Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Clay and Limestone's 2024 Wildlife Challenge Posts in Review

As gardeners, I believe that we have a key role in improving the health of our communities, especially when we practice environmentally conscious gardening. As environmentalists we are willing to support efforts to solve environmental problems and to personally commit and act to solve these problems. That includes protecting our irreplaceable and threatened biodiversity; supporting pollinators; replacing or reducing lawns; composting; avoiding chemical use; planting natives; supporting birds and other wildlife by dimming lights; leaving the leaves; spending time outdoors; getting kids outdoors...and that's just to name a few.

I started the Taking Care of Wildlife Challenge meme several years ago. Taking care of wildlife in our gardens is a huge part of environmentally conscious gardening. I've included all 2024  posts and their summaries. Just follow the links to each post. I hope you find them helpful. Writing them helped me learn even more about living environmentally conscious. 

If you have any suggestions for future post, please let me know in the comments.

xoxogail

 

The First Wednesday Challenge has several parts. The first is to do something, anything, each month to help wildlife in our gardens or in our communities. 

The Second part is to share what you've done. Why share? Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us.  

Why now? Because things are changing drastically around us. Development is just one of the many human activities that has contributed to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation. When an ecosystem has been dramatically changed by human activities it may no longer be able to provide the food, water, cover, and places to raise young that wildlife need to survive. Every day there are fewer places left that wildlife can call home. We might not be able to stop the development/destruction but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help others see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment. 

A gardener can hope, xoxo Gail

January 2024: First Wednesday-Want to Take the Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge?

I introduced the monthly challenge and shared what I saw happening in my neighborhood.

 

Bulldozer tearing down a perfectly fine house

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when trees are cut down. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris causing runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally.  Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

  • Gone are the lightening bugs.
  • Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
  • Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
  • Gone is plant diversity. 
  • Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
  • Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
  • Gone is a healthy foodweb.

 It breaks my heart. 


 

February 2024: First Wednesday Challenge- Gardening Is For The Birds


 ...and for the bees, beetles, insects, mammals, spiders and other critters that live and visit our gardens. 


This month's challenge is all about birds. February is National Bird Feeding Month. The month was created to educate the public on the seasonal journeys of birds, and for people to provide some aid at the height of winter when birds need it most.

Here's an Incomplete list of things we can do to feed the birds and keep them happy and healthy:

  1. Plant native plants that not only provide food for birds, but are also host plants for the insects that most birds need to feed their young.
  2. Reducing lawns: With more than 63 million acres of lawn and 4 million miles of paved road in the U.S. alone, there is huge potential to support wildlife by replacing lawns with native plants.
  3. Clean your feeders. Get you hummingbird feeeders cleaned and ready for hummers. 
  4. Keep your feeders filled with food birds prefer. Our bird visitors especially love The best foods include sunflower seeds, thistle, nuts, suet, and millet. Our bluebirds love mealy worms.
  5. Sweets, bread, popcorn, and potato chips are not healthy for birds.
  6. Make sure the bird food is fresh and not moldy after sitting in the feeders for long periods of time.
  7. Always have fresh water...year round. I use a heater for my birdbaths. They work.
  8. Clean out bird houses and repair them if necessary.
  9. Get binoculars to observe the birds in your garden and at the feeders
  10. Take photos and share them on social media and your neighborhood listserves.
  11. Get your  kids/grandkids involved. The Audubon Society has a list of kid friendly bird id books.
  12. Learn bird songs
  13. Use Merlin the free Bird Id ap to help you id bird calls and songs.
  14.  Turn lights out at night...This is especially helpful while birds are migrating 
  15. Treat large reflective windows to keep birds from crashing in to them.
  16. Keep your cat indoors. Cats are estimated to kill more than 2.4 billion birds annually in the U.S. 
  17. Cornell Lab suggests we switch to bird friendly coffees. Go here to find out whys.  
  18. Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count February 16-19th, 2024. Sign up for a GBYBC webinar
  19. Be smart and read about how to prevent diseases at the feeder
  20. Get involved with groups/organizations that are working to protect birds.
  21. Never use rodenticides. They pose a big threat to birds of prey due to rodents being a primary source of their food.
  22. Never, ever, ever use pesticides. I mean never.

 xoxogail

 March 2024: First Wednesday Challenge- Keystone Plants

 

When you plant your garden make sure you include keystone plants. They're the most important plants we should have or be adding to our gardens.

