It’s now June, and I’ve been seeing pollinators, in the flowers, gardens and today in the woods! The pollinator garden that I planted in the fall is filled with green: penstemon, swamp milkweed, tiny leaves of Agastache, and monarda – all natives. I have faith that their blooms will coincide with the needs of the native insects who are depending on them for food. Timing is everything!
Fortunately, there are shrubs and flowers elsewhere in other gardens – baptisia, one of my favorites, tall and blue, lavender nepeta, and white Rosa Rugosa, all filled with buzzing bees. We’ve seen hummingbird moths and butterflies on the dwarf lilac yesterday – always a treat!
There’s a new clearing in the woods, created by the removal of many invasive buckthorns, with a sunny space, with dirt, ferns, bloodroot, tiny maples, duff and rocks, of course – where, in Vermont, are there NOT rocks and stones?! Steve, the invasive remover extraordinaire, has planted 10 trees to fill the space: 2 sugar maples, bur oaks and red oaks. Oaks are the keystone tree, according to Doug Tallamy, hosting 500 species, more than any other tree.
As I stood in the woods, and watched, I noticed three different butterflies in the clearing: one was large and dark, maybe a Red-Spotted Purple, another a Great Eastern Swallowtail, and the 3rd was an Eastern Tailed-Blue. I’m still learning the many Vermont butterflies, and it’s a pleasure.
We’ve seen fireflies in the meadow as well – so lovely, as they flash in the dark. They’re endangered, and we can help by turning off outside lights, using motion-detector lights ,and closing shades or curtains at night. Light pollution has increased 100% in the last 10 years, so let’s do what we can to keep our skies dark.