It Doesn't Have to be Fancy to be Effective

Birds and nature don't care how much money you spend on ornamentation for your yard.  They appreciate functional.  I had a garden clog that cracked and started allowing in water so I tossed it aside and came up with a perfect recycle use.  I drilled a hole in the toe for drainage, nailed it to a snag, put some screening in the toe to "prop up" the feed and added bird seed.  Free, saved some space in the landfill and as you can see, the red-bellied woodpecker loves it! 

Assessment of what grows in my garden!

After viewing my "Butterflies of Holopaw" video, @HDMarsh asked if I could name some of my native plants. This made me sit down today to organize my thoughts and gather the names from the various files I have created in the past six months on what actually grows in my yard. Well, here goes:

Top 10 Nectar sources in my yard:

1. Bidens Alba : Spanish Needles, Beggarticks

2. Elephantopus elatus : TALL ELEPHANTSFOOT

3. Lachnanthes caroliniana : REDROOT

4. Eupatorium capillifolium : dogfennel

5. Lyonia lucida : Fetterbush

6. several species of Goldenrod

7. Symphyotrichum pilosum : WHITE OLDFIELD ASTER

8. Pityopsis graminifolia : NARROWLEAF SILKGRASS, GOLDENASTER

9. Conoclinium coelestinum : Blue mistflower

10. Poinsettia cyathophora : PAINTEDLEAF; FIRE-ON-THE-MOUNTAIN

Many of the above plants people consider "weeds", but they bring such a rich biodiversity to my yard. Keep in mind that I have just shy of an acre of land and don't have to cater to the whims of a HOA that insists on aesthetically pristine landscapes. I always state: "I garden for wildlife, the benefit to my senses is merely a bonus". Most of what is in my yard just grew when I let the property begin to grow to see what was there. About the only things I purchased to plant were some passion flowers, the tropical sage, some blackeyed susans and a vine or two, that are still in their infancy, growth-wise and haven't begun to show the signs of what fun creatures will appear due to their addition to my landscape. Before I joined the Florida Native Plant Society, I purchased and lost a great deal of plants because I was trying to conform my yard to a vision that I had. Once I discovered the importance of native plants and stopped fighting mother nature, I found a yard full of wonderful plants and happy critters, which in turn made me happy and got me into my hobby of insect and butterfly photography.

Others nectar natives include:

Erigeron vernus : EARLY WHITETOP FLEABANE
Baccharis halimifolia : GROUNDSEL TREE; SEA MYRTLE
Spermacoce remota : WOODLAND FALSE BUTTONWEED
Salvia coccinea : scarlet sage TROPICAL SAGE; BLOOD SAGE
Euthamia caroliniana : SLENDER FLATTOP GOLDENROD
Pluchea baccharis : ROSY CAMPHORWEED
Xyris caroliniana : CAROLINA YELLOWEYED GRASS
Lygodesmia aphylla : ROSE-RUSH
Hieracium gronovii : QUEEN-DEVIL; hawkweed
Liatris spicata : blazing star, dense gayfeather
Rhexia alifanus : savannah meadow-beauty
Lobelia glandulosa : GLADE LOBELIA

I also have various species of tickseed (Florida's state wildflower).

Now for the Host plants, many of which also serve as nectar sources:

Bacopa monnieri : HERB-OF-GRACE water hyssop host for white peacock

Phyla nodiflora : TURKEY TANGLE FOGFRUIT; CAPEWEED host for Phaon Crescent

Chamaecrista fasciculata : PARTRIDGE PEA host for sulphurs

Thalia geniculata : ALLIGATORFLAG; FIREFLAG host for brazillian skippers

Passiflora incarnata : passion flower vine host for Gulf Fritillary

Oxypolis filiformis : WATER COWBANE host for eastern black swallowtail

Sida rhombifolia : CUBAN JUTE; INDIAN HEMP host for Tropical Checkered-Skipper

Buchnera americana : AMERICAN BLUEHEARTS host for common buckeye

Myrica cerifera : SOUTHERN BAYBERRY; WAX MYRTLE host for hairstreaks

Desmodium : hitchhiker plant host for Long-tailed skipper

Mikania scandens : CLIMBING HEMPVINE host for little metalmark butterfly and Scarlet-bodied Wasp Moth

Rhus copallinum : Winged sumac host to grey hairstreak

citrus (not native) host for giant swallowtails

I'm sure there are more hosts since i have more types of butterflies appear than corresponding host plants above...I'm just not always sure who eats what, but I'm learning....DAILY!

There are many more species than are shown in this list. A lot I still don't know the names of. I didn't include any of many sedges and rushes that appear or the plants that are in my pond. I'll put together another list when time allows.

