Dogbanes (Apocynaceae) – LIFE IN THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER WATERSHED

June 15, 2024June 15, 2024

Prescribed Fire: Controlled Burns for Forest and Non-forest Habitats

Homo sapiens owes much of its success as a species to an acquired knowledge of how to make, control, and utilize fire. Using fire to convert the energy stored in combustible materials into light and heat has enabled humankind to expand its range throughout the globe. Indeed, humans in their furless incomplete mammalian state may have never been able to expand their populations outside of tropical latitudes without mastery of fire. It is fire that has enabled man to exploit more of the earth’s resources than any other species. From cooking otherwise unpalatable foods to powering the modern industrial society, fire has set man apart from the rest of the natural world.

In our modern civilizations, we generally look at the unplanned outbreak of fire as a catastrophe requiring our immediate intercession. A building fire, for example, is extinguished as quickly as possible to save lives and property. And fires detected in fields, brush, and woodlands are promptly controlled to prevent their exponential growth. But has fire gone to our heads? Do we have an anthropocentric view of fire? Aren’t there naturally occurring fires that are essential to the health of some of the world’s ecosystems? And to our own safety? Indeed there are. And many species and the ecosystems they inhabit rely on the periodic occurrence of fire to maintain their health and vigor.

**For the war effort-** The campaign to reduce the frequency of forest fires got its start during World War II with distribution of this poster in 1942. The goal was to protect the nation’s timber resources from accidental or malicious loss due to fire caused by man-made ignition sources. The release of the Walt Disney film “Bambi” during the same year and the adoption of the Smokey the Bear mascot in 1944 softened the message’s delivery, but the public relations outreach continued to be a key element of a no-fire policy to save trees for lumber. Protection and management of healthy forest ecosystems in their entirety has only recently become a priority. (National Archives image)

Man has been availed of the direct benefits of fire for possibly 40,000 years or more. Here in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the earliest humans arrived as early as 12,000 years ago—already possessing skills for using fire. Native plants and animals on the other hand, have been part of the ever-changing mix of ecosystems found here for a much longer period of time—millions to tens of millions of years. Many terrestrial native species are adapted to the periodic occurrence of fire. Some, in fact, require it. Most upland ecosystems need an occasional dose of fire, usually ignited by lightning (though volcanism and incoming cosmic projectiles are rare possibilities), to regenerate vegetation, release nutrients, and maintain certain non-climax habitat types.

But much of our region has been deprived of natural-type fires since the time of the clearcutting of the virgin forests during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This absence of a natural fire cycle has contributed to degradation and/or elimination of many forest and non-forest habitats. Without fire, a dangerous stockpile of combustible debris has been collecting, season after season, in some areas for a hundred years or more. Lacking periodic fires or sufficient moisture to sustain prompt decomposition of dead material, wildlands can accumulate enough leaf litter, thatch, dry brush, tinder, and fallen wood to fuel monumentally large forest fires—fires similar to those recently engulfing some areas of the American west. So elimination of natural fire isn’t just a problem for native plants and animals, its a potential problem for humans as well.

Indiangrass on Fire — Indiangrass (seen here), Switchgrass, Big Bluestem, and Little Bluestem are native species requiring periodic forms of disturbance to eliminate competition by woody plants. These warm-season grasses develop roots that penetrate deep into the soil, sometimes to depths of six feet or more, allowing them to survive severe drought and flash fire events. In the tall grass prairies, these extensive root systems allow these grasses to return following heavy grazing by roaming herds of American Bison (Bison bison). Without these habitat disturbances, warm season grasslands succumb to succession in about seven years. With their periodic occurrence, the plants thrive and provide excellent wildlife habitat, erosion control, and grazing forage.

To address the habitat ailments caused by a lack of natural fires, federal, state, and local conservation agencies are adopting the practice of “prescribed fire” as a treatment to restore ecosystem health. A prescribed fire is a controlled burn specifically planned to correct one or more vegetative management problems on a given parcel of land. In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, prescribed fire is used to…

- - Eliminate dangerous accumulations of combustible fuels in woodlands.
  - Reduce accumulations of dead plant material that may harbor disease.
  - Provide top kill to promote oak regeneration.
  - Regenerate other targeted species of trees, wildflowers, grasses, and vegetation.
  - Kill non-native plants and promote growth of native plants.
  - Prevent succession.
  - Remove woody growth and thatch from grasslands.
  - Promote fire tolerant species of plants and animals.
  - Create, enhance, and/or manage specialized habitats.
  - Improve habitat for rare species (Regal Fritillary, etc.)
  - Recycle nutrients and minerals contained in dead plant material.

