F4P: A beautiful 2018 season!

Catching up on a post here: We had a tremendous 2018 season of F4P! Thank you to the Master Gardeners who helped plant, maintain, and collect data: Pat Hein, Evelyn Lindstrom, and Pam Schaefer (Morris); Julie Coopert and Barb Szursek (St. Paul campus), and staffer Lindsey Miller who managed two plants at the HMR Farm (Osceola). Kudos as well to: Master Gardener Steph DeJaeghre who led the 25 4H youth in doing mini versions of F4P in SW MN, and Carrie Miller from the UMN Center for Spirituality and Healing who managed a patio mini F4P. Two F4P minis also were planted at Lake Minnetonka Shores senior living community, and F4P made an appearance at the grand opening of the new Bell Museum. All in all, it was a busy summer season of growing beautiful annual flowers and raising awareness around pollinating insects!

Special thanks to:

• The Horst Rechelbacher Foundation for funding this study for a second year;
• Steve Poppe, research scientist and manager of the Horticulture Display Garden in at the UMN West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris, MN;
• the Office of Sustainability, UMN Operations, for selecting Flowers for Pollinators as a Living Laboratory for the second year.

 

St. Paul campus site – a Living Laboratory

Staffer Lindsey Miller, HMR  Field site, Osceola

Lake Minnetonka Shores, Spring Park

A few of the planters, Center for Spirituality and Healing patio

HMR Field Plot: Then and Now

Hello, and happy summer wishes to all! Definitely feels like time for an update on F4P at HMR farm, so here goes..

This year I am especially proud of our field plot. This space had been out of cultivation and unmanaged for many years, and was therefore overgrown with a thick mass of grasses and weeds. In early June, Julie, Cheryl and I tilled the plot, amended the soil, and bravely placed our annuals in the ground instead.

Julie Weisenhorn next to newly planted F4P field plot – June 08, 2018

The plants here have thrived! They seem to love the sandy Osceola soil, and have greatly benefited from the greensand, blood meal, and compost amendments. It admittedly took a bit of effort to keep the weeds at bay, but once things were under control the annuals grew so big they crowded out most of the competition.

Field plot – August 08, 2018

Most importantly, the insect and bird activity in the F4P field plot has far exceeded expectations! Which is especially exciting because there are many other pollinator-friendly plants nearby. I’ll have photos of these happy and abundant critters ready to post soon and am excited to share more of what I saw here in the coming weeks.

Please check back soon, and be well!

Lindsey

 

F4P 2018

After a testy winter that seemed never-ending, the 2018 growing season is upon us with gusto! This year, we’ll be testing the same 30 annual flower varieties as in 2017 and at the same locations – Morris horticulture display garden, the St. Paul display garden, Rechelbachaer Farm  (the HMR) – with the addition of a second site at the Rechelbacher farm and at the new Bell Museum (grand opening July 13-15) located at Cleveland and Larpenteur avenues just west of the UMN St. Paul campus. Extension Master Gardeners planted with me in Morris and will be taking data there as well. Other MGs will be assisting with the St. Paul and Bell Museum plantings.

And then we have F4P “Minis” – snapshots of the full study – at various locations. One showcasing eight of the flower varieties can be seen in raised beds on the 3rd floor Mayo building patio, East Bank of the UMN. This planting was developed in partnership with Carrie Miller of the  UMN Center for Spirituality and Healing. A second F4P Mini – actually two of them – is at Lake Minnetonka Shores, Spring Park, MN, one of the Presbyterian Homes senior living communities. Citizen science surveys will be available to engage visitors in reporting their observations of pollinator on these flowers.

A third mini (25 more minis to be exact) will be planted by the 4-H Engineering Club of Lyon and Lincoln counties, lead by Stephanie DeJaeghere, 4-H leader and Extension Master Gardener. Club members have planted six of the varieties in their own gardens and will do their own pollinator observations.  Five other 4H groups from Redwood county and another in Lincoln county will also participate. Even the 4-H program leader for Lyon County, Sam Jens, got in on the fun: he and DeJaeghere will be planting a couple of the minis at the Lyon County fairgrounds.

Planted to date: the 4-H minis and at the Center for Spirituality and Healing as well as the Morris full study of 30 varieties. Next week, we’ll be planting at the Bell Museum, St. Paul campus, the Rechelbacher farm, and at Lake Minnetonka Shores. Good thing the weather has settled into nice summer temps and little rain – it’s going to be a busy week!

