Native Plants for Pollinators of the Mid-Atlantic

April 29, 2024

Master Gardeners UDC

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Kathy Sykes, MA

Master Gardener

Master Naturalist

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sykeskathy@yahoo.com

Regenerate Biodiversity & Ecosystems

“In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”

�— DOUG TALLAMY, PhD Entomology

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Source: https://homegrownnationalpark.org/

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UN Report on Biodiversity

• “1 million species face extinction, … humans will suffer as a result.”

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• Decline affects foundations of economies, food security, health & quality of life.

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Transformative changes needed

to restore & protect nature.

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Sources: Washington Post, Darryl Fears, May 6, 2019. https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1037941

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40% Insect Species Verge of Extinction �Over Next 20 years – An Increasing rate

1. Butterflies, moths (Lepidoptera)
2. Bees, wasps, ants, sawflies (Hymenoptera)
3. Dung beetles (Coleoptera)

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Thomas et al., 2004

Land-based native species has declined by at least 20% since 1900.

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Species Most at Risk

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Causes of Decline of Insects

Main Causes:

• Habitat loss & intensive agriculture & urbanization.
• Chemical pollutants (pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides).
• Biological factors: pathogens & introduced & invasive species.
• Climate change.

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Source: Biological Conservation Volume 232, April 2019, Pages 8-27

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Hippocratic Garden Oath

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• Do no harm.

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• Restore nature and save pollinators.

Lawns: Deeply Rooted Status Symbol

• East of Mississippi River, 90% of landscape is lawn.
• And 80% of plants are nonnative.

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• 40 M acres of turfgrass in U.S.

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• U.S. adds 500 sq. miles of grass yearly. (320,000 acres).

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Photo: Nature’s Best Hope p 114

Source: Nature’s Best Hope, p. 47

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Lawns and Turfgrass�“Ecological Wasteland”

To grow perfect lawns, we pollute & divert precious resources, -- 8 billion gallons of water daily!

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Maryland has 1.1 million acres as of lawn.

• Twice combined area of state parks, forests & wildlife preserves.

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Nature’s Best Hope., Tallamy, p.47

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Unsustainable�Watering & Fertilizing Lawns

• In summer, 30% of water used on East Coast is for lawns.

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• 40% of chemicals used for lawns in USA are banned in other countries.

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• ~50 % fertilizers applied to lawns end up in ground & surface water, killing aquatic life, contaminating drinking water.

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Source: Natures Best Hope, Tallamy, pp 55-59

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Commit to 50% less lawn– �Home Grown National Park

• If we convert lawn to productive native plant communities-- That’s 20 million acres.

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More area than all these parks combined!

Everglades, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Teton, Canyonlands, Mount Rainer, North Cascades, Badlands, Olympia, Sequoia, Denali, Grand Canyon, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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Nature’s Best Hope, p 62. https://homegrownnationalpark.org/

Doug Tallamy, Entomologist, writer, researcher

Depth of Roots: Lawn vs Natives

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https://dyckarboretum.org/roots-of-native-plants/

Coneflower

Goldenrod

Little blue stem

Pollinators

Who?

• Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, & other small mammals.

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Why do we need them?

• 75% to 95% all flowering plants need help with pollination.
• Pollination forms basis for Earth’s biodiversity and helps sustain our ecosystems

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What is Pollination?

Plants use pollen to produce seeds & fruits.

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• Pollinators seek pollen and/or nectar from flowers.

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• Brush up against reproductive plant parts unknowingly, deposit pollen when moving from flower to flower.

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Types of Pollination

• Animals/insects flowering plants
• Wind grasses, conifers, oaks
• Water aquatic flowering plants�

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Essential for our Food

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• > 200,000 species are critical to our food supply

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• 1 in 3 bites we eat require pollinators.

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• Annual value of insect pollinators in USA $34 Billion (2012)

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decomposers

https://beta.nsf.gov/news/economic-value-insect-pollination-services-us-much-higher-thought-study-finds

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Coevolution of Plants and Pollinators

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail &

Black–Eyed Susan, and Phlox

Bumblebee and purple coneflower

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Pandora Sphinx moth

Columbine is host plant

National Gardening Survey 

2022 Lawn & Garden Industry Results.

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• ~1/3^rd Gardeners invest in plants that benefit bees, butterflies, & birds.

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• 25% buy native plants.

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• Good news, number reported buying natives has doubled since 2019.

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Define Native Plants

• Developed 100s-1,000s yrs. ago, in a specific region or ecosystem. (Mid-Atlantic)

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• Before European settlers (1500’s).

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• Natives provide food & shelter for birds, bats, insects.