Let’s look at some examples of prescribed fire being implemented right here in our own neighborhood…

Prescribed Fire at Fort Indiantown Gap — Prescribed fire is used regularly at Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to keep accumulations of woody and herbaceous fuels from accumulating on and around the training range areas where live ordinance and other sources of ignition could otherwise spark large, hard-to-control wildfires.

Prescribed fire in grassland. — A prescribed fire in late winter prevents this grassland consisting of Big Bluestem and native wildflowers from being overtaken by woody growth and invasive species. Fires such as this that are intended to interrupt the process of succession are repeated at least every three to five years.

Prescribed Fire to Control Invasive Species — In its wildlife food plots, prescribed fire is used by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to prevent succession and control invasive species such as Multiflora Rose, instead promoting the growth of native plants.

A woodlot understory choked with combustible fuels and tangles of invasive Multiflora Rose. — An example of a woodlot understory choked with combustible fuels and dense tangles of invasive Multiflora Rose. A forester has the option of prescribing a dose of dormant-season fire for a site like this to reduce the fuel load, top kill non-native vegetation, and regenerate native plants.

Precribed Fire to Eliminate Woody Growth — A dose of prescribed fire was administered on this grassland to kill the woody growth of small trees beginning to overtake the habitat by succession.

Precribed Fire Education Sign at middle creek Wildlife Management Area — The Pennsylvania Game Commission employs prescribed fire at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area and on many of their other holdings to maintain grasslands.

Prescribed fire is used to eliminate invasive species including Multiflora Rose from grasslands at Middle Creek W.M.A. Annual burns on the property are conducted in a mosaic pattern so that each individual area of the grassland is exposed to the effects of fire only once every two to five years. Without fire or some type of mechanical or chemical intervention, succession by woody trees and shrubs would take hold after about seven years.

Prescribed fire is planned for a fraction of total grassland acreage at Middle Creek W.M.A. each year. Another section of the mosaic is targeted in the following year and yet another in the year that follows that. Because burns are conducted in the spring, grassland cover is available for wildlife throughout the winter. And because each year’s fire burns only a portion of the total grassland acreage, wildlife still has plenty of standing grass in which to take shelter during and after the prescribed fire.

Prescribed fire at Middle Creek W.M.A. provides grassland habitat for dozens of species of birds and mammals including the not-so-common Grasshopper Sparrow…

…and stocked Ring-necked Pheasants that do nest and raise young there.

Prescribed Burn Maintains Savanna-like Habitat — On a few sites in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed , prescribed fire is being used to establish and maintain savanna-like grasslands. This one, located on a dry, south-facing slope near numerous man-made sources of ignition, can easily be dosed with periodic prescribed burns to both prevent succession and reduce fuel accumulations that may lead to a devastating extreme fire.

Pitch Pines in Savanna-like Habitat — One year following a prescribed burn, this is the autumn appearance of a savanna-like habitat with fire-tolerant Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida), Bear Oak, warm-season grasses, and a variety of nectar-producing wildflowers for pollinators. These ecosystems are magnets for wildlife and may prove to be a manageable fit on sun-drenched sites adjacent to man-made land disturbances and their sources of ignition.

Red-headed Woodpecker Adult and Juvenile — Savanna-like grasslands with oaks and other scattered large trees, some of them dead, make attractive nesting habitat for the uncommon Red-headed Woodpecker.

Wild Turkey in Savanna-like Habitat — Prescribed fire can benefit hungry Wild Turkeys by maintaining savanna-like grasslands for an abundance of grasshoppers and other insects in summer and improving the success of mast-producing oaks for winter.

In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the caterpillar of the rare Eastern Buck Moth feeds on the foliage of the Bear Oak, also known as the Scrub Oak, a shrubby species that relies upon periodic fire to eliminate competition from larger trees in its early successional habitat.

Leaves of the Bear Oak in fall. The Bear Oak regenerates readily from top kill caused by fire.

Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) is a native cool-season grass with a colorful inflorescence in spring. But given the right situation, it can aggressively overtake other species to create a pure stand lacking biodiversity. It is one of the few native species which is sometimes labelled “invasive”.

