native plants

Mid Summer Update

Finding the right plant for the right plant is harder than I thought. There’s a dark wet section behind my grandma’s home that I’ve been trying to add native plants to. I’ve added phlox divaricata, hay scented fern, columbine, geranium maculatum and anemone. So far only the columbine and geranium are alive. The geranium is at least 2 years old now. According to Prairie Nursery’s website, both like plants like loam/sand soil types and dry/medium moisture which totally contradicts with my observations. I always thought this was clay soil type!

Other Updates:

  • The 3 year old hydrangea is flourishing this year! Gotta shape it one day when the time is right.
  • A new plant additon! Given to me by a friend because Amsonia has my name in it.

Wildlife at QBG

The highlight of my day is finding cool insects and other critters. Lately there’s been an explosion of caterpillars and I’ve been getting quite distracted by them. The way they eat is so organized and I love watching the way they move.

  • Look at those cute feet!
  • Black Swallowtail caterpillar
  • Monarch caterpillar

Here are some random facts for my own future reference:

Host plants for Monarch Caterpillar : Milkweeds

Host plants for Black Swallowtail Caterpillar: Plants in the Carrot Family.

I want to try using Zizia aurea someday since it is a native plant in the carrot family and feeds short tongued insects in the spring. Plus, I don’t see it often! I’ve only seen it in Prairie Moon and Prairie Nursery.

  • Twice Stabbed Stinkbug
  • At a brief glance, I thought this was a giant slug
  • Crab spider!
  • Ladybeetle and Amsonia
  • Skipper (?) and Echinacea
  • I noticed a black swallowtail butterfly fluttering around this plant and was surprised that my eyes were able to spot this egg!
  • This dragonfly was not scared at all!
  • Can you see the two pray mantises?
  • Baby northern brown snake (?)

Sometimes I wish I could show all the visitors the insects and animals I see every week! Luckily I was able show a girl and her mom a bunch of caterpillars chowing down. Another happy moment was when another girl came up to me and proudly said, “This is not just a botanical garden, it’s a butterfly garden!”. It made me feel extra motivated to garden design with ecology and community in mind.

What’s Blooming at Queens Botanical Garden!

I started working as a Seasonal Gardener a few weeks ago and I love being able to see the daily changes in the gardens. There are so many weeds right now, but after one section is done, it is very satisfying to uncover the design layout. Here is one of my favorite gardens, the Unity Garden, designed by W. Gary Smith and Harriet Grimm. There are two sides of this garden; one part is shaded and the other part is full sun. I’ve noticed that the plant palette is mostly made up of native plants and both sides have quite different plants, but are linked by the Oakleaf Hydrangea.

Right now the sunny part of the garden is full bloom. Last week I actually thought one of the flowers was a weed until my coworker told me it was Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra). Good thing I didn’t yank it out! I’ve always wanted to use it, but at my old job, most of the sites had low sun conditions. It’s so beautiful in person, like cotton candy on a stick!

Another garden I enjoy working in is the Perennial Garden. I like how the layout is made of 3 – 4 triangles. It’s going to be a lot of work getting it back to its former state…you can see the patch of weed seedlings underneath the Blue Fescue (?). Once it has been weeded some more, I’ll post more pictures.

2018 Update on Wild Blue Phlox and Purple Prairie Clover

I bought these plants online at Prairie Nursery and planted them in August 2017.

From what I observed last year, it seems like the Purple Prairie Clover is doing the best. All five plants survived the winter. Two out of five of the Wild Blue Phlox survived. Sadly, all of the Wild Ginger died. Perhaps the location I planted them in was too sunny.

Dalea purpurea