Is it a hummingbird? Is it a bee? No, it's a moth!

The first time I saw a Snowberry Clearwing Moth in the garden I wasn't entirely sure what it was. It had several hummingbird characteristics, it was fast moving (they can reach speeds of 35 mph), it had fast beating wings that hummed, and, it hovered over blossoms while it sipped nectar, but, its coloring, antennae, six legs and long, butterfly-like proboscis clearly said "this is an insect in the butterfly/moth family"! It didn't take long to identify it as Hemaris diffinis, a day-flying moth in the sphinx family.

These moths hover and stabilize their flight by resting their front legs on the flower blossom

The Snowberry Clearwing Moth is a mid to late summer visitor to my garden. They're really quite interesting looking moths and have the same yellow and black coloration as bumblebees. They have large eyes and a long tongue/proboscis perfectly adapted for reaching deep down in tubular flowers like summer phloxes, verbena and monarda for hidden nectar. They're good pollinators and like bees, pollen sticks to their hairy bodies and is transferred to other flowers as they move about the plant community.

Now, that I've just typed that paragraph, I'm not sure why I thought it was a hummer when it clearly resembles a bumblebee! Hemaris diffinis's bee mimicry worked on me and it probably does a pretty good job insuring it isn't an easy meal for a fast moving bird! Oh isn't nature amazing and oh so clever!

while the photo isn't the best, you can see the clear wings!

Now that summer is sort of winding down here in the Mid-South, I've been checking the Arrowwood viburnums, Southern bush honeysuckles and the Loniceras (host plants) for any of its emerald green eggs. So far I haven't found any, but,  I'll continue to keep a look out for them and any green hornworms as they search for the right spot in the leaf litter to pupate and wait the winter out. Maybe, I'll get lucky and see the moth emerge in the Spring!

bumble bee mimicry reduces predation

Until then, I'll enjoy them on warm summer days as they hover and dart about the garden.

xoxogail

Some Snowberry Clearwing Moth particulars:

Caterpillar Hosts: Snowberry/Symphoricarpos, honeysuckle/Lonicera, dogbane/Apocynum, Viburnum, hawthorn, cherry, plum and dwarf bush honeysuckle/Diervilla lonicera

Adult Food: Nectar from flowers including phlox, monarda, coreopsis, lantana, dwarf bush honeysuckle, snowberry, orange hawkweed, thistles, lilac, and Canada violet...Any good nectar source.
Habitat: A wide variety of open habitats, streamsides, fields, gardens, and suburbs....with plenty of leaf litter to hide in all winter!

Distribution map of Hemaris diffinis source

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.

Full Thunder Moon Flowers That Make Me Smile

Offspring of  E tennessensis and E purpurea

It's July 15 and you all know what that means~ It's Bloom Day and Garden Bloggers all over the known blogasphere are celebrating the blooms in their garden. You can see more gardens then you can imagine in one day if you stop by hostess extraordinaire Carol of May Dreams Gardens to take the Mr Linky magic carpet ride to adventure.

Agastache 'Golden Jubilee' withSwallowtail butterfly

Tonight is also the Full Thunder Moon, Buck Moon or Hay Moon.  I am hoping that calling it Full Thunder Moon we will remind Mother Nature to give  the Middle South regular  popup thunder showers.

Lantana, a well behaved exotic and  a Skipper

In the meantime, I comfort myself knowing that I am getting a good upper body workout dragging the house to containers  set in the full sun.

Verbena 'Princess Blush' from the Southern Living Plant Collection

Like the Verbena which is thriving in a container near the Susan's Bed.

Rudbeckia lacinata

In the meantime, please enjoy the flowers~native and native friendly exotics~ that make me smile during this very hot, humid and popup showerless challenged garden.

 

Carpenter Bee nectaring on the remains of the monarda

Lantana~Never fails to draw the butterfly and skippers

Supertunia Cherry Star

Callirhoe involucrata

 A drum roll please!

The Susans are beginning to  bloom.  Yeah for Rudbeckia fulgida and Rudbeckia hirta species.  They join the cultivars in bringing happy smiles to this gardener.

Now have a great day and  a wonderful weekend.

xxoogail

Native and Exotic Blooms For May GBBD

Let me put you on the spot!

Isn't native Iris versicolor pretty. Versi has loved the rain that has parked itself over my garden all spring and refuses to move. It's well established now, so it will make it through the droughts that will arrive in July!

A dramatic deep purple Iris germanica that looks black across the garden

The other stunner in the garden is a tall nearly black bearded iris with a slightly sweet fragrance that already needs to be divided. Music to my ears with a flower this gorgeous!

Penstemon X (P calycosus) continues to bloom everywhere.

Penstemon calycosus native to the Central Basin

Letting it go to seed means the Garden of Benign Neglect is a sea of hummingbird and bee favorites flowers for at least a month...

