October Pollinator News

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Finding Native Plants for your Pollinator Garden

This month I hosted “Can You Dig It!”, a plant sharing event at my home in Amherst. My gardens are brimming with desirable natives that compete for space. Fall is a great time to plant new and to transplant existing perennial plants. With cooler, wetter weather and warm soils, plants become rooted quickly with little sign of transplant stress.

In addition to this public event, I have invited friends and individuals for private harvesting of select perennials. Most importantly, Helen Mansfield moved loads of plant material to her public pollinator garden at Maude Neiding Park here in Amherst. I celebrate her dedication on this project. In addition to plants, she has interpretive signage, walkways, bird houses and a bench. When you enter the park from the Park Avenue entrance you will see what she has been up to. Stop by often, throughout the season as the work continues and the richly diverse garden expands and fills in.

Sourcing Native Plants

Finding quality native plants can be a challenge. Some organizations are helping to make that easier by posting known growers for you to choose from.

https://indianawildlife.org/education/native-plants-finder/

The geography of this resource is Indiana focused not Ohio. Most species of plants are equally useful here in Ohio. Many native plant growers in Ohio produce these same species. Look for ecotype provenance. Where something originated is important to acheive the best connection with pollinator partners associated with your plants. While the ecology doesn’t recognize political borders, like state lines, closer is generally better.

https://www.leapbio.org/resources/pollinators

Mostly in Northeast Ohio, Lake Erie Allegheny Plateau for Biodiversity (LEAP) publishes resources including local growers for your consideration.

http://leapbio.github.io/nurseries/downloads/Master%20Nursery%20List_2022.xlsx

Specifically, this Excel spreadsheet of native plant nurseries in Ohio and neighboring states has important information about how plants are sourced and grown. If you can view this spreadsheet you will also be able to sift and sort the information.

https://www.leapbio.org/resources/native-plants.

Hit parade of Native Plants featured by LEAP

Each year, for a decade, LEAP featured three native plants annually that have a place not just in the natural world but in our managed and designed landscapes. This is a good start for anyone beginning to landscape with natives.

https://ohionativegrowers.org/

This resource has a map, search function and categories.

Do you need professional, on-site consultation?

Webbedfoot Designs, Inc. is a non-profit. We promote the use of native perennials, trees and shrubs, both residential and commercial scales. Webbedfoot Designs provides education, consultation and custom designs of pollinator gardens, rain gardens and restorations that assure safety, aesthetics and ecologically sound landscapes.

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New England Aster

Most perennial plants have a limited flowering period. Only a few will bloom for more than a month. Pollinators are active roughly from April through October here in Northern Ohio. Monarch butterflies migrate in the fall, some nectaring on the very last blooms on their way to central Mexico. A rich pollinator patch should, therefore, have plants that continue blooming and providing resources until freezing weather descends.

One of my favorite fall bloomers, photographed in mid-october, is New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae. Its purple petals and orange disk are a welcome site in any landscape. It may begin blooming as early as August and will continue until frost. It can reach as tall as five feet and just as wide. It grows best in moist soil and full sun to partial shade. It will benefit from division every few years and may self-seed in suitable areas.

Cleveland Seed Bank

Milkweed seeds are mature and ready to be harvested right now! You can help monarch butterflies by planting milkweeds, the only plant that monarch caterpillars can eat. You can learn all about sowing milkweed seeds HERE. If you can't grow your own but want to help, collect seed now and donate to the Cleveland Seed Bank. They make it easy:

How to Harvest Seeds from Milkweed Plants:

1. Correctly identify the plant and make sure the seed pods and seeds are mature.

2. Pull the full pod from the plant stem and place in a brown paper bag.

3. Label the bag with as much information as you can (variety of milkweed, location, date, zip code, etc.).

4. Drop off milkweed seed at one of our drop off locations. Click here to find a list of participating locations for 2022!

Drop off locations in Lorain and Cuyahoga Counties are accepting donations until November 1st.  

To stop the decline of monarch butterflies billions of new milkweed plants need to be added across the continent to support the several generations each year that migrate thousands of miles from Central Mexico to Eastern Canada and New England.

The days are getting shorter and temperatures are dropping but the gardening season is far from over. Here at Webbedfoot Designs we are actively saving seeds for a wide variety of native pollinator plants including milkweeds.

Pollinator Habitat 101 – An Introduction and Refresher
Pollinator Habitat 101

Thousands of people tuned in for this Zoom presentation this morning. If you missed it, a recording is available. Today’s presenter was Doug Tallamy who makes the case for urgent action to protect and restore our natural environment by changing the way we manage our immediate surroundings. Find details for this weekly program and more at: http://go.osu.edu/ph101

October 21: Harland Patch, Penn State University
Creating Pollinator Gardens: the Role of Plant Choice and Design

October 28: Heather Holm, Author and Biologist
Creating and Managing Habitat for Native Bees

November 4: Matthew Shepherd, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Deciding To Create A Pollinator Garden Is The Easy Step – What To Do Next?

November 11: Shana Byrd, The Dawes Arboretum
Getting Started with Wildflower Patches, Flower Strips, and Meadows

More details and registration HERE.

Native Plant and Seed Sales

Lake Soil & Water Conservation District Backyard Restoration Sale
When: Orders must be placed by October 21 | Order pickup November 8
Where: Order pickup will be at 125 E. Erie St., Painesville, OH 44077
What: Do you have a lot of land that needs planting? Is your backyard stream or lakefront eroding? Check out these live stakes, native seed mixes, and cover crop seeds designed to help you restore your landscape.
Learn More: here