[Pollinator] pollinator food sources

[Lisa Horth]

Hi Barbara,

Here, the goldfinches have been foraging on the echinacea flower heads (now
seeds) in July and August. The flower heads have looked like you describe
and are now only seeds. The timing of our season (and the heat!) is clearly
different from yours.

I've seen this occurring in the last few years here in southern VA, but
hadn't seen it much here in the past.

Lisa

On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 8:00 AM, Barbara Passero <bpassero at meadowmaking.org>
wrote:

> Hi Lisa and others,
>
> This is the fourth year of our meadow, and the Echinacea is plentiful this
> year, spreading over half of the meadow. However, the echinacea is mostly
> past and faded looking. It’s too early for the birds to want the seeds.
> I’ve been deadheading some of the echinacea to see whether they will grow
> new flowers. I’m researching to find out how to turn the dried out heads
> into seeds.
>
> Bees love Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) and Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium
> purpureum), which are also abundant. In fact, we planted one Vervain
> three years ago, and we found that it fills in every empty space in the
> garden. I love its flower structure—like a candelabra—and beautiful, bluish
> purple intricate flowers, and I recommend planting it anywhere, including
> open, grassy fields where it could spread all over in a few years.
>
> The Joe Pye Weed is a late-season plant, but this year its flowers are
> starting to go by three weeks early.
> I hope that we can find ways to satisfy the dietary needs of birds and
> bees.
>
> *From:* Lisa Horth <lisahorth at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Sunday, August 20, 2017 10:33 PM
> *To:* Barbara Passero <bpassero at meadowmaking.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [Pollinator] pollinator food sources
> Very interesting.
> We have not found ways, but i do also notice that here in VA some of what
> were later season flowers (e.g. Rudbeckia, Echinacea) are getting burnt in
> August and not lasting through fall like they used to....
>
> Lisa
>
> On Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 8:16 PM, Barbara Passero <bpassero at meadowmaking.org
> > wrote:
>
>> Richard Primack, Walden Warming: Climate Change Comes to Thoreau's Woods,
>> and his Boston University research team, examined Thoreau’s and others’
>> records to show that many plants are blooming earlier in the spring.
>>
>> Similarly, we are observing in our pollinator-friendly urban meadow in
>> Waltham, MA, that the flowering season is speeding up. For example, some
>> native goldenrod, milkweed, asters, and other plants, which have been
>> September-November bloomers, are blooming now and presumably will be going
>> by sooner.
>>
>> Many species of pollinators frequent the meadow. Has anyone found ways to
>> ensure that sources of food will be available for bees and butterflies
>> later in the season?
>>
>> Thank you!
>>
>> Sincerely, Barbara
>>
>> Barbara Passero, Director
>> MEADOWSCAPING for Biodiversity
>> 174 Moody St. #244
>> Waltham, MA 02453
>> Office: 781-209-0052 <(781)%20209-0052> Cell: 617-999-9546
>> <(617)%20999-9546>
>> bpassero at meadowmaking.org
>> http://www.meadowmaking.org
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
>
> Associate Professor
> Dept of Biological Science
> Old Dominion University
> Norfolk, VA 23529
>
> lhorth at odu.edu
>



-- 

Associate Professor
Dept of Biological Science
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529

lhorth at odu.edu
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