In this month’s episode, we are chatting about the marvelous relationship between monarch butterflies and milkweed. Undoubtedly, there is no other butterfly so easily recognized with its orange and black wings fringed with white spots. Their seasonal flight from Mexico through the United States towards Canada is long anticipated for gardeners.
Timing : Milkweed and Monarchs: ~1:36 Migration and Life cycle: ~6:58 Milkweed recommendations for Maryland: ~ 11:06 Native Plant of the Month: Joe-pye weed- Eupatorium spp. at ~ 27:40 Bug of the Month: Asian Tiger Mosquito at ~ ~33:05 Garden Tips of the Month at ~ 39:20
We hope you enjoyed this month’s episode and will tune in next month for more garden tips. If you have any garden-related questions please email us at UMEGardenPodcast@gmail.com or look us up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GardenThymePodcast.
The Garden Thyme Podcast is a monthly podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Senior Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture, Rachel Rhodes- Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne’s County), and Emily Zobel-Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County).
Do you agree that the weather has been getting a bit crazy? Summers are getting extreme, some being dry, others overly wet and too hot, the winters too warm, hurricanes and tornadoes becoming more common and stronger. Climate change is here, but what does it mean? Does it even matter? In this post I want to spend some time talking about why these strong changes in our climate do not just affect us, but mostly organisms that help us survive, like our beloved pollinators and the plants with which they interact.
What is climate change?
Climate change is any change in the mean and/or the variability of the climate, which persists for an extended period (decades or longer). This means that when we hear about climate change, people can be referring to any long-term change that has been detected in the records of temperature and precipitation, as well as the variations in their extremes and averages over time. Although we tend to think about the current climate change as increases in temperature, temperature is just one aspect of it. Often, it is also the precipitation patterns that are affected, leading to extreme rainfalls or droughts. Climate change is not just a climatic curiosity; because all the places and environments we live in and obtain our foods and livelihoods from are affected by climate, changes in climate affect our lives and those of other organisms with which we coexist.
How does climate change affect pollinators and pollination?
Like all organisms, plants and pollinators are only able to survive under specific climatic conditions. If the conditions change, their options are adapting to the new conditions, migrating to regions where their optimal conditions are still present, or going extinct.
Evolving and adapting to the new and fast-evolving climatic conditions has not been often observed in the case of pollination interactions. Most species are either observed to display what is called plasticity and use their already-evolved ability to adjust to different conditions. This allows them to tolerate more extreme conditions with possibly a small loss in their ability to obtain food, grow, or mate. In the USA, it was shown that some species of bees can advance their emergence time when the winters are warmer, and match to some extent the advancing in the flowering season associated with warmer winters or early springs.
The Orange-legged Furrow Bee (Halictus rubicundus) is a species that has been shown to be advancing its time of emergence with increasing temperatures. Photo: M.L. Legrand.
Most species, however, respond to these changes in the climatic conditions by dispersing to new regions, where their preferred conditions are still present. For example, species from Maryland, may disperse further north under a warming climate. Likewise, species that live on the slopes of mountains may disperse upwards, to higher altitudes. However, this is often impossible, when, for example, northern latitudes do not offer the right habitat (e.g., the preferred plants are not available or there is no more natural habitat left due to human pressure), when it is impossible to disperse further to the poles (e.g., for cold-adapted species), or when it is impossible to move higher on a mountain (e.g., for alpine species). These species see their ranges become smaller and smaller, until their population becomes too small to avoid extinction.
Some species, like the Giant Swallowtail and the White-M and Red-banded Hairstreaks, have been expanding their ranges northward (top row, left to right). Others, like the cold-adapted Atlantis Fritillary or the Arctic Skipper are likely to become at least locally extinct (bottom row, left to right). Photos: T. Eagle, S. McCann, G. Lasley, S. Elliott, S. King.
