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Water in the Winter Wildlife Garden

Our array of heated bird baths have been busy non-stop today (amidst the 8″ of snow we’ve had) with a variety of birds, including this flock of American Robins.

Heated bird baths are life savers during wicked winter weather.  They provide crucial drinking and bathing water through snow storms and stretches when all natural water sources are frozen solid.  This is especially important this winter since our area, South Jersey, is still in a state of extreme drought (that’s a step beyond severe drought shared on the U.S. Drought Monitor Map).  Many of our normally wet woods remain bone dry.

Have you set up a heated bird bath this winter?  If not, read on!

Mourning Dove and Brown Thrasher at our heated bird bath

Wildlife needs are basic: food, cover, and water

FOOD needs can be met by planting (or preserving) native nectar plants and native berry-producing and seed-producing plants.

Two of our brush piles near feeding station to provide important winter cover

COVER is crucial so that birds and other wildlife can avoid becoming a predator’s next meal.  Cover also provides safe places to nest, roost through the night, or get out of bad weather.  Native evergreens like Red Cedar, American Holly, and Waxmyrtle offer excellent cover for wildlife.  If your yard is wide open and without adequate cover, gather fallen branches and make a winter brush pile.  You’ll be amazed by all the action it attracts as birds dash for the safety it offers when a hungry hawk flies through the yard.  Or collect discarded Christmas trees and place them near bird feeding stations and bird baths, so that birds are not too vulnerable when they come to feed or drink or bathe.  And next spring seriously consider planting a Red Cedar (or American Holly or Waxmyrtle) or two or three!

Providing WATER is just as important as providing food and cover

Songbirds lose water through respiration and in their droppings. To replace lost water, most songbirds need to drink at least twice a day. In order to stay fit and healthy birds also need to bathe to keep their feathers in good condition. Bathing loosens dirt and makes their feathers easier to preen. Preening is a daily ritual where birds carefully clean, rearrange, and oil their feathers (one-by-one) with their bill — spreading oil along each feather from the preen gland. This daily preening successfully waterproofs their feathers and traps an insulating layer of air underneath to keep them warm. Keeping their feathers in perfect condition through daily preening is a matter of life and death. Well maintained feathers enable birds to fly at a moment’s notice and regulate their body temperature.

E. Bluebirds were drawn to our heated bird bath on January 5, 2016, when the temperature was 11 degrees F.

Birds face difficult times when water is scarce or nonexistent during deep freezes like have experienced several times already this winter and will undoubtedly face again this winter or during drought periods.

Heated Bird Bath

Providing water in the wildlife garden is something many accomplish easily spring through fall, yet fail to do once freezing winter temperatures settle in. There are solutions even in the dead of winter.  A heated bird bath coupled with an outdoor socket is the key. We use an outdoor power cord to connect the two.

We’ve had our Pole Mounted ERVA Heated Birdbath (photo above) for over 25  years.  The pole with its additional leg for support, when driven into the ground, makes this birdbath very sturdy so it remains standing no matter what!  In the summer months I use the same stand to hold a large plastic dish/tray (like you’d put under a large flower pot) full of gooey fruit for butterflies.  So even though expensive, this heated birdbath has served me (and wildlife) very, very well.  Beware that most of today’s standing heated bird bath designs are tipsy by comparison (bird baths balanced on inadequate tripod legs), looking like they’d topple over every time a frisky squirrel leaps up.

As of January 6, 2025,  the Pole Mounted ERVA Heated Birdbath is available at 1st State Seed Garden Supply (best price, on sale at $30 less than other sites) and at Best Nest,  Amazon,  Freeport Wild Bird Supply,  Feed the Birds, Walmart,  and probably elsewhere (currently sold out at Nature House) .

Some heated bird baths rest on the ground and come with additional hardware so they can be attached to a railing like this one (photo above).  If far from cover, place some cut evergreen branches nearby, as we have.

Wildlife gardening friend Jean Riling uses a Bird Bath De-icer unit to keep her bird bath water from freezing (photo below);  Ed & Cindy Russell alerted me that the 80 watt de-icer handles the task far better than the 50 watt version.  Ecosystem Gardener Carole Brown uses a heated dog bowl.

Garden Gang member Steve Mattan shared that he uses a special plug to control when his heated bird bath turns on and off (the plug / thermostatically controlled outlet powers ON at 32-Degrees and OFF at 50-Degrees ).  How cool is that?  Clay & I unplug our extension cord when it’s warm and plug it back in when temperatures drop, but this special plug can save the day if you’re not paying attention.

Shy away from “artistic” bird baths that may look pretty but are not as serviceable to birds: too deep, too fragile and likely to break if they topple over, or (most important of all) are too hard to keep clean. The heated bird baths we’ve used are made of a hard black plastic material that is very easy to clean with a  good scrub brush and a little muscle.

If You Have a Wildlife Pond

If you have a wildlife pond and are thinking of putting a de-icer into it to make that your winter water source for birds, this could lead to some serious problems.  If indeed large flocks of birds descend on your pond to drink, their droppings will accumulate in your pond and you could face an algae problem during the warm month fueled by all these bird droppings.

Remember, birds need cover to avoid hungry predators. Place your heated bird bath near a safe retreat like an evergreen tree or shrub or near a brush pile or, as we have, place some cut evergreen branches around it.

Stay away from chemicals!

Some folks, who don’t know better, add chemicals to keep their bird bath water from freezing (like glycerine, anti-freeze, or salt). This is a death sentence for the birds. These chemicals can destroy the waterproofing capability of birds’ feathers, or poison the birds.