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Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

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Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ct/technical/ecoscience/invasive/?cid=nrcs142p2_011124

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20,000 Native Plants in U.S.A.

• USA – 1 of most diverse temperate floras worldwide.

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~ 17,000 species of vascular native plants, thousands other species & organisms, algae, lichens, fungi, & mosses.

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~ 11,300 invasive vascular plants.

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https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2018/1156/ofr20181156.pdf

Poison Ivy, Toxicodendron radicans

Environmental Benefits of Native Plants: Air, Water & Soil

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• Water cycle depends on plants to return moisture to atmosphere

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• Natural pest control

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• Carbon sequestration & resilience

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• Rainwater and soil retention

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Plant for Biodiversity �w/host Natives for�Pollinators

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• Goldenrod (Solidago)
• Coneflower (Echinacea)
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
• Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium)
• Milkweed (Asclepias)
• Sunflower (Helianthus mollis)
• Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)

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Black-eyed Susan

Goldenrod

Milkweed seed

Swamp milkweed

To Save the Bees…

Bees Require�1. Nesting habitat (leave leaves)

2. Food– Diverse floral resources

3. Avoid Pesticides –Neonicotinoids spread thru entire plant, including pollen & nectar.

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Public is wary of bees

Pamphlet – No Fear of Stings

(see below)

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Create a Bee-Friendly Garden

https://www.pollinator.org/bfg

Source: Bumble Bees of Eastern U. S.

https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/NAPPC.NoFear.brochFINAL.pdf

Invasive Plants Defined

• Nonnative to ecosystem.

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• Introduced plants cause, or likely cause, economic or environmental harm, or harm to human health.

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Source: Executive Order 13112. In 1999, established the National Invasive Species Council

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Garlic Mustard, (Alliaria petiolata)

Health and Costs of Invasives: �Lost Generation

• Increased severity of respiratory allergies due to pollen from invasives

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• $120 B per yr. = U.S. cost of invasive plants.

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Invasive plants can harm pollinators.

• Native toothwort host plant for WV white butterfly.

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• Yet, female lays her eggs on garlic mustard, losing a generation.

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Toothwort - native

Cardamine concatenate

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Garlic mustard

Alliaria petiolate

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ct/technical/ecoscience/invasive/?cid=nrcs142p2_011124

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WV white butterfly (Pieris virginiensis)

�� ����������Characteristics of Invasives�

• Produce many seeds, easily dispersed and are resilient.

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• Reproduce by roots, stems, seeds.

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• Release chemicals that inhibit growth or kill nearby native plants.

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• English ivy can kill trees.

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English Ivy (Hedera helix L.)

Remove Invasives from Your Property�or Volunteer with Rock Creek

Which plant(s) are invasive and what are they?

Invasive Plants: Self-Replicating Threat to Ecosystems Everywhere

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“If everyone removed invasives from their own property, 86% of the land would be free of these ecological tumors.”

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Douglas W. Tallamy, Ph.D.

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https://www.invasive.org/midatlantic/fieldguide/

Define Nonnative Plants

• A plant introduced with human help (intentionally/ accidentally) to a new place or where it was not previously found.

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• Butterfly bush, is a nonnative and invasive plant. USDA categorizes it as a noxious weed.

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• Not one native caterpillar eats butterfly bush leaves.

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Butterfly bush (Buddleja species) China

https://gardenforwildlife.com/blogs/learning-center/why-to-avoid-butterfly-bush#:~:text=The%20butterfly%20bush%20is%20not,can%20feed%20on%20butterfly%20bush.

Alternatives for Butterfly Bush

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• Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)

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• Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica)

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• Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

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• Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

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Importance of Native Plants and Lepidoptera

• Biodiversity is critical.
• 5% local plants host ~75% of lepidoptera species

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• Native landscape w/out keystone plants will support 75% fewer caterpillars & food web falls apart

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Nature’s Best Hope, Tallamy p. 139

Monarch on asters

Mid-Atlantic �Keystone Trees & Plants

Disproportionately large impact on abundance & diversity of other species.

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• Oak tree hosts 557 lepidoptera species
• Sunflowers (Helianthus)
• Asters (Symphiotrichum)
• Goldenrods (Solidago)

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Nature’s Best Hope, p 139-141

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New England Aster, Tall Goldenrod

Caterpillars Critical to Baby Birds

• 96% of all bird species feed their young caterpillars

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• Easy to feed – soft
• High in protein & fat

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Nature’s Best Hope, Tallamy, p. 131

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Carolina Chickadees Study

Landscape choices matter -- affect populations of birds & insects.

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Native plants create greater biodiversity.

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Gardens with nonnatives = fewer insects available during vital periods of reproduction.

