar emerges and begins pursing its life’s purpose—to eat!!! Caterpillars eat constantly, until they get too big for their own skin. Then, they shed their skin to make room for more food. This process is repeated numerous times until the caterpillar reaches many times its original size. Once fully grown, the larva seeks a safe place to pupate. This can be a branch, a twig or the eave of your house or other structure. It will attach itself with a fine strand of silk-like material and form a chrysalis. This is where the transformation to a butterfly takes place. When the butterfly is ready to hatch, the process happens very quickly, so only the most observant catch a glimpse of this “birth”. However, if you have butterflies in your yard, you will often be able to witness the newly hatched butterfly as it hangs from it’s chrysalis drying its wings in preparation for its first flight. To be able to witness all or part of this wonderful garden miracle, you must select the right plants.

For nectar, choose plants that are brightly colored and fragrant. Large blooms provide a place for the butterfly to land while feeding. Plant a large variety of different flowers and be sure to keep different blooming times in mind so that you can feed the butterflies throughout the garden seasons. Many adult butterflies prefer to feed in full sun.

For larval, or caterpillar plants, most butterflies feed on only a limited number of species of plants. If you are trying to attract a certain type of butterfly, it is important that you plant the larval food for that species. Remember that if you are successful in attracting the caterpillars to your yard, your host plants will be chewed, sometimes down to the bare stems. Therefore, buy your host plants in quantities and intersperse them with your other garden plants to hide the chewed leaves and to give the caterpillars a certain amount of cover from birds and other predators.

Also, it is important to avoid pesticides in your yard if you want butterflies. Both the butterflies and the caterpillars can be harmed by any sort of toxic chemical. Even "benign" insecticides, such as Bacillus thuringiensis, can be lethal to butterflies and caterpillars.

Here is a list of some of the butterflies common to DC, Virginia and Maryland. Complete lists are available here: Butterflies of DC , Butterflies of Maryland , Butterflies of Virginia.

Butterfly	Adult butterfly nectar plant	Host Plant
Zebra Swallowtail	Redbud, lilac, verbena, milkweed	Pawpaw
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Flowers of many plants incl. lilac and cherry	Wild cherry, sweet bay, cottonwood, willow
Monarch	Milkweed, lilac, lantana, thistles, others	Milkweed
Red Admiral	Bird droppings, tree sap, fermented fruit	Nettles
Gulf Frittillary	Lantanas, cordias and others	Passion vines, including maypop
Common Buckeye	Aster, chickory, tickseed, peppermint	Snapdragons, ruellias
Painted Lady	Thistles, aster, cosmos, joe-pye weed	Many hosts, incl. thistles, hollyhock, legumes
Giant Swallowtail	Lantana, azalea, goldenrod, milkweed	Citrus, prickly ash, hop tree
Black Swallowtail	Red clover, thistles, milkweed	Parsely, celery, dill
Long tailed skipper	Bougainvillea, lantana, shepherd's needle	Legumes, wisteria, beggar's ticks

Montgomery County Master Gardener Clinic

The Montgomery County Master Gardeners' mini-conference for the public is being held on Saturday, February 26, 2011 from 8am - 3pm at the Montgomery County Extension office in Deerwood, Maryland.

There are many great sessions scheduled including: Landscaping for Pollinators, Community Gardens, Growing Herbs, Rejuvenation Pruning and Maintenance Pruning and more.

Click here to download brochure in pdf format: Random Acts of Gardening : Montgomery County Master Gardener Spring Mini-Conference

February Garden Tips from Maryland Extension

Here are some Garden Tips for February from the Maryland Extension System Home and Garden Center.

Lawns

• Late February through the end of March is the second best time (the optimum time is late August through mid-October) to over-seed your lawn to make it thicker or to cover bare areas. The freezing and thawing of the soil this time of the year helps the seed to get good soil contact. Read HG 102.  

