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Donna VanBuecken

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Natural Landscaping

February 13, 2016

Do you have a passion for native plants and natural landscaping? Do you wish you knew more about native plants and biodiversity? If so, I invite you to join this blog and learn about native plants, natural landscaping and biodiversity a little at a time.

As Executive Director of Wild Ones for 17 years, one of the things I enjoyed the most was to share with members and others the new and interesting information I learned about things related to the Wild Ones mission. So now as I continue on with my next life adventure, [Read more…]

Gardening for Pollinators

April 20, 2018

I’m working on a new PowerPoint (PPT) presentation on pollinators. Although I’ve done many presentations on natural landscaping, I’ve never done one focused on pollinators, so I thought I should understand a little more about pollination before I started developing the PPT. Here’s what I came up with….

Ecosystems

Earth is made up of naturally occurring geographical areas with similar climate, geology and soils. Within each of those ecoregions, typically there are a number of ecological regions referred to as  ecosystems made up of plants, animals, birds, butterflies, insects, organisms and the physical environment or habitat in which they live. Typically, all these elements in the ecosystem develop a mutually dependent relationship which becomes a Circle of Life.

Ordway Prairie, Pope County, Minnesota. Photo by Peter Dziuk, Wild Ones Twin Cities Chapter

Pollination and the Circle of Life

Pollination is a very important element of the Circle of Life. Why? Because the Circle of Life starts with plants and most plants depend upon pollination to reproduce.

  • Plants absorb sunlight energy through photosynthesis – solar power!
  • They use that energy to produce more plant material from water, carbon dioxide in the air, and nutrients from the soil.
  • In the process they give off oxygen – thank goodness!
  • Herbivores (primary consumers) eat the plants and use the nutrients to produce more herbivore.
  • Predators (secondary consumers ) eat the herbivores and use the nutrients to produce more carnivore.
  • When death comes, a vast suite of soil organisms (bacteria and fungi) decompose the material, returning the nutrients to the soil.
  • Which makes the nutrients available for plants to take up again, completing the Circle of Life.

Pollination is a reproductive process. Flowers offer food (nectar) to pollinators in exchange for reproduction. It occurs when pollen is transferred from the anther (male part of flower) to the stigma (female part of flower). And, it’s important to life because without pollination, we would not have vegetables and fruits to eat, and plants could not reproduce from season to season.

What Role do Pollinators Play?

Although some pollen is dispersed by the wind, birds, butterflies, bees and other insects and animals are the main transporters of pollen between flowers, hence the term pollinators. They carry the pollen which is a fine powdery dust found in the male part of the plant (anther) and contains the plant’s sperm to the female part of the plant (stigma). Some pollinators have special structures by which they carry the pollen — like the native bees. Others like butterflies, bats and other insects carry the pollen from one flower to another when it affixes itself to their bodies, legs and wings.

Gardening for Pollinators

Flowers and pollinators co-evolved, developing features that make the exchange of pollen and nectar successful. To support native pollinators, we need to grow the native plants with which they evolved. Because they evolved together, native plants have the “right” features. Here are some examples.

A bee using it’s long tongue to collect nectar from this Virginia Bluebell.
Hummingbird exchanging pollen for nectar from this Cardinal Flower. Birds have great vision and are especially attracted to red. Photo by Larry Master.
A bee using the landing platform offered by the Lanceleaf Coreopsis. Photo courtesy of NH Garden Solutions.
Pollen is carrieid away from this Lanceleaf Coreopsis in this native bee’s pollen sac.
They get nectar from dangling or outstretched tubular flowers by lapping the sugars with their long tongues. Nectaries are located at the base of the tubes.
New England Aster has the perfect landing platform. Photo courtesy of NH Garden Solutions
Tiger Swallowtail on Cherry Tree. Native Prunus support 456 species of caterpillars. Photo by Doug Tallamy.
Zebra Swallowtail butterfly nectaring on Choke Cherry tree. Native Prunus support 456 species of caterpillars. Photo by Doug Tallamy.
Butterflies, bees and moths smell with the tips of their legs, their antennae and their mouthes and long curled tongues. Milkweed is an excellent plant for nectaring because it’s tubular flowers are suitable for long tongues and its blossoms provide a landing platform. Photo courtesy of St Louis Public Radio.