Prescribed Burn to Reduce Prevalence of Reed Canary Grass — Prescribed fire can be used to reduce an overabundance of Reed Canary Grass and its thatch in wetlands. Periodic burning can help restore species diversity in these habitats for plants and animals including rare species such as the endangered Bog Turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii).

On the range areas at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, disturbances by armored vehicles mimic the effects of large mammals such as the American Bison which periodically trampled grasses to prevent succession and the establishment of woody plants on its prairie habitat. To supplement the activity of the heavy vehicles and to provide suitable habitat for the very rare Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia) butterflies found there, prescribed fire is periodically employed to maintain the grasslands on the range. These burns are planned to encourage the growth of “Fort Indiantown Gap Little Bluestem” grass as well as the violets used as host plants by the Regal Fritillary caterpillars. These fires also promote growth of a variety of native summer-blooming wildflowers to provide nectar for the adults butterflies.

Depiction of Pennsylvania's Last American Bison, Killed in Union County in 1801. (Exhibit: State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg) — A last record of a wild American Bison killed in Pennsylvania was an animal taken in the Susquehanna watershed in Union County in 1801. The species is thereafter considered extirpated from the state. Since that time, natural disturbances needed to regenerate warm-season grasses have been limited primarily to fires and riverine ice scour. The waning occurrence of both has reduced the range of these grasses and their prairie-like ecosystems in the commonwealth. (Exhibit: State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg)

A male Regal Fritillary on the range at Fort Indiantown Gap, where armored vehicles and prescribed fire provide suitable prairie-like habitat for this vulnerable species.

Honey Bee Collecting Minerals After Prescribed Burn — Prescribed fires return the nutrients and minerals contained in dead plant material to the soil. Following these controlled burns, insects like this Honey Bee can often be seen collecting minerals from the ashes.

Fly Collecting Minerals from Burned Grasses — A Greenbottle Fly gathering minerals from the ash following a prescribed burn.

In Pennsylvania, state law provides landowners and crews conducting prescribed fire burns with reduced legal liability when the latter meet certain educational, planning, and operational requirements. This law may help encourage more widespread application of prescribed fire in the state’s forests and other ecosystems where essential periodic fire has been absent for so very long. Currently in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, prescribed fire is most frequently being employed by state agencies on state lands—in particular, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on State Forests and the Pennsylvania Game Commission on State Game Lands. Prescribed fire is also part of the vegetation management plan at Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation and on the land holdings of the Hershey Trust. Visitors to the nearby Gettysburg National Military Park will also notice prescribed fire being used to maintain the grassland restorations there.

For crews administering prescribed fire burns, late March and early April are a busy time. The relative humidity is often at its lowest level of the year, so the probability of ignition of previous years’ growth is generally at its best. We visited with a crew administering a prescribed fire at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area last week. Have a look…

Members of a Pennsylvania Game Commission burn crew provide visitors to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area with an overview of prescribed fire. — Members of a Pennsylvania Game Commission burn crew provide visitors to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area with an overview of prescribed fire and the equipment and techniques they use to conduct a burn.

Burn Boss Checking Weather — Pennsylvania Game Commission Southeast Region Forester Andy Weaver will fulfill the role of Burn Boss for administering this day’s dose of fire. His responsibilities include assessing the weather before the burn and calculating a probability of ignition.

Burn Boss Briefing Crew — The Burn Boss briefs personnel with information on site layout, water supply location(s), places of refuge, emergency procedures, the event’s goals and plan of action, crew assignments, and the results of the weather check: wind from the northwest at 5 miles per hour, temperature 48 degrees, and the relative humidity 63%. Today’s patient is a parcel of warm-season grasses receiving a dose of fire to eliminate invasive non-native plants, woody growth, and thatch. The probability of ignition is 20%, but improving by the minute.

Prescribed Fire Test Burn — To begin the burn, a test fire is started in the downwind corner of the parcel, which also happens to be the bottom of the slope. Fuel ignition is good. The burn can proceed.

Igniting the Fire — Crews proceed uphill from the location of the test fire while igniting combustibles along both flanks of the area being treated.

Prescribed Fire Crew Member with Equipment — A drip torch is used to ignite the dried stems and leaves of warm-season grasses and wildflowers. Each member of the burn crew wears Nomex fire-resistant clothing and carries safety equipment including a two-way radio, a hydration pack, and a cocoon-like emergency fire shelter.

Wildfire ATV — An all-terrain vehicle equipped with various tools, a fire pump, hose, and a small water tank accompanies the crew on each flank of the fire.