Woody Ornamentals

• Trees and shrubs can still be pruned now. You may notice excessive sap bleeding from pruning cuts on elm maple, birch, dogwood, beech, walnut, magnolia, tulip poplar and redbud. This bleeding is harmless to the tree.  

Ornamental Plants

• Avoid the temptation to start seeds too early. Check seed packets for detailed information on starting various types of flowers.

• Spring bulbs are slowly emerging this month. Exposed leaves may be burned a little by very cold temperatures, but the spring flower display will not be diminished.  

Vegetable and Herb gardening

• If starting seeds indoors, set up florescent grow lights, and gather needed materials: pots, trays, soil less mix.

• Consider purchasing some floating row cover material to protect crops against insects and promote early growth. A floating row cover is a light weight spun fabric that permits light and water to enter, traps the soils natural heat and keep out pest insects.

• Fresh tarragon, rosemary, and mint sprigs can be purchased in food markets and rooted indoors in a soil less mix to be grown under cool white fluorescent bulbs. The new plants can then be set outdoors in pots or garden beds in May. Wildlife

• Continue to feed wild birds through the remaining winter weeks. Black oil sunflower seeds and suet cakes are a good choice for a wide variety of birds. Keep bird feeders clean and provide your wild birds with fresh water.

For more February Tips for the garden and other practical information, download the complete newsletter.

Casey Trees Launches Arbor Kids

Casey Trees’ has launched a new webpage, Arbor Kids to get kids outdoors to learn about trees and their many environmental, social and economic benefits.

Although created for kids, Arbor Kids is a great resource for educators, caregivers and parents, too.

Downloadable activities include:

• Name that Tree! Learn how to identify some of the most commonly found trees in the District.
• Tree Benefits Scavenger Hunt. Challenge yourself and friends to find all the listed tree benefits in the shortest amount of time.
• How Tall Is That Tree? In four easy steps, you can determine the height of any tree.
• My Trees: A Home Inventory. Name, count and map the trees at and in front of your home.

Schools and other learning centers can also request a tree planting through Casey Trees’ Community Tree Planting program. Casey Trees provides the trees, tools and technical assistance free of charge. Students participate in a tree rally and follow up care activities, complementing existing classroom instruction.

For more information, visit the Casey Trees website.

About Casey Trees:
Casey Trees is a Washington, DC-based not-fot-profit, established in 2001, dedicated to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the Nation's Capital.
For more information, visit www.caseytrees.org.

Don't forget tomorrow's seed swap!

Washington Gardener Magazine 2011 Seed Exchange  

Saturday, January 29 12:30-4pm  


On-site Registration opens at 12:00noon

($15 for general public or $10 if a Washington Gardener NMagazine subscriber of a member of Friends of Brookside Gardens)

For more information, check out this post on the Washington Gardener Magazine Blog

Please! Stop me before I kill again!

Blame it on the cold, dreary winter. I get trapped inside for too long and eventually something inside me just snaps and I end up going out and killing something. I don't mean to do it. I'm just trying to shape up some of the useless, dregs of the earth but I end up going too far and before I know it, I add another victim to my hit list.

But don't worry. Unless you are a bit of struggling winter foliage, you are safe.

It's one of the big ironies of my gardening style. In the spring and summer, I am horrible about pruning. My plants get all scraggly and covered with bare branches and spent flowers. But in the winter, I just can't tolerate all of those bare branches sticking up in the yard, and I head out with my pruners.

What's dead and what's dormant?

I'm sure that, over the years, I have yanked up or mutilated many plants that could have survived the winter if I had just left them alone. So before you go out and start trying to clean up the winter garden, here are a few things I've learned along the way.