When I began a garden here at Clay and Limestone, I knew nothing about native plants. I tried all manner of plants that failed. But I eventually figured out that my garden had wonderful gifts for me. They were just waiting for me to appreciate them and when I did, I fell totally in love with wildflowers and the bees I discovered buzzing around them. How fortunate for this gardener or it would have taken many more years to discover the wonder of native plants and gardening for wildlife. 

It took me a few more years before I realized that wildflowers, as wonderful as they are, weren't the most important plants in my garden. I started adding shrubs and small trees, but it was still years before I truly appreciated that my garden was already blessed with Oaks, Hickories, Eastern Red cedars, Elms, Ashes, Hackberries, Redbuds, Dogwood species, Viburnums, and American hophornbeam trees. I didn't realize at the time that many were keystone plants that supported insects, birds, pollinators, and small mammals.

Hypericum frondosum supports 22 Lepidoptera species

A keystone plant is a plant that supports the life cycle of many species. They're trees and perennials that are crucial to the food web and necessary for many wildlife species to complete their life cycle. Without keystone plants in the landscape, butterflies, native bees, and birds will not thrive.

 

Oaks support 521 Lepidoptera species

Insects, especially caterpillars, are the prime source of food for most birds feeding their young. Keystone plants like Oaks, cherry, Beeches, Elms, Poplar, Pine and Hickory trees support 90% of caterpillar species. Keystone plants like Asters, perennial sunflowers, and goldenrods support 60% of native bees. Caterpillars and native bees are both integral parts of nature’s food web.(source)  

April 2024: First Wednesday Challenge- Every Day Needs A Night

 Wildlife are increasingly threatened by artificial light at night.

Southeastern USA from NASA

When I step outside at night I can barely find my favorite constellations. Because of development a lot has changed in my neighborhood; the tree canopy has been reduced, monocultural lawns have replaced the bee friendly lawns and the mega houses have exterior up lighting on every remaining tree. Standing in my driveway I can see eave lights, porch lights and landscape lighting that's on all night. All of it helping to obscure the night sky. 

But my missing the constellations is small potatoes compared to the effect that artificial light at night has on birds, amphibians, insects and mammals. Especially those that are nocturnal (sleep during the day, and move about at night). The lit up night harms wildlife and ecosystems.

According to research scientist Christopher Kyba, for nocturnal animals “the introduction of artificial light probably represents the most drastic change human beings have made to their environment.”

“Predators use light to hunt, and prey species use darkness as cover,” Kyba explains. “Near cities, cloudy skies are now hundreds or even thousands of times brighter than they were 200 years ago. We are only beginning to learn what a drastic effect this has had on nocturnal ecology.” (source)

 

 

The night is full of life and activity. That's when nocturnal creatures like bats, raccoons, most owls, skunks, coyotes, opossums, deer, many amphibians, and insects are out and about. I didn't know until I listened to Bug Banter , a Xercis Society podcast, that about 60% of insects rely upon darkness for orientation, navigation, avoidance of predators, location of food and reproduction. Many nocturnal and crepuscular (out at dawn and dusk) insects use celestial light sources such as stars and the moon as visual cues for movement across landscapes. All plants, animals and humans living on Earth are genetically adapted to regular day/night/seasonal cycles that have, in many places on the planet, been completely interrupted by the glow created by artificial lights.(source)

For all of evolutionary history the night has been totally dark. What we've done in lighting up the night is unprecedented and has had a huge impact on critters.

 May 2024 First Wednesday Challenge- Invite bugs into your garden

 Embrace imperfection.

 

 What does that mean?

  • We must be okay with the damage that bugs will do to our garden plants.
  • We don't run for the pesticides or herbicides the first time we see chewed up foliage and petals.
  • We need to redefine what we think of as perfection and beauty in our gardens.
  • We invite beneficial insects into the garden when we plant the right plants and create the right conditions.
  • We celebrate that imperfection means our gardens are teeming with all kinds of wildlife, not just pretty flower faces.

That's what I've done in my own garden.  

Our gardens will not be magazine perfect, but, pollinators and other critters don't care if flower petals are chewed on. They need pollen and nectar producing flowers. They need host plants for their offspring. They need water. They need bare earth to nest in. They need trees. They need woodpiles to hide in. They need a pesticide free environment.

 June 2024 First Wednesday Challenge- Why Trees Matter and Why We Ought To Care

 

I started to write about the loss of trees in my neighborhood and as alarming as that is to me I was struck by something that is far more important. People are living where there is little or no tree canopy. Imagine no trees when you step outside. That means no birds or squirrels or other critters that rely upon trees. This is true for seventy percent of Americans who are now living in urbanized areas where their proximity to trees and nature has greatly diminished. That means that when someone steps outside there is no shade to play under or to protect them from summer heat. There are no trees to help them get healthier. There are no trees to gather under and visit with friends. There are no trees to make the neighborhood feel pleasant or attractive. Observational research has shown that cities without trees are prone to more violence and health issues.

