Assassin Bug!!!

I couldn't help but interrupt my break in posting when I saw this tonight:


It's an assassin bug! This particular one is a Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus).

Assassin bugs are considered a beneficial insect as they feed upon soft-bodied garden pests such as Japanese beetles, caterpillars and moths.

They are fairly common, but not many people see them. If you do see one, don't touch it! They can inflict a painful bite.

To me this signifies that my garden is becoming more mature. It's attracting beneficial predatory insects in addition to caterpillars and moths.

You might say I'm supposed to be trying to attract butterflies and moths not killing them. On the one hand that's true, but having all members of the 'food chain' resembles nature best and I can't improve upon nature.

Break from Blogging

Hi all,

I'm taking a hiatus from my blog for a while. While I enjoy spending time in the garden, taking pictures, and researching what I find, the sum total is taking up more time than I anticipated. So, until I feel I have more time, I will be taking a break.

Rhonda

A Good Day for Moths

This past Wednesday, I found three moths in the garden!

In the morning, I found a Yellow Bear caterpillar on the Joe-Pye Weed in the East Bed. It was a pale yellow. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it. Click here for someone else's images.

The Yellow Bear caterpillar turns into the Virginia Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica). I have not seen one of these moths, so click here to see someone else's image.

The Virginia Tiger Moth is in the Tiger, Lichen, and Wasp Family (Arctiidae; Subfamily Arctiinae). The moths in this family are easily recognized as they are densely covered with setae (hairs, for lack of a better word) that bear microscopic barbs. Don't touch them!

Later that same afternoon, I found two different moths on the Bee Balm (Monarda didyma). (A big thank you to Dave Horn, a member of The Ohio Lepidopterists, for helping me identify these moths!)

Both of them are in the Loopers, Inchworms, and Spanworms Family (Goemetridae). According to "Caterpillars of Eastern North America", these are important forest lepidopterans (butterflies and moths) as the caterpillars are a good food source for forest-nesting birds in the spring. Because they are so sought after by birds, they need to protect themselves. As a defense, the caterpillars attempt to match their background (crypsis). They do this by mimicking plants parts (bark, flowers, buds, twigs, leaves, etc).

I tried to find pictures on the web of these caterpillars, but I could not. I wish you could see them. Maybe it's because they are so good at hiding that no one has pictures of them!

The first moth is Yellow-dusted cream moth (Cabera erythemaria). Its caterpillar's host plant or food source are willows. My Pussy Willow (Salix discolor) leaves were stripped earlier this year then the main stems got mauled by a rabbit. I'm glad something good may have come out of it!


The second moth is the Large Lace-border (Scopula limboundata) moth. It has many host plants. The plants that I have that could have been this moth's food include blueberry, cherry, dandelion, and sweet pepperbush. Our next door neighbors also have a chokecherry tree that could have been its food source.


Three white moths in one day... like angels from the heavens.

Katydids for Nader

Concerned about climate change? The Katydid's are. That's why this one is clearly indicating a preference for Nader. Nader is the only candidate who openly recognizes and is willing to go against corporate interests to change our reliance on fossil fuels: http://www.votenader.org/issues/environment/

I digress....


According to Warren Uxley, a Katydid expert from Crawford County, Ohio; this is a female True Northern Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia).


Surprisingly, the Katydid stayed on the sign a long time. Long enough to get the camera, long enough to get a couple of shots, long enough to get Reid and Bing to look at it and try to touch it.... One reason why this was possible may have been that True Nothern Katydids (unlike other Katydids) are unable to fly! Eventually, she hopped away on the grass.

Wondering what that spur-shaped thing is extending out from under her wings? That's an ovipositor (egg laying organ). She will force it into a tree to lay her eggs. If you go back up to the first picture, you'll see a River Birch (Betula nigra) in the background. Maybe there's eggs up there right now waiting for the right time to hatch....

Males of this type of Katydid are the noisy ones in the trees at night. The calls of this species gave rise to the term Katydid - Ka-ty-DID. Click here to listen to this Katydid's call.

Did you hear it? Now, go outside (at nighttime) and listen again. These Katydids are quite common, so you're very likely to hear it!

Again, a big thank you to Warren Uxley for all the Katydid information!

Finding God in Nature

I have been reading a lot of 'spiritual literature' recently. One of the books I've read is called "The Eternal Promise" a compilation of writings by Thomas R. Kelly. Kelly was a Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) as I am. He last wrote in 1941, so, if necessary, forgive the masculine language. Consider this quote:

What direction shall we run, if we would run away to God? Some of you may say, "I shall seek Him in nature, in its beauty and its power, in its storm-tossed fury and the quiet of the forests and the golden glow of sunsets."