• Many plants that look dead in the winter are just dormant. Dormancy is like a form of hibernation for plants. There are different degrees of dormancy, with some plants shutting down all but the most basic biological processes needed for survival. Others may only go semi-dormant. When in doubt about a plant, look it up online to see if it is the kind that goes dormant.
• A good way to tell if a woody plant is dormant is to take your thumb nail and scratch a branch or the bark of the plant and see if it's green underneath. If you scratch the plant on an outer branch and find it brown underneath, try scratching closer to the base of the plant. Sometimes, outer parts of the plant may die, though the rest of it lives.
• Woody plants should be pruned according to the pruning calendars below.
• Cold hardy perennials should survive the winter. Don't get frustrated and pull them up. Winter mulching should help them through the cold. Mulch should be applied after several hard freezes and removed as new growth begins in spring.
• Perennials can be damaged during the winter if their soil is too wet. To help plants through winter cold, dig organic matter and grit into the garden, improving drainage. Well-drained soils will also warm faster in spring.
• Leaving dead growth on the perennials can be beneficial for several reasons. It can provide frost protection, and the seed heads will provide winter food sources for birds.
• Most annuals will not survive the winter. You can remove their seed heads for sowing indoors, save them for the spring, or leave them for visiting birds to dine on.
• Some plants cannot survive cold soil, even when dormant. You may be able to protect them if you put them in pots and store them in a frost free spot until spring.
• If you still can't tell for certain if a plant is living or dead, simply wait for spring. If you don't see any new growth several months into the spring, add your plant to the compost pile.

And remember, just in case you are looking for something productive to do this time of year -- it is a great time to sharpen your axe and your chainsaw.

 

For more information about when to prune, check these resources:

Pruning Trees and Shrubs in Late Winter
Managing Winter Injury to Trees and Shrubs
Shrub Pruning Calendar
Deciduous Tree Pruning Calendar
Evergreen Tree Pruning Calendar

Indoor plants help reduce VOCs

When I learn something new and cool about plants, I like to share it. So here is some info I learned about indoor plants recently.

Most of us know that one of the benefits of houseplants is that they remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen. But I didn't realize that some plants can actually help remove Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from the air.

Volatile organic compounds are gases released as materials age and degrade over time. VOCs are found in everything from paints and coatings to underarm deodorant and cleaning fluids and they are thought to cause allergic reactions such as asthma, headaches, upper respiratory infections, rashes and even cancer.

Nearly 25 years ago, Dr. Wolverton, a retired NASA scientist and author of How to Grow Fresh Air, published a study touting the benefits of houseplants as air purifiers. In November 2002, Dr. Wolverton confirmed the results of further researchers and added “there is now sufficient evidence to support the concept of using interior plants to provide good IAQ (Indoor Air Quality)”

Here are some common toxins and the plants that can help remove them:  

BENZENE BASED TOXINS

 Source of Toxins:

Detergents, Inks and Dyes, Plastics, Rubber Products, Petroleum Products, Synthetic Fibers, Tobacco Smoke  

Plants Associated with the Removal of those Toxins:

Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily), Dracaena spp., Gerbera (Gerber Daisy), Hedera spp. (Ivy), Chrysanthemum (mum), Aglaonema (Chinese Evergreen)  

FORMALDEHYDE BASED TOXINS 

Source of Toxins:

Carpeting, Cleaners, Foam Insulation, Furniture, Paper Products, Plywood and Particle Board

Plants Associated with the Removal of those Toxins:

Ficus spp. (Weeping Fig), Philodendron spp., Chlorophytum (Spider Plant), Sansevieria (Snake Plant), Chamaedorea (Bamboo Palm), Hedera spp.(Ivy), Epipremnum (Golden Pothos)

TRICHLOROETHLENE TOXINS 

Source of Toxins:

Adhesives, Dry cleaning, Inks and Dyes, Lacquers and Paints, Paper Products, Varnishes

Plants Associated with the Removal of those Toxins:

Dracaena spp., Gerbera (Gerber Daisy), Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily), Chrysanthemum (mum)

For more information:

15 Houseplants You Can Use as Air Purifiers

15 Houseplants for Improving Indoor Air Quality

Garden workshops, classes and lectures

Here are some upcoming workshops and classes to keep your green thumb in shape during the winter:

Winter Workshops Sponsored by Homestead Gardens

Sunday, January 30
11am: Proper Pruning Techniques($5) – Education Coordinator Gene Sumi provides an informative demonstration on when and how to prune trees and shrubs. Dress warmly as this workshop is outside.
2pm: Proper Pruning Techniques($5) (Severna Park)
2pm: Bird House Workshop($10) – Kids get to decorate their own birdhouse and pinecone feeder to help out their feathered friends during the coldest months of the year.

