Planting with a Purpose How Your Landscape Makes a Difference Why Should We Care? We are part of the environment
• Increased development of urban & suburban area
• Closer to nature than ever We are supported by the environment
• Food, water, air, recreation, energy, medicine, natural resources, building materials, etc.
• Need a healthy environment to be able to continue to utilize these resources What makes a healthy environment?
• Healthy ecosystems What makes a healthy environment?
• Biodiversity What makes a healthy environment?
• Biodiversity What makes a healthy environment?
• Resilience to pests and diseases
• Non-fragmented
• Reclaiming habitat What can we do?
• Plant more plants!
• Create life rafts
• Eliminate invasive species
• You are a tool for conservation! Benefits!
• More greenspace
• An entertaining garden
• Great way to get kids outside
• Feeling of contributing to a greater cause Plants Trees Sassafras Sassafras albidum
• Host plant for: • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) • Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio Troilus) • Cecropis Moth • Promethea Moth
• Nectar source for bees
• Beneficial insects
• Supports many others Oak Chinkapin Quercus muelenbergii
• Host plant for: • Gray Hairstreak Butterfly (Strymon melinus) • Many beneficial insects
• Nesting places, cover, and shelter for wildlife
• Acorns for squirrels and small mammals Paw Paw Asimina triloba
• It is the ONLY Host plant for: • Zebra Swallowtail
• Nesting places, cover, and shelter for wildlife
• Attracts birds and fruit bats
• Pollinated by flies Serviceberry Amelanchier ssp.
• Host plant for: • Striped Hairstreak • California Hairstreak • White Admiral • Western Admiral • Two-Tailed Tiger Swallowtwail • Viceroy • Small-Eyed Sphinx Moth • Blinded Sphinx Moth
• Attracts Cedar Waxwings Tulip Tree Liriodendron tulipifera
• Host plant for: • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) • Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio Troilus)
• Seeds are eaten by cardinals, goldfinches, and chickadees
• Significant nectar plant for bees Black Gum Nyssa sylvatica
• Host plant for: • Hebrew Moth
• Fruit feeds small bird species including the American robin
• Nectar for pollinators Shrubs Spicebush Lindera benzoin
• Host for Spicebush Swallowtail
• Fruits provide food for wildlife
• Great plant for replacing invasive honeysuckle Arrowwood Viburnum Viburnum dentatum
• Provides dense branching for nest building
• Feeds: • American Crow • Fish Crow • Blue Jay • American Raven Chokeberry Aronia ssp.
• Host plant for Coral Hairstreak
• Berries feed many bird species Elderberry Sambucus ssp.
• Fruits provide food for: • Bird species such as ruffed grouse, eastern bluebird, northern cardinal, gray catbird, American robin, wood thrush, red-eyed vireo, cedar waxwing, and white-throated sparrow and more • Records of eastern box turtles eating fruits
• Attracts variety of beneficial bees and insects
• Fruits and flowers are edible Perennials Milkweed Asclepias ssp.
• Host plant for Monarch Butterflies
• Attracts wide range of pollinators
• Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
• Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
• Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) Coneflower Echinacea ssp.
• Attracts pollinators
• Seeds feed birds such as Goldfinches
• Many medicinal uses • pain reliever, anti inflammatory, a treatment for toothaches, coughs, colds, and sore throats Cardinal Flower Lobelia ssp.
• Attracts hummingbirds, hummingbird moths, and butterflies
• Big Blue Cardinal Flower (Lobelia siphilitica)
• Red Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) Blazing Star Liatris spicata
• Seeds feed goldfinches
• Attracts wide range of pollinators & beneficial insects, including Bleeding Flower Moth Goldenrod Solidago ssp.
• Host plant for over 100 species of caterpillars and moths
• Late season nectar source for pollinators
• Seeds provide food for birds Herbs
• Support many beneficial insects • Dill
• Fennel
• Lovage
• Oregano
• Cilantro
• Chamomile • Parasitic wasps- eat aphids, beetle eggs, bagworms, gypsy moth caterpillars, tent caterpillars, sawfly larvae, squash borers, tomato hornworms, scales
• Ladybugs- eat aphids, lace bugs, scale, spidermites, psyllids, adelgids
• Soldier Beetles- eat insect eggs & larvae, aphids, mealybugs
• Lacewings- eat aphids, lace bugs, scales, spider mites, whiteflies, mealybugs, & more
• Tachinid Flies- eat cucumber beetles, cutworms, japanese beetles, sawfly larvae, squash bugs Annuals • Support many beneficial insects
• Nectar source for pollinators • Cosmos
• Sweet Alyssum
• Verbena
• Daisies
• Sunflowers • Ladybugs
• Lacewings
• Minute Pirate Bugs- eat aphids, lace bugs, spider mites, thrips, leaf hoppers, psyllids, whiteflies
• Parasitic Wasps
• Syrphid Flies
• Soldier Beetles
• Tachinid Flies Creating and Maintaining Creating and Maintaining
• Use diverse plant material • Combination of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, herbs • In general, plant more plants!
• Provide habitat • In addition to plants, add in logs, sticks, driftwood, shallow dishes of water, ponds, etc. • “Leave the Seeds”
• Use chemicals responsibly
• National Wildlife Federation Certified Garden • Certify your garden! “A simple beetle finding its way through the tall grasses, the bee that hums from flower to flower, the wood thrush singing requiem at sunset, a colony of smiling flowers with their poetic charm, a sturdy tree in the winter landscape silhouetted against the sky and telling the story of many ages, a brook with a bit of rock protruding over its edge upon which a plant climbs in a daring way to receive a little sunlight that simmers through leafy boughs– each is a world by itself, full of mystery, charm, and beauty.”
- Siftings by Jens Jensen Thank You!