Hermit Thrush at our heated bird bath

Scrub out, rinse, and refill daily

During lengthy periods of frozen conditions water is in such demand that heated bird baths become heavily soiled. To avoid the spread of disease, maintain your heated bird bath with care by scrubbing it out with a soft bristle brush, rinse it with fresh water to wash out any residual bird droppings, and refill it with fresh water at least once (and often twice) a day. With heavy use heated bird baths may be emptied by flocks of birds twice a day or more. We keep a jug of water handy by the backdoor to easily facilitate this task.

Gray Catbird at our heated bird bath

Beyond helping birds survive brutal winter weather, our heated bird baths give us great pleasure. We’ve had excellent looks (and photo opportunities) at some real skulkers like Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, and other secretive birds not normally seen in our yard in winter.

Winter can be a stressful time for birds. Lengthy stretches of sub-zero weather can freeze solid every last bit of available water. Natural foods can be buried by snow. Heavy snow or freezing rain can creep into the deepest cover where birds are roosting.

If you have a tip to share, please do so in the comment section below.  Shared comments and tips by fellow Garden Gang members have made this post stronger and stronger over the years.  Thank you all!

Let’s do what we can to help birds survive a tough winter. Add a heated bird bath (or two or more) to your wildlife habitat this winter.

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Leave the Leaves

It is common sense to LEAVE THE LEAVES.  After all, no one rakes them up in the wild.  When we walk a nature trail through a natural area, we do not need to fight our way though mountains of leaves, do we ? !  “Let Nature be the Guide,” Larry Weaner‘s mantra, is spot on when it comes to leaving the leaves.

If you like birds, leaf litter is your friend.  Our leaf litter strewn property is a mecca for birds year round, including winter.  We’ve hosted several American Woodcock each winter.  No matter how severe the winter is, they’ve been able to probe down through our abundant leaf litter into the thawed ground under this thermal blanket of leaves and find one earthworm after the next.   Frozen hard raked bare properties are devoid of feeding opportunities for American Woodcock or American Robins. Too, many normally secretive birds like Hermit Thrush settle in to our yard and are regulars in garden corners with abundant leaf litter.  It is great fun to watch them kick and toss leaves aside to find snack after snack.

I had great fun working on and researching this topic for a program that I’ve given a number of times now.  It has triggered so many “Ah HA!” moments from  audiences and I pray resulted in many more leaves left to do their job.

In this post I have shared the excellent resources that helped me and can help anyone and everyone understand the value of fallen leaves.  Read them, study up, digest the information, value and cherish fallen leaves as much as I do, and join those of us working to educate others.

First you’ll want to read Doug Tallamy’s book, The Nature of Oaks.  This book richly covers the benefits of oaks and all their leaf litter.  If you’ve never heard Doug Tallamy speak about this topic, attend a presentation or google “Doug Tallamy Youtube Nature of Oaks” and watch one of his presentations that occurred in your region.  Be sure to listen until the Q&A session when attendees ask the very questions on your mind, like “But, what am I to do with all my Oak leaves?”  “Won’t they kill my grass?”  etc.

My own woods have very few large oaks.  But since we cleared out the invasives (Multiflora Rose and Japanese Honeysuckle) in 2009, many many Southern Red Oaks and 5 Willow Oaks have been planted there by Blue Jays.  Some of these oaks are taller than me now.  I look forward to mountains of oak leaves as these oaks mature.   The deciduous trees and shrubs of my woods (Common Persimmon, Black Cherry, Black Locust, Black Walnut, Sweet Gum, Red Maple, Dwarf Hackberry, Winged Sumac, Arrowwood Viburnum) all produce leaves that break down quickly.  Doug Tallamy shares that oak leaves take longer than other leaves to break down (3 years) and that is why oak leaves are so beneficial and support so much life!

So, each fall around late October and early November I carve out time to visit cul-de-sacs near me looking for mountains of oak leaves that have been raked to the curb to be carted away like trash.  I take empty trash cans, a rake, and garden gloves.  I can fit 3 trash cans into my car.  So far this fall (2023), I’ve collected 9 trash cans of oak leaves (3 runs).  I use them to bury my woodland spring ephemeral areas with oak leaves.  Since I’ve been doing this I haven’t had to weed my woods in the spring.  My spring ephemerals easily bust through the leaves, while weeds can not.  It is a win win.  I have to hurry though, the township leaf collecting vehicles are due any day.  If you like this idea, be cautious and selective; i.e. collect leaves from yards with large oaks and do not collect leaves from yards with problematic invasives that you could be bringing in to your own yard via seed heads.

While you’re at it, read all 3 of his books.  They will change your life.

Since Doug Tallamy’s first book, Bringing Nature Home, he has shared the top native plants used by butterflies and moths as host plants to create the next generation. Tallamy refers to these plants as the “Keystone Native Plants.”  He is partnering with other organizations, like National Wildlife Federation, to share Keystone Native Plant information across the country.

For an annotated list of the Keystone Native Plants for your area, go to the National Wildlife Federation Garden for Wildlife website.  Here you’ll find ten different “Keystone Native Plants” Ecoregion handouts (as of November 2023), with others undoubtedly planned. This plant list should be the backbone of your plantings. If you live in southern New Jersey like me, scroll down to “Eastern Temperate Forests – Ecoregion 8″ (which covers nearly all of the East).

Oaks are the top Keystone Native Plant! Then Black Cherry and Beach Plum. Then Willows. Then Birch. And so on. These are the trees that are supporting many, many hundreds of butterfly and moth species. Value these trees and their fallen leaves. You will have made your trees “Ecological Traps” if you instead rake up the leaves, bag them, and send them away (along with all the life they hold and support).

Heather Holm’s 3 books on pollinators of our native plants are beautifully illustrated and packed with natural history information, including where and how our pollinators survive the winter . . . many do so in leaf litter!

