Putting your garden to bed for the winter

http://franklincountymgs.blogspot.com/2011/11/franklin-county-mg-videos-part-2.html

National Pollinator Week

It's the last day of National Pollinator Week!  Unfortunately that means the year is half over.  I've been so busy this year with working, plant sale, pollinator demonstration garden, speaking engagements, and life in general, I haven't had time to do any posting to this blog.
So although the week is over, I'm still going to do a series on pollinators.  This post will appear at some later time on the Franklin County Master Gardener blog as well.

Help Pollinators Tip #1...........Reduce or eliminate entirely the use of pesticides. 

Pesticides and fungicides have played a role in the loss of pollinators.

Sometimes the use of pesticides and fungicides are unavoidable.

If this is the case, please read and follow the directions carefully.

And apply them at dusk when pollinator activity is low.

Once pollinators are settled down for the night, the risk of exposure drops.

Liquid application is better than powder application where pollinators are concerned.

Breakfast is served

Wow!  It's been a busy 4 months!  I haven't had a chance to post anything to my blog.

But since it's a snow day, I decided to take some bird photos after I cleared the feeders and put fresh food out.

The Breakfast Club.

It has taken us several years to attract cardinals to our feeders.  We finally have two pair that come on a regular basis.  I believe planting additional evergreens along the back of the property has helped.

The Lone Diner.

Bluejays always seem to scatter the other birds with their loud mouths!  I love them nonetheless.

Dark Eyed Junco.

I never see these adorable little birds until it snows.

  Where do they go?

Female Downy Woodpecker.

She and the male just love this peanutbutter log we hang for them!

She is darn near tame.

There have been times when she and the male are reluctant to leave the log while my husband is filling the holes with fresh peanutbutter mixture.  They don't seem to be fearful of him.

We also have a pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers and a pair of Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers that visit the peanutbutter logs.

They are far spookier and harder to capture their image.

Common Milkweed

For all the years I've grown flowers, I've always pulled this plant out of my flower beds, believing it to be a weed. That is, until this year. For two years now, I've somehow managed to get myself up to my eyeballs in pollinators, their habitat and conservation.

In doing so, learning milkweed is the only host plant for the monarch butterfly. So I have gone forth and planted several Butterfly Weed plants, (asclepias tuberosa) around my property. While aware there were other types of milkweeds I could plant, I've had no luck in coming across them when planting time came around. One thing leads to another, you get busy, it gets later in the season and too hot to plant, you're burned out and busy watering.....well, I'm sure you know how it goes. The search for other milkweeds gets abandoned.

When this volunteer showed up in the Pollinator Demonstration Garden this summer, Ray quickly identified it as a milkweed, and I decided it just had to stay. Since I've always tossed this as a weed, I've never seen it in bloom. I've been watching it all summer, eagerly looking forward to seeing the flowers it would produce.

Since I enjoy this type of surprise, I resisted the impulse to google it to see what it was going to look like.

At long last, the moment I had been waiting for had arrived. Last week, while doing my field report on the bee population for Penn State, I was delighted to find what you see here. I was so glad I had my camera with me and would be able to photograph the beauty of this plant.

I couldn't resist capturing with my camera, this little lady in hiding.

I think somebody should tell her the polka dots are a giveaway!

So if you see this plant sprouting in your flower beds, welcome it.

It's one of the good guys!

Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca

Titillating Tithonia

I stumbled upon Tithonia, commonly known as
Mexican Sunflower, in 1997.

 

Although reds, oranges and yellows are my least favorite
colors in clothing, I do love them so in my garden.

I was so impressed by the vivid color,
I decided to grow it in my flower beds
at my house in Chester county.

After selling the house, and moving to Franklin county, I forgot all about it until last year
when a fellow master gardener asked if I would like some
for the Pollinator Demonstration Garden.

My love was rekindled.

  This spring, I paid the Amish to grow a pack of seeds
I purchased at Walmart.

And for a few dollars, I had myself a whole flat of Tithonia.

I remembered to pay back that fellow master gardener with a few plants,

shared a few more with other friends

 and put the remainder in my flower beds.

I knew they would look great growing in amongst the Russian Sage.

And they do.

These photos were taken by my husband and myself.

Some from the comfort of our living room.

I had the foresight to plant some of these right in front

of our bow window in the living room.

We get to enjoy all of the activity three feet away inside our home.

And thank goodness for that.

The heat has been just brutal this summer.

As you can see, the butterflies love this stuff as much as I do.

It makes a wonderful landing platform for them.

Where they can do their little butterfly jig.

Honest.  Watch them closely and long enough.

You will see for yourself how they move their legs as if they are doing a little dance.

The bumble bees love it as well.

Yet I don't see too many honey bees on this.

They are busy buzzing around on the Russian Sage next door.

The hummingbirds love it too.

Yet those little suckers have been far too fast to capture on film.

Because some of these photos were taken from inside the house,

they may not be the best quality.

But I think you get the idea.

As you can see, there's something irresistable about this plant.

It is my hope that with the help of my little friends here,

I have enchanted you and you are now as much in love with the Mexican Sunflower as we are.

You are now leaving Tithonia Town.

Please come back to see us again real soon!

Lily Land

Last month saw the arrival of daylilies.  I so enjoy walking around and taking pictures of them.

  I was even asked to take pictures of a friends daylilies while they were in bloom.  They sure do make a wonderful filler. 

And most tolerate the heat fairly well, resist pest and disease as well as give continuous bloom.

  As you can see, they come in a multitude of colors.

These are photos I took of the Perennial Demonstration Garden at the Franklin County Extension Office.  It really is a show stopper and the women who keep this garden running are real sweethearts. 

The irises were in full bloom.

And a lovely delphinium caught my eye.