By Edie Parnum

By announcing annual Prime Plants for Nature awards we hope to encourage you to plant native plants that have exceptional ability to support wildlife. These plants contribute significantly to the web of life by hosting insects, offering nectar and pollen, or producing fruits, seeds or nuts for birds, butterflies, and other insects and animals.  Some of the award-winning plants perform all of these functions.  Our selections, all native to southeastern Pennsylvania, will make attractive additions to your landscape, are readily available at native plant nurseries or native plant sales, and are easy to grow.  By incorporating these plants into your landscape you will be helping to create a healthy ecosystem on your property.  Each year we will announce awards in two categories: Trees and  Shrubs and Perennials.  

Our selections for the 2013 Prime Plants for Nature Awards are:

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

This attractive 3-5’ tall perennial milkweed has pink flowers that bloom from June to
August. Like other milkweeds it is an important host plant for Monarchs, a declining species of butterfly.The flowers produce nectar used by many butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.

Monarch on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) in Barb’s garden. July 9 2012. Photo © Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.

Milkweed Bugs, Milkweed Leaf Beetles, and some other insects feed on this plant, too.  Native to eastern and central United States, Swamp Milkweed is deer resistant and will thrive in sun or part sun in moist or average soils.  A showy grouping of at least three, preferably more, of these milkweeds will attract egg-laying Monarchs and a variety of nectar-seeking butterflies and pollinators.

White Oak (Quercus alba)

If you have room to plant only one large shade tree on your property, make it a
White Oak.  Oaks host more insect species than any other plant, including 534 species of butterfly and moth caterpillars, critical foods for adult birds and their nestlings.

The acorns are eaten by nuthatches, jays, woodpeckers, crows, squirrels, and other animals. This tree is, therefore, a major source of food for birds and other wildlife. White Oak is slow growing, but it is disease-resistant and will eventually become a 60 to 85-foot majestic tree.

White Oak (Quercus alba). Photo © Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.

It can live for 300 or more years–all the while offering food, shelter, and nest sites to myriads of animals.With its long taproot this eastern North American native is difficult to transplant and should be planted as a young tree. This quintessential wildlife plant will grow in sun or part-sun in dry to moist soil.

We strongly encourage you to consider adding one or both of these exceptional native plant species to your garden this year.  You can check for these plants at the suppliers listed below.

Sources for Backyards for Nature’s Prime Plants and Other Native Plants

Native Plant Sales (in date order)

McKaig Nature Education Center, Wayne, PA;  pre-order by April 25.  Pickup May 11.  http://www.enjoymckaig.org/  **Both Swamp Milkweed and White Oak available at very reasonable prices**

Delaware Nature Society, Greenville, DE; April 25 & 26, members only; April 27-28 public http://www.delawarenaturesociety.org/nps.html

Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Phila., PA; April 26 members only, April 27-28 public http://www.schuylkillcenter.org/departments/land/plantsale.html

Brandywine Conservancy, Chadds Ford, PA; May 10 members only, May 11-12 public  http://www.brandywinemuseum.org/calendar_events.html    

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, New Hope, PA; May 10 members only, May 11 – June 2 public http://www.bhwp.org/resources/Plant-Sales.htm

Native Plant Nurseries

Edge of the Woods Nursery, Orefield, PA  http://www.edgeofthewoodsnursery.com

Gateway Garden Center, Hockessin, DE  www.gatewaygardens.com

Redbud Native Plant Nursery, Glen Mills, PA  http://www.redbudnativeplantnursery.com/

Russell Gardens Wholesale (some native perennials), Southampton, PA www.russellwholesale.com/ZenCart/

Sugarbush Nursery, Mohnton, PA  http://www.sugarbushnursery.com/

Yellow Springs Farm, Chester Springs, PA  www.yellowspringsfarm.com

By Barb Elliot

Distressed.  That’s what we Monarch-lovers feel hearing the bad news about the butterflies overwintering in Mexico.  Monarch numbers have fallen to dangerously
low levels – the lowest in the 20 years that records have been kept.   This chart (based on area covered by wintering Monarchs) shows how the population has declined (1 hectare = 2.5 acres):