Visit Heather Holm’s website and click on the link “Plant Lists & Posters” for beautifully presented and illustrated Native Plant Lists, pollinator fact sheets, and posters, many of which are free to download.  These materials will further help you understand life cycles of our pollinators and teach others!

Also on Heather Holm’s website, click on one of her latest project “Soft Landings.”  Soft Landings is all about leaving the leaves and planting layers of diverse native plants under Keystone trees and shrubs rather than maintaining lawn that needs to be mowed.  This simple switch to gardening under your keystone trees with shade-loving perennials and understory shrubs provides safe sites where the hundreds of species of butterflies and moths using these Keystone trees and shrubs might complete their life cycle and survive when their caterpillars drop to the forest floor to pupate down in the warmth and safety of the leaves.  The downloadable free poster, “Soft Landings” tells the story beautifully. It should convert kids of all ages (yes, I’m talking about big kids too . . . adults) to leave the leaves where they fall.

The Xerces Society’s post, “Leave the Leaves,” is an excellent read addressing those fallen leaves as “free mulch” and  helping to answer questions people have, like whether or not to shred their leaves.  The Xerces Society also sells a very attractive Leave the Leaves SIGN, that might help trigger conversations with neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family, conversations that might help them “get it!” and finally understand.

One more excellent resource to better understand why you want to leave the leaves is the booklet “Life in the Leaf Litter,” by Johnson and Catley, published by the American Museum of Natural History and available on their website as a free download.

Shade Gardening in Your Leaf Litter

Once you’ve read all these terrific resources about just how important leaf litter is, begin shade gardening in leafy spaces on your property . . . in under your trees and shrubs (rather than continue to mow these areas) or along a path through your woods.

Shade-loving perennials will color your leafy spaces in the early, early spring when spring ephemerals bloom and in the fall when the many shade-loving, fall-blooming perennials bloom.  Through the summer months the fall bloomers will add a lovely layer of green to your leafy areas.

To help you along your way with SHADE GARDENING, go to my resources on this topic and learn what has survived and thrived in my shady spaces.  Remember to use as many Keystone Native Plants as possible!

Now with all the time you have available because you are NOT raking your leaves  (nor bagging them up and sending them away), dive in to all this reading and help convert others to LEAVE THE LEAVES!

I thank you and wildlife (fireflies, bumble bees, so many butterflies & moths, etc.) thanks you!!!

As I mentioned, I have an information-rich program on this topic that is illustrated with beautiful photos of so much wildlife that benefits from abundant leaf litter.  If you’d like me to share it with your group via ZOOM, contact me by replying to one of my Garden Gang alerts.

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How to Create a No-Fuss Wildlife Pond

Hi Gang,

The Bergen-Passaic Chapter of the Native Plant Society of NJ had me present my program, “How to Create a No-Fuss Wildlife Pond” via ZOOM this past week. This program is packed with lots of tips on what not to do, sparing you mountains of aggravation and frustration. It also includes many tips on exactly what works to attract more wildlife than you imagined possible. Details follow.

Members and non-members were welcome! But if you are not a member of the Native Plant Society of NJ, you are missing great opportunities and learning experiences galore!!! It is easy to join and support this great group. To join or renew your membership in the Native Plant Society of NJ, click HERE.

The Bergen-Passaic Chapter
of the Native Plant Society of NJ
brought you
“How to Create a No-Fuss Wildlife Pond,”
by Pat Sutton
(a ZOOM presentation)
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

I gave permission to the Native Plant Society of NJ to record this program and have it available for 1 month: 10-9-24 to 11-9-24 (this way an old version won’t be out there long after I’ve updated my program multiple times).  So, if you missed this program, you can find the recording HERE, along with many other excellent presentations that have been given to the Native Plant Society of NJ

Click HERE for my 2-page handout on this topic:
“No-Fuss Wildlife Pond”

ABOUT THE PROGRAM: Frogs, toads, and dragonflies all need freshwater ponds for egg laying to create future generations. Even a tiny pond will attract and support them. Learn what a true wildlife pond is and how simple it is to create – with no need for running water, filters, fish, and all the fuss. Pat Sutton will share the basics of how to create a wildlife pond and, even more importantly, how to maintain it so that wildlife benefits. Learn which native plants to add to the pond (and which problem plants to avoid). Don’t make the same mistake that others have made by creating a pond for exotic fish that supports little else. In a true wildlife pond, expect to attract and watch the amazing life cycle of huge Green Darner dragonflies or count a growing population of Leopard Frogs, Green Frogs, and Gray Treefrogs that find your pond as if by magic. Look forward to the child-like wonder and joy of looking for and finding young Gray Treefrogs that have emerged from your very own pond and taken up residence on insect-rich, native nectar plants in your garden! Create it and they will come!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Learn more about The Bergen-Passaic Chapter of the Native Plant Society of NJ by clicking HERE.

If you live elsewhere in NJ, there are a number of Chapters of the Native Plant Society of NJ. See if there is a Chapter near you. These chapters offer great learning opportunities and will connect you with kindred spirits.

Happy Wildlife Gardening,
Pat

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Do Your Milkweed Leaves Have Holes?

For two solid months (July 9th through September 8th) we enjoyed 1-4 Monarchs daily in our 47-year-old wildlife garden, many days including a female (or two) laying eggs.  We saw our 1st Monarch on May 26th, then another on July 1st. On July 9th we spotted a female laying eggs, and the rest is history.

Our neighborhood may be more of a Monarch oasis than many neighborhoods because  our wildlife garden harbors so many milkweed plants (over 100) and because I have milkweed scattered around our half acre, not all in one or two spots, and because we have a few nearby wildlife gardening neighbors with loads of milkweed .  Garden strolls this summer and early fall included finding multiple eggs, tiny newly-hatched caterpillars, and large caterpillars.  Even now, as I write this on September 18th, I am still finding multiple caterpillars (some small and some about to pupate). We have not found a chrysalis . . . YET, but that doesn’t keep us from looking.

