Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)– A rambunctious, beautiful, native flowering vine, that is aggressive and can take over quickly! It grows wild in my yard. The underground root system is well established and pops up under every shrub and next to every tree we have. I am constantly battling it. When the plumber put in a 12-foot-tall white vent pipe for my new, costly septic system, I immediately painted it green to blend in, put chicken wire on it, and planted coral vine at the base. Besides the coral vine, trumpet creeper grew, and this time I said, “Why not! If it grows quickly, perhaps it will cover and hide the pipe, and hummingbirds are supposed to love the flowers, and I love hummers, so win-win.” Not so fast! Finally, in its third year, we have a consistent trumpet vine bloom, but the hummingbirds do not frequent it! @#$%^&* Why not?…
Author: Margaret Molyson
Biological Warfare!
If you are inclined to think about protecting your plants with chemical warfare, I invite you to have a paradigm shift to biological warfare. Get nature on your side. You have heard all the reasons not to spray ad nauseum: • it harms the environment• it kills caterpillars which are baby bird food• it kills butterflies• it is hazardous to our health• it is hazardous to pets• nag, nag, nag, nag, nag! But what are you supposed to do when trying to sleep in bed at night? You can almost hear the little monsters (you know the monster in Alien was based on insects!) chomping away at your plants?!I say, invite in their enemies, something that will chomp away at them! Biological warfare is the way to go—plant mountain mint. Yes, pollinators love it, but more importantly, “beneficial insects” love it. “Beneficial” is a blanket term to cover all the…
Bottlebrush Buckeye – What’s Blooming Now
Bottlebrush Buckeye is a glorious native shrub for the landscape. They are stunning in flower, particularly when used in mass or on a tall bank. Blooming in that gap period between the spring flush and the fall asters bottlebrush helps fill the need for a food source for pollinators during the hot summer months when there are fewer plants in flower. Right now, these shrubs are abuzz with bees; you might also see butterflies, particularly eastern swallowtails, and if you are observant enough, you might see a hummingbird darting among the flowers. The blossoms are creamy-white and look like candelabras that are 6 to 24” long panicles that start blooming from the bottom, gradually opening flowers until reaching the top. This is a sun to part-shade plant for moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, but be prepared to give it room; it grows 6-10 feet and forms thickets that can grow…