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Fall Flowers Are Important for Pollinators and Birds

Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 · Leave a Comment 

Despite my best efforts to support monarch butterflies, this year was discouraging: I only saw two monarchs visit my gardens. I have a small bed just for milkweeds, both the common one and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). But no monarchs laid eggs there this summer, no larvae ate the leaves, and I saw no butterflies sampling the nectar.

 

I know the importance of food for migrating monarchs at this time of year. They need to fill up on carbohydrates, fats and protein before flying long distances. That holds true for birds, too. Right now I have plenty of flowers blooming for monarchs and other pollinators, and seed heads waiting for the birds. I’m a bit discouraged, too, by the lower numbers of birds I am seeing. Let’s take a look at some of my fall favorites that migrating creatures could be feasting on.  

 

Blue stemmed goldenrod or Solidago caesia grows in shade

According to Doug Tallamy, the guru of native plants for pollinators, the number one plant we should all have is golden rod – and we probably all do. There are dozens of species of native goldenrod, all popular with bees, moths and butterflies. Many gardeners pull them out when they show up uninvited. A few species spread by root and can take over a flower bed – but others are clump-forming. Even if you don’t want them in your beds, think about leaving them at the edges of your fields or woods.

 

Of those species easily found for sale in garden centers, the best is Soldidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’. This plant is 3 to 5 feet tall, and stays in an ever-expanding clump in full sun or part shade, but does not take over. Its blossoms last a long time, the stems curving gently outward, like fireworks. And no, goldenrod does not cause hay fever – that is ragweed, which blooms at the same time.

 

Less common is blue-stemmed or wreath goldenrod (Solidago caesia). I bought a plant 20 years ago and it is blooming now in dry shade. It really has not expanded its reach very much. It grows just 1- to 3-feet tall, but usually is about 18 inches for me. It has delicate flowers that help light up a dark spot.

 

New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis), is a tall native plant in the aster family with purple blossoms. It is still blooming for me, a month after starting to bloom. It does this by producing lots of buds which open sequentially – so it is not always a dramatic flower in a vase. But the bees love it. It is happiest in full sun in moist soil, but there it got too big for me, so I moved mine to dry soil with only morning sun. Now it is more manageable, but still a big plant. I’ve read that if you cut it back to the ground when it is 2-feet tall, it will stay smaller – but I never remember to do so. Sigh.

 

Speaking of asters, there are many native species, all good for pollinators and loved especially be monarch butterflies. This year the woodland asters are quite dramatic. They are a pale lavender, and grow in shady places. Elsewhere a taller wild cousin stands 4 to 6 feet tall with deep purple or pink flowers. These grow in full sun and are often seen by the roadside at this time of year. Asters of all sorts are readily available at garden centers. Ask for native ones, not fancy hybrids.

 

Joe Pye weed ‘Gateway’ blooms longer and better than wild forms

Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpurea) is another tall plant in the aster family. It can get huge – over 6-feet tall if grown in rich, moist soil. A named cultivar called ‘Gateway’ has longer lasting flowers and richer colors than the wild ones, though those are nice, too. Smaller varieties such as Little Joe, Baby Joe and Phantom are nice, and better suited for smaller gardens. I haven’t grown them but see they are sold as being 3- to 4-feet tall. Monarchs and other pollinators love them. All appreciate soil that does not dry out.

 

One tall annual that monarchs love is Brazilian verbena (Verbena bonariensis). It grows tall stalks that are remarkably tough – they grow 4 or 5 feet tall, but rarely need staking. Its flowers are in small clusters. It often drops seeds which send up new plants the following year.

 

Lastly for pollinators, I have to recommend fall crocus – which is not a crocus at all, but a Colchicum. This is a bulb plant that flowers on a six-inch stem (actually the throat of the blossom) in pink, white or lavender. It sends up foliage in the spring that dies back, then each bulb sends up a cluster of blossoms in September, or even earlier. They do best in full sun and rich soil, but do fine with some shade. They like to be fertilized each year. I often see small bees and wasps buzzing around in the blossoms.

 

Colchicum or fall crocus

I know that many gardeners are already cutting back their flowers in preparation for winter. But hold on! Flowers with lots of seeds can be left as winter snacks for our feathered friends. Among the best are black-eyed Susans, purple coneflower, sunflowers, zinnias, Joe Pye weed, coreopsis, sedums and ornamental grasses. Wait until spring to cut those back so that finches, chickadees, cardinals and other seed-eaters can enjoy them, especially on those cold, snowy mornings when you don’t want to go fill up your feeder.

 

And of course, leaving some work for spring means less work now! So leave some seeds for the birds, and enjoy watching them in the winter.