Photo from my missing post Take A Chance On Me

The noid peony was blooming earlier this month. It has the tiniest bit of fragrance, but the single bloom with the intense golden yellow stamens is what drew me from across the nursery to grab this plant clearly marked~'red peony'. Tell me the truth! Could you have resisted its charms?

Spiderworts are blooming in full force~This is cultivar 'Sweet Kate' of the lime colored foliage.

and who planted this pretty little flower? "Not I!" said the innocent gardener! But, it looks sweet among the rampaging pink Evening primroses.

Evening Primrose with agastache foliage

Noid daylily

Monarda bradburiana~ Who knew I would have to go all the way to Chicago

The Lurie summer 2009

and the Lurie to find a Middle Tennessee native monarda that can take the dry soil that Clay and Limestone dishes out.

Proven Winners Superbells® Cherry Star is being trialed in a container in full sun

I wish you all a marvelous week and a delightful May 2011 Bloom Day. Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day is brought to you by Carol, of May Dreams Gardens. Stop by her blog for links to blogs and blooms all over the known blogasphere. You're in for a treat~it's Spring (and Autumn in the Southern Hemphisphere) and gardens are dressed in their finest.

xxoogail

This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

When You Plant Them, They Will Come...It's a Promise!

I planted Monarda didyma "Marshall's Delight' and they came...butterflies, moths and bees....no hummers, yet.

Aren't they sweet? Really, they are all over this guy...
I am thrilled to see the Swallowtail butterfly. It's deep summer and soon we'll have caterpillars on the fennel, dill and parsley. How ever do you get a butterfly to stop flitting so she can have her photo taken!

Does anyone know this guy's name? A Lepidoptera family member? Skeeter (In The Garden) identified her as a Silver-Spotted Skipper. Thanks Skeeter!

There are a number of caterpillars who feed only on Monarda didyma, perhaps there will be eggs laid on this plant.
Lots of fat bees are attracted to Marshall's Delight...I haven't seen any honeybees? But I can't complain...these guys will do.


(all photos enlarge)

Monardas are aromatic herbs indigenous to eastern North America and are very happy in the Southeastern US. A perennial with dark green leaves and upright stems which usually grows to about 3 foot tall by 2 feet wide. If you like activity ...he's the life of the party...he will bring butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to your garden. He makes a great cut flower. Right now, I have flowers in a vase...I wouldn't be at all surprised if the stems root. The mint plants are very vigorous rooters.

OK, he's a mint and if he's happy...he may travel. For that reason monarda is often relegated to the naturalized garden...where he can grow to his heart's content. If you are diligent and divide him regularly he might not get out of control! Joy (GardenJoyForMe) has a nice post on Monarda didyma "Petit Delight", it's very similar to Marshall's Delight only...petit, so drop by to see hers.

Although, Marshall's Delight has been developed to be mildew resistant...it's best to keep him thinned out, so there is plenty of air circulating around the stems. Another recommendation to deter mildew is keeping the soil evenly moist...dry soil appears to encourage mildew. You might like this idea I found at Pahgat's : As summer was turning to autumn (in 2002), our Marshall's Delight did get mildewy. I just cut it to the ground, discarding rather than composting the leaves, & it quickly began to regrow with its wholesome appearance regained. The following year, I periodically sprayed the area with dilute milk, which is a fully organic method of keeping powdery mildew from reoccurring, & works vastly more reliably than do fungicides.

Has any one tried the milk remedy for powdery mildew? Sounds interesting and you don't have to bring out the Big Guns. Here is link that might be helpful.

This is the first season I've tried Marshall's Delight. So we'll see what the humid heat of July and August bring! So far he seems happy and he certainly lives up to his reputation as a pollinator attractor. We are hoping he won't be aggressive or thug like, but, he is a mint! He can't go too far...on one side is a ledge of limestone that is quite large. On the other, is me with my perennial shovel and clippers!

I'm hoping he's planted in the right spot. He's in pretty full sun in some great soil. I'll be giving him extra water...monarda really do like an evenly moist growing conditions and you all know that it gets just a bit dry in this garden during the summer....which means more compost and leaf mold this fall.

I don't usually coddle plants and rarely buy plants that need extra watering. It's a test! How much do I want this plant in my garden? How much extra care and attention shall he require? Extra water in the summer...a hair dryer in the winter! It's definitely a test!

So far I do like this plant. I like the bees and the butterflies that have found their way to the flowers. I want to see the hummingbirds. It is so cool to stand in the driveway and watch all that activity; to hear the buzz and hum. So I am willing to take the extra steps to make sure he's happy....I can't wait to see the hummingbirds....maybe I'll get a good photo!

Gail

“When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited.” Ramakrisna