Here's my probably incomplete list of the many ways trees are valuable:

  • They clean the air we breath
  • They help fight climate change
  • They provide oxygen
  • They cool streets and neighborhoods
  • They conserve energy
  • They slow water evaporation
  • They reduce water pollution, runoff and erosion
  • They shade children while they play ( reduce UV-B exposure)
  • They provide food for humans and birds and animals
  • They provide shelter, nesting and 
  • They help us heal
  • They can sooth our frazzled nerves
  • They help reduce fear and violence in neighborhoods
  • They reduce noise (blocks interstate noise)
  • They bring people together when planting them
  • They help promote healthy soils
  • They provide homes for critters
  • They provide beauty in a concrete gray city
  • They provide property and commercial value to homes, neighborhoods and cities
  • They provide economic value, jobs, etc.
  • They provide spiritual value 
  • They can reduce crime if the right trees are planted in the right way

 July 2024: First Wednesday Challenge- What To Plant In Your Garden

 


It's your garden plant what ever you want. But, would you please plan(t) for all the critters that live and visit your garden?  Pollinators will thank you for it by hanging around pollinating your flowers and vegetables/fruits. Beneficial insects will thrive and raise offspring that will gobble up the more harmful insects. Birds will live there and help keep the insect population down. 

 It's your garden, plant what ever you want, but, plant knowing that the more you plant for critters...crawling, flying and even digging ones, the healthier and more diverse your garden will be.  

Plant what ever you want, but consider that you might be part of something big going on in your neighborhood. Your garden might be a neighborhood haven for all kinds of critters in the midst of a sea of lawns. Yours might be one of the few gardens that offers pollinating critters nectar and pollen from late winter until late fall; a place for all kinds of critters to raise their offspring; or a stopping off place for water and food (seeds and berries) to migrating birds. 

 It's your garden, plant what ever you want, just take some time to figure out what makes sense for your garden conditions. It's taken me a very long time, but, I finally feel as if I have found the right combination and balance of perennials, annuals, biennials, small trees and shrubs that can thrive in the shallow clay soil that is too dry during the summer and too wet during the winter. 

These are the questions I ask myself when plant shopping at nurseries or online.

  • Does it make sense for my garden conditions?
  • Is it a source of nectar or pollen or a host plant for pollinators? 
  • Is it a food source for birds, insects or mammals?
  • Will it add to plant diversity in my critter friendly garden?
  • Is it native or garden friendly (a non invasive plant)? 
  • Have I included plants that bloom in the early spring and some that bloom until late fall to help critters getting ready for winter?
  • Have I included shrubs and evergreens? (They provide structure to the garden and cover and food.)
  • What worked this past year? Should I plant more?

August 2024 First Wednesday Challenge-Take A Walk In Nature 

I challenge you to take a walk in nature. Head out to your local greenway, natural area or even your neighborhood. Walks in nature promote health and well being. They're also good for the planet; research has shown that when people are invested in being in nature, they are almost always invested in advocating for it.

Smallanthus uvedalius is blooming at Richland Greenway.

In nature you'll find native wildflowers, invasive plants, pollinators, all kinds of insects, mammals, birds, lizards and maybe a snake. It's also where you can boost your health, improve your mood and introduce your children or grandchildren to the wonderful outdoors and all those plants and critters.

 


The August 6, 2024 issue of the Washington Post has a great article on how important being outside is to kids: "How time in nature builds happier, healthier and more social children".

“Outdoor time for children is beneficial not just for physical health but also mental health for a multitude of reasons,” says Janine Domingues, a senior psychologist in the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute. “It fosters curiosity and independence. It helps kids get creative about what they can do … and then just moving around and expending energy has a lot of physical health benefits.”

 September 2024 First Wednesday Challenge- It's Migration Time and Birds Need A Few Things

Fall migration has begun and we can expect millions of birds to fly over many of our cities. The drought has been hard this summer and I hope there are enough native plants with seeds, berries, nuts and insects to help fuel birds as they pass through. As for fresh water,   Nashville is on a river and there are enormous lakes nearby, so birds can flock there when they stop to recharge.