And I should reply, Yes. He comes upon us many times, in these settings, on a mountain top, at twilight, and His Presence seems very real, in those precious moments. But He is more than nature. And He whom we find in Nature is He who is behind and beneath and upholding nature.

And remember, we are part of that Nature, and he is equally behind and beneath and upholding us, as well as the mountains and the stars. We are led back behind nature to the Source and Fountain of Nature, welling up within us, welling up beyond us in the sunset. And it is because He is within us that Nature beyond us is revealed as a companion of our inner souls.

For we and nature go back into the same creative Life. Immediacy, vivid immediacy in that Life of the Universe, is what we seek. Not in the earthquake, not in the whirlwind, not in the fire, but in a still small voice that we all have heard within us is He most immediately to be found.

Pretty Flowers

Since late June, a number of flowers have bloomed. I'd like to share them with you.

Here the Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) is starting to open. I've seen a couple of hummingbirds visit it.

Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) is the most interesting flower to watch. The disk darkens and the pollen becomes available from the base to the tip of the flower.

A single flower of Maximillian Sunflower (Helianthus maximilianii) doesn't do it justice. The plants are about six feet tall right now and loaded with dozens of these.

The flower of Maypop Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is my favorite. I love the polka dots, textures and dimensions.


Common Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata) is the most weedy looking flower, but you can quickly overlook that for the deep purple blossoms.

My Tall Bellflower (Campanula americana) isn't very tall because it's leaning over on the ground. The blooms are pretty no matter where they are.

Hope you enjoyed the show!

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.

East Bed... done!

Finally, I can firmly say that I'm done planting in the East Bed. Some of the plants that I'd grown from seed finally got big enough for me to plant. After I planted those and still had room left to spare, I made a run to Keystone Flora and got more plants... only two were not in the plan. :-)

So, in no particular order, here's what in the East Bed.

Purple Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) is an exotic, nectar source for butterflies.


Butterfly Bush 'White Profusion' (Buddleia davidii) is also, an exotic, nectar source for butterflies.


There's also a third butterfly bush, the 'Honeycomb' cultivar. I don't have a picture of it, because it's puny and may be replaced by a rain barrel.

Between the butterfly bushes is a stack of rocks. Reid and I just stacked the rocks 'willy nilly', but the Common Wall Lizard calls it home.


Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) is a native, nectar source for butterflies.


Three-flowered Phlox (Phlox glaberrima) is a native, nectar source for butterflies.


Black-eyed Susan 'Autumn Colors' (Rudbeckia hirta) is a native, nectar source.


Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a native, nectar source.



Dense Blazingstar (Liatris spicata) is a native, nectar source. I remember the Eastern-tailed Blue (the butterfly in the picture by this blog's title) loved these flowers last year.



Rough Blazingstar (Liatris aspera) is a native, nectar source.


Downy Phlox (Phlox pilosa) is also a native, nectar source.


Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' is an exotic, nectar source.



Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) is a native, nectar source.


Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) is a native, nectar source.


Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is a native, nectar source and a host plant for Monarchs. I started this from seed during the winter. It's still quite small, so I hope it makes it and that a Monarch doesn't choose to lay eggs on it. I really don't think it would survive being eaten at this point.


Sedum 'Abbeydore' is a exotic, nectar source. There is a native Sedum, but I doubt this cultivar comes from it.


Showy Tick-trefoil (Desmodium canadense) is a host plant for the Hoary Edge; Southern, Northern and Confused Cloudywings; Silver- spotted Skipper; and potentially the Eastern-tailed Blue. This is another one of the plants that I started from seed. From the size of it compared to the soaker hose, you can see it is really quite small.


Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) is a native, nectar source. (This is a picture from earlier this spring.)


Smooth Aster (Aster laevis) is a native, nectar source and probably a host plant for the Pearl Crescent.


Honeysuckle 'Dropmore Scarlet' (Lonicera x brownii) is a nectar source for some butterflies and hummingbirds.



Kalms St. Johns' Wort (Hypericum kalmianum) is likely a host plant for the Gray Hairstreak. One interesting trait of these butterfly larva is that they eat seeds in addition to leaves. The flowers of St. John's Wort are my favorite! These flowers are much smaller than the more common St. John's Worts.



Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum polygamum) is a native flower that is neither a host nor a nectar source.


Lyre-leaf Sage (Salvia lyrata) is a native, nectar source for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. I also started this from seed this past winter.


Maypop Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is a host plant for the Varigated fritillary.


Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium or Eupatorium coelestinum) is a native, nectar source for bees and butterflies.


So, putting it all together. Here's how things look now at the beginning of Summer.
(I still have some plants growing in the trays. The pots contains lantana, another exotic, nectar source.)


Later, I will post what I've planted in the South Bed. Then I'm done with this type of post until the fall!