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. His website is www.Gardening-Guy.com. Reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Filed under Article · Tagged with colchecum, fall native plants, goldenrod, solidago

Planting Bulbs for Spring Blossoms

Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 · Leave a Comment 

Now is the time to buy your bulbs for spring blossoms. Winters in New England are long, cold and snowy, so by March I’m ready for spring. Most years I have bulb flowers pushing their way up through mushy snow and fallen leaves in early March, delighting me with their improbably delicate flowers.

 

These allium bloomed in early June after the daffodils in the same bed

First the small bulbs bloom: snowdrops, glory of the snow, scilla, winter aconite and crocus. Next come daffodils, tulips and alliums. Finally come summer snowflake ( Leucojum spp.) and Camassia. You have plenty of time to plant bulbs as you can do so until the ground freezes. But I recommend that you get them now before they are sold out. Gardening has taken a big uptick in interest this year, and I predict bulbs will go the way of seeds and hoses – all sold out early.

 

Here are the basics: you plant bulbs in the fall and they bloom in the spring according to an internal clock. All need plenty of sun, though the little ones that bloom early can be grown under deciduous trees, as they will get enough sun to  “re-charge” the bulbs by photosynthesis before the leaves are on. Don’t plant bulbs of daffodils or tulips in the lawn because you won’t be able to mow it until July (if you do, the bulbs will not get enough energy and they won’t bloom).

 

Cammasia is a lesser known bulb plant that blooms in May for me

Planting depth matters. The small bulbs only need 2 or 3 inches of soil cover over the top of the bulb; bigger bulbs like tulips and daffodils generally need 6 inches of cover. Follow the directions that come with the bulbs.

 

Tulip bulbs are loved as food by rodents like squirrels and chipmunk. Deer will eat the foliage and flower buds – often the night before you planned on picking some. Daffodils are vaguely poisonous, so not eaten by anything. Alliums, in the onion family, are not eaten by anything, either. Crocus are not generally bothered by anything, but this past spring we had a plague of chipmunks that ate the blossoms just before they bloomed. I’ve never had trouble with any of the other small bulbs.

 

I like to plant bulbs in big batches. Fifty daffodils will knock your socks off when they bloom, but five will hardly be noticed. I know that some stores sell tools that can be used to cut out and lift a circle of soil all in one motion. The idea is to dig lots of holes (3 inches across) and plant one bulb in each hole. I find that method tedious. The same goes for using an auger on a drill to dig holes for bulbs.

 

Daffodils look great planted in big masses

What I like is to dig a bulb bed for 25 or more bulbs. Dig down six inches, remove the soil in an oval or circle 24 to 36 inches across. I put the soil in a wheelbarrow or on a tarp so as to keep the area tidy. Once the hole is excavated, I add some bulb booster or slow-release organic fertilizer in the hole with my CobraHead weeder. I generally add some compost, too, and scratch it into the soil at the bottom of the hole, along with the fertilizer.

 

After all that, I just place the bulbs in the soil, pointy end up. Space them according to the directions, or a little closer than the directions indicate. Daffodils and tulips I space about three inches apart, small bulbs less. Then I take the soil I removed and return it to the hole, being careful not disturb the bulbs. I remove any stones that are the size of the bulbs or larger, and mix in some compost with the soil if it is a heavy clay or very sandy.

 

What about those rodents that want to eat your tulips or small bulbs? People try many things to deter them. Some sprinkle hot pepper powder on the soil surface, or crushed oyster shells, which are sharp and unpleasant. A variety of animal repellents are sold, and some may do the job. I like to hide the hole with a layer of fall leaves so it won’t be so obvious to rodents.

 

Back at the end of Bill Clinton’s time in office I got to interview the White House gardener in the fall. They had just planted, for the newly elected President Bush, thousands of tulips, a variety named ‘Hilary Clinton’. Huh. I asked how they would keep the squirrels away – I saw them everywhere.

 

Dale Haney, the head gardener, told me they keep the squirrels fat and happy – they give them all the dried corn they can eat. That reduces the desire for tulips. And, he said, they put a layer of chicken wire 2 inches below the soil surface after planting. Squirrels are deterred by the wire. I tried that method, and it is not easy to do – I needed to cut the chicken wire to fit my plantings, and it was like handling razor wire. I don’t recommend it.

 

Autumn crocus

There are a few fall blooming bulbs, too. Saffron crocus and Colchicum need to be planted before this, but you might like to try them another year. Colchicum, generally planted in August, is also called “fall crocus” (even though it is not a crocus at all). But the blossoms look like giant crocus, and each bulb produces several blossoms. I love them.

 

Colchicum are leafless now, but put out leaves in the spring which disappear by mid-summer. Bulbs cost from $5 to $8 each, and are generally sold in packages of three. Good garden centers may have a few for sale potted up and already in bloom now.