Finally, other species are unable to disperse at all, because they may not be mobile or because they move too slowly for the pace of climate change. Although only through modelling approaches, studies suggest that this may be the fate of many mid-Atlantic bumblebee species like the Perplexing or the Golden Northern bumblebees, which may become slowly doomed to extinction.
Perplexing and Golden Northern Bumblebees have been predicted to become unable to track their preferred climatic conditions under many climate change scenarios. Photos: P. Pieluszyński, Molanic.
Climate change and extreme weather events however, also can affect the survival of pollination interactions, and not only of individual species. For example, species that are specialized on their floral preferences or their pollinators may be unable to survive climate change. If the winter is warmer than usual, certain plants and insects may start emerging and developing earlier than usual. If these advances in their developments do not match between the plant and the pollinator, the partners will not co-exist, which can have drastic consequences such as loss of food, nesting sites, or lack of seed production for lack of cross-pollination. This is one of the reasons why the Baltimore Checkerspot, Maryland’s state insect, is at such high risk from warming winters and is currently endangered in the state.
If there are warm spells during the winter, the Baltimore Checkerspot’s larvae leave their “winter sleep” too early, when their plant food is still unavailable to them, and are at high risk of dying from starvation. Photos: WikiCommons, S. Snyder.
Another way these changes in climate can affect pollination is through changes in the functioning of the interacting species. For instance, it has been recently shown that extreme rainfalls and heat are able to affect the quality and composition of nectar and pollen, the odor compounds present in flowers, and the ability of insects to move and reach the flowers for reward collection. This means that even if species were to still co-occur, these extreme climate events can affect their ability to encounter each other, which again, leads to their survival being harmed!
This is complicated! Can I do anything to help?
It’s true! Understanding all biological interactions and protecting species IS complex, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing one can do to help! Some ways to support pollination include providing a lot of resources for both the plants and the pollinators to survive. For example, planting many different native species and providing nesting resources in our green spaces supports pollinators that may be migrating to new areas, or ones that may be just under a lot of climatic stress.
Also, it has been thoroughly demonstrated that increased concentrations of carbon in our atmosphere are leading to the climate change patterns we are observing. The good news (if we react quickly) is that we may still be able to do something to revert it, and this does not have to be anything that affects our ability to survive. Even relatively simple behavioral changes like turning off unused lights at home, bringing the thermostat even 4 degrees higher in the summer, or reducing meat consumption make a huge difference in our carbon footprints.
If you would like to start helping pollinators by reducing your carbon footprint, I strongly recommend visiting this website to receive “personalized” free recommendations to successfully reduce your carbon footprints through simple (and also more complex) and very feasible actions. And if you would like to learn more, I also strongly recommend the webinar series by University of Maryland Professor Dr. Sara Via.
By Anahí Espíndola, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. See more posts by Anahí.
Anahí also writes an Extension Blog in Spanish! Check it out here, extensionesp.umd.edu, and please share and spread the word to your Spanish-speaking friends and colleagues in Maryland. ¡Bienvenidos a Extensión en Español!
The end of June brought a very exciting event. As I was cutting holes in the landscape fabric to plant some late-season flowers in my high tunnel, I found several larvae of a great beneficial insect! I guess it was the perfect environment, as I found at least 10 that evening. It was moist, although in the photo it looks pretty wet because I was running my drip irrigation water. When I found it, I was so ecstatic that my 5 year old daughter thought something bad had happened with all my yelling! I then shared a photo with my whole family. Needless to say, no one else seems to get quite as excited as I do about good bugs. Below are some photos from that special evening. Do you know what it is? Have you ever seen one? I’ll give you a few clues so you can see if you know what it is.
As larvae, they are incredible predators of many ground dwelling garden pests, like snails and slugs!
The adult form is a beetle so they have a complete life cycle — egg, larvae, pupa, and adult!
Size: approximately ¾’’.
The larvae and adults have bioluminescence, an amazing ability to “light up”.