Our milkweed offerings are plentiful, including:

Butterfly Weed     Several plants  return each spring, but are not that happy in our richer-than-they-would-like soil.  This native milkweed much prefers sand, gravel, bone-dry sites, and railroad beds, hence it’s other common name, Railroad Annie.

 

Eastern Swamp Milkweed     Seven plants return each spring in my rain gardens, where hose ends empty out our rain barrels.  This native milkweed is stunning and a magnet to all pollinators.  By September, their leaves are pretty much dried up and not looking their best, but I leave all in place for wildlife!

Common Milkweed     Over one hundred plants are scattered throughout the sunny (and not so sunny) perennial garden, meadow, and vegetable garden.  Many consider this milkweed to be a thug because it sends underground runners and pops up in entirely new sites like garden paths, lawn areas, other garden beds.  For years I dug up these wayward milkweeds and substantial portions of their roots so I could give them away.  Now I cherish each outlier because these outliers are  less likely to attract as many predators.  Monarch eggs and caterpillars on outliers seem to have a better chance of surviving.  This native milkweed is a hotbed of Monarch activity.  It blooms in late June / early July.  Its fragrance is intoxicating and its huge pale pink  balls of flowers steal the show and draw in many, many pollinators.  By August and into October (and sometimes even through November), its leaves are still robust and being used by resident Monarchs as they lay one last batch of eggs before dying.  These  late-season eggs, if frosts hold off, result in one last generation of migratory Monarchs on the Cape May Peninsula (where the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware Bay sustain micro habitats of pleasant weather).

Tropical Milkweed       Each spring I purchase 4-5 plants at nearby Goshen Gardens nursery.  I tuck this non-native annual milkweed into a few spots in my yard, including out front where I have no other milkweeds.  Being an annual this milkweed blooms and blooms and continues to bloom right up until the first frost.  It is a favorite of Monarchs for nectaring and egg-laying.  September 7th I set up a study station for two young home-schooled naturalists.  They discovered an egg and multiple caterpillars on two plants.

I had hoped that my own garden was an indicator that it was a good Monarch year.  But I was in several milkweed-rich gardens on September 8, 2024.  These gardens (in Atlantic County and Gloucester County) were part of a tour of Native Landscapes in South Jersey, organized by the SE Chapter of the Native Plant Society of NJ.  The tour and the properties were inspirational.  Each site was unique and offered great learning opportunities.  But, I saw zero holes in milkweed leaves in the prolific patches.  Huh!  It was a shock to see so much untouched milkweed (without holes in the leaves).  The garden owners shared that they had seen very few Monarchs so far this year.

In comparison, my milkweed leaves are full of holes!  You might not realize this, but when the tiny Monarch caterpillar hatches from its egg, its first meal is what remains of its egg shell.  Then it cuts through the leaf in a nice neat circle around the egg to get the milkweed milky sap (known as latex) to flow .  The bit of leaf in the center of this circle is now latex free and safe for the tiny newborn Monarch caterpillar to eat .   Elizabeth Howard / Journey North has a beautifully written and illustrated graphic on this topic:   “Let’s Find Monarchs! Clues in the Milkweed Patch.”

Maybe the key to more Monarchs is having a few nearby neighbors who are also wildlife gardeners, so your own offerings are not the only show in town.  And if you do have milkweed, be sure to have lots of it and scatter it around so that predators can not find every last egg and caterpillar.  Predators are drawn to our wildlife gardens and all the life we’ve attracted.  Predators are hungry too and a Monarch caterpillar is a choice meal for a paper wasp to carry back to its nest.

Time will tell if summer Monarch numbers were good.  They were in my garden; I still had 7 full grown caterpillars yesterday (September 17th), and that was without even peeking under all the leaves.  But, as I learned just recently, even a county or two away they were absent.

This Fall’s Monarch Migration

If you are keen to witness this fall’s Monarch migration at Cape May, respond to cold fronts.  When temperatures drop and you need to find your flannel PJs or a comforter, seriously consider making the journey to Cape May the next day.  These cool winds from the north and northwest blow southbound migrating birds (and butterflies) out to the coast.  Once migrants reach the coast they hug the land and follow it south (sometimes working hard not to be carried out over the  treacherous Atlantic Ocean waters).   These migrants reach lands end at Cape May Point.

Winds That Bring Monarchs to the Tip of the Cape May Peninsula

Often, the strong winds that carry migrating Monarchs to the tip of the Cape May Peninsula are winds that are not conducive for crossing the Delaware Bay (strong winds that could blow them out to sea instead).  Their numbers may build as they wait for gentler and more favorable winds to cross the bay.  During these periods you can find them nectaring on Giant Sunflower and Groundsel-tree (Baccharis halimifolia) along the trails at the Cape May Point State Park and on Seaside Goldenrod in the dunes.

Winds That Help Monarchs Cross the Delaware Bay

These gathering Monarchs wait for gentle tail winds (winds from the north or northeast) that will enable them to safely cross the Delaware Bay.  Such winds often occur several days after a cold front has passed.  In the meantime, while they are gathered at the tip, enjoy evening roosts (sometimes holding hundreds or thousands) and return at first light to watch “lift off” as they use these gentle tail winds to continue their migration.

