Doug Tallamy on "Biological Corridors: Networks for Life"

The first time I heard entomologist Doug Tallamy speak was at a Master Gardener training day. It was, I think, six years ago, and it was a real “aha” moment for me. I hadn’t had a yard of my own for that long, but I was already an enthusiastic grower of native plants.  I understood some of the benefits of growing plants native to the local area: they were less likely to require a lot of maintenance once established, less likely to become invasive, helped establish a sense of place, helped support wildlife, etc. What hadn’t occurred to me, or to a lot of other people, I think, was the critical importance of native plants as a food source for native insects.

In that talk, and in his subsequently published book Bringing Nature Home:How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, Tallamy explained that most native insects have evolved to feed on only a small number of native plants. Without these specific plants, the insects can't survive. This in turn impacts the species that depend on insects for food; for example, the vast majority of migratory birds raise their young on insects.

Other animals also rely on insects for some part of their diet. Without native insects, a huge food source disappears; non-native plants are far less productive of insect biomass. These insects, in other words, are a critical part of the food webs on which life depends. The lawns and non-native plants of suburban lawns and gardens do not provide food for native insects – they are basically food deserts. Tallamy thus built a quite compelling case for homeowners and gardeners to incorporate native plants into their yards and as much as possible.

Last week I heard Tallamy speak again at a Master Gardener training day. This time his focus was broader: on the need for biological corridors, which, he said, are not just corridors for animals to pass through, but habitats in themselves. At this point, he maintained, biodiversity cannot be sustained by parks and preserves alone. We must restore land between existing landscape fragments, everywhere. Obvious places to do so are along roadways and power lines. Roadways can be planted with trees; power lines, as they pass through the landscape, are usually mowed and can be good edge habitat. Beyond that, if we turned half of all existing lawn into habitat we would be creating a "Homegrown National Park" of over 20 million acres, which would go a long way toward protecting future biodiversity.

We gardeners are lucky, I think. We can hear and understand the message about loss of biodiversity, which is pretty dire. At the same time, we’re in a position to contribute to a solution, simply by doing something we love, gardening, with  nature instead of in opposition to her. “The landscape challenge of our time,” says Douglas Tallamy, “is, more plants!” That’s something to make any true gardener’s heart beat faster!

The driveway garden and other mid-summer delights

This year I rearranged the driveway garden to look a little more presentable. Instead of clusters of pots in the middle of the driveway, they're all lined up demurely along the retaining wall that separates us from our neighbors. The tomatoes are producing well - no doubt loving this stifling hot weather. We've harvested a perfectly shaped, gorgeous bell pepper that ripened to a brilliant orange; more peppers are on the way. And this year I've planted string beans in a pot - they're just starting to get flower buds.

In the backyard garden, even in the stupefying heat of the last few days, some of the vegetables that prefer cool weather are hanging in. The dinosaur kale looks pretty good, though the curly kale is not so happy. And this year I'm trying to coax brussels sprouts through their long growing season, all the way to fall maturity. (My fallback is to have planted another round of seeds for these indoors, to be planted out by the end of summer.)

A nice surprise:  we cleared out the area where our new shed was to go, which also meant moving our compost piles. Look what seeded in from those piles: a miniature cucumber plant and some squash! Maybe next year I'll plant melons here!

Early summer perennials

I love how the perennial garden is constantly changing. There are seasonal changes, of course, but also changes from year to year, as plants manage to redistribute themselves within a particular bed - more of this, less of that.

My early summer garden this year has acquired an abundance of Asian lilies, mixed in with the natives and cultivars. Although native plants are my passion, I like the way the lilies look mixed in with the red of the bee balm, the orange butterfly weed, and the white swamp milkweed cultivar, 'Ice Princess.' 

I've decided not to begrudge the lilies their place in the yard as long as they don't become too prolific. The lilies won't last much longer anyway, and then I'll cut their thick stems back.  And I'll have my eye on them next year!

The wildflower garden at mid-spring

It's been a nice long cool spring. A bit rainy,  but enough sun. Best of all, the mosquitoes aren't out yet! The wildflowers are thriving.

These were among the plants blooming in my backyard a couple of weeks back:

Granny's bonnet- a  hybrid columbine

Virginia bluebells mixed in with ferns

  

  

Two varieties of trillium

The spring vegetable garden

This year I plan to pay a little more attention to the backyard vegetable garden. This is where my cool season crops grow, as well as those that can use a little protection from summer sun. That translates mostly to greens, although actually the sun-loving perennial herbs do perfectly well here: oregano, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary.

We've put up a small fence for a part of the garden, just to ensure there will be at least one rabbit-free zone. Here I'm growing some kale, snow peas, bok choy, and broccoli raab. And volunteer potato plants are coming up! These must be from the remnants of former not so successful attempts to grow potatoes.

We've also discovered that the lettuce we've been growing indoors and that has been harvested several times can be revitalized by being planted out. Those raggedy looking plants have perked up and are ready to be harvested again.

Another surprise is the multiplier onions. These I started from seeds from historic Bartram's Garden several years ago. These perennial onions do indeed multiply. They don't really seem to form bulbs, but look more like giant green onions. I think perhaps I should have been harvesting these right along, as they are quite strong flavored, though if you use the smaller ones, or the part closest to the tip on the larger ones, they are pretty good for both salads and cooking.

A small innovation this year is a new style of trellis - something a little different from the basic tepee. I based it on a design I saw in a book, and hope to have a crop of beautiful sweet peas vining up. I'm hoping the rabbits have so many other succulent treats around the yard that they won't notice until the peas vines are thick and tough enough to be unappealing.

Many happy returns of spring

They're here: spring beauties, hepatica, bloodroot, blooming in my yard. Cinnamon ferns are preparing to unfurl, while the bluebells are in their early phase, the flowers not yet bells, but small round balls.

I was thrilled to see that my two twinleaf plants, Jeffersonia diphylla, that I thought I'd killed for sure, have returned. In fact one of them has already bloomed, leaving behind the tight little seedhead, apparently the type that springs open and flings out the seed. I'm watching carefully to see if I can catch the second plant during its brief period of bloom.

Twinleaf with seedhead

Also exciting, two days ago I saw my first butterfly of the season. I've seen (and heard) a few bees, including, today, a bumblebee. Alas, no mason bees have their way to the bee tubes I set out last spring. Maybe they have no need, and have found other places to nest in the yard. Or maybe our cool spring is slowing things down for them.

Signs of spring: bunnies in the garden

Bunnies are not especially welcome in the garden, especially the vegetable garden. But they can be pretty cute. One warmish day recently I watched as a bunny seemed to be nibbling at the roots of a large thyme plant at the edge of my garden. I was only a couple of feet away, but he/she ignored my presence. After awhile I noticed that the bunny was not just nibbling but digging. As I watched, that rabbit excavated a sizable hole under the plant.

Beginning the nest

Digging in

Cleaning up

The finished product

I thought I remembered reading that cottontails don’t burrow, and wondered if it might be a nest for babies. I checked on the internet, and that seems to be the explanation. There was another rabbit hanging about, and there was some chasing, frolicking, and at one point the second rabbit made a sudden and amazing leap right over the first one. All part of courtship, apparently. But since that time, she has not returned to the nest, and there are no babies. So maybe she decided she didn’t like our location after all. And after I had actually planted out some of the lettuce we’d been growing indoors, just for her!