That’s right, the last clue should have given it away. This is a larva of a lightning bug.
Did you know lightning bugs, also called fireflies, are actually beetles? They bring joy to everyone with their beautiful displays of flashing lights. Lots of additional information about them can be found here: https://www.xerces-dev.org/endangered-species/fireflies/about
Adult beetle. Photinus pyralis, known by the common names common eastern firefly and big dipper firefly
So where could you find these awesome critters in your landscape? Most species have at least a 2-year life cycle, and 95% of their life is in larvae form. Most adults only live 2-4 weeks. They like moist, dark areas near the soil surface, since that will be where they find their next meal. Sometimes they even hide in the crookes and crevices of tree bark.
Below are some actions you can take to create a habitat to attract fireflies. This information is provided by Firefly.org.
Eliminate light pollution in your landscape (turn off unneeded outdoor lights, keep your curtains drawn). Fireflies use their flashing patterns to attract mates. Extra lights can disrupt their ability to find each other.
These critters thrive in wet areas around ponds, streams, wetlands, and swampy areas. Add a water feature to your landscape if you do not have natural sources.
Avoid pesticides, especially broad-spectrum insecticides which kill many types of insects indiscriminately (even the beneficial ones).
Do not over-mow your lawn (taller grass gives fireflies a place to hide during the day).
Dead logs and leaf litter provide great habitat, so try to create an area in your landscape that has a natural area with these materials.
Plant native trees and native grasses to provide shaded habitat. Shade helps conserve soil moisture which attracts food sources for firefly larvae.
My family is lucky to live in a rural area near a small stream and swampy area, so we are blessed to see a wonderful display of fireflies for several months each year. Check out my blog from last summer: Firefly or Lightning Bug: You Decide!
By Ashley Bodkins, Senior Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Garrett County, Maryland, edited by Christa Carignan, Coordinator, Home & Garden Information Center, University of Maryland Extension. See more posts by Ashley and Christa.
As I’m writing this, my weather station tells me that it feels like 95F outside, and now all I can do is think of jumping into a pool. And because in the natural world pools are not just for refreshing and drinking water, today I wanted to talk about a special natural wonder of our region, a plant that makes pools to have things jump in them… although it doesn’t always end up as a refreshment. Let’s talk about our local pitcher plants!
Pitcher plants are native to many regions of the USA, and one of these plants, the Northern or Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea), is native to right here! Pitcher plants receive their name from the fascinating structure they have, which allows them to collect fluids, create a sort of pool, and use it to trap prey (usually small arthropods) that they feed upon. Although we tend to think of carnivorous plants as feeding on insects, pitcher plants have a really interesting relationship with them, since they both feed on them, while also needing them to reproduce through pollination. How does this work?
The Northern or Purple Pitcher Plant is native to Maryland. Photo: A. Carlson.
Are pitcher plants really carnivorous?
First things first; let’s talk about plant carnivory. Carnivorous plants are an organism that reminds us that nature is always ready to fascinate us in the most unexpected ways. Plants usually grow by absorbing minerals from the soil and combining them with the sugars they synthesize by using the energy from sunlight and CO2. In some nutrient-poor habitats, however, conditions may be a bit too harsh to obtain sufficient minerals and food to survive. In those habitats, other feeding adaptations to supplement these low nutrient levels have evolved, allowing plants to obtain sufficient food to properly develop. The evolution of carnivory in plants is one of these strategies.
Although pitcher plants are carnivorous, this does not mean that they are a sort of plant-lion waiting there to attack and retain prey. Their ways are more intricate, and in some ways, more fascinating than those of an animal predator. As all plants, pitcher plants are not able to ingest their prey; they have no mouths, no teeth… so how do they do it?
Pitchers in pitcher plants fill with rainfall and get slowly colonized by a multitude of microbes and other organisms. Photo: A. Carlson.