Effective Fire Break — With green cool-season grasses already growing on the trails surrounding the burn zone, very little water was used to contain this prescribed fire. Where such convenient fire breaks don’t already exist, crews carry tools including chain saws, shovels, and leaf blowers to create their own. They also carry flame swatters, backpack water pumps, shovels, and other tools to extinguish fires if necessary. None of these items were needed to control this particular fire.

Halting the Process of Succession in a Grassland with Prescribed Fire — This fast-burning fire provides enough heat to damage the cambium layer of the woody tree and shrub saplings in this parcel being maintained as a grassland/wildflower plot, thus the process of succession is forestalled. Burns conducted during previous years on this and adjacent fields have also controlled aggressive growth of invasive Multiflora Rose and Olives (Elaeagnus species).

Containing the Fire on the Flanks — Crews proceed up the slope while maintaining the perimeter by igniting dry plant material along the flanks of the burn zone.

The Crew Monitors the Burn — Ignition complete, the crews monitor the fire.

Prescribed Fire: Natural Mosaic-style Burn Pattern — The Burn Boss surveys the final stages of a safe and successful prescribed fire. The fire has left behind a mosaic of burned and unburned areas, just as a naturally occurring event may have done. Wildlife dodging the flames may be taking refuge in the standing grasses, so there is no remedial attempt to go back and ignite these areas. They’ll be burned during prescribed fires in coming years.

By June, this grassland will again be lush and green with warm-season grasses and blooming wildflowers like this Common Milkweed being visited by a Great Spangled Fritillary.

And later in the summer, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on Joe-pye Weed.

Bobolinks in Indiangrass — Bobolinks glow in the late August sun while taking flight from a stand of warm-season grasses maintained using springtime prescribed fire. The small dots on the dark background at the top of the image are multitudes of flying insects, many of them pollinators. The vegetation is predominately Indiangrass, excellent winter cover for birds, mammals, and other wildlife.

Prescribed burns aren’t a cure-all for what ails a troubled forest or other ecosystem, but they can be an effective remedy for deficiencies caused by a lack of periodic episodes of naturally occurring fire. They are an important option for modern foresters, wildlife managers, and other conservationists.

August 10, 2023August 14, 2023

Butterflies and More at Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area

If you’re feeling the need to see summertime butterflies and their numbers just don’t seem to be what they used to be in your garden, then plan an afternoon visit to the Boyd Big Tree Preserve along Fishing Creek Valley Road (PA 443) just east of U.S. 22/322 and the Susquehanna River north of Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources manages the park’s 1,025 acres mostly as forested land with more than ten miles of trails. While located predominately on the north slope of Blue Mountain, a portion of the preserve straddles the crest of the ridge to include the upper reaches of the southern exposure.

American Chestnut at Boyd Big Tree Preserve — A grove of American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata) planted at Boyd Big Tree Preserve is part of a propagation program working to restore blight-resistant trees to Pennsylvania and other areas of their former range which included the Appalachians and the upper Ohio River watershed.

Fortunately, one need not take a strenuous hike up Blue Mountain to observe butterflies. Open space along the park’s quarter-mile-long entrance road is maintained as a rolling meadow of wildflowers and cool-season grasses that provide nectar for adult butterflies and host plants for their larvae.

Butterfly Meadow at Boyd Big Tree Preserve — A view looking north at the butterfly meadow and entrance road at Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area. Second Mountain is in the background.

Walking a Meadow Path — Mowed paths follow the entrance road and a portion of the perimeter of the meadow allowing visitors a chance to wander among the waist-high growth to see butterflies, birds, and blooming plants at close range without trampling the vegetation or risking exposure to ticks.

A Silver-spotted Skipper feeding on nectar from Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) flowers. — A Silver-spotted Skipper feeding on nectar from the flowers of Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum). Like the milkweeds, Indian Hemp is a member of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae).

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeding on Common Milkweed.

Great Spangled Fritillary on Common Milkweed. — A Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on Common Milkweed.

A Black Swallowtail feeding on Common Milkweed nectar. — A Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) feeding on Common Milkweed nectar.

A Pipevine Swallowtail on Common Milkweed. — A Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) on Common Milkweed.

A Pipevine Swallowtail on visiting Butterfly Weed. — A Pipevine Swallowtail visiting the brilliant blooms of Butterfly Weed, a favorite of a wide variety of pollinators.

