pollinators

American Lady

Everything you wanted to know about Butterflies, but didn’t know who to ask.

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On Tuesday this week, our staff entomologist, Bill Reynolds, will present an on-line presentation exploring the amazing world of Butterflies and Moths. Bill, who in his previously life, worked as an entomologist for the NC Museum of Natural Science, has spent a lifetime traveling the world to study butterflies. Bill not only has an encyclopedic

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Buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia)

More than Monarchs

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Happily feeding on our clumps of the native Asclepias perennis this week were Buckeye butterflies (Junonia coenia). The Buckeye butterfly originated in Africa, subsequently diversified in Asia and then spread to North America, where it is now widespread. As our entomologist Bill Reynolds likes to comment, the insects are better botanists than humans. The buckeye butterfly

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Are you hungry enough to Munch on Your Jacket

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We recently caught this Chinese praying mantis munching down on the native yellow jackets that have been feasting on our flowering specimen of Hedera rhombea ‘Cheju’. I guess this looked like a horticultural food truck to them. Evidently, they aren’t effected by the toxin in its sting. It’s truly an insect eat insect world out

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A Hedera the Class – A Pollinator Magnet

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One of the top pollinator plants in the garden this month is this clump of adult ivy. All ivies clump, instead of run, once they gone through horticultural puberty, which usually happens around age 15. English ivy, Hedera helix makes a similar, but larger shrub, that flowers in July. The clump below is our selection

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Texas Kidneys

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Our plants of Eysenhardtia texana ‘Uvalde’ are perfuming the air with their sweet fragrance in October. As you can imagine, it’s abuzz with pollinators. This Texas/Mexico native, known as Texas kidneywood, makes a 10′ tall shrub that’s quite heat and drought tolerant. The common name comes from the fact that the genus Eysenhardtia has been

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Lavender and White

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On my very short commute home, we’ve designed beds along the way that help relieve the stresses of the day. One of my favorite beds in summer is this combination of Allium ‘Millenium’, Sinningia tubiflora (white), Verbena bonariensis, and Pervoskia atriplicifolia. Both the sinningia and the verbena can be a bit aggressive in some areas

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