Every summer brings a new adventure to my small Wildlife Habitat. The yard is a living, breathing ecosystem with its own wants and needs. As its humble steward, I can only do my best to guess what those are, step back, and let nature do its thing. This year, I have lots of healthy, beautiful, mature plants in bloom. I’ve cooked a feast! But, for some reason, there’s nobody around to eat.
Bugs, Bugs, bugs?
Since I started gardening for wildlife, my biggest rewards come from watching plant-insect interactions, but this year has been weird and somewhat concerning—I haven’t seen as many insects on my blooming plants, not even on the clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), which over the past few years was always swarmed with all kinds of bees, wasps, and flies. I don’t know if it has something to do with our heat waves this month or maybe pesticides from neighboring yards made it over to my yard? In any case, I have observed a tiny bit of activity in July. Here are my highlights:
Summer Blooms!
I feel like most spring blooms are delicate and quiet, but summer blooms are in-your-face, unapologetic, and just… big. They are truly the extroverts of the plant world. As an introvert, I can only look on in awe. Here are some of my favorites so far:
The lovely Allegheny monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens). Word on the street is that if you view it directly head-on (or gently squeeze the sides), a smiling monkey face appears. I really can’t see it—can you?
Talk about a garden extrovert! Here is the bold and showy cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis).
Gorgeous and sweet: The vanilla-scented rose milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).
Rocking a truly funky hairstyle: The bright and bold dense blazing star (Liatris spicata).
And, last but not least, the gentle and delicate shrubby St. John’s wort (Hypericum prolificum).
I’ll do my best not to worry about the bees right now. We have been lucky with our backyard birds – lots and lots of juveniles this year. Plus a very high number of Gray Catbirds, which are my favorite! I’ll focus on that.
By the way, I have now set up an online shop where you can buy and pickup some of my leftover stock of pesticide-free, sustainably potted, native plants grown on Cape Cod. Shop native plants here!
I hope you’re all enjoying your summer.
Cheers!
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