Butterfly finds host plant - Eastern Comma

For a new butterfly garden, this is about as good as it gets... a butterfly found its host plant!

Yesterday, while gazing out the window at the newly blooming Sweet pepperbush (Summer sweet; Clethra alnifolia), I noticed a large dark insect on the flowers. Only butterflies are that big, so I immediate went outside to check things out.

Here it is, a Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) doing something it rarely does - nectaring at flowers (Butterflies of Ohio, 2004). Commas are more likely to be found feeding on rotting fruit, dung, carrion and tree sap.

I could tell it was an Eastern Comma rather than a Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis; a butterfly with similar appearance) by the small white comma on its hindwing.

Here's what made my day, the same butterfly perched on the Common hop (Humulus lupulus) trellis. Common hop is the host plant for this butterfly. (It will lay its eggs singly or in stacks on this plant. When the caterpillars hatch, they will be able to start eating immediately rather than having to look for the food it can process.)

Common Hops is supposed to get 20' tall by about 5' wide, so someday this trellis will be covered.

(Yes, hops (the dried ripe cones of the female flowers) of Humulus lupulus are what's commonly used by breweries as an ingredient to preserve and flavor beer.)

Bird's Nest Fungi

Late last week, I noticed some tiny mushrooms in the East Bed. (I'm including this first picture, so you can get an idea of the scale. The object to the right is a brick-sized paver.)

When I looked closer, I realized that these small mushrooms were cup-shaped and contained even smaller objects.

Then, early this week, I noticed a similar species in the Back Yard. The shape was the same, but these mushrooms were bluish-gray rather than cream-colored.

After seeing these, I decided that it was time to get a mushroom field guide. I chose "North American Mushrooms" by Miller and Miller.

After not too much searching, I found out that these mushrooms are of the order Gasteromycetes. Gasteromycetes don't lose their spores by force like other mushrooms do, so they have developed structural and physiological means of discharding their spores. Within this order, these mushrooms are in the Nidulariales family. The common name... Bird's Nest Fungi. These mushrooms are decomposers and are commonly found on woody debris.

I couldn't decide which species I'd found. I think it's because there are a lot of different species in this family and mine were not pictured. (Likely story you say....)

The field guide also explained why some of the mushrooms are open while others area closed. The "nest" is first enclosed by a cover (epiphragm).


Then, at maturity, the epiphragm separates to expose the peridioles or "eggs". The peridioles are ejected from the "nest" when raindrops literally splash them out!


Anyone want to come over during the next storm?

Butterfly Sighting - Eastern Snout!

I am astounded. I saw an Eastern Snout Butterfly (Libytheana bachmanii bachmanii) about 10 feet north of our yard today! If you remember, this butterfly is one of the reasons why I wanted to plant a hackberry tree in our yard (see "Imagine the Luck" post - May 30).

Here it is. Isn't she a beauty!?! As described in "Butterflies and Skippers of Ohio (1992)" an Eastern Snout Butterfly has squared-off forewings and long labial palpi (what looks like a beak-like snout).


Eastern Snout Butterflies are reported to be "widespread but uncommon". In other words, you can find them in a number of different places but you won't see many at a time, if you see them.

Some believe Snouts are visitors to Ohio (Butterflies of Ohio, 2004) but others consider Snouts residents of mid to southern Ohio (Butterflies and Skippers of Ohio, 1992). In this case, they are widespread enough to be in a residential neighborhood.


Eastern Snout Butterflies are usually found in close association with stands of hackberry trees. There were two small hackberry trees close to this butterfly, but she appears to me to be on honeysuckle.


She kept coming back to the smaller leaves of this bush. And from this picture, it appears that she is ovipositing (laying eggs) on honeysuckle!


What do you more learned lepidopterists think?

I'm going to go back out tomorrow to see if I can find any eggs. I looked tonight, but the little white specks kept flying away. I don't think I was looking close enough to the growth points of the honeysuckle.

Why Native Plants?

Before I started this blog, people asked me why I felt native plants were important. While I responded to them, I never felt my answer was complete. My transition from planting 'typical garden catalog' plants to native plants happened over time and quite intuitively, so I never took the time to really think through my reasons. Since starting this blog, I've felt even more compelled to formulate a complete answer. This post is an attempt to do that.

The easiest part of the answer is the common argument that, compared to exotic plants, native plants take less time, work and money over the long run. Most natives are perennials; so, generally speaking, you plant one time and you're done. Also, natives, if from your local area, selected for the right hardiness zone, and planted with sun, moisture, and soil requirements taken into consideration, will thrive without watering, soil additives and fertilizers. They are also pretty resistant to insects and diseases, so there's rarely a need to apply pesticides. And, because natives are hardy and planted outside, there's no mad dash in the fall to get them in!

Another part of the answer is that planting native plants supports the local ecosystem. (Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy is a very thorough book on this topic.) I like to say that planting exotic plants is like putting plastic food on your childrens' dinner plates. While exotic plants are beautiful, they do little to support the 'circle of life' around us. Exotic plants don't support the insects that support the birds that support the amphibians that support the mammals....

[While this is an important part of the answer, I don't think many people really care about our local ecosystem. The fact of the matter is that most of the foods we eat are not native plants. Americans' diets, even vegans' and vegetarians', are based on cultivated plants and domesticated animals rather than native plants and wild animals. If wild-turkey, hog-peanuts and serviceberries were for dinner rather than chicken breast, scalloped potatoes, and broccoli, many more people would work to support the ecosystem around us.]

