Non-natives killing the earth? Mea culpa

A columnist on the Washington Post claims that non-natives are "killing the earth". I can think of many other things that are more culpable than non-natives when it comes to ecology, so I was happy to find a post on the Garden Rant blog that rebuts the writer's broad condemnation.

There are all kinds of opinion wars about gardening. I recall being chastised for planting butterfly bush instead of butterflyweed because the former does not provide habitat for butterflies, only nectar. But don't they need nectar, too? And, so far, I have not had much luck with butterflyweed in my yard.

I tried growing a (native) oak leaf hydrangea, but the rabbits ate it. The 'Limelight' hydrangea thrives here, despite being native to China and Japan. What to do? I planted the 'Limelight'.

The "foreign" goutweed growing under the hydrangea is another issue. I wanted a groundcover that could withstand trampling. It can be invasive, but so far, the dogs are keeping it in check. Also, I cut back the seed heads.

At least I am not growing purple loosestrife, like a certain master gardener I know.

Let's leave that topic and look at some bugs!

I don't know what that bumble bee is doing in the video, but he looks busy.

IMHO part 2

I've been a (mostly) organic gardener for (most of) my adult life. Managing weeds organically requires a variety of methods and tools, and a lot of diligence. Between my hip replacement and shoulder replacement, I just could not keep up with the mechanical and manual efforts of weed control, so am now resorting to herbicides, to protect my investment in the new landscaping. I've made my peace with this change.

To save money, I have resorted to concentrates. These require a sprayer of some sort, and every time I want to use an herbicide, I have to mix some up. When I have just a bit to treat, though, I am not above applying the concentrate directly from the bottle, using a small brush. This method is actually recommended when treating something like grape vine or mulberry: cut back the plant and apply the concentrate directly to the cut stem.

Now I have a lot of areas to treat, to keep ahead of the weeds. For convenience sake, I have been purchasing ready-to-use Roundup, which comes with a variety of application methods. The first one I tried required pumping air into the container to create enough pressure to spray the herbicide. This is how my sprayer works, so I'm not unfamiliar with this kind of operation, but for some reason, I could not get much pressure built up inside the container. The second bottle of Roundup I purchased came with a battery operated sprayer. Using this one was much easier and effective. This is going to be my go-to method unless I find something even better to use.

I was hoping the sweet potato vine I planted on the front porch would climb the trellis there, but it only went so far, despite my efforts to direct it upward. My neighbor across the street reported similar frustrations with her sweet potato vine not vining very much. Next year I'll try something else in this location, but may still use some sweet potato vine in hanging baskets.

The black eyed Susan along the fence on the south side of the house is trying to choke out everything else growing there. I hope to rescue the few surviving coneflower plants; I think the ironweed can hold its own for a while, not sure about the aster. Susan is such a thug, something gardening catalogs don't usually point out. To be fair, ironweed can spread aggressively as well.

Lately, I've been experimenting with what I call Bento dishes - bento box meals served on a plate. Sometimes all I need for a particular recipe is a small handful of, say, green beans, but finding a place that sells loose green beans is a challenge. Farmers markets are also a challenge when it comes to timing and parking and crowds. So, after years of not growing vegetables, I have the urge to return to growing some of my own food. But in much smaller amounts. In containers. This will require some research and experimenting, two things I love to do.

About the only birds I see at the feeders these days are sparrows. There is the occasional housefinch, goldfinch, cardinal, blue jay, etc. but otherwise, not much diversity. I think I saw a northern mockingbird one day, and one of the landscape guys swore he heard cedar waxwing. Papa wren scolds me and Finn whenever we exit the front door, as there is a wren family in the house hanging in the maple tree. I'm looking forward to migration season, which may be closer than one thinks: a flock of geese flew overhead today, presumably heading south.

August is almost over already

Yikes! It has been over a month since I posted here. I am obviously not spending much time outside in the yard, but when I do, I enjoy it despite my hip. How that the weather is cooling a bit, I hope to get some of the mess cleaned up before long. Meanwhile, here are some flowers to enjoy.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa

'Wild Romance' aster

Aster laevis

'Purple Dome' aster

Cosmos sulphureus

Coreopsis Tinctoria

'Limelight' hydrangea

'Royal Standard' hosta

A bee paradise

Thanks to the heat and my bum hip, the backyard is a mess. I am very thankful that the privacy fence shields that mess from the casual observer. Occasionally someone needs access to my backyard, like the underground utilities guy (my neighbor has plans for her shed). I was prepared to deliver my usual apology about the mess when he pronounced my backyard a "bee's paradise". That led to discussions of beekeeping (a potential hobby I decided was too much work). His words gave my mess new meaning, though.

Despite my neglect, stuff is growing and blooming.

Cupplant (Silphium perfoliatum)

Cupplant (Silphium perfoliatum) - up close

Sweet Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa)

Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata)

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Prairie Blazingstar (Liatris pycnostachya)

Prairie Blazingstar (Liatris pycnostachya) with bee

Also because of the heat and my bum hip, the front yard is not in much better shape than the back. Ordinarily, I am a weeder and a mulcher, but this year I am also a sprayer, as there is a patch of poison ivy I literally don't want to touch, growing under the gold mop. Despite my efforts, my hip is just getting worse, so once mowing season is over, I will probably get in line for a replacement. It's hell getting old.

Warm colors for cool days

Garden photos have been lacking while I fixated on the monarchs. One reason is, thanks to the giant pile of wood shavings we had to move this past spring, gardening was a bit haphazard and not according to plan. New perennials went into "holding" beds instead of their desired location, annuals filled in the holes, etc. But there is a lot of color out there right now, even if it looks a bit messy.