Bird Cast

Birds migrate south as winter approaches because insects and other foods are dwindling. They're traveling to areas that have food and nesting. Some birds stay put because they can find adequate food and water, others are traveling anywhere from a hundred miles to several hundred. The birds that are being monitored by Bird Cast are long-distance migrators. "They typically move from breeding ranges in the United States and Canada to wintering grounds in Central and South America. It's an arduous journey and over 350 different species of North American birds are long distance migrators." (source)

 

Goldfinches can stay or migrate depending upon food sources

Migration is a natural phenomena that happens every fall and spring. Their journey is physically taxing and the lack of adequate food supplies along the way, bad weather, exposure to predators and the ever increasing danger from colliding into lit up buildings all add to making this journey hazardous.

There are things we can do. Very important things!

  • Provide food
  • Provide fresh water
  • Make your windows obvious, especially the big picture windows. Add decals, paint spider webs, stripes or designs, this will keep birds from colliding into them when they stop at our feeders. 

  • Go lights out at 11pm to 6am during migration (spring and fall)
  • Become an advocate: Work to get your community involved in turning off their outdoor lights from 11pm to 6am every night.


October 2024 First Wednesday Wildlife Challenge- Kids Need Time Outdoors

We need to get our kids outside more...There are many good reasons to be outside for all of us, but, it's especially true for children who seem to be spending less time outdoors than ever before. When researching the numbers I was shocked to read that the average child spends only 6 -7 minutes outdoors everyday. That's so different from my free to roam childhood when as a part of a small gang of neighborhood kids we rode bikes, climbed trees, explored the woodlands and were unsupervised almost all day. Each generation has less time outdoors, let alone unsupervised time outdoors. I am not recommending that you free range kids, just give them more opportunities to be outdoors in nature. There are so many benefits for them and for nature.  

What are kids doing if they aren't playing outside? They're spending a lot of time in front of electronic screens. The reality is that most kids are coming in way above what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. In fact, 87% of children had screen time exceeding the recommendations. The latest statistics show that most American children spend about three hours a day watching television. Watching television, working on a computer, looking at social media, or playing video games can total 5–7 hours a day. (source)


 The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:

  •  no screen time before 18 months. 
  • introducing screen time gradually to children between 18 to 24 months
  • no more than one hour per day of high-quality programming for children from 2–5 years. (Sesame Street or Little Einsteins are considered high-quality programs)
  • kids 5–17, should get no more than two hours of screen time a day, not including virtual learning or homework. 


Here are six crucial ways playing outside helps children (from Harvard School of Medicine)

1.   Sunshine. Vitamin D production, improved immune system, healthy sleep and improved mood

2.  Exercise. Children should be active for an hour every day, and getting outside to play is one way to be sure that happens.

3.  Executive function. Being outside gives kids opportunities to practice problem solving, use their imagination, solve problems with playmates and help in developing other life skills.
 

4.  Taking risks. Children need to take some risks.  "Risk-taking is all about identity formation. As kids mature, they need opportunities to discover who they are, to set their own boundaries, and to establish their own values and beliefs apart from those of their parents. Wise risk-taking builds resilience, boosts confidence, encourages perseverance, and curbs fear." Climbing trees, jumping off boulders and walls, picking up bugs, and reaching out to make friends are ways kids can take a risk. Activities need to be age appropriate.

5.  Socialization. Children need to learn how to work together, to share, to cooperate, how to treat others and how to make and be a friend. 

6.  Appreciation of nature. So much of our world is changing, and not for the better. If a child grows up never walking in the woods, digging in soil, seeing animals in their habitat, climbing a mountain, playing in a stream, or staring at the endless horizon of an ocean, they may never really understand what there is to be lost. The future of our planet depends on our children; they need to learn to appreciate it, to connect to it.  Research shows that kids who grow up connected to nature are more often motivated to get involved in conservation actions. (source)

 November 2024: First Wednesday Challenge- A Conversation About Leaves

 


It's the First Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge and I'm here to talk about leaves.

Leaves are miraculous and beautiful....In my part of the world it's golden leaf time. Elms, shagbark hickories, spicebushes, Eastern hop-hornbeam, witch hazels and maples are glowing. I love autumn.

I've known since I was a little kid that leaves were a lot of fun. Back then I loved walking through the leaves that had fallen on the sidewalks, they crunched and crackled when you stepped on them. Neighbors made great piles that were fun to jump into and later that day they burned them creating a huge bonfire. Honestly, that's a smell that takes me back a few years.