In pitcher plants, the pitcher (a special modified leaf) fills with a liquid formed by water (often from rainfall) and other compounds that make it really favorable for the establishment of microbial communities. Along with the secretion of some plant digestive compounds into the fluid, it is these microbes that actually digest the insects that fall into the pitcher. Once the prey is trapped in the pitcher and then digested, the plant is able to absorb the released nutrients directly through its tissues, eventually obtaining food from animal tissues, thus becoming a carnivore.
Why do insects fall into the pitcher?
Insects are often attracted to the pitcher by the many lures that the structure has. For instance, the walls of the pitcher display lines and markings that are attractive to insects, which direct them to the lid of the pitcher. At the edges of those lids there are small glands that secrete nectar, which is also mixed with some narcotic substances that make insects lose control of their bodies. Once these insects experience the effects of these substances, they lose grip and fall in the pitcher, where hairs and a slippery and narrow surface prevent them from crawling or flying out.
Many small insects fall into the pitchers, where they are digested by the pitcher microbial communities. Photo: A. Carlson.
But pitcher plants need to be pollinated too! How do they do it, if they eat insects?
Yes, pitcher plants need the service of pollinators to produce seeds and reproduce. And indeed, they also have very pretty flowers (which in Maryland bloom in May-June). So, how do they attract pollinators to their flowers instead of to the pitchers, and then, not have them fall in the pitchers by mistake?
Studies on this are demonstrating that pitchers and flowers in pitcher plants are not active at the same time. While the plant flowers only for a very restricted time in the year, the pitchers are active most of the growing season. However, their level of activity and attraction are reduced during the flowering time. This means that pitcher plants have evolved to allow pollen transfer to happen without endangering the valuable pollinators.
The pitcher plant flowers are very pretty, with a special round shape and coloring. In Maryland, pitcher plants bloom in the months of May and June. Photo: B. Wheeler.
Pitcher plants are tiny ecosystems
With more and more studies done on these plants, it is now clear that the fluids in the pitchers behave really like tiny ecosystems. In some cases there are not only microbes that help the plant get their nutrients, but also other organisms that feed on these microbes. There are organisms that use the pitcher’s fluids to develop (the larvae of some mosquito species are specialized in developing in these fluids). The pitchers also are used by other arthropods to trap prey (some spiders build their webs in the pitchers).
Some mosquito species, like this Maryland specimen of genus Wyeomyia, have evolved to be able to develop exclusively in the pitcher fluids of pitcher plants. Photo: K. Schultz.
I love pitcher plants and I want one in my house
It is absolutely great to be interested in carnivorous plants and pitcher plants in particular. Unfortunately, the Northern Pitcher Plant is currently classified as Imperiled in our State. Indeed, many of the habitats they prefer (bogs, peatlands) are endangered, or have been profoundly disturbed by human activity. Another additional pressure that our native pitcher plants experience is collections from the wild for trading. Indeed, the market for carnivorous plant lovers is huge, and it is cheaper for a seller to collect a plant from the wild than to grow it from seed in a nursery. If you are considering purchasing pitcher plants for growth at home, make sure that the plant you buy has not been collected from the wild.
By Anahí Espíndola, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. See more posts by Anahí.
Anahí also writes an Extension Blog in Spanish! Check it out here, extensionesp.umd.edu, and please share and spread the word to your Spanish-speaking friends and colleagues in Maryland. ¡Bienvenidos a Extensión en Español!
Here in Maryland, June is the month when it starts to get hot and we start seeing fireflies, but also when a lot of plants flower and a ton of insects are flying around! Also, June is when The Pollinator Partnership has declared National Pollinator Week to happen. And finally, June is also the month when kids (and adults) start to end school and may want to have some extra distractions. So, taking all of this together, it seems to me that June is the perfect month to invite you all to join me in doing The Ultimate Pollination Bingo!
Pollinator photo gallery by Christa Carignan, University of Maryland Extension
2- Print it or carry it on your electronic device.