There are many opportunities to learn about Monarchs:

NJ Audubon’s Calendar filters for all their Monarch events:

  • Monarch Monitoring Project Drop In(s) at the Nature Center of Cape May
  • Monarch Monitoring Project Drop In(s) at Triangle Park (in Cape May Point)
  • Monarch Tagging Demos

The Cape May Point Science Center is also offering Monarch Butterfly Tagging Demonstrations using a solar-powered GPS device as part of their Project Monarch.  These demonstrations will occur on Thursdays (September 19 and September 26) at 1:00 p.m. and on Saturdays (September 21 and September 28) at 11:30 a.m.  Follow the Cape May Point Science Center’s Facebook page so you don’t miss these and other great learning opportunities.

Do not miss the September 29th Monarch Festival at the Nature Center of Cape May.

On Facebook, follow Cape May Monarchs – this page occasionally informs about Monarch migration, roosts, etc.

The Monarch Monitoring Project home page shares a lot of the history of this project.

 

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An Interview with Pat on The WildStory Podcast

I am a proud member of the Native Plant Society of NJ.  I share Garden Gang alerts, when time permits, about the great work this group is doing. I have been remiss, though, in not sharing with you news of one more incredible learning opportunity from this group featuring often funny, sometimes sad, but always reflective conversations in:

The WildStory, a PODCAST of Poetry and Plants
by the Native Plant Society of NJ
Co-produced by Ann E. Wallace
PhD Poet Laureate of Jersey City
& Kim Correro
Rutgers Master Gardener & Co-leader of the NPSNJ Hudson Chapter
Each podcast also features “Ask Randi,”
questions answered by Dr. Randi Eckel
Entomologist, Vice President of Membership NPSNJ,
& owner of Toadshade Wildflower Farm

If you haven’t tuned in yet,
you can learn about and access all episodes (16 as of September 11, 2024)
of the WildStory Podcasts HERE
Listen on iTunes (apple podcasts), Spotify, or Amazon Music

I was interviewed by Ann & Kim on July 30, 2024
This interview is part of their September 11, 2024 WildStory Podcast

Follow The WildStory Podcast on Instagram HERE
to see videos and extra content

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Since we all love to learn, I knew you’d also want to know that . . .

the Native Plant Society of NJ (NPSNJ)
has a terrific library of webinar recordings
available to all
on their website
You can find them HERE
(obviously bookmark this page and visit it frequently
since new webinar recordings are added regularly)

Obviously, the NPSNJ is a great group to support as a member!

Happy Learning About Native Plants and the Critters That Need Them,
Pat

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Call Now to be Put on No Spray List

Hi Gang,

I am assuming that those of you who have signed up to get my Garden Gang Alerts are wildlife gardeners, that you garden with native plants that serve as nectar plants and host plants for our butterflies and moths, that your yard hosts many birds that feed on those caterpillars, that you welcome all beneficial pollinators, not just butterflies and moths, including bees wasps, flies, beetles, and hummingbirds. If so, your gardens concentrate a super abundance of beneficial pollinators and you are obligated to notify any agencies or private companies that do spray for pest insects like mosquitoes and ticks in your neighborhood.

I am quite flabbergasted by folks who claim that spraying does not occur in their neighborhood. Do they know that with certainty? My neighborhood alone, during this drought summer (except for these crazy rain events), has already been sprayed three times (as of July 3, 2024) by the Cape May County Department of Mosquito Control. If I was not on the Cape May County Department of Mosquito Control’s “Notification List,” I would never know they’d sprayed. They do it at night (between 7:00 p.m. and Midnight or between 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.), by truck, as they drive by.

So, please, for the well being of pollinators you’ve drawn in and concentrated (or if you keep bees, or if you garden organically), if you live here in Cape May County, New Jersey, where spraying for mosquitoes occurs regularly (in response to residents calling in and complaining), you can call and tell the Cape May County Department of Mosquito Control that you do not want your property sprayed.

Call the Cape May County Department of Mosquito Control
609-465-9038
Monday – Friday
( 7:00 a.m. –  3:00 p.m.)
Ask to be put on their “Notification List” / “No Spray List”
Be ready to provide: (1) your name, (2) snail mail address (street address), and (3) e-mail address (so they can notify you when spraying needs to be done in your town).

If you have called previously to be put on the “Notification List” (“No Spray List”), you will remain on this list indefinitely, unless you choose to be removed from the list by calling the Cape May County Department of Mosquito Control.

If you live in another county in New Jersey, where mosquito spraying also occurs, you can call your county mosquito department too and make this same request.

Mosquito Education

Regarding mosquito issues in your neighborhood, education is key. Prevention is the first step. Since mosquitoes need to breed in stagnant water, the most effective form of mosquito control is to remove all open containers to stop mosquito larvae from surviving in them. The non-native Asian Tiger Mosquito (above) breeds readily in man-made sites: saucers under plants, tires laying around, open buckets, etc. It is the main nuisance mosquito around homes and can be avoided. Kyle Rossner, an entomologist formerly with the Cape May County Department of Mosquito Control, created this MOSQUITO HABITAT CHECKLIST (click HERE) to help property owners resolve mosquito breeding sites they themselves may have created. Print this checklist and share it with any neighbors who call the Department of Mosquito Control and complain about mosquitoes or have signed on for treatments by a private company. There is a good chance they have caused the surge of mosquitoes themselves.

Be sure to also read my June 9, 2023, post:   Help! A Private Company is Spraying the Neighbor’s Yard for Mosquitoes !

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Where Have the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds Gone?