Saturday, February 5
8:30am: Small Flock Poultry Party ($5) – University of Maryland Cooperative Extensions presents everything you need to know about the fun new trend of raising backyard chickens, including flock health and nutrition.
11am: Orchids for Beginners ($35) – Orchid expert Dr. Clark Riley shares his insights into raising & nurturing these graceful flowers. (Includes a take-home orchid.)
2pm: Orchids for Fanatics ($35) – Feed your orchid addiction with this seminar from Dr. Riley that will educate collectors of these tropical beauties. (Includes a take-home orchid.)

Sunday, February 6
11am: Soil Amendments($5) – Education Coordinator Gene Sumi takes you beyond basic light and water requirements to discuss the process of creating a rich and nutritious mix to get your whole garden in great shape.
2pm: Soil Amendments($5) (Severna Park)
2pm: The Wonderful World of Herbs ($5) – Annuals Manager Kerry Kelly discusses the history, functionality and botany of herbs and their many uses, from culinary additions to aromatherapy to decorative home accents.

For more events, click here for full calendar of Winter Workshops from Homestead Gardens.

---

Upcoming Events sponsored by Behnke Nurseries:

Saturday, Jan. 29, 11 a.m. to noon in Beltsville
Talk on “Raising & Cultivating African Violets”by Sonja Behnke Festerling. Sonja grew up at Behnke’s and has worked with African Violets most of her life. She has a wealth of knowledge to share and will discuss how to care and propagate them from home. Everyone attending the talk will go home with an African Violet plant. $10.

Sunday, Jan 30 at 1 p.m. in Beltsville
Workshop on “Building a Terrarium”
Find out why some plants work better than others for terrariums as you build one to take home at the end of class. Learn which plants work best together and how to care for your new micro-garden. Cost: Your cost will depend on the terrarium and plants you choose from our supplies. All other materials for this workshop are free.

Saturday, Feb. 5 at 11 a.m. in Beltsville
Talk: “Attracting Birds to Your Winter Garden” by with Master Gardener Natalie Brewer
During the cold winter months, birds are a sweet reminder of Spring. Natalie will talk about how to attract feathered friends to your yard with supplemental feeding and the right kind of plantings. Free.

Saturday, Feb 5 at 1 p.m. in Beltsville
Children’s Workshop: “Build a Birdhouse” for ages 7 and up.
Build a birdhouse from a kit to hang outdoors for your feathered friends. Then personalize it with paint. All materials included. $25.

For more events, click here for Behnke's full calendar.

Myths About Native Plants

Thomas Rainer, a local landscape architect, recently did a series of posts entitled Myths About Native Plants on his blog, grounded design.

Since native plants can be an environmentally sound choice for many reasons, including ease of care and providing food sources for native wildlife, eliminating the myths about these valuable plants is an important step in encouraging more eco-friendly landscapes.

To me, there are two major Myths about Native Plants. The first major myth about native plants is that ANY native plant will just naturally do well in a landscape. This, of course, isn't true. Plants will only do well in a landscape if their requirements for sun, water and soil type meet your site conditions. In other words, native plants that require a lot of water are not going to do well in a high and dry landscape. Rainer covers this myth in his post: Myth #1: Native plants are more drought-tolerant than their exotic counterparts.