3- Find some friends and/or family, and get out there and try to do a full card!
4- When you’re done, share it with us through our social media channels, by taking a picture of your card (and you!), tagging us @UMDHGIC and using the hashtag #PollinatorWeek.
Happy June and let’s have some fun!
Note: many of the tasks in this bingo card relate to my previous posts, so feel free to go back to them and check them out if you don’t know how to do certain things! 😊
By Anahí Espíndola, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. See more posts by Anahí.
Anahí also writes an Extension Blog in Spanish! Check it out here, extensionesp.umd.edu, and please share and spread the word to your Spanish-speaking friends and colleagues in Maryland. ¡Bienvenidos a Extensión en Español!
If only I’d known. How many times have we slapped our forehead at our gardening follies and mumbled that under our breath. So today, I am paying homage to the lessons my garden has taught me.
Soil is god.
Healthy soil grows healthy plants. So pay attention to your dirt, um, soil. Feed it lots of organic matter: compost, chipped leaves, grass clippings. And be gentle with it. Tilling destroys soil structure and harms the soil critters that make soil healthy.
Most bugs are good.
Only one in ten insects is harmful. The rest are good guys that help control bad bugs. And another thing. The uglier the bug, the more beneficial it is. Look up assassin bugs or cicada killer wasps. Yikes.
Assassin bug
Chemicals kill bugs good and bad.
Most grab-and-go chemicals kill indiscriminately. Do you really want to take out your allies? I think not. Choose less toxic organic products and do things like hand-picking and crop rotation to keep the bad boys at bay.
Right plant, right place.
Placing plants where they can not only survive but thrive is smart. Put a water-loving plant in hot, dry clay and it will die. Guar-an-teed. Find out what a plant needs and give it just that for great results. Don’t tempt fate.
Plant tags lie.
Many plant tags have good information, but it goes only so far. So, do a bit of research online or in a good gardening book to confirm what a plant needs as far as light, moisture, soil and space. My beautyberry is 4 feet wider and taller than its tag indicated.
Respect frost dates.
Yes, I know. You want the first tomatoes on the block. But if you plant them early and they get zapped, you have no tomatoes. So wait to plant tender seedlings. Mid-May is good. Later is better if your area stays cooler longer.
Always lay garden rakes and pitchforks with the tines away and down.
Enough said.
Landscaping fabric is evil.
Advertised as a weed block, this black devil mesh does nothing but give weeds something to sink their roots into. Weeds grow both up and down through it. You will spend half your life wrestling it out of your beds.
Adopting sickly plants is a bad idea.
There is a reason they look unwell. Whether they have been watered too much or too little, baked or chilled, had too much or too little light, or beset by bugs or disease, avoid them. Smart money is on the healthy plants.
Impatiens with gray mold
What we do in our garden matters.
From choosing organic bug controls to making compost, picking drought-tolerant plants to planting flowers for pollinators, every action we take has consequences. Making earth-friendly choices makes our gardens and communities healthier.
I hope the lessons my garden has taught me help you to avoid some pitfalls. In gardening there are oh-so-many ways to get it right. And wrong. The fun is in the trying.
By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension. This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.
As a pollination biologist, I have the immense privilege of studying really cool plants who trick their pollinators in fancy and incredible ways, and I tend to be naturally attracted to flowers that may not be super showy to most (but are among some of the most mind-blowing things in nature). These flowers are such a wonderful thing in their own right, and in this post I want to do them justice. Because it’s spring and some of these are starting to point their noses out of the ground, in today’s post I would like to (re)introduce you to a plant you may be familiar with, but that I hope after today you will get to look at with new amazed eyes (in case you don’t already 😉 ). Come with me and let’s chat a bit about the wonderful hidden queen of our forests: the wild ginger!
Is wild ginger, ginger?
