Where are all the pollinators

Here are some.

All over the common milkweed! The bumbles were slow to arrive, but, once the Asclepias syriaca bloomed they were all over it from early morning to dusk.

It was a delightful sight.

Common milkweed is an interesting looking plant with gorgeous flowers that smell delicious. It typically grows 3-4' tall on stout, upright stems with thick, broad-oblong, reddish-veined, light green leaves (to 8" long), although, in ideal conditions it can grow to be 6 foot tall.

It's a colonizer and when you plant one you can be guaranteed that there will be dozens before you know it.

I planted one that I found at a plant fair in the sunniest spot in my garden, aka the mailbox garden. Since then it's been duking it out with the ex-asters, Goldenrods, Verbesina virginica and River Oats. It might be winning.

Did I mention that is smells divine?

Some times the breeze carries the honey like scent all the way up the driveway.

Trust me on this and plant it were you don't mind it taking off or be prepared to edit them out. I cut them down and don't bother trying to save them, there will always be more!

Yes, it's aggressive, but, "common milkweed is Nature's mega food market for insects. Over 450 insects are known to feed on some portion of the plant. Numerous insects are attracted to the nectar-laden flowers and it is not at all uncommon to see flies, beetles, ants, bees, wasps, and butterflies on the flowers at the same time. Occasionally hummingbirds will try, unsuccessfully, to extract nectar. Its sap, leaves and flowers also provide food. In the northeast and midwest, it is among the most important food plants for monarch caterpillars (Danaus plexippus). Source

 That's some good wildlife value! Besides that, you do need this fragrance in your garden.

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.

An Almost Perfect Winter Flower

What do you think?

Verbesina virginica

I never tire of seeing frost flowers 'blooming' on a cold morning. They are nature at her most magical.

 I love sharing its flower magic with you. It's a natural process that happens with just a few plants and Verbesinas are one of them~  (Have You Seen The Frost Flower? and Frost Flowers Blooming In The Garden. )

Frostweed magic!

Although, more common on the first frosty mornings of fall, here in my Middle Tennessee Zone 7 garden we have all the right  ingredients for frostweed to make its special appearance again and again. 

All it takes is a warm winter day followed by a cold winter night.  During the warm day, the  verbesina's roots draw water up into the stem and later that night freezing temperatures force the sap from the stems where they freeze into sculptural ice candy flower curls.  I think it's magical.

White Crownbeard

Whether you see the magic or the science (capillary action)  it's wonderful having a plant that can  produce ice sculptures over and over.

This is my favorite of all my frost flower photos~December 2009

But, Verbesina's quirky magical winter behavior is just one of the many reasons it's a queen among the rough and tumble flowering natives in my garden. I let it seed about the garden because it's a pollinator magnet.

Bumble Bees love it. Green Metallic bees love it. Giant Carpenter Bees love it.  Butterflies love it.  In fact, it's an essential late summer nectar food for all visiting pollinators and it's an especially important food for  the Monarch Butterfly.  White crownbeard has been selected for monitoring by  Monarch Watch~You can go here  to read about participation in MW.

Right now, I am enjoying the candy curls of ice, but, in the back of my mind are images of summer blooms and  happy pollinators. (In case you wondered, as appetizing as it is to pollinators,  it's rarely munched on by deer or rabbits.)

xxoogail

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

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 Limeston