Introduction to Pollinator Gardens
Why use native plants? Adapted to local environment—weather, pests, soils, etc. (use local sources) Useful for native animals—food and shelter Won’t become invasive (some could be aggressive)
Good non-native plants: early color in the spring, complement for prairie yellows, but choose wisely!
Planning: goals, site evaluation, and research
Common goals: beauty, wildlife benefits, open space or visual barrier, etc.
Site evaluation: slope, aspect, moisture & drainage, soil, shade, and adjacent/competing vegetationBuilt environment: power lines, pavement/road, foundation, septic system, underground utilitiesOther considerations: maintenance needs, neighbors & visibility, potential deer & rabbit problems, etc.
Sources: Prairie Moon, Ion Exchange, and Shooting Star…
Columbine is also called rock bells.
Columbine likes limestone
Canada anemoneCanada anemone – nice and easy to grow
Prairie phlox
A pioneer favorite
Great though slow to establish in drier ground
Prairie phlox bouquet
Prairie phlox bouquet
Spiderwort
Look for these lovely plants in wetter prairie areas.
Can’t take crowding
Spiderwort “legs”
Golden Alexander
Easy to grow in plantings but not often added
Golden Alexander is NOT wild parsnip
Pale purple coneflower field
Pale purple coneflower petals droop down
Pale purple coneflower makes a nice planting
Meadow rue
Relatively easy to establish in wetter soils
Meadow rue is “Maid of the Mist”
Wild rose – Iowa’s state flower
Takes time to show up in a prairie planting
Wild rose habitatWild rose habitat
Four wild rose hips have more vitamin C than an orange.
Black-eyed Susan
A good flower for prairie plantings since they bloom the second year and add quick color
Wild quinine plant – usually successful in plantings
Wild quinine can be used to treat high fevers
White wild indigo
Roots can be treated to make a weak blue dye.
Easy to grow and adds interest to prairie plantings
White wild indigo “rattle” pods sound like a rattlesnake when shaken
Ox-eye is a very hardy prairie plant and good for a colorful prairie yard garden
Ox-eye flowerOx-eye flower
Unplowed prairie land is loaded with flowers by summer
Common milkweed – another easy to grow and great for butterfly prairie plant.
Great-spangled fritillary on milkweed
Monarch butterfly on sunflower- their caterpillars only eat milkweed leaves.
Swamp milkweed habitat
Swamp milkweed habitatSwamp milkweed habitat
Honeybee on swamp milkweed
Eyed brown captured by crab spider on swamp milkweed
Difficult to keep around
Swamp milkweed seedpods breaking open
Butterfly milkweed has bright orange flowers.
A super flower for plantings but tends to wink out over time.
Butterfly milkweed
This plant catches the attention of people and butterflies passing by
Butterfly milkweed & monarch
Butterfly milkweedButterfly milkweed – found mostly on dry goat prairies around here.
Green milkweed
Rare on native prairies.A dozen different milkweed species in Iowa.
Michigan lily
Grows to five feet tall.
Needs wetter soils but will colonize
Michigan lily
Also called martagon, since those petals curl back like the fancy Turkish cap.
Otherwise resembles the garden tiger lily.
Culver’s root
Nice white spires and easy to grow.
A natural laxative
Rattlesnake master is easy to grow and looks cool, like a Midwest cactus.
Rattlesnake master flowers
Rattlesnake master flowers
Long-horned grasshopper(a.k.a. katydid) on rattlesnake master
Compass plant – a good choice for some height in the yard prairie garden.
Compass plant leaves point north
Compass plant flowersCompass plant flowers look like sunflowers
Compass plant sap makes a super chewing gum.
Wild onion
Tastes great and not tough to grow if given plenty of open spaces.
Gray-headed coneflower – a durable prairie plant with a long blooming period, growing about waist-high.
“Sleepy Susans”
Gray-headed coneflower
Gray-headed coneflowers have a long blooming season
Wild bergamot –easy to grow, not-too tall, smells like mint and makes strong tea – what’s not to like.
Wild bergamotWild bergamot – also called horsemint or bee balm.
Joe Pye weedJoe Pye weed likes water
Boneset likes to grow around Joe Pye weed.
Boneset – good choice for a rain garden.
Goldenrods – farewell to summer
Goldenrods – farewell to summer
Elm-leaved goldenrod – leave in the ditch.
Stiff goldenrodStiff goldenrod – good for the garden
Sawtooth sunflowers – super easy to grow and spread.
Sawtooth sunflower flower – makes a rich yellow dye.
Cup plantCup plant – very tall and aggressive.
Cup plant flowersCup plant flowers
Cup plant “cup”
Cup plant “cup”
New England aster - nice
Cream gentian
Theeasiest gentian to grow. Tolerates many soil types.
Prairie grasses “shine” in September
Sideoats gramma – a very delicate grass that likes dry ground and little stress.
Northern (prairie) dropseed – fantastic but very fussy.
Prefers heavy clay soil.
IndiangrassIndiangrass is tall and showy.
Indiangrassseedhead – very nice but at least head high and can be aggressive.
Little bluestem“bunches”
Little bluestem seedtufts – plant a ton of this stuff.