Native habitat is disappearing rapidly in our USA as fencerows are being destroyed for crop farming and land is being developed for residential, commercial and manufacturing use.* It is important to support pollinators by growing native plants to provide nectar and pollen throughout the seasons, and to make sure host plants are included that provide food and shelter for larval development. It is also important to provide access to clean water and to create variable heights for shelter and nesting. Above all, use insecticides sparingly, if at all.

Lastly, tolerate a little mess – leave dead snags and leaf litter, keep some areas bare for ground nesting insects, and tolerate non-noxious, non-invasive weeds that provide food and shelter for pollinators.

*According to Doug Tallamy in the film Hometown Habitat, only 5% of our land remains as native habitat. 42% is being used for crop framing and 53% for development.

See also A Naturally Landscaped Yard and A Living Landscape Mimics Nature. Although focusing on birds, these yard designs are appropriate for pollinators as well.

 

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The Very Hungary Caterpillar

April 18, 2018

I found this little video on a friend’s Facebook page and couldn’t resist sharing it. It’s from Deep Look – PBS. Enjoy!

Why Is The Very Hungry Caterpillar So Dang Hungry?

It's hoarding protein! Not just for itself, but for the butterfly it will become and every egg that butterfly will lay. And it's about to lose its mouth… as it wriggles out of its skin during metamorphosis.

Posted by Deep Look • PBS on Thursday, April 12, 2018

It’s hoarding protein! Not just for itself, but for the butterfly it will become and every egg that butterfly will lay. And it’s about to lose its mouth… as it wriggles out of its skin during metamorphosis.

Thank you Rick Webb for making me aware of this great little video.

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Snow Day 2018

April 16, 2018

I Hope you’re able to enjoy all the snow. The Fox Valley really needed the moisture, so I expect Mother Nature is making up for the lack of snow during our winter season. Enjoy! (Click each photo to enlarge, and then click again.)

The driveway on Monday morning after a snowy weekend. The Town plow has almost buried our mailbox.
The pool area on a Monday morning after a snowy weekend. Looks like about 15 inches of snow in the raised gardens.
The backyard on Monday morning after a snowy weekend. Weatherman said we had 21 inches last night with potential for another 4″ overnight and today.
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2018 Induction Ceremony Cancelled – To Be Rescheduled

April 14, 2018

Roy & Charlotte Lukeswill be inducted into the Wisconsin Hall of Fame in 2018. Photo by Len Villano

Friends,

We just got a call from Sentry. Due to weather, they have cancelled all events/services at the Theater, MUSE, PJ’s and Sentry World for Saturday and Sunday…including our event.

Cancelled: The WCHF Induction Ceremony and Luncheon, tomorrow – April 14th has been cancelled.

We have already contacted key individuals from each of the Induction Groups (see below). 

This has now turned into a major effort just to inform everyone. We will miss many who had not registered.

We will spend the day trying to contact people who have planned to attend via phone trees, e-mails and personal calls using the Registration List, EventBrite register, contacting Inductee groups, speakers, Board Members, etc.

George Meyer: George will contact the Meyer Family and Friends, the CLC group and WWF Affiliates.

Charlotte Lukes: Charlotte, Tim Stone and Roy Thilly will contact the Door County group.

Arlie Schorger: Stan Temple and Michael John Jaeger will contact WSO Affiliates and the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences community.

They will try to inform their party via Phone Trees and e-mails.

Eventbrite: We will also try to use the Eventbrite data base to e-mail those who registered on-line.

Possible Reschedule Dates

Reschedule: Sentry has offered to reschedule for May 12th, 19, or 26.

Will will need to check with Inductees, speakers, others to decide which date might be most appropriate.

Sorry. Stay tuned for future updates through the WCHF blog.

Due to travel safety, this is probably for the best!

Joe

Joe Passineau, President
Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame
Phone: 715-677-4047
Email: jpassine@uwsp.edu

Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame
Celebrating, advancing, and sharing Wisconsin’s Conservation Legacy

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Recent Posts

  • Gardening for Pollinators
  • The Very Hungary Caterpillar
  • Snow Day 2018
  • 2018 Induction Ceremony Cancelled – To Be Rescheduled
  • Hometown Habitat Showing April 19th – Wisconsin

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Donna VanBuecken