JUNE 9, 2024, UPDATE:  As I was writing this post on June 4th we were starting to see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds trickle back to our feeders.  While sitting on our screened back porch the evening of June 2nd Clay had a female visiting a nearby feeder regularly.  I had both males and females hovering outside my office window (where I normally have a feeder hanging, but hadn’t hung one yet).  On June 5th I hung that feeder and enjoyed a steady procession of hummingbirds (plus their buzzing wings distracted me).  By June 7th some favorite feeders were emptying in two days.  Sure enough, Japanese Honeysuckle was DONE!  The garden is full of bugs for hummingbirds, but June is a relatively quiet time in my garden for hummingbird nectar plants, so feeders are key!  As of June 9th, Coral Honeysuckle is no longer covered in blooms, but  will continue to bloom sparsely until the frost.  Lyre-leaved Sage, Wild Columbine, and Red Buckeye are all done (and in seed).  Foxglove Beardtongue is waning.  I can’t wait until the late June/early July hummingbird favorites bloom: Red Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot, Blazing Star, Trumpet Creeper, and many other nectar-rich & insect-rich natives!

Originally written on June 4, 2024

This past spring was one of our best springs for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (I’ve peppered this post with photos from spring 2024).  I’ll quantify that in a bit.

I hung our feeders on April 16, 2024, a little later than usual.  That evening at 5:04 p.m. the first one appeared.  In following days and weeks they were daily visitors to our five feeders, which are scattered around the yard so returning females can feed in peace and be more inclined to nest in our yard.  Each day we witnessed chases, and a female came in to drink and bath several times at our fountain.

They were drawn to all the spring-blooming goodies I’ve planted to attract them (Lyre-leaved Sage, Wild Columbine, Coral Honeysuckle, Red Buckeye, Coral Bells, blueberries, and Pinxterbloom Azalea).  Since their diet is also made up of soft-bodied insects (the protein they need), they find those “a plenty” in our half-acre of native plants.

By early May a few of our feeders were being emptied of their 2 ounces in 2 days.  So, after washing these feeders (which I do every 7 days or sooner if the solution turns cloudy), I refilled them with 4 ounces of solution (instead of my normal 2 ounces for slow periods).  Those feeders were also emptied in 2 days.  Hmmmmm!  This was unlike any spring we’ve experienced when 2 ounces per feeder easily lasts a week.  This rather intense and steady Ruby-throated Hummingbird action lasted until the evening of May 18, 2024.  Then they were gone, or so it seemed.

The next day I looked around and, sure enough, Japanese Honeysuckle had just begun to bloom, right on schedule.  Each mid-May through mid-June Ruby-throated Hummingbird sightings drop off abruptly.  Many assume that they’ve left, but in fact they are feeding on blooming Japanese Honeysuckle instead.

Tonight while sitting on our screened porch, Clay witnessed a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird come repeatedly to the feeder hanging from our back porch.  Maybe she has young already.  As I sit here on this cool June 3rd evening, the sweet scent of Japanese Honeysuckle drifts in my open window.  Yes it is highly invasive, and we’ve removed it and are always on the lookout for seedlings in our woods and elsewhere on our property.  But a mass of it covers the chain link fence that surrounds our backyard.  Because it grows up and over the chain link fence from each of our neighbors’ yards (to either side), we let it be.  It is too mighty a task to remove it.

We have a few more weeks of infrequent Ruby-throated Hummingbird sightings.  Why?  Because they will continue to feed instead on Japanese Honeysuckle as long as it is blooming (@ mid-May – mid-June).  As a long-time naturalist and wildlife gardener, I’ve shared this observation/fact in my Hummingbird Fact Sheet for over 30 years now (point 5 under “Feeder Maintainance,”) but still people are caught by surprise when activity drops way off.

But they’ll be back, so be sure to keep your feeders well maintained with fresh solution.  And be sure to provide native nectar plants they are drawn to, like Foxglove Beardtongue, a great native perennial during the quiet bloom period from late May to mid-June.

If any of your neighbors are swayed to hire one of the Mosquito and Tick Removal companies, speak to them about your hummingbirds and share that the sprays used by these companies impact hummingbirds, the insects they need to feed on, and many, many beneficial insects.  Read my post, “Help! A Private Company is Spraying The Neighbor’s Yard for Mosquitoes.” It contains many more details on this topic.  And just today, June 4, 2024, there was an excellent article on this topic (“What are Eco-Friendly Ways to Control Backyard Bugs“) from the New York Times climate desk.

Be sure to read my other Hummingbird POSTS:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird — Part One — SPRING ARRIVAL
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds: How to Attract Them

Happy Wildlife Gardening,
Pat

Posted on

Landscape Design With Birds and Pollinators in Mind

Hi Gang,

This summer I am teaching a “Landscape Design With Birds & Pollinators in Mind” class twice in Avalon. These 2-hour indoor classes are co-sponsored by the Avalon Environmental Commission and the Avalon Free Public Library. The classes are FREE but registration is required. Details follow:

June 14 (Friday), 2:30-4:30 p.m.
(same class offered Fri., August 16, but at a different location)
“Landscape Design with Birds and Pollinators in Mind”
by Pat Sutton
Registration required; Space limited to 20
Where: Avalon at the Tennis Building, 250 39th St, Avalon, NJ 08202

August 16 (Friday), 2:30-4:30 p.m.
(same 2-hr class offered Friday, June 14, but at a different location)
“Landscape Design with Birds and Pollinators in Mind”
by Pat Sutton
Registration required; Space limited to 20
Where: Avalon Free Public Library, 235 32nd St, Avalon, NJ 08202

DETAILS ABOUT THESE CLASSES:

Registration is required.

For the June 14th CLASS Avalon property owners began registering May 17. Registration opened up to others on May 31.

For the August 16th CLASS Avalon property owners may register beginning July 19. All others may register beginning August 2.

To register, please call the Avalon Library at 609-967-7155 or stop by their circulation desk at 235 32nd St, Avalon, NJ 08202.  At registration, participants will receive Pat Sutton’s handout, “Landscape Design with Pollinators and Birds in Mind,” which includes instructions on creating a sketch of their property required for the class. Be sure to read this handout over prior to the class so that you get as much as possible out of the class.

