​Leave the Leaves
With the advent of colder temperatures, curbside leaf collection is underway in many parts of the Centre region. But savvy pollinator gardeners know that fallen leaves are garden gold.
More than 90 percent of caterpillars that develop on plants hatch or pupate at the ground level, often beneath leaf litter. Many fallen leaves harbor small caterpillars in their curled leaf margins. The larvae of the red-banded hairstreak butterfly, along with dozens of species of moth caterpillars and other ‘detrivores’, feed on fallen leaves. Still others rely on leaf litter as a cozy winter blanket– including the larvae of the beautiful great spangled fritillary. Luna moths pupate in leaf litter, and queen bumble bees also appreciate the insulation as they sleep away the winter in shallow tunnels just underneath the surface of the ground. When we haul our fallen leaves to the curb for disposal, we’re also helping to dispose of next year’s pollinators.
So what’s a gardener to do with all that organic material? According to Douglas Tallamy, the author of Bringing Nature Home, “the best place to leave the leaves is under the trees that grew them.”
This year, don’t trash your treasure! Consider raking your leaves into your perennial beds and under trees. Fallen leaves are the best mulch that money can’t buy!

We’ve posted before about that caterpillar that we all see crossing our paths at this time of year–the banded woolly bear, or the larval stage of the tiger moth. There are more than 260 different species of tiger moths in North America, but the most common is the Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella, pictured). Contrary to popular folklore, woolly bears may not be great predictors of the severity of the coming winter–but there are a lot of amazing things about them nonetheless!
*The genus name Pyrrharctia derives from “pyrrh” –fire  (represented by the fiery orange band around the midsection) and “arctia”--ice (referencing the caterpillar’s ability to survive sub-freezing temps by manufacturing its own antifreeze compounds). 
*It may look cuddly, but those fuzzy hairs (setae) are actually pretty spiky (though harmless to all but the most sensitive of skin). 
*These caterpillars feed on common lawn ‘weeds’ such as dandelions, clover, plantain and violets. No diversity in your turf? No woolly bears.
* Why did the woolly bear cross the road? To find a winter blanket! They pass the winter under the shelter of a rock, bark, or leaf litter–another good reason to ‘leave the leaves’ in your landscape.
*In spring, the larvae feed briefly before spinning a silky cocoon and transforming into a beautiful Isabella tiger moth.
So if you’d like to be a friend of the woolly bear, provide plenty of their preferred food and shelter in your landscape–and leave the forecasting to the climatologists!
Photo: Wayne Longbottom

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Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), a member of the Aster family, is a particularl favorite of native bees and honey bees–and beekeepers, at least, have known this for a long time! Numerous beekeeping journals from the late 1800s–early 1900s describe the cultivation of wingstem en masse, and its seeds were marketed as ‘golden honey plant’. More recently, in evaluating drought- and flood-resilient native plants, the Xerces Society studies found that wingstem consistently attracted the greatest pollinator abundance and diversity among these plant communities.Wingstem’s common name derives from the small winged fruits or ‘achenes’ that form when bloom time is finished.  At the SBG, you’ll find it (appropriately) in our Native Bee Conservation area. It’s deer-resistant, and is also a host plant for silvery checkerspot and summer azure butterflies.
So if you’re looking for a beautiful, late-blooming ‘climate-ready’ plant to support our pollinator friends –look no further than wingstem!
Photo: Lisa Schneider

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Since 2010, the SBG has been installing ‘satellite gardens’ at schools throughout the Centre region–more than 20 to date! Master Gardeners work with students, teachers and parents to design and install pollinator- friendly habitats, and teach these ‘satellite stewards’ how to maintain the plantings. 
Spring Creek Elementary’s new satellite garden (pictured) was installed earlier this year, and as you can see, it’s thriving! By providing examples of pollinator- friendly gardening practices and pleasing designs, school garden sites extend the reach of the SBG’s mission. 
In addition, other educational opportunities tied to these gardens abound! Master Gardeners present programs throughout the year, ranging from winter-sowing of native plants in February to monarch tagging in September.
If your school, church or community group is interested in our satellite garden program, visit the SBG satellite gardens page at http://www.snetsingerbutterflygarden.org/sbg-satellite-gardens.html or email info@snetsingerbutterflygarden for more information!
Photos: Pam Ford

