Butterfly gardens

A beautiful flower garden that will attract butterflies.

A flower bed or garden can be eye catching and, with the right kinds of plants, can attract some of nature’s most colorful creatures. Planning, planting and tending a butterfly garden are great ways for youth to create an outdoor classroom with lots of possibilities for learning. Here are a few tips to help get started.

Location is very important.  All insects are cold blooded and cannot internally regulate their body temperature.  Butterflies will readily bask in the sun when it is warm, but few are seen on cloudy days.  It is a good idea to leave open areas for butterflies to sun themselves, as well as partly shaded areas with trees or shrubs for shelter when it’s cloudy or too hot. 

Butterflies like puddles. Males of several species congregate at small rain pools, forming puddle clubs. Permanent puddles are easy to make.  Bury a bucket to the rim, fill it with gravel or sand, and then pour in sweet drinks or water

Different types of butterflies have different preferences of nectar color and taste. A wide variety of food plants will give the greatest diversity of visitors. Try staggering wild and cultivated plants, as well as blooming times. Groups of the same plants are easier for butterflies to see than single flowers. Aster, butterfly weed, purple coneflower and verbena attract many species of butterflies.  Overripe fruit is attractive to butterflies as well. 

Water your garden with soaker hoses whenever possible. Overhead watering can wash nectar from the flowers and reduce the amount of available food.

Another way to attract butterflies to your garden is to offer food plants for females to lay their eggs. Some females are picky about the host plants where they will lay their eggs. To attract a particular type of butterfly, you may need to know the plant needs for the adult and the larvae or caterpillar. 

Butterfly gardens are a great source for learning about your own backyard environment.  They also offer enjoyment, photo opportunities and an outlet for artistic talent. By creating a garden habitat, you can help conserve butterflies by providing food, water and shelter to some of nature’s most enchanting creatures.  

Protecting Pollinators

      Spring is here.  Don’t blink; it will be summer soon enough.  As the dandelions, violets, and Bradford pears bloom, we need to think about all the insects, including honeybees, that pollinate those flowers.

Hover Fly pollinating a flower

Insects pollinate a large percentage of food crops grown in the U.S. and all over the world.  Many different species of pollinators exist, but the insect best equipped for this job is the honey bee. Honey bees are exceptionally efficient at collecting and transferring pollen among the flowers of a particular crop.  In a practice known as “flower fidelity” groups of foraging bees will visit just one type of flower, collecting and storing pollen in baskets located on their legs.  As the bees fly from flower to flower, pollen particles are transformed between male and female parts triggering the plant’s reproduction cycle which results in a fruit or vegetable that may eventually find its way to a dinner table. 

A growing concern for U.S. agricultural producers is the continuing decline of honey bee populations.  According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of colonies in Kentucky has dropped dramatically over the last century from 152,900 in 1909 to just 5,000 in 2009.

Many studies are underway to try to pinpoint the cause for this decline, and so far several factors have emerged as detrimental to honey bee health.  One of these involves the use of pesticides and insecticides which can produce harmful effects in other pollinators, too.

Approximately 4,000 species of native or wild bees assist the honey bee in making a large contribution to the pollination task.  They include everything from large bumblebees to tiny sweat bees.  There are miner bees, carpenter bees, mason bees, plaster bees and orchard bees -- all named for the types of nests they build.  Butterflies and some flies also pollinate certain plants. 

You can help promote and protect insect pollinators by following a few simple rules.  Never spray plants with insecticides when the plants are actively blooming.  If chemical applications are necessary, strive for infrequent use and choose selective products with minimal impact on natural resources, especially bees. 

Promote pollinators and invite them into your environment by planting a diverse landscape with flowers, trees and other greenery that bloom in succession from spring into fall. 

Asparagus: a Springtime Treat

Nothing quite compares to the flavor of fresh homegrown asparagus during the months of April, May and June.  Anybody who is an asparagus lover and has some garden space should consider raising it.

 

Early spears waiting for the grill.

Asparagus does not require a lot of special attention.  When planting, be sure to purchase crowns that are one year  old.  You might want to try the male hybrids like Jersey Centennial, Syn4-51, Syn4-56, and Jersey Giant that are on the market now.  They are much better than some of the old standard varieties.

Spacing is critical.  The crowns should be placed 18 inches apart in the bottom of the trench.  The trench should be about 6 to 8 inches deep, 12 to 15 inches wide with rows ideally spaced three feet apart.  It is also a good idea to double dig the trench to loosen up the soil to a depth of 12 to 18 inches.

In the past, asparagus could not be harvested for the first three years but that has all changed.  During the first year the plants should be left alone.  For the second year, limit harvests to three to four weeks, then let the ferns grow.

This procedure is necessary so the root system will develop from its limited size and will store food reserves to produce growth next year.  Plants harvested too early after setting may become weakened and spindly.  During the third year the plants can be harvested all the way through April, May and June.

Harvest spears when they are 5 to 7 inches tall.  Break them off at soil level rather than using a knife, since cutting can easily injure the crown buds which produce the next spears.  It is a good idea to harvest early in the morning and use the spear

or refrigerate them immediately.

Each year in the spring, asparagus should be side-dressed with one pound of 5-10-10 per every 1000 square foot of area.  If good care is taken, the plants can supply tasty asparagus spears for up to 15 years.

Tent Caterpillars are Hatching!

Tent Caterpillars are Hatching!!!!

    Eastern tent caterpillar egg hatch has started.

     "When temperatures are in the upper 70s most of the eggs hatch in eight to ten days, however, highs in the 50s can spread hatch out over a month," said Lee Townsend, Extension entomologist in the University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture. "These caterpillars are basically inactive below 50 degrees so it's easy to see how great an effect temperature has on them."

     The tent caterpillar, which gets its name from the silken tent it constructs in tree branches, prefers wild cherry but also feeds on peach, apple, crabapple and other trees.

     A patient approach will allow any early natural control, such as heavy rains or freezes, to have an effect, and we need to keep in mind that treating too early can mean that additional applications may be needed.  Spraying will be most effective when the nests are established and the caterpillars are actively feeding.  Waiting until the nests are about the size of a baseball or softball should be about ideal. (NOW!)

    Natural enemies play an important role in reducing eastern tent caterpillar numbers in most years. Caterpillars are frequently parasitized by various tiny braconid, ichneumonid, and chalcid wasps. Several predators and a few diseases also help to regulate their populations. 

     Prevention and early control is important. Removal and destruction of the egg masses from ornamental and fruit trees during winter greatly reduces the problem next spring. In the early spring, small tents can be removed and destroyed by hand. Larger tents may be pruned out and destroyed or removed by winding the nest upon the end of a stick. Burning the tents out with a torch is not recommended since this can easily damage the tree.

Young caterpillars can be killed by applying an insecticide containing Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki. Larvae within the tents are protected beneath the webbing and are more difficult to kill with an insecticide.

Hardin County Extension Office (765-4121) www.hardinext.org is an excellent source of information on insect pest management, as well as the UK entomology department's web site at www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/enthp.htm.

Eastern Tent Caterpillar