Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), the Honeysuckle that many of us know from childhood with the luscious drop of nectar that we’d catch on our tongue. Mmmm. And surprise, that Honeysuckle gets berries. Berries that are poisonous to us humans. The nectar is safe but not the berries.
Honey Bee (Apis), surrounded by autumnal color in the center of a Gaillardia, collecting both nectar and pollen. Honey Bees need nectar and pollen for their colony. As they collect the pollen it is unwittingly distributed among other flowers, providing a helping hand, pollinating those flowers. The pollen provides nutrients including protein, which is used mostly for their larvae. The nectar provides the bees energy. Honey Bees are not a single species. Historically 7 to 11 species are acknowledged. A small number, compared to the 20,000 known bee species of the world.
Sitting in the spotlight. Sipping nectar from a puff of powdery pink thistle. Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).
Aromatic Asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) are visited by bees, butterflies and skippers, seeking nectar and in the case of the bees, pollen. The caterpillars of moths and of Silvery Checkerspot Butterflies eat the foliage. This Crab Spider is hanging around hoping to catch some dinner, just waiting for the perfect insect to come along.
I’ve got some Aromatic Aster blooming like crazy right now. A stunning show is put on by this perennial plant.
Aromatic Asters are native to northeastern and central United States. I’m looking forward to dividing my plant in the early spring of next year. The more the merrier.
Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana). A lovely native to have in the garden. It’s native to North American in all states east of the Rockies but Florida, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Obedient Plant can be found in the wild on river banks, wet ditches, prairies, swamps, and marshy areas. In moist sites it sometimes spreads aggressively. Sometimes that is a good thing.
Pollinators seek the blooms out for its nectar.
A joy to find blooming this time of year.
I’m looking forward to my Asters blooming. They are a big draw for an incredibly beautiful butterfly. The Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). It’s when those Asters are blooming that I get to see the Common Buckeye.
As an adult and butterfly they have a life of just six to twenty days. During those few days they sip the nectar of not just Asters, but also Tickseed Sunflower, Gumweed, Knapweed, and Chickory.
The Common Buckeye shows up in a different coloring as well. Yes, this is the same species, but is a rosa morph. The coloring of Common Buckeye butterflies are changed by the day length and temperature in which the eggs and then the caterpillars develop. Whatever the coloring, I’m looking forward to spotting some of these beauties.
Rotting fruit, sap flows on trees, and even bird droppings. The favorite foods of the Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta. If the Red Admiral can’t find these it will sip flower nectar from Common Milkweed, Red Clover, Aster, and Alfalfa and more.
The dropping Persimmons here on my mountain have been a bigtime draw for these beautiful butterflies, and Coma and Question Mark butterflies. Try putting out some extra ripe fruits to see if some of these butterflies will come by for a visit.
Legs covered in blue and purple sparkles with a gilded body, much larger than mosquitoes that we usually notice, the Elephant Mosquito, Toxorhynchites rutilus, is one mosquito that we should encourage.
Here is the REALLY good part (1), the Elephant Mosquito does not hunt humans down to get a blood meal. They won’t bite us as they cruise the gardens looking for sources of nectar. They won’t bite as they roam the neighborhood hunting for plant sap, honeydew, or juices from rotting fruit, which they also eat.
And REALLY good part (2), the larvae of Elephant Mosquitoes eat other mosquito larvae!
Wow! Include this insect on my list of best friends!