A Black Swallowtail on Butterfly Weed — A Black Swallowtail with damaged wings alights atop a Butterfly Weed flower cluster. Note the pair of parallel rows of red-orange spot on the underside of the hindwing.

A Monarch on Butterfly Weed — A Monarch feeding on nectar from the flowers of Butterfly Weed.

A mating pair of Eastern Tailed Blues. — A mating pair of Eastern Tailed Blues on a Timothy (Phleum pratense) spike.

A female (left) and male Great Spangled Fritillary. — A male Great Spangled Fritillary (right) pursuing a female.

Butterflies aren’t the only colorful insects patrolling the meadows at Boyd Big Tree Preserve. Dragonflies including Common Green Darners are busily pursuing prey, particularly small flying insects like mosquitos, gnats, and flies.

Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk — Dragonflies themselves can become prey and are much sought after by Broad-winged Hawks. This very vocal juvenile gave us several good looks as it ventured from the forest into the skies above the upper meadow during midday. It wasn’t yet a good enough flier to snag a dragonfly, but it will have plenty of opportunities for practice during its upcoming fall migration which, for these Neotropical raptors, will get underway later this month.

Do yourself a favor and take a trip to the Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area. Who knows? It might actually inspire you to convert that lawn or other mowed space into much-needed butterfly/pollinator habitat.

While you’re out, you can identify your sightings using our photographic guide—Butterflies of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed—by clicking the “Butterflies” tab at the top this page. And while you’re at it, you can brush up on your hawk identification skills ahead of the upcoming migration by clicking the “Hawkwatcher’s Helper: Identifying Bald Eagles and other Diurnal Raptors” tab. Therein you’ll find a listing and descriptions of hawk watch locations in and around the lower Susquehanna region. Plan to visit one or more this autumn!

June 18, 2023June 18, 2023

A Few Plants with Wildlife Impact in June

Here’s a look at some native plants you can grow in your garden to really help wildlife in late spring and early summer.

The Larger Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) and Soft Rush (Juncus effusus) in flower in mid-June. — The showy bloom of a Larger Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) and the drooping inflorescence of Soft Rush (Juncus effusus). These plants favor moist soils in wetlands and damp meadows where they form essential cover and feeding areas for insects, amphibians, and marsh birds. Each is an excellent choice for helping to absorb nutrients in a rain garden or stream-side planting. They do well in wet soil or shallow water along the edges of garden ponds too.

The fruits of Smooth Shadbush (Amelanchier laevis), also known as Allegheny Serviceberry, Smooth Serviceberry, or Smooth Juneberry, ripen in mid-June and are an irresistible treat for catbirds, robins, bluebirds, mockingbirds, and roving flocks of Cedar Waxwings.

Common Milkweed and Eastern Carpenter Bee — Also in mid-June, the fragrant blooms of Common Milkweed attract pollinators like Eastern Carpenter Bees,…

Common Milkweed and Honey Bee — …Honey Bees,…

Common Milkweed and Banded Hairstreak — …and butterflies including the Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium calanus). In coming weeks, Monarch butterflies will find these Common Milkweed plants and begin laying their eggs on the leaves. You can lend them a hand by planting milkweed species (Asclepias) in your garden. Then watch the show as the eggs hatch and the caterpillars begin devouring the foliage. Soon, they’ll pupate and, if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to watch an adult Monarch emerge from a chrysalis!

August 4, 2022August 11, 2022

Photo(s) of the Day

A tallgrass prairie wildflower and warm-season grass planting: Big Bluestem — This tallgrass prairie wildflower planting on a health campus in Hershey, Pennsylvania, enhances stormwater management and benefits butterflies and other wildlife. Reducing the acreage maintained as manicured lawn has helped disperse the large flocks of resident Canada Geese (a population of invasive native transplants) that frequented the property and posed a serious hazard to medevac helicopters flying in and out of the facility.

A tallgrass prairie wildflower and warm-season grass planting — Big Bluestem, a warm-season grass, dominates the site and is complemented by Indiangrass and tall wildflowers including Common Milkweed, Wild Bergamot, Oxeye, Black-eyed Susan, Prairie Coneflower, and Purple Coneflower.

July 29, 2022May 20, 2024

Monarch an Endangered Species: What You Can Do Right Now

This month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (I.U.C.N.) added the Migratory Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus) to its “Red List of Threatened Species”, classifying it as endangered. Perhaps there is no better time than the present to have a look at the virtues of replacing areas of mowed and manicured grass with a wildflower garden or meadow that provides essential breeding and feeding habitat for Monarchs and hundreds of other species of animals.