Heidi, thanks for asking about my natives. It made me realize just how much I have growing on around here!

Let's make 2010 the year the word gets out that what you plant--matters!

As we begin 2010, I hope that everyone will help spread the word on the importance of native plants in the scheme of things. There is an excellent article entitled "Why Native Plants" in the 2010 Guide to Real Florida Gardeners published by the Association of Florida Native Nurseries (afnn.org). You can get a free print copy by visiting their website or read the entire magazine online. Click here to go to their website!

I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did! Here are the excepted pages:

August to December 2009 Butterflies in my yard

I wanted to see if I could put together a slideshow of my butterfly photos that was set to music. I'm rather pleased with my first attempt at doing this. Hope you like the results!

Sometimes my own senses come first

Twitter has proven to be a great educational experience for me. I tweet with a grand group of nature people who share interesting photos, web links and thoughts on ecology and living green...as well as their fun interpretations of life.

Recent pics from one of my favorite bird photographers, @Kerrifar showed birds eating off a wreath she had hanging in her yard. The birds seemed happy, the wreath was creatively decorated with seed covered suet decor which looked pretty and I thought...heck, I could do THAT!

Now mind you, in Florida you can't really provide suet encased in birdseed as attracting decorations...the sun just turns it into a gloppy, mold ridden mess (a lesson learned early on with my hanging suet feeder), but I had other ideas!

I have native grapes on my fences and the vines tend to get out of hand at this time of year. I cut back some and created a grapevine "base" for my bird-feeding wreath. I tied a fallen slash pinecone to the top. I added some sprigs of various native plants which have recently gone to seed: Carolina Redroot, Black-eyed Susans, Bushy Bluestem, Tall Elephantfoot and a few different forms of sedge. I then added some color in the form of berries sprigs from the Gallberry and Dahoon holly.

Now, what makes me think the birds will flock to my wreath when they have all the given ingredients at their beck and call throughout my property? Well, I don't actually think they will, but it gives a nice decorative touch for MY senses. On the other hand, if you don't have a bounty of wild things at your own place, perhaps you could obtain the ingredients from someone who does and make a native plant bird feeder to hang in your own yard...for those less fortunate "city" birds! Look at the two mine has attracted already! ☺

Cute just can't 'cut it'

There is no denying they can be cute from a distance, but up close they are slimy and messy and can produce allergic reactions in people. 

 

The Cuban Treefrog, (Osteopilus septentrionalis) a big name for a BIG invader which is threatening Florida's ecosystems as they eat and out compete our native species of treefrogs.  They hide in dark places and can short circuit electric lights or your water softening system threatening your pocketbook. 

 

If you find them, euthanize them using the methods suggested by the University of Florida.  You can learn that and more about this invasive species at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW259 

 

I've got seven in my freezer as we speak.  

Who knows what evil lurks in the garden

Background: Last Friday my Labrador wouldn't eat.  Now, for some dogs that might not be strange, but my lab?  It just doesn't happen.  I figured maybe he had a tummy ache and I've learned not to panic unless they aren't drinking water, which he was. I went about my business and later on when I returned home he was still out of sorts, but had eaten.  When I let him out he had terrible diarrhea and apparently he had thrown up out in the yard in the morning.  I put him on a diet of solid packed pumpkin (comes in a can) and monitored him.  It was a slow go, but he was improving.

 

Monday:  I was walking around the yard with the camera and noticed what I thought was some sort of cocoon.  I approached and took the above photo, headed in to the computer and went to whatsthatbug.com my favorite place to find out what bugs are.  I punched in "white hairy caterpillar" as my search term and found a similar cat which was listed as Megalopyge opercularis aka Puss or Asp Caterpillar.  I did some web searches and found out that it is "one of the most toxic caterpillars in North America".

 

A review of data from the following website showed a list of symptoms which sounded amazingly like what Blizzard had been going through.  I remembered that he had been in the brush close to the wax myrtle where I found the caterpillar.  My conclusion?  He was stung.  The information I have found stated that there are usually no ill affects after 5 days and sure enough, Blizzard was his old self by Tuesday, jumping and looking for his food.  I found another two of those caterpillars on the same bush and all three are now safely drowned in soapy water as was suggested as a way to exterminate them.

 

cites:  symptoms:  http://neuro.bcm.edu/eagleman/asp  you can find their full study in pdf form on this page.

 

first aid and extermination info: http://www.bugsinthenews.com/First%20Aid%20for%20Puss%20Caterpillar%20Stings.htm

 

second view of the caterpillar can be seen at:  http://twitpic.com/lihco