Something's buggin me

I do not use pesticides in my garden.  Period.  Close paragraph.

Because of my complete avoidance of pesticides my garden is full of life.  Bees, ants, beetles and the birds that eat them.

Usually my garden gets into a balance.  I have a little insect damage to some plants but I can live with that if it means I get all of the other insects and birds that bring movement and activity to my garden.

This year I'm having more than normal damage to my plants.  And it's not on the expected ones.  My hostas have little damage (and they are like crack to the deer, rabbits and slugs!).

My Echinacea purpura is loosing it's petals to something.  Not the leaves.  Just the petals.  I found this little inchworm on one of the blooms.  The culprit?

One of my Heucheras (coral bells, this one is called Stoplight) has major insect damage.  The others right next to it?  Not so much.

This one is weird.  Tricolor sage.  Usually herbs are left alone by most herbivores and insects.  The strong flavors and smells are part of their defenses.  But this one is just being eaten alive.  Insects or the new batch of baby bunnies I've been spotting?  (yes, even at four inches they can be on their own. And it doesn't take much to hide them - they're hiding under my perennials!)

And this one - Aster (Symphotrichium?) October skies.  Eaten to the stem.  Another plant with aromatic foliage.

I'm not even considering a pesticide but I'm hopeful that they'll survive the summer onslaught and return next year, bigger and stronger.  And maybe the rabbits will nest somewhere else so my yard isn't filled with cute little eating machines.

[Sorry no pictures of the baby bunnies - they flee if they even think I'm reaching for a camera.  Try here for an example of what they look like.  Could you turn this little guy out of your garden?  I don't think so!]

Pest Control

If you've read my blog you probably realize that I'm anti-pesticide (please hold the sarcasm) but today I'm calling a pest control company.  Why?  We'll get to that.  First here some reasons why not.

Very rough looking American Lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis) on my Centaura Amethyst in snow.

Bee, NOID

Bee, NOID

Ants - look close

Damselfly on Basil

This year we finally started seeing grasshoppers in the yard

More bee, NOID

Dragonfly

I consider my garden a shared space.  I share the space with the local wildlife.  I exert control only over the plants and I try to make plant choices that are beneficial to my own personal ecosystem.  That means that I tolerate a great deal of insect "damage" on plants.

Like this spittlebug on Parsley (2nd year plant, you can see flower buds)

And the damage to this violet.

Unfortunately it also means that I will not be planting any more lilies (this damage is done by the Red Lilly Beetle, a non-native species that I apparently have in large numbers).  I could treat these plants yearly for the RLB but there would be collateral damage to some of the insects I want and up the food chain to the local birds.  I don't want lilies bad enough to justify poisoning My Own Personal Ecosystem.

Then there are the species that do even more damage.  Like this cute little rabbit (photographed through the window).  Fortunately the rabbits have not done a lot of damage in any one place.  She seems to nibble here, move on, nibble there.  My plants can handle that type of damage.

Then there are the deer.  Fortunately we don't have a lot of deer in our area.  They are one reason I encourage rampant growth of "wild" violets.  I've found deer will graze violets before most other garden plants and the violets will come back.

On the negative side the deer also found my garden peas.  I'll plant them inside the back yard fence next year where the deer fear to tread.

Why do the deer fear to tread into the backyard?  These garden pests.

Piper is a digger so backyard plants have to be pretty hardy - I protect the shrubs for one to two years and then they are on their own and I plant "aggressive" perennials like Monarda that should be able to take dog damage.

Here's the real predator.  Jasper used to be a feral dog and he can and will catch most types of animals that stray into the backyard (he's caught and killed birds!).  Doesn't look like a garden pest does he?

Ok.  So now back to the big question.  Why am I calling a pest control company?  Because I found this in the garage.

That's evidence of wood destroying insect, probably termites.  Sorry, guys but I need to keep my house.  Insects that hurt me or mine are subject to eviction with prejudice.  (that list is limited to yellow jacket nests, wasp nests near the front door and termites and the first two are because The Husband is allergic)

So I have to swallow my convictions and call.  And try to convice the pest control company to minimize the collateral damage to My Own Personal Ecosystem.  I hope they don't scare off the local garter snake population.

Then I have to control my urge to rant when they try to sell me on monthly applications of pesticide (doesn't THAT sound like a good idea for both the local ecosystem and the health of my family).  

I will NOT smack the pest control guy.