Source: Monarch Watch Caption: Chart from Monarch Watch http://monarchwatch.org/blog/2013/03/monarch-population-status-18

Reasons for the decline include recent weather extremes, but the most significant
factor is loss of Monarch habitat.  In Mexico, much of the Oyamel fir forests that shelter wintering Monarchs have been lost.  In the U.S. and Canada, millions of acres of farmland, roadsides, and undeveloped land that formerly provided milkweed, the Monarch caterpillars’ only food, have been lost.   (See my October 13, 2012 post “Marvelous Migrating Monarchs Need Our Help” for more detail on the habitat loss).

We haven’t lost the Monarch yet.  There is something YOU can do to help.

Male Monarch on New England Aster in Barb’s yard. September 21, 2012. Photo © Barb Elliot
Click to enlarge.

Chip Taylor, Director of Monarch Watch, says, “To assure a future for monarchs, conservation and restoration of milkweeds needs to become a national priority.”

To this end, Edie and I want to increase the number of host plants available in our area.  We will be planting additional milkweeds in our yards, but we’d like to make it easy for you to join us in this endeavor.  To encourage you to plant milkweeds we are offering three species of milkweed plants for sale at $1 per plant – less than our cost.  These species are native to southeastern PA and are ones that we grow in our gardens.   In addition to being host plants for Monarch caterpillars, they all have beautiful flowers that provide nectar and pollen for adult Monarchs and many other butterflies and pollinators.  All are deer resistant.

These are the species we will be selling for $1 per plant:

Monarch on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) in Barb’s garden. July 9 2012. Photo © Barb Elliot.  Click to enlarge.

!!!!!!!!!!!!SOLD OUT!!!!!!!!!

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata);  pink flowers June to August;  height 3-4’, spread 2’; part to full sun, average to moist soil;  more sun results in more flowers, willow-like leaves 4-5” long

!!!!!!!!!!!!SOLD OUT!!!!!!!!!

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) in Barb’s yard. July 28, 2010. Photo © Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SOLD OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata); white flowers in July and August; height 1-3’; spread 1-2’; sun, dry to average soil; fine-textured needle-like leaves

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SOLD OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

We need to know how many plants to order from our wholesale supplier, so we will be accepting your orders until Monday, April 1^st.  You may order as many as you like of each species.  (Please note that Whorled Milkweed and Swamp Milkweed are both sold out  and are no longer available. Butterfly Milkweed is still currently available.)  You will be able to pick up your plants during the last week of May and/or the first week of June in the Wayne/King of Prussia, PA area.  They will be hearty landscape plugs with well-developed root systems of about 5” deep.  Our experience is that if planted in the right location, these plugs grow very quickly and mature enough to flower in their first year.  We encourage you to plant at the very least 3, but preferably 8 or more of each species.  With the plants about 12” apart, you can achieve a dense mass planting that will entice the butterflies with a showy target.  When a female Monarch lays eggs on your milkweeds there will be enough foliage to sustain hungry caterpillars.  If you don’t’ have enough space for in-ground planting, consider using pots or containers.

Monarch caterpillar on Swamp Milkweed in Barb’s garden. August 13, 2011. Photo © Barb Elliot. Click to enlarge.

To order, send an email to this email address: info@backyardsfornature.org with Milkweed in the Subject line.   Specify the quantity you want for each species and include your name.  Again, the cost is $1 per plant.  We will get back to you to confirm your order and let you know when and where you can pick up your plants.  We plan to have flexible pick-up times in the Wayne/King of Prussia area after the plants become available, sometime during the last week of May/first week of June.  We will let you know specific dates and location as soon as possible.  Payment will be due at pickup.