 

Extension Master Gardeners helped plant the Morris F4P site: (L-R) Pam Schaefer, Evelyn Lindstrom, Pat Hein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F4P @ HMR: Summer 2018

This summer we will be planting the Flowers for Pollinators (F4P) project in two very diverse sites at HMR Farms. One will be a repeat of last year – we will plant near the spa house (below, left), which is surrounded by thick woodland and open streams. The F4P annuals in this site will once again be interspersed through the native perennials already in the garden. The other F4P site this summer will be in the middle of a large field (below, right). Here, our annuals will be situated near prairie grasses, pollinator plots, food plants, and a honey bee apiary.

F4P: Field Site

 

Last year, I observed a wide variety of native bees, bumble bees, flies, wasps, butterflies, and other insects at the F4P spa site. Surprisingly, however, there was almost no activity from honeybees! This began to make sense as I looked more closely at the field surrounding the HMR apiaries; here were honey bee hives surrounded by food! A wide variety of clover flowers, goldenrod, monarda, hyssop, mint, and more. I began to see why the honey bees housed on site didn’t venture 1.5 miles to the spa house for food – they didn’t have to!

This year I’m excited to observe the different insects spotted in the woodland adjacent spa site, and the honey bee-hive adjacent field site. Stay tuned for photos and findings, as there’s sure to be much to report!

Happy spring all!

Lindsey

F4P @ HMR Farm: Summer 2017

This summer seemed to fly by at HMR Farm! I like to think it’s because I had SO much fun documenting pollinators in the F4P plot. The annuals in the study did not get as big here as they did at other sites, but this made it even more exciting when an insect chose our plants over the many native perennial species sharing the space.

The most attractive annual to pollinators at HMR was Rudbeckia ‘Prairie Sun’. This beautiful plant began blooming early in July and continued to set forth gigantic yellow flowers all summer. R. Prairie Sun was loved by native bees, wasps, flies, stink bugs, and butterflies. Caterpillars were often found feasting on this plant, and the occasional spider visit was always a thrilling surprise.

Butterfly on R. Prairie Sun

Stink Bug on R. Prairie Sun

Fly on R. Prairie Sun

Wasp on R. Prairie Sun

Spider on R. Prairie Sun

Caterpillar on R. Prairie Sun

Zinnia plants attracted many bumble bees, flies, and spiders throughout the season. However, these flowers became especially fun to observe once the butterflies emerged late in the season.

Bumble Bee on Z. Zahara Starlight Rose

Bumble Bee on Z. Envy

Bumble Bee on Z. Swirls

Bee Fly on Z. Zahara Starlight Rose

Spider on Z. Swirls

Butterfly on Z. Envy

Butterfly on Z. Zahara Starlight Rose

Butterfly on Z. Popart Red and Yellow

Tagetes ‘Ivory’ marigold, and Cosmos ‘Capriola’ and ‘Double Click’ were well loved by bumble bees this year, whereas Tagetes ‘Bambino’ marigold, Helenium ‘Dakota Gold’, and Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Pink’ were usually covered in natives.

Bumble Bee on ‘Ivory’ Marigold

Bumble Bee on ‘Capriola’ Cosmos

Bumble Bee on ‘Double Click’ Cosmos

Green Sweat Bee on S. ‘Summer Jewel Pink’

Native Bee on Helenium ‘Dakota Gold’

Native Bee on ‘Bambino’ Marigold

Although there was no shortage of native and bumble bees in the F4P plot, I was surprised not to witness a honeybee utilizing the annual flowers until my final day of observations. There are many honeybee hives at HMR farm, but there are also many native flowering plants much closer to the hives than our plot. Late in the summer most forage plants near the hives had finished flowering, and lo and behold! When food ran low near the hives, honeybees flocked to the F4P plot. On this day, late in September, they were especially interested in Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Pink’.

Honeybee on S. ‘Summer Jewel Pink’

Honeybee on S. ‘Summer Jewel Pink’

Next year I would love to see the F4P study expand to other sites on the farm. It would be especially interesting to plant these annuals nearer the honeybee hives and document the difference in honeybee visits between this summer and next. Expanding to other areas of the farm would also increase the likelihood of citizen-science participation.

A special thank you to Julie Weisenhorn for bringing me on board for this study, and to HMR farm staff for helping maintain our plot. It was a wonderful summer, and I look forward to working alongside you all again next year!

-Lindsey

How pollinator-friendly is your landscape?

Creating a better world for pollinators starts in your own backyard. Pollinator-friendly landscapes benefit our food systems, increase biodiversity, and beautify what we see every day.

How pollinator-friendly is your yard and garden right now? Join the 120 MN State Fairgoers and complete this survey to find out how your backyard measures up on plants, habitat, and gardening practices that help bees and other beneficial insects.
Be sure to include your email address at the end of the survey to receive your pollinator-friendly survey score and Extension resources to help you grow from a “Wanna Bee pollinator gardener” to a “Pollinator Protector”!