In middle school science I learned that the job of a leaf was to make food for the plant. But being a curious person I wanted to see what an internet search would yield many, many years later! Searching "the job of a leaf" yielded thousands of pages. Almost all start with this simple explanation: "The most important job of a leaf is to make food for the plant. They're responsible for turning sunlight into food."

"A leaf is considered one of the most important parts of a plant as it is a source of food for the plant itself and also for animals who feed on it."(source) Wow! I loved reading that. Finally, a definition that acknowledged that an important job for leaves was not only feeding the tree, but also feeding animals.* By animals they meant insects or as E.O. Wilson defined them, the little things that run the world.


Title: Magical Garden

Dr Wilson wrote a paper in 1987 hypothesizing what would happen if insects disappeared. He concluded that most flowering plants would disappear (because they’re pollinated by insects), the food web that supports amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc. would quickly collapse, and the biosphere (living part of the world) would rot due to the loss of insects that consume dead plant and animal matter.

Insects are still disappearing.

Unfortunately, we've done too good a job of eradicating bugs! We've armed homeowners with pesticides, we've hired folks to spray yards for mosquitoes (they kill all insects), we plant non native plants that aren't host plants for insect young, we've lost natural areas, and then every fall we pay lawn service contractors to haul away one of our most valuable ecological resources-fallen leaves.

Yes, fallen leaves are one of our most valuable resources for the health of our gardens

Leaves can:

  • protect your plants’ roots from drying out or freezing
  • suppress weeds
  • preserve soil moisture
  • decay into leaf mold which is a great soil amendment
  • return nutrients to the soil 
  • shelter seeds so they can bloom
  • be part of a soft landing for insects
  • btw, a thin layer on your lawn will not smother it, instead it can do all the things we've listed in this list for your lawn     

 And...you can still have fun with leaves. Build a brush shelter with your favorite little kid. Use branches, sticks and stems, and leaves to make brush piles that will shelter native wildlife. It's also okay to jump into a leaf pile.

 

I am so glad you stopped by.xoxogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Wildflower Wednesday: Appreciative and Thankful For My Garden/Habitat


It's Thanksgiving week and I am feeling appreciative and thankful about the good people, good things, good wildflowers and good garden critters in my life. The last two years have been especially challenging for me as a gardener, so I am working extra hard at appreciating what is revealed to me every day in my garden. This Wildflower Wednesday post is in celebration of the wildflower and native plant beauty in the garden. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have had in putting it together.

But first a little history to remind myself and long time readers of what this journey has been like! xoxogail

Shagbark hickory
Long before there was a Clay and Limestone this sloped land was a rocky forest of native trees, shrubs, perennials and ephemerals. When my house was built on this rocky soil almost 70 years ago this neighborhood was not part of Nashville. Metro Nashville didn't exist until 1962 when the citizens voted to consolidate the competing and duplicative city and county governments into one. Metro Nashville has thrived and grown ever since, so much so, that many groups are working to make sure that there are some protections for the tree canopy, for pollinators, for birds and for other critters.

 To create this suburban neighborhood developer's bulldozers cut streets through the woodland. They built brick ranch houses that had deep backyards and grassy front yards. They left a few canopy trees, primarily the oaks, hickories and hackberry, but took out most of the understory and planted non native lawns, so that boys and girls could play baseball, kickball and reach for the sky on their backyard swings.
crinkle root (Cardamine diphylla

The rocky, shallow soil was not so good at supporting turf grasses, but, it was excellent at supporting bee friendly lawns that were populated with native plants like Danthonia spicata Poverty Oat Grasses, panic grasses, Ruellia humilis, Viola spp., Sisyrinchium angustifolium/Blue-eyed grass, Nothoscordum bivalve/False garlic, Claytonia virginica/Spring beauty, Downy woodmint, Erythronium americanum/trout lily, fleabane, toothworts, Lyre-leaf sage, Western Daisy and sedges.

Western Daisy is a fabulous native annual and still blooming
But in 1985 when we moved into this house and yard, I had no idea that there were native plant treasures waiting for me to discover. I envisioned a Cottage Garden filled with the palest blues, pinks and whites just like I saw in every book and magazine. I failed at everything I tried until I realized that the shallow clay soil was already home to wonderful native wildflowers!

Today, I look around and celebrate those wildflowers. They have brought me so much joy. When I stop and think about its those wildflowers that I have to thank for helping me gain new knowledge, for great adventures and for meeting new people. Without wildflowers I might never have realized the possibilities for a garden with difficult growing conditions like I have here at Clay and Limestone. I would surely never have met the unique plants and trees that grow in middle Tennessee, I wouldn't have begun blogging and I wouldn't have met wonderful friends like you dear readers or my dear friends from Garden Bloggers Flings. Nor would I have become a Tennessee Naturalist. My love for wildflowers opened my eyes to many things, especially to pollinators and their importance to our gardens, to agriculture and to the earth.