Please pitch in to provide milkweeds to help the Monarchs!  Talk to family, friends, and neighbors about the need.  Share plants with them.  When Monarchs return to the east in late spring, consider reporting your sightings as a citizen scientist by using http://www.learner.org/jnorth/  and/or having your yard certified as Monarch Waystation through Monarch Watch (www.monarchwatch.org).  Check your milkweeds frequently for Monarch eggs and caterpillars.   If you have the time, take some eggs or caterpillars inside to raise them.  They will have a much better chance of survival and it’s fascinating and fun to do.

_______________________________________________________

For more information about Monarchs, their migration and raising them, scroll down to see my two previous Monarch-related posts of October 13, 2012 and August 20, 2012. Also, see:

http://monarchwatch.org/blog/2013/03/monarch-population-status-18/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/opinion/the-dying-of-the-monarch-butterflies.html?_r=0

By Barb Elliot

Yes, you read that right.  It’s been a record-setting fall and winter for hummingbirds in Pennsylvania.    According to hummingbird bander and expert Scott Weidensaul, as of February 22^nd, 92 hummingbirds have been reported in PA since last fall.  Five or six are still present, including a few in southeastern PA.  These visitors are not the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that visit our feeders and breed here during summer.  They were gone by early October.  These are vagrants, species that breed in the Pacific northwest, northern Rocky Mountains, or Alaska, and normally migrate to Mexico in fall.  Some of them fly east for reasons not yet understood.  Though this is not a new phenomenon, the number of reports for this fall and winter has been extraordinary.  Are these numbers the beginning of a trend or just an aberration?  Weidensaul and other ornithologists don’t know.

Calliope Hummingbird, Nov. 2, 2012, Devon, Chester County, PA.  Photo © Barb Elliot.         Click to enlarge.

Whatever the reason, it’s been an exciting time for birders and hummingbird enthusiasts!  I was
privileged to see two of these birds. One was a tiny, pot-bellied Calliope Hummingbird that spent several weeks during October and November in a yard in Devon, Chester County — just
the second one ever recorded in PA.   At about two-thirds the size of the familiar eastern Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the Calliope is the smallest bird species in the U.S. and the

smallest long-distance avian migrant in the world.

Allen’s Hummingbird – immature male. Nov 26, 2012. Photo © Barb Elliot.    Click to enlarge.

Another that I got to see was a beautiful immature male Allen’s Hummingbird that visited a feeder at a home in Pipersville, Bucks County from November through early January.  This bird was only the third Allen’s ever recorded in the state.

Other western species to visit PA have been Rufous Hummingbird, the most common and numerous western visitors to the east, and a single Black-chinned Hummingbird — the very first record of this species in PA.  This bird was seen briefly on just one day, but the Bucks County homeowner’s clear photos allowed experts to verify the record. Most western hummingbirds that fly east in the fall head south to the Gulf region by early January. As of this writing, however, two Rufous Hummingbirds linger in
Montgomery County and one in Chester County. All three birds first appeared at residents’ feeders in October and have stayed through the winter.

Black-chinned Hummingbird – first record in PA!  Nov 11, 2012. Morrisville, Bucks County, PA. Photo courtesy of and © Rich Dulay.    Click to enlarge.

How do these birds endure PA’s cold winter temperatures?  At night, they enter a
deep sleep-like state called torpor, in which they lower their body temperature and slow their metabolic rate by as much as 50%.  This allows them to conserve energy and
survive with enough remaining to fuel their first few feeding trips of the morning.

It’s too late to attract a western hummer this winter, but perhaps you’d like to try next fall.  According to Weidensaul, in addition to keeping hummingbird feeders up well into autumn, many successful hummingbird hosts have late-blooming fall plants.  There are several native plants that bloom until frost, but some homeowners also use non-native Salvia species, planted either in pots or in the ground.  I recommend that you confine non-natives to containers and reserve in-ground space for natives.  After all, natives contribute more fully to our local web-of-life.  Also, if your non-natives are in pots, you can move them inside or into your garage if overnight freezing temperatures are forecast.  The table below has some recommended late fall blooming natives as well as some non-natives that host western hummingbirds.