Honey bees on Helianthus ‘Music Box Mix’

Painted Ladies in the Garden

A boom in painted lady butterflies has occurred not just in the St. Paul F4P site, but also my own home garden, my neighbor’s garden and fellow gardeners’ too. They are abundant and beautiful! There must still be nectar rewards available as they are spending considerable time on the zinnias.

Painted Lady butterfly

 

Stem nesting

When deadheading flowers, leave stems about 18″ long; in other words,  don’t cut them down you the ground.  Many bees can use them for as nesting sites. They will lay an egg in the stem and then pack it with food, plugging it with grass or mud. Bees will also tunnel out stems like elderberry or, as in this case, Penstemon. Now, I know you are thinking,  “But I don’t want ugly dead sticks in my garden”. Plants, like this Delphinium, will grow up around last year’s stems, concealing them with foliage  and beautiful blooms.

Stem pith from bee tunneling, Penstemon ‘Husker red 

Plugged bamboo nests, Bee Research Lab

Delphinium stems left for stem nesting bees. New foliage and flowers grow up to conceal old stems.

A garden is a changing thing

Annual flowers change throughout the season. At the Flowers for Pollinators St. Paul site, some flowers have been quite slow to flush out a decent bloom (cosmos, white swan sage, lemon queen sunflowers, Rudbeckias, Twizzle Penstemon) while others were amazing right away and now look, well, pretty lousy. The sunflowers which I was so blown away by are being decapitated by a weevil.

Sunflowers I deadheaded are struggling to flush out a weak second bloom. The Popart zinnias continue to be resilient and bloom well though are a bit ragged. Some that are still looking great are the butter daisy (Melampodium) which continues to look almost fake it’s so nice, the short marigolds, the orange fudge Rudbeckia, Dakota Gold, and Zinnia ‘Old Mexico’ (one of my personal favorites) and Zinnia ‘Zahara Starlight Rose’. Click on pictures for captions.

Still looking good: butter daisy (Melampodium)

Slow to bloom, but on top now: Orange fudge Rudbeckia and Cosmosnd Cosmos

Zinnia ‘Zahara Starlight Rose’

My fave Old Mexico Zinnia

So how does this late season effort reflect on pollinator activity? Fewer sunflowers have  resulted in insects visiting other plants. For example, there was little to no activity on the butter daisy until the sunflowers bit the dust. This could be due to the fact bees are opportunists and efficient pollinators. They will stay with one flower until they are finished collecting the pollen. This is great for the flowers as compatible pollen is important to reproduction.

The honeybees are still the most widely seen insects in the garden (if you ignore the rash of Japanese beetles. Hoo boy.). Bumble bees have been almost nonexistent here at the St. Paul site and I am not sure why as we saw them often on the same Salvia varieties last year in a garden not far from this planting site. Hover flies, too, are less frequent as well. Does the age of the flower have anything to do with it? Could the presence of other insects like the Japanese beetles? Other insects are coming onto the scene now – soldier beetles, stinkbugs, assassin bugs and gorgeous butterflies. Click on the pictures for captions.

Soldier beetle on Orange fudge Rudbeckia

Stinkbug

Assassin bug finished with honeybee

Wow! Swallowtail on Popart red and white Zinnia

F4P Morris Hort Night!

It is fun to see the Morris F4P study garden – and visitors to the annual Horticulture Night in the Display garden were intrigued by the flowers. Many loved the Suntastic Bicolor Pink sunflower, and I saw a lot of people jotting down names and taking pictures on their phone. There was some visible deer damage, and a bunny was the focus of three toddlers, but made me nervous hiding in the Rudbeckia. Several people took the survey, but most wanted to just admire and plan their next annual garden. Thanks Joe Knight and Steve Poppe for taking care of the Morris F4P planting!

 

Hot and breezy

I stepped out of my office late this afternoon into the wicked heat wave to check the plants in the St. Paul Display garden. I am worried the Japanese beetles will find our zinnias (not yet – they are still absorbed in the plum tree, grape vines and milkweed flowers). While watering, I observed that, in spite of the 96 degree heat index, honey bees were active visiting almost all the flowers – even those not previously where activity hadn’t been seen to-date. I am curious why bumble bees – so active last year – have not been seen much this year. Will keep watching.

Pink Suntastic Bicolor sunflower … pollen-less, yet attractive

Though advertised as pollen-less, bees are still finding this sunflower irresistible. Perhaps there are nectar rewards. I watched the bee for quite a while to see if it stopped for a “big gulp”, but it seemed to just be searching and hoping to find.