Here's the garden/habitat in November colors.


Right now the garden looks quite flowerless! Most  of the late blooming flowers are gone, except a few of the last to bloom Willowleaf asters. They are a must have plant for me and I recommend that you add them to your garden, too. You need a plant that survives several frosts and deep freezes and this one does. If the temperatures were to rebound to warmer than 60˚ in the next weeks the bees would be back. They aren't so happy with drought, but other than that, they're pretty perfect.


Hamamelis virginiana is also still blooming. The flowers furl when it's cold and unfurl when the day warms up. I can't imagine gardening without this understory tree. On warm days its honey scent wafts around the garden on the slightest breeze. It's been a Wildflower Wednesday star several times, because I love it so. It's growing in a small woodland garden beneath the swaying branches of a shagbark hickory and The Dancing Tree/Ostrya virginiana that I rescued from the strangling wisteria. It's perfect for woodland gardens and generously shares the ground beneath with woodland favorites like Christmas ferns, wild ginger, Phacelia, Trilliums, Dutchman's Breeches and other spring ephemerals.

Of course when I speak of my garden and wildlife value I include shrubs and trees. Now tell me what you think of the  Ostrya virginiana in her fall yellows? Undistinguished yellow in autumn is how MOBOT describes this beauty. I beg to disagree.



Cotinus 'Grace' and Cercis canadensis

 Color in the garden at this time of year is in many shades of yellow, brown and some reds. I believe that this Redbud looks fabulous with Cotinus 'Grace'.

 

Hypericum frondosum

 I love native plants that offer year round beauty and Hypericum frondosum fits the bill. Gorgeous exfoliating winter bark gives way to incredible blue green foliage topped with gorgeous flowers in June. It doesn't stop there...The seedheads are fabulous and then the pièce de ré·sis·tance of late fall and winter is its spectacular hypercolored leaves.

 

Porteranthus stipulatus     

Another fall beauty with equally lovely summer flowers is Western Indian Physic. I am not sure why this plant isn't in more gardens, after all, who needs big showy blooms on every plant when subtle beauty and charm can be found on this lovely native in the summer and when the flowers fade you get leaves that are a golden orange color in the fall.

I love my garden habitat in the fall. There's enough color to make me smile, even after all the damage done by browsing deer and an impossibly long drought. Looking down I notice that the spring blooming biennials and annuals have germinated. Fallen leaves never smother them and I have a lot of leaves.

Phacelia bipinnatifida

The garden becomes a sea of browning leaves and seedheads after the flowers fade. I think they're beautiful. 


Not only are they beautiful in shades of brown, the promise of spring and summer is in every one of those seeds. Those promises are everywhere if you look carefully. Take a close look at your native shrubs and small trees for buds. I remember the first time I saw the little green buds on spice bush.

 Understory trees and shrubs like Hydrangeas, witch-hazel, Hypericums add a lot of color to the late fall garden. All have been chosen for their excellent wildlife value.


I am grateful that so many plants happily grow in my shallow, clay soil and that they survive what nature throws at them. Thanks so much for stopping by and helping me celebrate the November Wildflower Wednesday with a tour through my habitat and a look at a little of its history.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. xoxogail

 

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. I am so glad you stopped by. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not; and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers.

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

First Wednesday Challenge: A Conversation About Leaves

 


It's the First Wednesday Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge and I'm here to talk about leaves.

Leaves are miraculous and beautiful....In my part of the world it's golden leaf time. Elms, shagbark hickories, spicebushes, Eastern hop-hornbeam, witch hazels and maples are glowing. I love autumn.

I've known since I was a little kid that leaves were a lot of fun. Back then I loved walking through the leaves that had fallen on the sidewalks, they crunched and crackled when you stepped on them. Neighbors made great piles that were fun to jump into and later that day they burned them creating a huge bonfire. Honestly, that's a smell that takes me back a few years.

In middle school science I learned that the job of a leaf was to make food for the plant. But being a curious person, I wanted to see what an internet search would yield. Searching "the job of a leaf" yielded thousands of pages. Almost all start with this simple explanation: "The most important job of a leaf is to make food for the plant. They're responsible for turning sunlight into food."

They're especially beautiful in the fall.

A few pages into the search I found a source that expanded on that definition.