The property sketch should be emailed to Pat 3 days prior to the class (so by the end of the day on Tuesday, June 11th for the June 14th class and by the end of the day on Tuesday, August 13 for the August 16th class). The property sketch should have the registrant’s name in large, bold letters on the sketch in a spot that will be included when it is photographed or copied and sent to Pat.  Photograph the property sketch (so that your name on the sketch shows up), and e-mail the jpg or pdf scan to Pat Sutton (Pat’s e-mail is at the top of her Landscape Design HANDOUT received upon registration). In the e-mail subject line registrants should enter: “Landscape Design – June 14 or August 16 (whichever day/class they signed up for) – their full name.”  If you feel more comfortable sending Pat a few photos of the area you would like to transform into a native plant habitat, by all means send photos instead, but please don’t crash her computer with many HUGE photos. If you have any questions, reach out to Pat (but hopefully everything is explained in her handout and these instructions).

The first half of the class will cover resources and a slide program about the topic. During the second half of the class the group will brainstorm the projected images of each participant’s rough sketch. This brainstorming session should result in participants heading home with ideas and plans to enhance each of their properties for pollinators and birds.

Happy Wildlife Gardening,
Pat

Posted on

Doug Tallamy in Avalon, NJ, on Mon., August 26, 2024 (7 pm)

Hi Gang,

Doug Tallamy is returning to Avalon, NJ, this August to present a brand new program.  I’m intrigued and looking forward to hearing it.  Like me, he gets e-mails, calls, and requests to answer questions folks have.  Often, these requests are from folks who have read his 4 excellent books, heard him speak, jumped in to planting native plants, but they want and need more information.  Well, Doug Tallamy plans to include many of those questions and his answers in this new program.  Mark your calendar and don’t miss it!

Monday, August 26, 2024
7:00 p.m.
Doug Tallamy presents:
“I Know You’re Very Busy but  …
I want to learn more about nature gardening”
WHERE: Avalon Community Center
3001 Avalon Avenue
Avalon, NJ 08202
FREE, no preregistration needed

ABOUT THIS PROGRAM in Doug Tallamy’s words:  Nearly every day I get emails from people who have read my books and heard my talks and yet still have questions about ecological landscaping. These are good, thoughtful questions about ecology and evolution, biodiversity, invasive species, insect declines, native and non-native plants, conservation and restoration, residential and city landscapes, urban issues, oak biology, keystone plants, Homegrown National Park, monarchs, supporting wildlife at home, and more. In this talk I address as many of these queries as I can with hope that my answers will further motivate people to help restore ecosystem function where they live, work, play, worship, and farm.

Doug Tallamy is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 111 research publications and has taught insect-related courses for 41 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His books include Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, Nature’s Best Hope, a New York Times Best Seller and The Nature of Oaks, which won the American Horticultural Society’s 2022 award. In 2021 he cofounded Homegrown National Park with Michelle Alfandari. His awards include recognition from The Garden Writer’s Association, Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, Allegheny College, Ecoforesters, The Garden Club of America and The American Horticultural Association.

This program is sponsored by the Avalon Environmental Commission and the Avalon Free Public Library.

Change the course of dwindling bird, butterfly, and moth numbers by gardening for LIFE with native plants.  Learn from the guru who has taught so many so much, Doug Tallamy: Entomologist, professor at the University of Delaware, and author of four  highly educational, eye-opening, and award-winning books.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Doug Tallamy speak.  Too, please spread the word.  Let’s grow our numbers!    Bring your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and your landscaper (so you can speak the same language)!

Pat

Posted on

Hair Cuts Needed For Some Native Perennials

Hi Gang,

I’ve been chipping away at my wildlife gardens since sometime in March.  I am quite sure that as recently as two weeks ago I could still easily spot all the baby Black Walnut trees coming up in my perennial gardens that squirrels had planted for me.  I kept trying to bring that task up to the top of the list.  Too, just two weeks ago there were many bare areas in the perennial garden.  In just two weeks perennials have exploded, there are hardly any bare areas, and those Black Walnuts, well, good luck finding them now.

The lushness and fullness of a perennial garden in late May is joyful to behold.  All of sudden my asters were three to four feet tall.  So I got my clippers out and gave them and a few other fall-blooming perennials a HAIR CUT .  I cut back New England Aster, Common Blue Wood Aster, Smooth Blue Aster, and Tall Sunflower (my stands of White Wood Aster did not yet need a haircut).  Why haircuts, you might ask.  It is quite simple.  If you want these fall-blooming perennials bushy and full of flowers when they bloom, they need haircuts now, otherwise by fall they will be so top heavy that they are likely to flop over from the weight of flowers on long, unbranched stalks.

Years ago Flora for Fauna (native plant nursery) owner Karen Williams shared this sage advice about maintaining one of my favorite native perennials, New England Aster, and I’m about to share it with you.  Though this post is for folks with plants that are several years old and flourishing, not for brand, spanking new plants that have just been put into the ground this year.

NEW ENGLAND ASTER
2 HAIR CUTS: Memorial Day & 4th of July

Blooming New England Aster is a magnet for Monarchs and other pollinators, here on October 2nd in my garden

New England Aster can get very tall and top heavy by the time it blooms in the fall. And the last thing any of us want is for its lovely spread of glowing purple flowers, nectar, and joy to be laying on the ground come fall.

To help it grow into a many-branched, bushy plant instead of a tall, gangly, top-heavy plant, all you need to do is to give it 2 hair cuts on or around the 1st two holidays of the growing season: Memorial Day and 4th of July. Of course these dates are not single-day events, but roughly when you want to give New England Aster its hair cuts.  Too, you can be the judge if you need to do your hair cuts earlier, or even if the 2nd haircut is needed.  With the cool and relatively wet (and very pleasant) spring we had in southern NJ in 2024, I noticed that my plants needed hair cuts quite a while ago.  Know that you can jump start the process by several weeks to a month some years!

