![]() ![]() Since this is a habitat garden where no pesticides are used ever, a situation like this can be a learning experience. Growth slows, foliage yellows, blooms are few. This year the other stand was not so healthy.īlack aphids are fast to reproduce and can suck the life out of new growth on plants they attack. Yellow coneflower also grows in another area that is hidden from the public by a fence between buildings. This is a healthy stand of yellow cone flower (ratibida pinnata) growing in our garden. Patience and time = balance as pest control? ĭecay is part of the process,death is inevitable, possibility exists in dreams. Further evidence exits on the bare ground of a recently installed rain garden. I can not take pictures today but the ones on yesterdays post about buggy coneflowers Ephemeral beauty to be savored along with gossamer wings of butterfly. Wildlife gardeners learn to live in the moment, enjoying the berries until the birds strip them bare and the host plants until the caterpillars start munching. It is something you learn to live with, enjoying the process of building and evolving as much as often fleeting results. One area looks very good while another suffers from over feeding by one creature or other. We are not accepting less we are embracing more.Ī wildlife garden has many moments of imperfection amid what can also be, on occasion, glorious. Gardens are like everything else in life, blemishes can impart character. There are many versions of the bad and the ugly and there have been several brave souls joining Colleen in outing the myth that a garden must be perfect everywhere all the time to be enjoyed. But in the mean time we would prefer no one else notices.Colleen believes this should change to encourage newbies daunted by lack of time, experience or funds. In our own heads we are sure it could be better and know that we will get to it someday. Next year, in the fall,when I have time.a perfect garden.Ĭolleen, at In The Garden Online started this round of contemplation of our gardens lack of perfection. I need a better camera and some patience to record all these creatures. Also seen are bumble bees, carpenter bees and several unidentified tiny little sweat bee sized. The yellow faced bees sighted last summer are back and I have seen cutter bees making circles in the leaf edges of the redbud tree. I do not have goldenrod as I can not seem to pick one and to my surprise, none have volunteered Early the veronica was covered with many pollinators and late summer/fall the asters, sedums, and other eupatoriums do their share. ![]() But many other plants feed the bees.Īnnual sunflowers, all the coreopsis, yellow coneflower,gallardia,helenium, liatris, milkweed, hyssop, blooming dill, fennel and several other herbs, even the last of the shasta daisies are drawing many bees this summer. The Joe-pye weed is currently the winner in this garden. She didn't ask but commentors are naming their best bee plants. Over at Garden Rant Amy has posted about gardening for bees. Any passing pollinator will see that a stop is well worth while and may contemplate staying to raise a family in a spot with such abundant food and housing. The six foot wooden fence is almost hidden behind this large specimen.Īnother favorite of bees and butterflies in our garden is Echinacea purpurea / purple coneflower and Echinacea pallida.There are three areas in the gardens where Echinacea grows in big clumps/sweeps. Living in the great lakes area no summer has been hot enough or dry enough, long enough to do damage to this plant. Either will do well in average moist gardens. Many gardeners prefer the darker flowers and purple stems of Sweet Joe-Pye-weed Eupatorium purpureum. We grow Spotted Joe-Pye Weed Eupatorium maculatum (above picture in our garden- never watered). It is the most active place in the garden. On a warm sunny afternoon the air over spotted Joe-pye weed is like an air traffic control nightmare.Butterflies, bees, tiny wasp and golden flies zoom about from flower to flower. We have had no problem with mosquitoes in the gardens and very little on local hikes. Apparently cooler weather, dry spells in between rains and the eradication spray programs instituted by local governments since West Nile reared its ugly head have had quite an effect. Now the Monarchs are beginning to appear. ![]() There are so many that any child that comes near our garden is lured into chasing these lovely creatures. Every time I step outside into the garden Red Admirals are flying. ![]() The most nectar and pollen rich plants in our wildlife garden.įor the last couple of weeks the Red Admiral has been abundant in the Chicago region. ![]()
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