 "A leaf is considered one of the most important parts of a plant as it is a source of food for the plant itself and also for animals who feed on it."(source)

Wow! I loved reading that. Finally, a definition that acknowledged that an important job for leaves was not only feeding the tree, but also feeding animals.* By animals they meant insects or as E.O. Wilson defined them, the little things that run the world.

 Dr Wilson wrote a paper in 1987 hypothesizing what would happen if insects disappeared. He concluded that most flowering plants would disappear (because they’re pollinated by insects), the food web that supports amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc. would quickly collapse, and the biosphere (living part of the world) would rot due to the loss of insects that consume dead plant and animal matter.

Insects are still disappearing.

Title: Magical Garden


Unfortunately, we've done too good a job of eradicating bugs! We've armed homeowners with pesticides, we've hired folks to spray yards for mosquitoes (they kill all insects), we plant non native plants that aren't host plants for insect young, we've lost natural areas, and then every fall we pay lawn service contractors to haul away one of our most valuable ecological resources-fallen leaves.

Yes, fallen leaves are one of our most valuable resources for the health of our gardens

Leaves can:

  • protect your plants’ roots from drying out or freezing
  • suppress weeds
  • preserve soil moisture
  • decay into leaf mold which is a great soil amendment
  • return nutrients to the soil 
  • shelter seeds so they can bloom
  • be part of a soft landing for insects
  • btw, a thin layer on your lawn will not smother it, instead it can do all the things we've listed in this list for your lawn     

 And...you can still have fun with leaves. Build a brush shelter with your favorite little kid. Use branches, sticks and stems, and leaves to make brush piles that will shelter native wildlife. It's also okay to jump into a leaf pile.


Leaves are a significant part of a soft landing. "Soft landings are diverse native plantings under keystone trees (or any other regionally appropriate native tree). These plantings provide critical shelter and habitat for one or more life cycle stages of moths, butterflies, and beneficial insects such as bumble bees, fireflies, lacewings, and beetles. In addition to plants, soft landings also include leaf litter, duff, and plant debris. " (Heather Holm) Soft landings also provide critical shelter for toads, lizards and turtles and mammals.

soft landing for

I wish I could convince our neighbors that fallen leaves are valuable and not the enemy. Their leaf blower brigades have arrived and they're blowing all the leaves off their lawns and their foundation beds onto tarps that are emptied into trucks and hauled away.

They return weekly to wage a noisy and destructive war against every leaf and small twig that might have landed on the lawn. This war against nature is costly for the environment; the fertilized and manicured mono-cultural lawn is made even more valueless for wildlife and the ecosystem. There's nothing in a mono-cultural lawn for insects or birds to eat and they've eliminated all the leaves that could have been a part of the soft landing.

People argue that the leaves will smother their lawn and plantings? I have a bee friendly lawn and so far, it hasn't smothered my wildflowers, my sedges or my perennials. But, if that's a concern, then do what I do when leaves are too deep.

What do I do...I gently rake or kindly sweep the leaves that fall on my walkways and driveway into the garden beds. I relocate especially deep piles of leaves by gently raking them onto a tarp and moving them to a wilder part of the garden. But, most leaves stay where they fall. 

My shallow clay soil is richer and healthier from 35+ years of letting leaves stay where they fall. Decaying leaves have mulched my wildflowers, added organic matter to the soil, improved the soil structure, and provided nutrients for the microbial communities.  

And it doesn't cost a thing.

Let me leave you with this quote from the Xerces Society. I hope it helps you decide to let the leaves stay in your garden.

There are so many animals that live in leaves: spiders, snails, worms, beetles, millipedes, mites, and more—that support the chipmunks, turtles, birds, and amphibians that rely on these insects for food.  It’s easy to see how important leaves really are to sustaining the natural web of life.(Xerces Society source)

xoxogail

*It wasn't until I fell in love with native wildflowers that I learned that insects have both a mutualistic (plants feed insects and insects pollinate plants) and evolutionary relationship with plants. "The entire food web is based on interactions between plants and organisms. Native plants feed a native insect population. This is an evolutionary relationship, and these relationships are not forged quickly. Some insects need certain plants. We lose species diversity when a species does not have the food it needs.” ( Kate Venturini Hardesty)

Take the Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge




The first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of things, each month that support the critters living in our gardens. Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live in our gardens. 

Activities that increase our knowledge of the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can do. 

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! Why post it? Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

  • Gone are the lightening bugs.
  • Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
  • Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
  • Gone is plant diversity. 
  • Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
  • Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
  • Gone is a healthy foodweb.