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 Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium spp ) is in full bloom at the SBG, and pollinators are taking full advantage of its bounty! This wonderful native choice is said to be named for a Mohican medicine man from Salem, Mass who had great success curing colonial settlers of typhus with this herb. The common name is said to be a phonetic translation of jopi or jopai, an early native American word for typhus.
In nature, Joe Pye is most often found in marshes and along the edges of fields, making it a natural choice for rain gardens or wet spots. This stately (6’) perennial also creates an excellent backdrop for pollinator gardens, where its fluffy, pink-purple blooms are an especially valuable nectar source for bees and butterflies. It’s also a host plant for several types of moths, and hollow stems provide habitat for stem-nesting bees.  When bloom time is over, birds love feeding on the seeds. This ‘regular Joe’ is a real standout for the pollinator habitat!
Photo: Lisa Schneider

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Gardeners know: Those colorful swallowtails munching away on your dill, fennel or parsley can eat the entire herb down to a nub in no time at all! Black swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes) enjoy many plants that grow in our vegetable and herb gardens–in fact, they were known as ‘parsley worms’ in the 19th century. But wait–these herbs are introduced species. Why would a native butterfly be attracted to them–and what was it eating before they arrived?
It might seem surprising, but black swallowtails were originally a wet meadow species, feeding on plants such as water parsnip and water hemlock. But as early as the 1820’s, draining and clearing of their habitat began to change the landscape, and the black swallowtail adapted to feed on non-native family members: meadow wildflowers such as Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota,) and cultivated garden plants like carrots, dill and fennel. All of these hosts (native or not) are members of the Apiaceae family, with which the swallowtail has co-evolved.
Female butterflies are lured to their host plants by a combination of chemical cues released from the plant, and they have chemoreceptors on their legs to help them find the right spot to lay eggs. (These chemoreceptors are found at the base of spines on the back of the legs, and  run up along the spine to its tip.) Females drum their legs against the plant, releasing plant juices; chemoreceptors along the spines tell the butterfly whether she is standing on the correct host plant. And because they are in the same family, plants like dill and fennel “smell right” to swallowtails!
If you’d like to save your herb harvest by offering some native alternatives, golden Aaexanders (Zizia aurea), rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccafolium) and great angelica (Angelica atropupurea) are all fine alternatives for our area.
Or, just plant plenty of parsley!
Photo: Lisa Schneider

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Bees:  these pollinator super-stars are great garden friends who are enjoying increasing popularity among gardeners who realize their value. But what about their ancestors, the wasp family?
 Wasps usually get a bad rap, with their reputation for painful stings. But these pollinators serve an essential role: Nature’s pest controllers. Wasps are carnivorous hunters, preying on insects–including the pests in your garden!
Like native bees, most wasps are solitary, provisioning their nests by themselves. And like solitary bees, they’re not particularly interested in us! Rather than stinging humans, these wasps use their stingers to capture prey as food for their larvae. (That articulated ‘wasp waist’ really comes in handy, allowing the insect to maneuver its stinger into just the right position to deliver the fatal blow.) Parasitic species use their ovipositors to lay eggs directly on a live host insect (such as a tomato hornworm).
What about pollination services? Although carnivores, wasps also need sugar, and often visit flowers in search of nectar (or insect prey). Since they’re not as hairy as bees, they are less efficient pollinators, but many species are generalists and visit a wide variety of plants.
Although a few social wasp species should definitely be treated with respect, remember that the majority of wasps can be a gardener’s best friend. No spraying required!
Photo: Amy Helser

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