Bugs, they make a garden good!

 It's Golden Ragwort time in the garden.

Each spring when Packera aurea blooms there are always a few stalks that are covered with aphids! I don't worry about a few aphids since the flowers never seem to decline because of them. (The Happy Flower Trinity)

I didn't always feel that way when I saw aphids sucking the juices out of a plant! Way back when I was less experienced about the role of insects in the garden, I would grab the hose and spray them to oblivion. Now, I recognize them as an important food for predator bugs. In fact, aphids are a primary food source for predator bugs.

 the soft bodied aphids used to creep me out

Why does that matter? We want bugs in our gardens, all kinds of bugs, and we need beneficial bugs.  Beneficial bugs help keep our gardens healthy and in balance. They're "good bugs" and they eat many "bad bugs" like mites, caterpillars, of course aphids and other creepy sucking and plant-consuming bugs. Sure, they occasionally eat a good bug, but, that's all part of the cycle of life in a garden.

Assassin bug waiting on a coreopsis

Some of the "good bugs" include lacewings, lady beetles, minute pirate bug, soldier bugs, assassin bugs, braconid wasps, tachinid flies, flower flies and aphid mites.

Sweet alyssum is wonderful in containers placed among native plants

I have found that dill, parsley, catnip, goldenrod, hydrangea, daisies, yarrow, coreopsis and sweet alyssum are excellent at attracting beneficial bugs to the garden. Plant them in your native plant borders, in your woodland gardens, and, in your vegetable gardens. They also look great in containers

Adult hover fly on Gaura. The larva are known to eat aphids

A healthy garden is chock full of all kinds of bugs/insects and other critters.

Eastern Bluebirds eat mostly insects, but they have been observed eating small amphibians

Did you know, that if you want birds to live in your garden, you absolutely must have a garden that is hospitable to bugs! I love feeding the birds and keep a feeder up all year long. The birds are entertaining to watch and I feel like I am giving the smaller birds a fighting chance to survive during a cold winter. But, when nesting time arrives, seed is not enough. They need insects to feed their young! According to Doug Tallamy, entomology and wildlife ecology professor at the University of Delaware, a single pair of breeding chickadees must find as many as 6000 caterpillars to rear one clutch of young.

That's a lot of bugs and that's just for one bird family in a garden.

What's a gardener to do:

Plant more natives. Include trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. (Winter annuals in a native garden)

Plant pollen and nectar rich non-natives to attract beneficials and other insects. (Gardening for wildlife)

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”.

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.

Build habitats that attract toads.

Dig a pond and wait for the damsel flies and dragonflies to arrive. They will eat mosquitoes which make gardening in the summer a nightmare.

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

Rethink what you consider a pest. Spiders are important predators and bird food!

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

If a plant shows signs of aphid distress~twisted, curled or swollen leaves or stems spray with water

Of course, you know what comes next!

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides/insecticides in your garden. I do mean never! Your pollinators, beneficial insects, spiders and insect eating birds will thank you by visiting and setting up house in your garden.

 xoxogail

In case you wondered about Golden Ragwort:

The small daisy like golden flowers on tall stems are chock full of pollen and nectar for small bees, flies and butterflies. There are no cultivars of this beauty, the straight species is perfect! (Pollinators and their friends)

Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: Eastern North America to Texas
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 0.50 to 2.50 feet Spread: 0.50 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: April Bloom
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium to wet
Pollinators: Small bees and butterflies

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.

Owls In The Garden

The resident owls woke me in the middle of the night with their hooting under the full moon. Their distinctive hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo identifies them as Great Horned Owls (here for sound).  It could be a hunting pair, or a single trying to find a mate or a simple warning to stay away from my territory!

My spirit soars when I hear them calling. The neighborhood lost a large track of land to an ugly shopping center and I mourned the loss of meadow, woodland and stream for all the displaced critters. The resident owls have never left, but, I do worry that one day they will not live in my garden. I would miss their hoo-hoo-hooing.

source A Brendan Lally photo of the Great Horned Owl

As a gardener and wildlife enthusiast I am well aware that the circle of life in nature and on a smaller scale in my garden is one of predator and prey and owls play a huge role as predators of small mammals.  With their keen eyesight and excellent hearing they can swoop down on unsuspecting mice, voles, rabbits and other critters.  But, they also are known to predate birds, bats and even skunks and possums. Scarcely anything that moves is safe from this owl and when you consider that it has 200-300 pounds per square inch of crushing power in its talons you can understand what a powerful predator it is! (The average adult human male has about 60 pounds per square inch in his hands.)

The Great Horned Owl is one of the most widespread and common owls in North America and is found in the Arctic tundra, tropical forest, the desert and in many of our suburban backyards. Given enough food, water and available nesting and roosting sites the Great Horned is very adaptable.  It's possible that a mated pair may live nearer  your house than you might know!  I've read that if you go out on a winter night and hoo-hoo-hoo loudly you might have one call back to you!

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."