Though hummingbirds feed from any color flower, they are attracted to the colorred. To catch the eye of a passing hummingbird, some homeowners put out red ribbon, surveyors tape, or other red objects.

Large felt flower in Pipersville, PA yard that attracted Allen’s Hummingbird. Nov, 2012. Photo © Barb Elliot.    Click to enlarge.

The homeowner who attracted the Allen’s Hummingbird in Bucks County had made a two- to three-foot red “flower” of felt material and placed it on the ground near her feeder. I thought this was a great idea and made one for my yard.

If you are lucky enough to host a western hummingbird, it’s important to keep your feeder’s sugar water from freezing so the bird can eat first thing in the morning.  Some homeowners erect a heat lamp near the feeder or wrap electrical wire around it.  Others use two feeders, leaving one up overnight and just before dawn trading it for one kept in the house overnight.

If you host one of these rarities you can contribute to scientific knowledge.  You should
have your hummingbird banded. The bander will record the bird’s location and
determine its species and age.  If the bird is re-captured or found in another location, it yields very valuable information about its migratory patterns.  Hummingbird banders are certified experts who trap, examine, and band these tiny creatures without harming them.  Any hummingbird seen in PA after October 15^th is likely a western rarity. Report it to the local Audubon Society or bird club so they can contact a bander.  If possible, take some good photos of the bird as these can help with identification.

Male Rufous Hummingbird just after banding. Nov 28, 2012. Chester Springs, Chester County, PA. Photo courtesy of and © Nick Pulcinella.   Click to enlarge.

Leaving feeders up into fall won’t prevent hummingbirds from migrating. They know when to move on. Your fall feeder may help the survival of late-migrating Ruby-throats or western hummers venturing east from the usual migration routes.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will begin returning to our area in late April and early May.  I will be putting my feeders out by mid-April so I don’t miss any that might be flying over my neighborhood.  Since hummingbirds are known to return to the same yards, I’m hoping for some of my “regulars”.  I’ll also hang some red ribbon near the feeders and place my new felt “flower” out on the ground.  I’ll watch my first-of-the-season native hummingbird plant, Wild Columbine.  Other native plants in my yard will host the tiny insects that hummingbirds eat and feed their young.  Then, come fall, I’ll be sure to keep my feeders out in the hope that a passing rare western visitor will come to grace my yard for a brief, but wondrous time.

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By Edie Parnum

On a damp, cloudy day in December I took a break from my household chores to get some fresh air on my back deck.  As usual I looked around for bird activity.  Recently I’d been seeing birds eating the ripe seeds in the Sweet Gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua), so I wasn’t surprised to see a feeding flock there. The light was dim, so I rushed back inside to retrieve my binoculars.  I was pleased to spot my target species, a Pine Siskin, among the expected goldfinches. Then, I noticed an odd-looking bird.  It was small and streaky like a siskin, but it had black around the base of the bill.  Wow!  It was a female Common Redpoll.

Photo of a Common Redpoll courtesy of Jacob Spendelow

Normally we don’t see redpolls in the Delaware Valley. They are circumpolar denizens of the arctic tundra and boreal forest.  In northern Canada and Alaska, they feed on alders, birches, willows, and spruces. However, because the seed crop was poor this year, these birds are roaming southward in search of food.  Birders have also spotted other northern species like Pine Siskins, Red Crossbills, White-winged Crossbills, and Evening Grosbeaks that have wandered south to find food.   Ornithologists call this phenomenon an irruption.  Some of these northern birds, including redpolls, have been showing up at area feeders.

Sweet Gum Ball. Photo © Edie Parnum

In 1996, another irruption year, I hosted four Common Redpolls at my thistle feeder.  Redpolls are small finches slightly bigger than goldfinches.  They have brown streaks on their flanks and back, white wing bars, a small red cap (called a poll), and the aforementioned black around the bill.  The male has a rosy-pink wash across its breast.  With their strong claws they can easily hold onto small twigs and sometimes hang upside down acrobatically to reach the dangling sweet gum balls.  With their tiny, pointy beaks they can easily reach into the cavities of the Sweet Gum balls to extract the small seeds.