As a wildlife gardener I don’t clean up and toss the cuttings, but instead leave them on the ground at the base of the plant.  That way any caterpillars that went for a tumble with the cuttings can climb back onto the plant and continue to munch.  Doug Tallamy (author of Bringing Nature Home, Nature’s Best Hope, and The Nature of Oaks) shares that 112 species of butterflies and moths lay their eggs on our native asters, making asters one of the TOP 20 perennials used by butterflies and moths for egg laying.  Don’t be surprised if some of your cuttings take root and become additional asters!

New England Aster in need of its first haircut, otherwise this plant will certainly flop come the fall blooming period
New England Aster after its first haircut.  I cut a good foot or two off the top of each stem (hedge trimmers work great . . . no need to be fussy and cut stem-by-stem).
13 days later, the New England Aster is already branching heavily where each stem was cut.

Around Memorial Day, I cut each stem 1/2 (or 2/3) off (or about a foot or two off the top, depending on how tall it is, if that is easier for you to remember). I use big shears and just chop  away. What happens next is that each cut plant stem sends out 2 or more new shoots where it has been cut, in other words it branches and becomes more bushy!

E. Cottontail caught in the act of giving Common Blue Wood Asters a hair cut on May 28th one year

Some of my asters get regular haircuts  from plentiful E. Cottontails (they must think our yard is one large salad bowl crafted just for them).  I’ve planted the lovely fall-blooming, shade loving Common Blue Wood Aster, Symphyotrichum cordifolium, under our Tulip Tree and in our woods.  Despite hungry rabbits it has flourished and spread into other beds, our meadow, the perennial garden, and elsewhere and that pleases me.  It is so plentiful that it keeps the rabbits busy and away from most other asters.   We’ve fenced our yard, so deer are not an issue for us.  But other gardeners share that deer routinely give their asters hair cuts.

If needed, around 4th of July, I give my plants their 2nd hair cut (not back to the 1st cut, but cutting back some of the new growth since Memorial Day). You may want to be more creative for this hair cut and cut the many stems in your plant different lengths. For instance, give the stems in the foreground more of a hair cut, the stems in the middle less of a hair cut, and the stems in the back just a little hair cut. This way your plant stems will bloom at different heights.

Summer 2024 Update:  2024 was a very odd (hopefully not the “new normal”) summer.  Late May through all of June 2024 we experienced a severe drought in Goshen (Cape May County), NJ.  We had no measurable rain for 6 weeks, coupled with a heat dome that hovered over us during the longest days of the year.  It was brutal.  Many native perennials suffered and barely grew.  By July 4th, when I normally give some of my fall-blooming plants their 2nd haircut, it was totally unnecessary.  Thankfully, we had some crazy-heavy rains that helped rejuvenate wildlife gardens (June 30 -July 1 we had 4.4″ and July 12-14 we had 5.85″ of rain — I submit daily rainfall to CoCoRaHS).  One plant I did give a 2nd haircut to was my Tall (or Giant) Sunflower.  And I did not do that until July 9, 2024.  In my garden this summer nothing else has needed the 2nd haircut.

You may find that some plants haven’t grown as tall as others, so you may choose to pass on the 2nd hair cut for some plants. If so, you’ll find that these plants will bloom earlier. This staggers the blooming period so that you have New England Aster nectar, color, and joy far longer in your wildlife garden.

Sutton fall gdn-w-sig
My garden on September 27th full of mounds of blooming asters, thanks to hair cuts earlier in the year.

A bit more advice: once given hair cuts, New England Aster has “ugly legs.” The stems below the 1st haircut look “not so nice” . . . the leaves darken and fall off and the stems are quite bare. So you’ll want to have other perennials in the foreground blocking that view, so you’re not looking at ugly bare legs.

You can give 1-2 haircuts to some other fall-blooming perennials that grow tall and flop, so they’ll instead branch and become more bushy:
Goldenrod
Sedum
Sunflower

I love Tall (or Giant) Sunflowers and so do the Monarchs when they are migrating through in the fall
But if I’ve forgotten to give Tall (or Giant) Sunflower the 2 haircuts, it can be a beast to prop up or tie up, and keep from falling over, as you can see
Seaside Goldenrod chopped back after its 1st haircut. As it continues to grow I often spot stems I missed, grab the clippers and take care of business

For some summer-blooming plants that grow too tall for your garden, you can give them one haircut around Memorial Day, forcing them to branch, become bushier, and bloom lower. I sometimes do this with some of my favorite summer nectar plants so that I have an easier time seeing and photographing pollinators on them:
Culver’s Root
Garden Phlox (I tried this for the 1st time in 2023)
Ironweed
Joe-pye-weed
Sneezeweed
Blue Vervain
various Bonesets

Culver’s Root responding to its haircut, branching nicely!
I gave the Culver’s Root stems in the foreground a haircut, but left the back stems untouched.  This way the untouched stems will bloom on time and the  branching stems (due to a haircut) will bloom a bit later, and so the plant will offer nectar for a longer period

You can always experiment on other fall-blooming perennials that have flopped in your garden. If you’re not sure how hair cuts will turn out on plants other than those I’ve mentioned, try giving a hair cut to one stem ONLY (or if you have several plants of Cut-leafed Coneflower, for example, in your garden, give one of them hair cuts so you can compare results with your uncut plants). Then see how your plant reacts and whether you like the results.

Don’t hesitate to ask a question, but please use the Comment Box at the end of this post, so others can benefit from your question and my answer.  Maybe scroll down through previous questions; you may find that your question is already answered.

Happy Wildlife Gardening,
Pat