Another part of the answer is that native plants reinforce a 'sense of place'. The use of native plants brings integrity into our gardens by creating a space that is congruent with our location. If you come to my garden, I don't want you to experience Japan, China, France, England, or Italy. I want you to see and feel an Eastern North American garden. Actually, if I've done my research well and have implemented it appropriately, you should see an Ohio River Valley garden. Why is this 'sense of place' important? When our homes are surrounded by the plants that are wild in this area, we feel more connected, heart, mind, and spirit, to the land that is our true home.

I experienced this today while at Shawnee Lookout (a Hamilton County Park). As I was hiking the Fort Mitchell trail, I identified hackberry, black walnut, paw paw and white ash trees beside and above me. I also saw purple coneflower, prairie coneflower, and wild bergamont swaying in abundance on a sunny slope. Seeing these groupings helped me feel like I'd made good choices for my garden. But even more importantly, every time I greet those flowers in my garden I'll remember and re-experience the wildish places I visited today.

Finally, when we use native plants, there are more opportunities to engage with nature. When exotic plants are selected for a garden, we don't know what country or habitat they come from. Similarly, when we choose cultivars, some of the benefit of the plant for insects may have been bred out of the plant in an attempt to make the plant more appealing to humans. When natives are selected and habitat is taken into consideration when planting them, we may start to see the synergistic action that takes place between plants (For an example, see "Imagine the Luck" post from May 30th of this year) or between plants and other creatures.

I think this is why I got so excited when I saw a mushroom in my garden and a slug eating it. I didn't plant the mushroom, but by sheet composting the area I gave the soil a boost which helped the mushroom to grow. (See "I Like Surprises' post - April 23). While I didn't get a picture of it, I saw a zebra swallowtail in my back yard within days of planting the paw paw trees! (For a picture of a zebra swallowtail go to: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1353) Just a fleeting glimpse of this beautiful creature made my day....

When I see something new or unexpected, I get excited and start to wonder.... Where did it come from? What brought it here? Will it come back? I can't predict or control these garden visitors, so every time they come they also bring a sense of mystery and awe into the mundane nature of my days. When there is action in the garden that we nudged along but did not create, we know that there is a power greater than ourselves that moves among us.

South Bed

The South Bed is along a driveway on the south side of our house. Generally speaking, the photos are arranged in plant order going from west to east.

Ha! Scared you native plant fans didn't I!?!

I have four rose bushes. All are doing quite well this year. These red roses are very large and fragrant. Really, I do enjoy them.


Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) is a native, nectar source. This plant will have sunflower-like flowers and grow to 10 feet tall. It's endangered in Ohio. It hasn't done much since I planted it, so I think it's putting down its tap root this year and will grow much more above ground next year.


New England Aster 'Purple Dome' (Aster (symphyotricum) novae-angliae) is a cultivar of a native plant. It is a nectar and food source for the Pearl Cresent. In fact, I saw both larva and adults last year.


Wild Senna (Cassia hebecarpa) is a host plant for Sleepy Orange, Little Sulphur, and Cloudless Sulphur butterflies.


Carrots (Daucus carota) is a host plant for the Black Swallowtail and edible for humans! I planted carrots as a test to see if they would get eaten by Black Swallowtail caterpillars. No nibbles yet!


Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) is a native, nectar source for butterflies. They are kind of thin this year, so I'm hoping they'll get bushier next year.


Tomato 'Microtom' (Lycopersicon esculentum) is a very small tomato plant that I got through our CSA. These plants will get, at most, 7" high. Last year, the tomato plants got so big we couldn't see the green cone. Maybe next year, we'll find a happy medium. It will be interesting to see if these small plants will attract Tobacco Hornworms... the moth caterpillars that you usually get with tomato plants.


Maximillian Sunflower (Helianthus maximilianii) is a native, nectar source. Like Compass Plant, these plants can get up to 10' high and will have multiple flowers per stalk. The tallest one is about 5' high now and all the plants are starting to add buds.



Common Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata) is another native, nectar source. This plant will get between 5' and 8' tall and have bright purple flowers.


Horsemint (Monarda punctata) is a native, nectar source. Its flowers are yellow with purple spots! I don't think mine will flower this year or maybe even next. I started them from seed in March and they are still less than an inch high. This prairie plant also forms a tap root, so that's probably what it's doing... setting down roots.


Zinnia (Zinnia elegans) is an exotic, nectar source. I use zinnas and marigolds as fillers around the native plants. I started them from seed June 7th, so they are still quite small. But, they are already taller than most of the native plants that I started from seed!


Marigold (Tagetes patula) is an exotic, nectar source. Like the zinnas, I planted the marigolds in June. They are still small too, but again larger than most of the native plants that I started much earlier in the year.


Here are a couple pictures of the South Bed. Again, the first picture is west of the other one.


Unfortunately, this is the best picture I have of the east side of the South Bed. Essentially, all that is here (from back to front) are Maximillian Sunflowers, Prairie Ironweed, and Horsemint.


Phew! I don't know about you, but I find these plant list posts a bit tedious. I'm looking forward to posting more interesting stuff.