With Summer in full bloom and the heat settling in, I wanted to share some interesting topics, since you may not want to go work in your garden.
Monarch Butterflies
The Eastern Monarch Butterfly is having a resurgence in populations that have overwintered in Mexico, according to Monarch Watch. While the numbers are significantly below recent levels, it is encouraging to see this growth that many attribute to the efforts of people to restore necessary plants (Milkweeds) to support them in their Summer breeding areas and along the corridors as they travel thousands of miles each year down south and back north. Monarch Watch is a very cool organization if you want to learn more or even track Monarchs as they migrate. You can even get a kit to tag your own Monarchs. It is one of many insects that are experiencing serious challeneges, but Monarchs bring important awareness to the need to rebuild our native ecosystems. Below is an image from my garden several years ago of a Monarch that was tagged in Canada and visited me while heading south.
Photo Contest
I get lots of emails, but I would love to see photos of your gardens and favorite plants, too. To that end, I am doing a photo contest this year, and am offering a free two-hour consultation in your garden as the prize, if you are located within an hour or so. Outside of that, I can do a phone consultation and will include a favorite book by Doug Tallamy. Rules are pretty simple:
- Image must be from your garden.
- Can be an image of any living aspect of your garden. That is a broad category. Have fun with it.
- By submitting, you are allowing me to potentially re-publish the image in my newsletter, with your initials and town included.
- Submit anytime this Summer and no later than Friday, September 4th to reed@barkingdoggardens.com.
- Will announce winner by Friday, September 11.
May sound cheesy, but images with butterflies on plants will get you serious consideration. While the quality of the image is important, the content is equally critical. You don’t need to be Ansel Adams or Saxon Holt.
Jumping Worms
Clients are constantly asking about Jumping Worms. Some have them and see the castings they leave behind, and while, in extreme cases, they can cause damage, they are not the problem that many people think they have become. UMass has an updated Jumping Worm Fact Sheet that provides great information for identification and management. While there is no way to eliminate them, there are some good tips, and other resources.
Rabbit Glue
For a little comic relief, because I know many of you have fantasies about what you would like to do to the rabbits that are consuming your flowers and vegetables. Rabbit Skin Glue is a product that dates back to the Renaissance Period, and even much further back. A use of the product was to protect the canvas from the acid in Linseed Oil, that was a main component of paints at the times. My town could be a major production hub of this product from the non-native Cottontail.
Caterpillars
Caterpillars are a critical element of the food web. They could be a big, juicy, Black Swallowtail caterpillar like below or one of hundreds of much smaller ones that are so prevalent in the Spring. Caterpillars are the primary food for baby birds, and each bird might eat hundreds of caterpillars before moving out. Great resources to learn more about plants that support important insects:
Native Oaks, Willows and Maples (not the above mentioned Norway Maple) support hundreds of insect species that provide critical food for birds. Other plants cannot compensate for the loss of these critical trees.
If you want to subscribe for free to my more detailed newsletter, please go to the following link: The Barker, a newsletter for gardeners in New England.
Barking Dog Gardens - Gardening in New England 