 It breaks my heart. 

We can't stop the progmess, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.

A gardener can hope! 

xoxoGail



Here's an incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden, and things you can do for and/or in your community. But don't limit yourself to my list, make your own list or check out the internet for ideas.

 

Looking for ways to get involved go here for a list of environmental advocacy groups.

Buy the best wildflower, butterfly and bird id books for your state.

Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. Buy them nature books.

Get in the garden with your children and grandchildren. 



Give nature books as baby shower gifts (Nature books for infants and toddlers)

Shrink your lawn and make your planting beds larger.

Plant your favorite native perennials and shrubs. Leave them standing after they've gone to seed to continue to provide for wildlife. What you plant in your yard makes a difference to wildlife. I garden for wildlife so every tree, shrub and plant is chosen with wildlife in mind.


 

Plant more natives and then consider planting even more. "A typical suburban landscape contains only 20-30% native plant species. Try reversing that trend in your own landscape by using 70-80% native species." (source

Plant for bloom from late spring to early winter. Bees are most active from February to November (longer in mild climates) late winter blooming Hamamelis vernalis and the earliest spring ephemerals (like the toothworts, hepaticas, spring beauties, and False rue-anemeone) are perfect plants for a variety of pollinators.

Commit to never, ever, ever, ever using pesticides in the garden.

Stay away from native plant hybrids and cultivars that are double flowered. They are sterile and have no pollen or nectar for insects and no seeds for the birds. If possible plant “true open-pollinated native wildflowers”

If you want to garden for wildlife and pollinators, don't let lack of space stop you! Plant your favorite wildflowers in large containers. You just might have the prairie or woodland garden you've always wanted...in a pot!
 
Create a water feature. Provide water year round that is accessible to birds, bees and other critters.

Make a rain garden in low spots to collect and mitigate runoff.

Show some soil! Our native ground nesting bees nest in bare soil, so don't mulch every square inch of your garden. 

Get rid of the plastic weed barriers in your garden, it's not good for anything.

Invite bugs into your garden. Plant annuals that attract beneficial bugs.

 


Learn to tolerate damaged plants. Imperfection is the new perfect.

Don't be in a rush to clean up the fall garden. Leave plant stalks and seed heads standing all winter. Leave those fallen leaves or as many as you can tolerate! Insects over winter in the fallen and decaying leaves. Leave a layer of leaves as a soft landing material under trees for moths and butterflies to over winter. Many caterpillars drop to the ground from the trees in the fall and need a soft landing site and a place to live over the winter.

Allow a fallen tree to remain in the garden. Limbs on the ground are a perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.


Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". Bugs are also good bird, toad and small critter food. 

Rethink what you consider a pest. Lots of good bugs eat aphids. Spiders are important predators and they're great bird food!

Add nesting boxes for birds. 

Turn off your yard up-lighting, eave lights and porch lights after 11pm. This is important for nocturnal critters including mammals, snakes, insects, bats, birds (especially during migration). (Birdcast suggestions)

Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.

Keep a nature journal: You can observe visitors to your water feature, make note of when they visit. Notice which flowers attract the most pollinators and which ones are just pretty faces. 

Join your state native plant society (Tennessee Native Plant Society)

Join WildOnes even if there's no local group you can join the national organization.  (Middle Tennessee WildOnes)

Support your local native plant sellers. (GroWild in middle Tennessee, Overhill Gardens in east Tennessee,  Resource Guide TN Native Plant Society)

Encourage your local garden clubs to offer native plant talks.

If your garden club has a plant sale encourage them to sell more native plants.

Get trained as a naturalist (Tennessee Naturalist Program. Almost every state has their own Master Naturalist training program

Take an online course on tree, fungi and wildflower id. 

Take an online course on designing with native plants.

Take a walk in your neighborhood and observe nature. To quote Joanna Brichetto in Sidewalk Nature "Look Around. Nature is here, is us, our driveways, our baseboards, parks, and parking lots."

Read! There are hundreds of books on gardening for wildlife, the environment, and rewilding our world. There are delightful blogs with wonderful and informative articles.

If you are already gardening with wildlife in mind then add a few signs that help educate your neighbors. (Xerces Society, Pollinator Partnership)

Join the Xerces Society.

Set up an information station where neighbors can pick up brochures about your garden and other info. 

Get certified (National Wildlife Federation, check to see what your state offers)

Support trees by joining the effort to make sure developers don't remove more trees than are necessary for their project. Work to make sure there are tree removal permits and that they are actually enforced in your community.

 

 

 

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.