His second post in the series, is entitled: Native Plant Myth #2: Native Plants are Not as Tough as Exotic Plants . And in it he says that there is a common belief "that natives are somehow weaker and more delicate than exotics plants." I've never really run into that belief and, in fact, think that many people believe exactly the opposite - that ANY native plant will survive wherever you put it. Again, I refer to the tenant of Right Plant, Right Place - or choosing plants to match the site conditions of your landscape.

The other thing that I think is a common misconception is that all native landscapes are weedy and unkempt looking. I think that part of the reason for this bad reputation is that certain proponents of native plants like a very natural looking landscape, rather than one that is manicured. They let the wildflowers grow in their yards and they don't prune or trim their plants to keep them neat looking and because of the hap-hazard look of their yard, some people assume that native landscapes=wild and weedy. This is a myth that I always try to dispell. Native landscapes can be kept just as neat and trimmed and manicured looking as a non-native landscape. The look of the landscape is more about the person doing the landscaping than about the plants themselves. Rainer's third post about native plants, Native Plant Myth #3: Native Plants are not as showy or ornamental as exotic plants is somewhat along the same lines. In it he states "The problem is not that native plants are intrinsically less ornamental than exotics; the problem is one of design. Native gardens, for the most part, overly imitate natural plant communities. Native gardens end up looking like some poor imitation of a woodland or meadow. As a result, we have no precedent for natives in man-made landscapes."

I think that we are all in the learning stages when it comes to creating environmentally friendly landscapes. And when it comes to native plants, many of us still have a lot to learn. Check out Rainer's blog, grounded design, to get his views on landscaping with natives. And then to learn even more about native plants, visit the native plant information on our Resources page.

I can resist everything except temptation

With the current condition of our winter gardens, it is easy to be seduced by photos of all of the colorful, exotic beauties that are gracing the pages of our seed and garden catalogs and websites. But before we pull out our credit cards and start placing our orders for spring planting, perhaps we should revisit our post from way back in July 2010 called the 12 Relationship Rules for Gardeners.

Several of the "Relationship Rules" mentioned in that post remind us of the importance of choosing plants that are appropriate to our planting zone and site conditions. Choosing plants that don't fit our site conditions is a waste of money and usually leads to disappointment. Or as I said in that previous post:

"If you want to be in a relationship with sweet things that you aren’t really compatible with just because they are beautiful, it might work but it is going to require a lot of effort. Probably neither one of you will ever be completely happy." 

The problem is, if you haven't already taken a site survey and gotten to know your landscape on a personal level, winter is not really the best time to do so. Sun, shade and water conditions are all different now then they will be a few months from now. However, this post Work With Mother Nature, Not Against Her, provides some guidelines for getting started. And you can also go ahead and learn a little bit more about your site by getting a pre-season soil test.

Are there other steps that can be taken to insure that you aren't seduced into unhappy or unhealthy gardening relationships? Sure! There are hundreds of on-line dating sites that allow people to learn a lot about their prospective partners before they ever meet them face to face. And there are just as many websites that help you to get to know your plants before you invest too much time and money in them.

Most seed and garden catalogs (and websites) provide some level of information about the needs of the species that they have for sale. The information can be as limited as just the USDA hardiness zone or it can contain uncertain terms such as "partial sun". Neither of these limited bits of information is really that useful. After all, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Washington, DC are in the same USDA hardiness zone. That doesn't mean that the same plants will necessarily thrive in both locations.

Other companies provide very detailed information about the plants, including light, moisture and soil conditions, as well as whether they attract certain forms of wildlife, such as hummingbirds or butterflies.

In any case, cold winter nights are the perfect time to do a little research about plant choices for your yard. So here are some gardening resources for learning about local plants. Think of them as dating sites for your garden - the perfect places to find your Perfect Plant Match and create more Harmony in the garden.

Recommended Plants for the Washington DC Area
Native Plant Resources for Maryland
Wildflowers Native to Maryland
Recommended Native Plant Species - select your region
National Gardening Association PlantFinder
Plant Information Online