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https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01076.x

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70% Native Plants �to Ensure Future Generations

Plant 70% natives ensures replacement of current population of pollinators.

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Nature’s Best Hope. Tallamy (2019) pp 112-113

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320717305153

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Plant a Native Garden

1. Select any size site.

2. Remove invasives, grass

3. Avoid chemicals, pesticides.

4. Plant trees & keystone plants.

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1. Select Any Size Site

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Politics & Prose Before

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After

Tree boxes, yard, containers

Bread Furst

2. Remove Grass & Invasives

Grass a “dead zone” does minimal carbon sequestration due to shallow roots.

• Invasives out compete native plants for food, water & space.
• English ivy & Japanese pachysandra provide natural shelter to mosquitoes.

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3. Avoid Using Pesticides, Herbicides, Fertilizers, etc.

Pesticides prevent, destroy, repel or reduce pests & harm beneficial insects.

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Chemicals don’t stay where applied, they stray & enter groundwater, kill insects

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Neonicotinoids – Serious killer, nectar & pollen.

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Avoid fertilizers – can contain herbicides

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Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring

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Avoid Applying Herbicides (glyphosate) or Insecticides (mosquito sprays) (Use Dunks)

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Help me!

Mosquito squad

Pesticide Application

Beneficial Insects -- Natural Pest Control

• Ladybugs eat aphids, mites, & whiteflies.
• Orb spiders eat 2X weight daily in aphids, leaf miners, mosquitos & stinkbugs

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Beneficial insects: Orb Spider & Ladybug

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Aphids, trouble

4. Plant Native Trees (if room) & Keystone Plants

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Sunflowers

Aster

Goldenrod

Host Plants Butterfly Species

1. Goldenrod 63
2. Strawberry 53
3. Sunflower 48
4. Joe Pye weed 34
5. Violet 25

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Host Plants Ranked by #’s of Butterfly Species (20008)

Solidago rugosa Solidago 'Dansolitlem’

National Wildlife Federation https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/

Plant for All seasons…Bees Need Daily Nectar &/ or Pollen

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Resources Eastern Temperate Forest–Ecoregion 8

https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Garden-for-Wildlife/Keystone-Plants/NWF-GFW-keystone-plant-list-ecoregion-8-eastern-temperate-forests.pdf?sc_lang=en&hash=C475FADDFCC2622C7539F25935F5DAA1

Ecoregion 8 -- Eastern Temperate Forest

Mid-Atlantic States: NC, WV, VA, Md, DE, NJ, PA, & DC.

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• Share common ecosystem characteristics: weather, seasons, wildlife, soil, etc.

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• Ecoregions useful for geographically grouping native keystone plants.

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Bumble bee on Cercis canadensis

See https://plants.usda.gov/home

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Source: https://www.xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/22-024_01_NPPBI—Mid-Atlantic_web.pdf

Designate Pesticide-free Gardens

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https://www.beyondpesticides.org/ �

Beyond Pesticides

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Signs promote pollinator-friendly

gardens.

Benefits of Matrix Design

1. Encourages biodiversity.

2. Less maintenance, self-sustaining.

3. Saves time.

4. Increases soil fertility.

5. No mow, fewer emissions & weeds.

6. Retains and conserves water.

7. Multi-seasonal food for bees all season.

8. Naturally disease-pest resistant.

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Native Trillium

Design a Plan -- �You are the Artist

• Native grasses establish structure.
• Groundcover is filler.
• Mimic what’s found in nature.
• Diversity and natives.

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https://www.fix.com/blog/matrix-gardening-for-beginners/

Leave the Leaves

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• Leave the leaves, don’t bag or rake

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• It’s winter habitat for beneficial insects.

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• Priceless natural fertilizer, suppresses weeds & it’s free.

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• Retains water like a sponge, helps with heavy downpours.

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Poisonous & Invasive Nandina

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• Cyanide containing berries toxic to birds, cats, & grazing animals. Cedar waxwing study.

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• Maryland requires sign to sell invasive plants, i.e., Nandina

“ Tier 2 invasive, may cause environmental harm”.

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Source: Vet Med Int. 2010; 2010: 818159.

Published online 2010 Dec 9. doi: 10.4061/2010/818159

Feeding Behavior-Related Toxicity due to Nandina domestica in Cedar Waxwings

Cedar Waxwing

Heavenly Bamboo, Nandina

Substitutes for Nandina

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Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)  

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Inkberry (Ilex glabra)

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Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) 

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Red Twig dogwood (Cornus sericea)

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We Can Shrink our Lawns

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Plant natives: Attract insects, orb spiders, bees & restore ecosystems.

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