The short answer is no. While ginger (the plant we eat) is native to Southeast Asia, wild ginger (Asarum canadense) is native to right here, and more specifically to the deciduous forests of Eastern North America. In case you are not familiar with the plant, it belongs to the family of birthworts, which have really interesting ways of interacting with their pollinators. Unlike other birthworts that tend to have flowers that hang in the air from the plant, wild gingers are very “shy” and the whole plant is restricted to the ground level.
Wild ginger is starting to peek out their leaves right now. Once the leaves are fully grown, they get their characteristic heart-shape and can create nice mats to cover the ground. Photos: A. Espíndola; threelark.
The plant is perennial (it lives for several seasons) and exits dormancy in the early spring when its heart-shaped and fuzzy leaves start to unfurl and emerge from the ground. Eventually, the plant becomes a little mat and over time it creates colonies. This is a reason why wild ginger can be a great groundcover plant to use under trees or in shadier and humid parts of one’s yard (see here for how to do this).
Wild ginger is cool – The flowers!
Unlike other birthworts, wild ginger holds its flowers close and parallel to the ground. Wild ginger’s flowers are not showy, being of dark brown and not very large. These flowers are engaged in mimicry pollination, meaning that “disguise” as something else (here, fungi), to trick pollinators into doing something they don’t necessarily want to do. In the case of wild ginger, the flowers are held low to the ground and close to the base of the stems.
Wild ginger flowers are displayed on the ground, at the base of the fuzzy stems. Being dark and close to the ground helps them lure their pollinators, small flies that feed on decaying matter. Photo: A. Carlson.
Wild ginger flowers are dark, particularly moist, and produce specific odors that attract small flies that feed on decaying matter. The tricking consists in making the flies enter the flowers to lay eggs in what the flies consider is fungi (their egg laying sites). While doing this, the flies contact the pollen-bearing structures, and while visiting different flowers, they cross-pollinate them. In this case, we talk about antagonistic interactions between the plants and their pollinators because the interaction does not benefit both partners. In fact, here the plants have the upper hand, and the flies simply loose their eggs to the plant since their larvae can’t feed on the floral tissues. If this is not sufficient to amaze you, keep reading; it gets better!
Wild ginger is cool – The seeds!
After pollination, the flower ovules grow into seeds. Unlike seeds in most plants, wild ginger seeds have a special “addition”. Indeed, the seeds have attached a special extension (called an elaiosome) that is particularly rich in lipids and proteins. This structure makes the seeds very attractive to ants, who collect the seeds, carry them away from the plant, and, after having consumed the elaiosome, discard the seed. By doing this, the seeds can get dispersed farther away from the mother plant, and the population can slowly grow and expand. Isn’t that super neat????!!!
The seeds of wild ginger have a special nutrient-rich body called elaiosome, which is a delicatessen for ants. This allows the plant to use ants to disperse their seeds. The shiny brown (left) and yellow (right) bodies attached to the seeds are the elaiosomes (arrows). Photos: Sid Vogelpohl, Arkansas Native Plants Society; B. Patterson.
Wild ginger as a human ally
Wild ginger was and is still well known to Native Americans of Eastern North America, and it is very likely that they were the ones who showed the European colonists how to use it. Among the Native names still known for this plant is namepin (see here to learn how to say it), which means “plant of small tubers”. Even though it is hard to find the original local names for Maryland tribes, we know that the roots of the plant were used to treat fever and coughs by Cherokees, Iroquois, and Rappahannocks, and that it is very likely that most of the tribes and bands of Maryland (e.g. Shawnee, Piscataway, Pocomoke, Assateague, Nause-Waiwash, Accohannock) use(d) it as well because the plant was and is abundantly present in the area.
By Anahí Espíndola, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. See more posts by Anahí.
New! Anahí also writes an Extension Blog in Spanish! Check it out here, extensionesp.umd.edu, and please share and spread the word to your Spanish speaking friends and colleagues in Maryland. Bienvenidos a Extensión en Español!
