The Living Landscape: Native Cultivar Research on Phlox at Mt. Cuba Center Keith Nevison June 9th 2016 2 University of Delaware/Mt. Cuba Center 3 Mt. Cuba Center- Hockessin, DE 4 5 Introduction to Phlox • 67 species, all but one native to North America. • Occur in a range of habitats from alpine to woodland. • Center of Eastern phlox diversity is Appalachian Mts., Ozarks and southern U.S. (22 species total) Phlox paniculata Phlox divaricata Phlox stolonifera Phlox drummondii Introduction to my research • One of the first experiments to select multiple species + cultivars for a single genus. Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’ Phlox paniculata ‘Dick Weaver’ Phlox paniculata Phlox paniculata ‘Delta Snow’ Phlox paniculata ‘Barfourteen’ 7 Phlox in study Phlox Phlox Phlox Phlox Phlox Phlox • 23 total in divaricata stolonifera carolina triflora paniculata amplifolia experiment: ‘Charleston carolina ssp. x ‘Forever Volcano® Red No cultivars ‘Blue Ridge’ Pink’ alta Pink’ ‘Barthirtysix’ on market • 6 straight carolina ssp. species ‘Bill Baker’ ‘Lavelle’ carolina 15 cultivars ‘Kim’ ‘Morris Berd’ ‘Jeana’ • ‘Lil’ Cahaba’ ‘Delta Snow’ • 2 subspecies ‘Gypsy Love’ ‘Robert Poore’ ‘Dick Weaver’ 8 Plant Sources • 10 states • 11 nurseries • 1 university 9 Typical process 10 More ideal process University Extension/ Public Garden Trial 11 Phlox cultivars Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon’ Phlox divaricata ‘Charleston Pink’ Phlox stolonifera ‘Blue Ridge’ Phlox stolonifera ‘Home Fires’ Phlox glaberrima ‘Triple Play’ Phlox carolina ‘Lil’ Cahaba’ Phlox carolina ‘Kim’ Phlox paniculata ‘Tequila Sunrise Phlox ‘Forever Pink’ Phlox maculata ‘Natascha’ Phlox paniculata ‘Ditomdre’ Phlox pan. ‘Peacock Cherry Red’ 12 Methods- Nectar and floral parts sampling 13 Monitoring insect visits 14 Monitoring overview Time distribution (%) of nectar samples • 1,019 nectar samples taken throughout the field season taken 6 p.m. - 12 a.m. 18.7% 6-10 a.m. • 787 observed insects 24.7% • 119 days = duration of 10 a.m. - 2-6 p.m. 2 p.m. experiment 39% 17.6% Insects observed in trial Lepidoptera Hymenoptera Diptera Cisseps fulvicollis Apis mellifera Syrphidae Crambus agitatellus Bombus sp. Danaus plexippus Xylopcopa virginica Epargyreus clarus Halictidae Hemaris thypse Papilio glaucus Speyeria cybele 16 Vanessa atalanta The pollinators: Lepidoptera • Sphinx moths (3 types in trial): Snowberry clearwing, Hummingbird clearwing, Nessus sphinx • Butterflies: Monarch, Red Admiral, Frittilary, Swallowtails, Pierids, etc. • Skippers: Peck’s, silver-spotted, etc. 17 18 Syrphid or hover fly (Eupeodes americanus) 20 Recorded insect visits- Phlox paniculata Phlox variety Total insects attracted Insect richness ‘Jeana’ 187 11 ‘Dick Weaver’ 62 11 ‘Delta Snow’ 52 9 ‘Lavelle’ 45 8 ‘Robert Poore’ 28 7 ‘Blushing Shortwood’ 27 6 ‘Speed Limit 45’ 23 8 ‘Party Punch’ 16 5 paniculata st. species 13 6 21 Nectar sampled Phlox paniculata Phlox variety Mean nectar Mean sugar volume (ul) content (%) ‘Volcano Red’ 1.85 8.16 ‘Lavelle’ .67 11.21 ‘Jeana’ .52 11.73 ‘Delta Snow’ .41 14.92 paniculata .38 14.62 ‘Dick Weaver’ .31 17.79 22 Results- Phlox paniculata + cultivars 23 Statistical analysis 24 Lessons Learned • Certain cultivars are preferred by invertebrates, particularly wild-selected and/or types with easy to access flowers. • Cultivars can complement straight species in the native plant garden. • Expand this type of research on native plants in various regions throughout North America. • Strive for multi-year experiments for better results. • Work with nursery owners to choose initial cultivar list. Fresh ideas- Planting calendar Phlox April May June July August September divaricata ‘Bill Baker’ glaberrima ssp. triflora amplifolia carolina ssp. alta ‘Delta Snow’ ‘Jeana’ paniculata 26 ‘Coral Crème Drop’ Idea: Regional marketing of native cultivars • Going forward, cultivar varieties should include an origin story to educate consumers about where they can expect plants to function at peak habitat value. 27 What else attracts wildlife? Analyzing amino acid composition 28 Building pollen libraries for various regions in the U.S. Phlox divaricata ‘Charleston Pink’ Phlox divaricata Phlox amplifolia Phlox stolonifera Phlox stolonifera ‘Blue Ridge’ Phlox x PPAF ‘Forever Pink’ 29 Survey of native cultivar research • 6 total experiments: All based in Eastern U.S. • 4 testing visitation to flowering perennials • 2 testing leaf preference on woody plants • 3 University of Delaware (Cass, Baisden, Nevison) • 1 University of Vermont (Annie White) • 1 Penn State University (Bees, Bugs & Blooms) • 1 University of Georgia (Joseph Poythress III) What other native cultivar research has been done? 31 32 University of Vermont 33 Straight Species Cultivar Joseph Amsonia tabernaemontana Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ Poythress Coreopsis grandiflora Coreopsis ‘Tequila Sunrise’ Monarda fistulosa Monarda fistulosa ‘Claire Grace’ UGA: Oenothera fruticosa Oenothera ‘Cold Crick’ Schizachyrium scoparium Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Prairie Blues’ Poythress results • Significantly higher insect abundance and richness on wild-type Coreopsis than cultivar • Significantly higher insect abundance on Oenothera cultivar than wild-type, but richness not significant. • Only one hemipteran species feeding on both Amsonia species and cultivar Poythress results continued • Monarda wild-type 2-5x greater insect abundance than cultivar. • Schizachyrium cultivar 2-3.5x greater insect abundance than wild-type. • Oenothera had 5-6x more insect diversity than all other plants in the experiment! 38 40 Upcoming exclusive event at Mt. Cuba Center! Acknowledgements • Thesis Committee Members: – Dr. Deborah Delaney (Primary Advisor) – Assistant Professor, University of Delaware, Entomology and Wildlife Ecology – Dr. Douglas Tallamy – Professor, University of Delaware, Entomology and Wildlife Ecology – Dr. Casey Sclar – Executive Director, American Public Gardens Association – Dr. Peter Zale – Curator/Plant Breeder, Longwood Gardens – Dr. Jim Ault – Director of Ornamental Plant Research, Chicago Botanic Garden 42 Acknowledgements • Longwood Gardens • University of Delaware • Mt. Cuba Center, Hockessin, DE • Dr. Brian Trader – LGP Interim Director, Domestic & Int’l Studies Coordinator • Marnie Conley – Longwood Gardens Marketing Director, co-Lead LGP 43 Contact me- email: [email protected] LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/keithn evison 44 .