Big bluestem
Big bluestem stalks – the standard-bearer for typical tall-grass prairie.
Big bluestem “turkeyfoot” seedheads
Big bluestem stands out at sunset
Prairie diversity makes a pretty scene to stroll through
Colors fade to duller shades through the fall
Brown grass stems dominate by November
Ant mound – old ones are great for hibernating green snakes.
Winter winds dry out dead grass stands
Spring storms set the prairie on fire
Prairie fire at sunset
After the fire – the land has been fed
Honeybees are arguably the most beneficial bugs in the world.
We know they pollinate most of our beautiful wild and garden flowers.
Honeybees are also the main pollinator for many crops we grow for food.
This apple orchard blooming in April needs to be visited by bees before any fruit can form.
Red ripe apples in autumn, thanks to the work of busy honeybees.
Honeybees get a reward, in the form of nectar, for that work.
Honeybees turn that nectar into honey, which we can siphon off a sample from their hives, for a real sweet treat.
Wildflower field
Wildflower fields are wonderful places for butterflies.
Wildflower fields are wonderful places for butterflies.
Tiger swallowtail – a fantastic “flying flower”Tiger swallowtail – a fantastic “flying flower”
Tiger swallowtail – a fantastic “flying flower”
Tiger swallowtail – ventral viewTiger swallowtails are big and mostly yellow.
Tiger swallowtail – ventral viewTiger swallowtails are big and mostly yellow.
Tiger swallowtail – ventral viewTiger swallowtails are big and mostly yellow.
Giant swallowtail – the biggest butterfly in NE Iowa.
Black swallowtail – male
Black swallowtail – female shows less yellow and more blue.Black swallowtails are mostly black.
Black swallowtail caterpillars can sometimes be found in the garden, crawling around on members of the carrot family.
Black swallowtail caterpillars show orange “devil horns” when scared.
In they wild they eat Queen- Anne’s lace (wild carrot)
Red-spotted purple – looks like a black swallowtail without the tails.
Mourning cloak – out early in spring, usually by late March after overwintering as an adult under some loose tree bark.
The red admiral has red stripes running up into the forewing.
Great-spangled FritillaryThe great-spangled fritillary is a big, all orange butterfly.
Great-spangled fritillary (ventral view). Count the butterfly money.
Great-spangled fritillary nectaring on milkweed. Fritillaries are often mistaken for another orange butterfly found around milkweed plants.Great-spangled fritillary nectaring on milkweed. Fritillaries are often mistaken for another orange butterfly found around milkweed plants.
Monarch male (with pouches)
Monarch male (with pheromone pouches)
Monarch female (without pouches). Her scent glands are found on her abdomen.
Monarch – ventral view is duller orange.
The famous striped monarch caterpillar dining on a milkweed leaf.
Monarchs aren’t fussy about the milkweed their caterpillars choose to chew on, like this swamp milkweed here, but they only eat the various milkweed species.
Monarchs aren’t fussy about the milkweed their caterpillars choose to chew on, like this swamp milkweed here, but they only eat the various milkweed species.
Monarchs make their pale green chrysalis on a nearby plant, in this case a grass stem.
Monarchs key in on blazing stars as a nectar source in the fall as they migrate south.
Monarch migration roostMonarch migration roost.They winter in Mexico, up in the mountains.
Monarch wearing a tag which helps track their movements as they work their way south.
Viceroy – a monarch mimic. Note the black line on the hind wing.
Monarch for comparison. Note the lack of black bands cutting through the hind wings on this female, nectaring here on an aster flower in the fall.
Viceroy – ventral viewViceroy – ventral view
Viceroy caterpillars look like bird droppings.
Viceroy caterpillars could be found around this bright willow bat, since they eat willow leaves in wetlands. areas.
Orange sulphur – male is “orangish”Also note the wide black wing borders
Orange sulphur male – ventral view.
Orange sulpher
Orange sulphur – classic female form shows light speckles breaking up that black backlit border
Orange sulphur caterpillar blends right into green leaves
Orange sulphurs are known as “alfalfa” butterflies, as that’s where their eggs are laid and the caterpillars feed.
One of our most common butterflies.
Orange sulphurs are known as “alfalfa” butterflies, as that’s where their eggs are laid and the caterpillars feed. One of our most common butterflies.
Clouded sulphur – male is more yellow
Clouded sulphur – this white, or abinic, female form shows a silver hindwing spot that tells us its not a cabbage white butterfly.
Clouded sulphur caterpillar crawling on sensitive plant
Clouded sulphur caterpillars eat sensitive plant leaves.
Sulphur butterflies congregate along roadsides in late summer, especially beside puddles after a rain.
Cabbage white – no ring on hindwing. Cabbage whites can be found flying around from April to October.
Cabbage whites may be the most common butterflies we see around the yard, and especially the garden.
Where to find the cabbage white
Not what you want to see on your cabbage plants.
Cabbage white caterpillars aren’t fussy, feasting as well on plants in the mustard family.
Butterflies love native flowers like showy coneflower.
Grow as many different kinds as you can around the garden or out in the back yard.
Least skippers on swamp milkweed. Plant the pretty flowers and the butterflies will come.