 

I’ve been planting bulbs every year for decades, and find it one of my favorite gardening activities. Now, in fall, when the garden is declining, I plant something and dream of spring. I need that.

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books, and is a UNH Master Gardener. Write him at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or e-mail him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Filed under Article · Tagged with alliums, colchecum, daffodils, fall crocus, planting bulbs

Fifteen Flowers That Bloomed in October in My Garden

Witch hazel November

Despite frost and short days, my garden produced plenty of flowers in October. I look for plants that will perform in the shoulder seasons – March, April, October and even November. Here are some I love that are blooming still, or that bloomed earlier in October.

1. My ‘Knockout’ roses were still blooming in late October. This trademarked variety has me completely loyal to them. They start blooming in June, and continue until Halloween or later. Not every bush blooms every day, but some do. Most are not fragrant, though that has its advantage: they don’t attract Japanese beetles or rose chafers.
2. Seven Sons Flower tree (Heptacodium micinoides). The small white flowers on this tree are delicate, and slightly fragrant. It’s fast growing, small tree that needs annual pruning – it can grow stems up to 7 feet long in one season, though it shouldn’t get taller than 25 feet or so. Hard frost damages the flowers.
3. Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana). This understory tree has small curly yellow blossoms that really aren’t obvious until late October when the yellow foliage falls off. The branches of mine are loaded with blossoms now, and will look good well into November. Not a showy plant, but a welcome treat at this time of year.
4. Disanthus (Disanthus cercidifolius). This large shrub has spectacular purple foliage, more dramatic than the reds of burning bush (Euonymus alatus). And if you get up close for a look, it has little half-inch red blossoms in October. Quite a worthy shrub, but not well known. Even though I’m in a cold zone 4, and this shrub is said to be only hard to Zone 5 (minus 20), I’ve had it for several years.
5. Autumn crocus (Colchicum speciosum). This is my one
   

   Colchicum

   bulb plant for October. It is similar to spring crocus, but many times larger. I was given a dozen bulbs 20 years ago, and now I have just one left – the others seem to have disappeared. It displays its foliage in spring which then disappears. In October large pink (or white or lavender) blossoms appear. Floppy, but wonderful. I shall buy some more next summer.

6. Fall monkshood (Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Arendsii’). You may know the June-blooming monkshood (Aconitum napellus), but this late bloomer is a treat that blooms in late October. It grows to be 4 to 5 feet tall, and has an intense blue-purple hooded flower. Also called wolf’s bane because the sap was used allegedly used to poison wolves in Russia by spreading it on meat that was left out for wolves.
7. Blooming with my monkshood is a pink-magenta phlox. Unlike the other phlox I have, this one starts late and just keeps on blooming. I wish I knew the cultivar name, as it has little mold or mildew, too. A good cut flower.
8. Rudbeckia I have 2 varieties that bloom well into October. ‘Henry Eiler’ is just finishing up. A 5-foot tall plant with petals with gaps between  them give it a distinctive look. And then there is ‘Prairie Sun’ which blooms from late June until now. It has a green eye, instead of a brown one.
9. Globe flower (Trollius europaeus). The bright yellow flowers are a complete surprise, as it should bloom in early summer. But this year it is in full, glorious bloom in the last week of October. Go figure.
10. New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracnesis). This is a tall purple flower that looks a lot like a New England aster. It can reach 5 to 6 feet tall in moist rich soil, which it likes best. I now grow it in dry soil, as it got too big in moist soil. It bloomed well though mid-October for me.
11. New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae). Another tall fall bloomer, I have pink and purple varieties that often reach 5 to 6 feet tall. Monarch butterflies love to get some nectar from the flowers before heading south.
12. Canadian burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis). A native plant of the wetlands, this tall flower appears as a dozen thin bottle-brush flowers on each stem, in clusters. I have 3 or 4 other species in this genus that bloom earlier in summer.
13. Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale). This flower was named after Helen of Troy, a woman so beautiful that it said she launched 1,000 ships. I have it in various colors: yellow, yellow and rust, orange and brown. It can be 5 feet tall, or as short as 2 feet, depending on where it is grown and the cultivar. It does fine in ordinary garden soil, but thrives best in moist soils. Sneezeweed does not make you sneeze – it was used as snuff in earlier times.
14. Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii). This tall pink flower blooms for 6 to 8 weeks with multiple hooded pink flowers on tall stems. Bumblebees love this flower, though it is a challenge for them to crawl inside for pollen. It finished blooming in mid-to-late-October.
15. Fountain grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’).
    

    Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ looks good much of the winter

    Most of us do not think of grasses as having flowers, but they do, of course. This 6- to 8-foot tall grass has wonderful fluffy panicles a foot long or so. They move well in the breeze, and many stay erect through much of the winter.

• “Organic Gardening – Not Just in the Northeast”

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