Asclepias tuberosa, var. Clay

I find butterflyweed difficult to get established, but some I planted last year is still there, while newbies are doing okay. Conversely, coneflower and black-eyed Susan flourishes, although sometimes the latter struggles in ensuring years.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa

Besides the butterflyweed, coneflower, and black-eyed Susan, I have a jumbled bed of Ohio goldenrod, ironweed, and bergamot, none of which did much blooming this year.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa and Echinacea purpurea

There is also some cupplant and compassplant. It looks like the poke milkweed did not survive - too much competition from the common milkweed, I guess.

Echinacea purpurea

Annuals besides the Mexican sunflower are marigold, dyer's coreopsis, and cosmos, all of which I stopped plucking blossoms from, to give the pollinators something to feast on as summer draws to a close. Oh, and the redundantly named Red Scarlet zinnia is also providing late season nectar.

Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch'

The volunteer goldenrod seems to have disappeared from my yard, because in the spring I mistake it for a weed; I'm sure it will be back. The prairie sampler on the south side of the house is a mess, but a few asters are making a valiant effort to start blooming; that area is due for a reboot. Later I will do a post on garden FAILS.

Rhubarb, turning

Monarch update: the adult appears to have taken flight, as it is MIA this morning. Another chrysalis is turning black, so a new butterfly should be free soon. The forecast is for warm and dry, so hopefully the last of them will hatch and head for Mexico. ¡Olé!

Accidentally on purpose

Sometimes gardening goes according to plan, but not always. Here are some cases in point.

Every time I see this Joe Pye growing through the deck, I get irritated. Not at the plants, but at the contractors who did not adhere to my specifications to build the deck on the footprint of the patio slab. Instead, they made it a little bit bigger, encroaching on a bed of perennials. I let these plants grow in situ, just to aggravate myself, I guess. They keep spreading, so maybe they will spread out from under the decking.

The Joe Pye isn't the only plant to grow through the deck. I never planted any Common Milkweed in my yard, but they appeared one day and I decided to let them stay. Now there are clumps here and there, but I have yet to see a single monarch caterpillar anywhere.

There are several other plants growing in my yard that I never planted. I'm sure the birds are to blame for some, but I also suspect the free mulch I have obtained from our county compost site. I love the concept of people dropping off their yard waste and having it transformed into mulch and compost, but the reality is not so ideal. In the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, though, I have incorporated some of the newcomers into my yard.

Usually I try to eliminate the brambles, but this black raspberry established itself on the other side of the chain link fence. My son pointed out the berries, which are few and small, but oh-so-delicious.

Wild grapevine can be a nuisance, but the birds do like the fruit. This year I made a rule: it can grow on the back fence, but not on the side fences. The back fence is hidden from those neighbors by their privet hedge, but the side fences are in plain view. So far, the neighbors on either side have not complained, but the family on one side is moving and I don't want to get on the wrong side of the new people right off the bat.

Pokeweed can be a nuisance as well, but again, the birds love it, especially robins and bluebirds. I let some go, as long as its location is not problematic.

In the past, I have yanked the volunteer fleabane out, but this year let a couple of clumps remain. They are native, and while the flowers are not big and showy, they are profuse and continue for quite a while (unlike the Shasta Daisy, which is now pouting because I moved it). I may take the clumps and incorporate them in actual flower beds, that's how much I appreciate the fleabane.

Then there are a variety of plants that I deliberately installed but which have taken on a life of their own.

Several times I have tried to get Black Eyed Susan going here and there in the yard, without success. But at some point, it established itself in what it must consider prime locations. One spot is in the hosta bed, which doesn't get much sunshine; this year's primary clump seems to be struggling, though, because the Old Fashioned Bleeding Heart is crowding it. The other two big clumps are in front of the 'Betty Corning' Clematis vines. Why? I don't know

Along with the Black Eyed Susan is the Canadian Columbine, which pops up all over the place, here in the hosta bed along with some Black Eyed Susan. I'm happy to let it have its way, as the plants are not crazy thick nor long lasting and the blossoms are so pretty.

Last year, I planted calendula in the bed by the front walk, hoping it would reseed itself profusely. That did not happen, but there are a few plants here and there. Its flowering period last longer than the coreopsis and contrast nicely with the sedum, so I hope they continue to prosper. The tricky thing is to not pull the seedlings when weeding.

Even though I knew better, I planted some mint in the yard once upon a time. Now it is everywhere. I yank it over and over, but it prevails. Pollinators love it, so I am letting this one clump go, a decision I may regret. From my understanding, mints do not grow from seed but spread via its vast root system. I tried growing it in a pot, but it did not do well.

Back to the I-did-not-plant-this category. A chipmunk probably planted the seed for this mystery gourd growing in the flower box on the front porch. Since members of the squash family breed freely with each other, there is no telling what the fruit of this vine will be. I'm letting it grow out of curiosity.

Finally, we see the peril of developing a backyard habitat along with a garden: voracious woodchucks. This guy has become a bit bold, sometimes chewing on the front of the house and one time venturing onto the back deck. If I were quicker and it was not, I'd have an up-close-and-personal photo, instead of this grainy one taken through a window at an awkward angle. (Yes, there is a lot of clover in my yard.)

I'm guessing the deck foray was in search of water, as the ground level bird baths were dry that day (bad of me). In a sweeping lack of logic, I am now supplying the groundhog with water, in hopes it will stop knocking over the bird bath that is on a stand. At least the vegetable garden seems secure... for now.

A neighbor has offered me the use of his Havahart trap, but last night I dreamed there were BABY woodchucks frolicking in the backyard. If that happens in real life, I hope Finn the Helpful Gardening Cat will step up and do his job like he does with the baby rabbits. I appreciate his efforts even though I cannot watch. Or maybe a hawk will get them, if they exist. I'm willing to let Mother Nature do my dirty work.