I will NOT smack the pest control guy.

I will NOT smack the pest control guy.

Wish me luck.

Winter Moths

When I first saw the mass of moths attracted to the lights beside the garage I thought it was an interesting phenomenon.

Then I heard someone say they were winter moths.  That made me think they would make a good blog subject.  I had read something about winter moths in Bernd Heinrich's Winter World.  So I started doing some research.  An insect that flies during the winter, they must have some really cool adaptations.

Then I found out that these winter moths are Operophtera brumata, an invasive species.    That's not so cool.

Winter moths are a European species introduced to this continent last century.  They started showing up in New England early this century and are already becoming a major problem.  Winter moth males fly during November to as late as January, the females are wingless and wait on trees and shrubs for the males to find them.  They lay their eggs under the bark.

In the spring the eggs hatch and the larvae begin feeding on the unopened buds.  As the untouched buds start to open the larvae will move to nearby branches or leaves and continue munching.  They can easily defoliate whole trees, with a preference for fruit trees.  In springs like our last spring with cool weather and delayed bud opening the damage can be intense. 

Not surprisingly the defoliation process is harmful to trees, it can even be fatal if repeated over several years.  On the plus side the spring migrating birds (especially warblers) have plenty to eat at a critical time in their life cycle.  They subsequently arrive relatively plump and ready to go on their nesting grounds.

Our street tree, an American Linden (or Basswood), was heavily infested this past year.  With this massive fall flight I predict it will be heavily infested again this year.  I'm not going to do anything to fight the moths (winter moths are hard to control and professionals should be consulted.  I was unable to find information on an organic option that actually works) at least in part because I think that is the wrong tree for that spot and that spot is really, really bad (directly in front of our front door so people who park on the street have to go around the tree to get to our front walk).  If the tree doesn't survive I'll quietly replace it with something a little more appropriate to the spot and off center from our front door.  Probably not a fruit tree, though.

Bugging me in the garden

Today I thought I would write a post about what's bugging me in the garden (Sorry for the use of the pun). Surprising to many people one of the things that bugs me is that I don't have enough insects. I'm lacking in diversity and sheer numbers in most categories. Bees and wasps are showing up in good number, though. Hopefully as my garden ages and the pesticides the previous homeowner used are diluted away I'll start seeing more.

Is this bee bugging me? Heck, no. I like bees in the garden - they help pollinate my vegetables! Look how this one's leg sacs are full of pollen. Bees are in a lot of trouble, both the native and the introduced honey bee. Part of the problem is overuse of pesticides (are you detecting a theme by this blogger?), part is (like most wildlife) habitat destruction. The bees are welcome on my Pycnanthemum muticum (mountain mint).



How about this wasp? Is it bugging me? No, look at the brilliant sheen on the wings, it's a dark blue when the light hits it just right. With blue being one of my favorite colors how could I not like such a beautiful creature?



OK, how about THIS wasp? Don't be ridiculous. Look at the contrast between the orange and the black. This is a total Halloween wasp and I like high contrast and Halloween. This gorgeous girl is welcome on my Bronze Fennel.



Well, surely THIS wasp bugs you? Nope. Look closely and you'll see the tiny wasp waist. Looks unreal doesn't it? Wasps occur in a group called Hymenoptera (along with bees and ants). This order is known for it's interesting social structures and for being beneficial to the home gardener. I've already mentioned pollination but they also predate on many harmful insects and ants are great at loosening the soil.



So we've determined that Hymenoptera are welcome in my garden (except for yellow jackets, who are too aggressive and since my husband is allergic they have to go), what about other bugs. Oh, wait. Hymenoptera are not bugs, they're INSECTS. Bugs refers to a specific group of insects. I haven't yet found any bugs in my new garden.

One thing that is bugging me in the garden are the dragonflies. Not because they are there but because they are being so difficult to photograph! I caught this one resting on the host and was able to get one shot (a grab shot) before it flew off.



I have several species of dragonfly flitting around my yard all afternoon, blue, green, black and white, some HUGE ones that must be 6 inches and fly around the roof of my house at dusk, but these last two are the only ones who held still for a good photo session. I guess I'll have to keep trying.

Oh, yeah. What's bugging me is that I never took an entomology class in college and don't know much about insects. Maybe I'll have to go back and take one as continuing education. I wonder if Harvard has an entomology class...

I'll leave you with more dragonfly photos from my cooperative pair.