My Sweet Gum nourishes many wild creatures, not just redpolls, goldfinches, and siskins. I regularly see Dark-eyed Juncos, House Finches, Red-winged Blackbirds
and sometimes Golden-crowned Kinglets and Purple Finches devouring the seeds.  I’ve heard reports of  White-winged and Red Crossbills eating Sweet Gum seeds, too. When the seeds are ripe I enjoy standing under the tree as the seeds rain down copiously around me.  Sparrows and Mourning Doves relish the wind-dispersed seeds they find on the ground, the driveway, and the roof.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Photo © Gerry Dewaghe http://www.pbase.com/gdewaghe

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, cold weather visitors from the north, hammer holes in the bark and drink the sap. Thirty-three species of native caterpillars including the Luna Moth, a declining species, eat the foliage.

Holes drilled by a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Edie’s Sweet Gum tree. Photo © Edie Parnum.

Sweet Gum tree in fall

Plant a Sweet Gum in your yard.  It’s a handsome tree in all seasons.  In the fall, it is spectacularly adorned with shiny red, orange, and yellow leaves. True, the prickly, woody balls fall to the ground well after leaves have been raked in the fall and, thus, require an untimely extra clean-up.  Personally, I like these odd, somewhat monstrous-looking fruits.  As I child I used them for making Christmas ornaments.  To my way of thinking, a Sweet Gum tree is well worth planting for the chance to host caterpillars and birds like redpolls and sapsuckers.

Sunday, February 24, 2:00 PM

Jenkins Arboretum, 631 Berwyn Baptist Road, Devon

Co-sponsored by the Radnor Conservancy and Jenkins Arboretum 

Dr. Douglas Tallamy, author of the bestselling book Bringing Nature Home: How you Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants will present Treasures Among Our Natives. Our gardens are part of the terrestrial ecosystems that sustain humans and the life around us.  Most of us have heard of the importance of landscaping with native plants, but know little about the animals we are helping.  Dr. Tallamy will describe some of the fascinating ways in which animals interact with beautiful native plants growing right under our noses!  Anticipating, observing, and understanding these relationships will enrich our lives and further motivate us to use natives in our yards.

$5.00 per person.  Space is limited, and pre-registration is required.

Please call Jenkins Arboretum at 610-647-8870.

Refreshments will be served.

By Edie Parnum 

In early June I visited Barb’s backyard.  As we toured her half-acre suburban property, we observed bees, butterflies, caterpillars, dragonflies, frogs, and birds–all leading busy lives.

Barb is co-author of this blog site & co-director of Backyards for Nature

Her yard wasn’t always full of life.  Originally, her Southeastern Pennsylvania property had just grass and a few mostly non-native ornamental plants–nothing to attract wildlife.  On a plane trip about 18 years ago, Barb read an article in the airline’s magazine about gardening for wildlife.  Native plants, even when planted on a small property, could, the author asserted, provide a healthy habitat for birds, butterflies, and other creatures.  For Barb, reading this article was a transformative experience.  Over the years she has gradually added over a hundred native plant species, creating this haven for wildlife.  She’s posted a sign: National Wildlife Federation-certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat.

We started our tour near Barb’s kitchen window—an area where she can view wildlife activities from inside.  Originally, there were peonies and lambs’ ears, non-native plants with no appeal to animals.  Barb substituted native perennials and shrubs that produce fruits, seeds, and nectar for birds and butterflies.  Native insects eat the foliage of these plants; they, in turn, are food for birds and other animals. Barb added a birdbath, woodpile, nest boxes, and hummingbird feeders.  We watched a hummer visiting her feeders and a House Wren using the nest box.  Barb told me the Carolina Wrens love the woodpile.  One day she spotted a Brown Thrasher scratching and feasting on bugs in the leaf litter.   Last winter she discovered and closely monitored a cocoon in the Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). Her diligence was rewarded in May when a gorgeous six-inch Polyphemus moth emerged.