in order to promote pollinators and other beneficial organisms, a perennial garden that is left too tidy over the winter will lower the potential for retaining and benefitting bees, wasps and other insects.
Category: Pollinators
Straw Foxglove
Unlike foxglove that are biennial, straw foxglove (Digitalis lutea) is a true perennial. The light yellow bell-shaped downward-facing flowers are smaller than their biennial relatives, but what is lost in flower size, straw foxglove makes up for in reliability and ease of growth. Straw foxglove does best in average garden soil in a site…
Woodland Phlox
Woodland phlox, Phlox divaricata, also known as wild sweet William, is a shade-loving perennial that produces lavender blue five-petalled flowers in spring. It has a wonderfully long bloom season. In my garden, it has been sending out flowers for a solid month now. Woodland phlox does best under trees in soils rich in humus….
Gardening Projects
What really sets Nebraska Extension Master Gardeners apart from garden clubs is their dedication to learning Best Management Practices, the cornerstone of what the land grant university has to offer, whether it is an invasive insect, a tough weed to manage, or a proven plant variety to try. This dedication to learning shows in the…
Looking Ahead: Plan to Help Pollinators Next Year
Kicking back to consider next year’s garden, let benefitting pollinators be one of your considerations. Of course pollination is important to us because we like to eat—one-third of our food supply exists because pollinators pollinate. Pollinators, specifically native bees, are real work horses of the pollination world—just 250 native bees do the work of thousands…
Helen’s Flower
Helen’s flower, Helenium autumnale, is a native perennial of the sunflower family, producing show-stopping 2-inch flowers in colors of yellow, gold, orange, red or variations in between. The notched petals, surrounding a yellowish brown globular cone, are a nice touch, giving the flowers the appearance of a ruffled skirt. The specific epithet “autumnale” refers to…
Flowering Plants for the August Garden
When it comes to August’s garden, many gardeners, plant enthusiasts and landscapers are willing to skip the month entirely because of the challenge posed by the seemingly few plants that provide interest during August. I’d like to challenge that notion, mainly because August is a perfectly fine month of frost-free weather and why not make…
Bee Hotel
At some point in time you have probably seen a bee hotel at your favorite garden center. They usually have bundles of bamboo inserted into a structure. Most of them are brightly painted and whimsical in appearance. North America is home to around 4,000 bees. Most of them nest in the ground but around 1,200…
Double Trouble
Visit any of your favorite garden centers and you will see new introductions of old familiar favorites. For instance the purple coneflower is no longer purple. It comes a range of colors from red, yellow, orange, green, and white. You will even find cultivars where the traditional cone has been modified into flower petals often…
Caterpillars on Coneflowers
The silvery checkerspot caterpillar, Chlosyne nycteis, can be found right now, happily munching away on the leaves of sunflower, aster, Echinacea, goldenrod and Rudbeckia. The checkerspot caterpillar has branched spines on its back that are black in color. Sometimes the caterpillars will have an orange stripe or two. Depending on weather conditions, there will be…