Every where you turn people are talking about pollinators

....and that's a good thing.

The news we share is often not good. Native bees, monarch butterflies and a host of other pollinators are still in peril and sharing that information with as many people as we can is important. Knowledge is essential for action and change to happen.
 
Habitat fragmentation and loss, the use of neoniconoids and other pesticides and herbicides (by the agriculture/horticulture industry and home owners) and the introduction of non-native species are known causes of both wide-scale losses in biological diversity and pollinator declines.


But, we must not give into despair or throw in the trowel...We can help pollinators.

It's really quite easy, we must plant more flowers.

Lots and lots of flowers that bees and other pollinators prefer.

Flowers that are rich in pollen.

Flowers that are rich in nectar.

Colorful flowers that appeal to bees and hummingbirds.

Flowers that have a range of shapes and sizes to attract  butterflies,  bees, hummingbirds and even flies!

Flowers that bloom until frost for any late visitors.

Early blooming flowers that are pollinated by gnats and flies or the occasional honeybee out and about on warm days.

Flowers, trees and shrubs that are hosts for the larva of caterpillars and beneficial bugs.

Flowers that are native to our part of the gardening world.
 

Annuals and herbs are also attractive to pollinators and beneficial insects.

There's one other thing that we can do to help pollinators!

Learn to accept that there is beauty in imperfection and step away from the bug spray!

We can pledge to never, ever, ever use pesticides in our gardens.   

A corollary to not using pesticides in our gardens is to make sure that any plants we bring into our gardens have not been pre-treated with neurotoxic pesticides known as neonicotinoids.  They're systemic pesticides that have been found in the pollen and nectar of commonly sold bee-friendly plants.  Scientists now suspect that even small doses, like those that might be in a plant's pollen and nectar, can act to confuse the bees, making it hard to collect food and/or find their way to their hives. (go here for full Pesticide Research Institute study)

So what's a gardener to do! 

We can ask our independent garden centers to stock plants that are not pre-treated with systemic insecticides or to identify the ones that have been treated. 

We can look for locally grown organic plants.

We can grow our own. 

We can share and trade plants with other gardeners. 

We can become proactive and seek change~ Get the word out and work toward change of state and federal guidelines. 

We can change our perception of beauty to include the damaged petals and leaves of plants not treated with systemics.

It might not be easy, but, they're so worth the effort. 

Happy planting.
xoxogail

In case you want to read earlier pollinator posts~

Now Is The Time To Bee-gin Thinking About Bees ( here)
This Is The Place To Bee ( here)
If You Could Plant Only One Plant In Your Garden~Don't (here)
Must Bee The Season of The Witch (here)
Go Bare In Your Garden (here)
We can't All Be Pretty Pollinators (here)
Eye, Eye Skipper, Big Eyed Pollinators (here)
What's In Your Garden (here)
Royalty In The Garden~Monarch Butterfly (here)
Carpenter Bees (here)
Got Wildflowers?(here)
It's Spring and A Gardener's Thoughts Are On Pollinators (here)
The Wildflower and The Bee (here)
A Few Good Reasons To Plant Milkweek (here)
Got Shade? You Can Have Pollinators ( (here)
A Pollinator friendly Shrub (here)
Big Goings On at C and L (here) 
Where Have All My Pollinators Gone (here)

Other bee posts you might want to read~

Count Yourself Lucky To Have Hoverflies ( here)
Bumblebee Hotel (here)
Still Taking Care Of Bzzness (here)
My Sweet Embraceable You (here)

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.

Phlox Fall Care Essentials!

The fall colors of decaying plants are surprisingly pretty long into winter.  They brighten the garden and make the transition to winter's browns easier. I leave most of the wildflower seed heads standing until late winter at Clay and Limestone.  After all, I garden for wildlife and goldfinches feed on the coneflower, rudbeckias, agastaches; the grasses provide cover for small critters; and, I like how it looks. But, I never let the summer phloxes stand all winter.  Once they've gone to seed and browned, I cut them to the ground.

Ready to be cut to the ground

 This is an essential first line of defense against the Phlox Plant Bug. 

This is the nasty critter with proboscis in use

Lopidea davisi is a plant juice/sap sucking insect with a long proboscis and that feeds mainly on perennial phlox. The clever little adults lay white-coloured eggs in the fall in stems of the plant, behind the leaf petioles.

Phlox after a frost is still pretty, but it has to go. There might be bug eggs hiding!

The eggs overwinter and nymphs emerge in early May. Two or more generations could develop in a season.  Hoky Smokes! You can see how it wouldn't take long for them to get well established in the garden. Cutting the plant to the ground and destroying the dead stalks and leaves is essential!

The bug feeds on leaves, stem terminals, flowers and seeds

This is not a pest to ignore. They can form dense populations and suck the life juices (sap) out of your plants.  Take a look at the photo from the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  This is in the early stages before the Phlox Plant Bug has gotten horridly out of control!  As you can clearly see, feeding causes light green/white spots on the leaves where the plant's juices have been sucked out!  Later in the season, leaves stipple yellow, turn brown, curl, dry out and drop. The plant often becomes stunted and dies.

Phlox Plant Bugs are tiny; less then 1/4 inch, fast moving critters that hide underneath leaves and make it hard to see and smush!  As far as I know, they don't seem to be a tasty treat for the beneficial insects or birds that visit my garden.  Perhaps, their orange and black coloration signals~"Stay away" to most  insect eating critters.   

Phlox is a foundation plant at Clay and Limestone.  It was here before me and I hope it's still here after I leave this garden. In the meantime, I will do what I must to keep the garden free of Lopidea davisi without resorting to the big gun pesticides.

• 1. Practice good sanitation. Cut back and dispose of infested stems and leaves. Clean up stem and leaf litter in the winter. I cut back every stem I find and threw them in the trash, not the compost. Compost works if yours gets hot enough to cook bugs! Mine doesn't.
• 2. Scout for nymphs and treat. Apply insecticidal soap to both the upper and underside of the leaves. Use a light horticultural or sunspray oil. I haven't had to up my tx to this.
• 3. I never, ever, ever, ever use pesticides in my garden... whether or not they are recommended  in the Integrated Pest Management program. I love my bees and other pollinators and don't want to risk causing them harm.

I hope this pest isn't in your garden.  It's a known problem in the eastern US and some Midwestern states. Canada, you aren't exempt! Even if it's not a problem, go ahead and trash the decaying phlox.  Trust me, this will go a long way to ensure it won't become one.  It worked in my garden.

xxoogail

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."