Monarch on Common Milkweed Flower Cluster — A recently arrived Monarch visits a cluster of fragrant Common Milkweed flowers in the garden at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters. Milkweeds included among a wide variety of plants in a garden or meadow habitat can help local populations of Monarchs increase their numbers before the autumn flights to wintering grounds commence in the fall. Female Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed leaves, then, after hatching, the larvae (caterpillars) feed on them before pupating.

If you’re not quite sure about finally breaking the ties that bind you to the cult of lawn manicuring, then compare the attributes of a parcel maintained as mowed grass with those of a space planted as a wildflower garden or meadow. In our example we’ve mixed native warm season grasses with the wildflowers and thrown in a couple of Eastern Red Cedars to create a more authentic early successional habitat.

Comparison of Mowed Grass to Wildflower Meadow — * Particularly when native warm-season grasses are included (root depth 6′-8′)

Still not ready to take the leap. Think about this: once established, the wildflower planting can be maintained without the use of herbicides or insecticides. There’ll be no pesticide residues leaching into the soil or running off during downpours. Yes friends, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using a private well or a community system, a wildflower meadow is an asset to your water supply. Not only is it free of man-made chemicals, but it also provides stormwater retention to recharge the aquifer by holding precipitation on site and guiding it into the ground. Mowed grass on the other hand, particularly when situated on steep slopes or when the ground is frozen or dry, does little to stop or slow the sheet runoff that floods and pollutes streams during heavy rains.

What if I told you that for less than fifty bucks, you could start a wildflower garden covering 1,000 square feet of space? That’s a nice plot 25′ x 40′ or a strip 10′ wide and 100′ long along a driveway, field margin, roadside, property line, swale, or stream. All you need to do is cast seed evenly across bare soil in a sunny location and you’ll soon have a spectacular wildflower garden. Here at the susquehannawildllife.net headquarters we don’t have that much space, so we just cast the seed along the margins of the driveway and around established trees and shrubs. Look what we get for pennies a plant…

Here’s a closer look…

Lance-leaved Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), a perennial.

Black-eyed Susan, a biennial or short-lived perennial.

Black-eyed Susan "Gloriosa Daisy" — “Gloriosa Daisy”, a variety of Black-eyed Susan, a biennial or short-lived perennial.

Purple Coneflower, an excellent perennial for pollinators. The ripe seeds provide food for American Goldfinches.

A short variety of Common Sunflower, an annual and a source of free bird seed.

All this and best of all, we never need to mow.

Around the garden, we’ve used a northeast wildflower mix from American Meadows. It’s a blend of annuals and perennials that’s easy to grow. On their website, you’ll find seeds for individual species as well as mixes and instructions for planting and maintaining your wildflower garden. They even have a mix specifically formulated for hummingbirds and butterflies.

Annuals in bloom — When planted in spring and early summer, annuals included in a wildflower mix will provide vibrant color during the first year. Many varieties will self-seed to supplement the display provided by biennials and perennials in subsequent years.

Wildflower Seed Mix — A northeast wildflower mix from American Meadows. There are no fillers. One pound of pure live seed easily plants 1,000 square feet.

Nothing does more to promote the spread and abundance of non-native plants, including invasive species, than repetitive mowing. One of the big advantages of planting a wildflower garden or meadow is the opportunity to promote the growth of a community of diverse native plants on your property. A single mowing is done only during the dormant season to reseed annuals and to maintain the meadow in an early successional stage—preventing reversion to forest.

For wildflower mixes containing native species, including ecotypes from locations in and near the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, nobody beats Ernst Conservation Seeds of Meadville, Pennsylvania. Their selection of grass and wildflower seed mixes could keep you planting new projects for a lifetime. They craft blends for specific regions, states, physiographic provinces, habitats, soils, and uses. Check out these examples of some of the scores of mixes offered at Ernst Conservation Seeds…

- - Pipeline Mixes
  - Pasture, Grazing, and Hay Mixes
  - Cover Crops
  - Pondside Mixes
  - Warm-season Grass Mixes
  - Retention Basin Mixes
  - Wildlife Mixes
  - Pollinator Mixes
  - Wetland Mixes
  - Floodplain and Riparian Buffer Mixes
  - Rain Garden Mixes
  - Steep Slope Mixes
  - Solar Farm Mixes
  - Strip Mine Reclamation Mixes

We’ve used their “Showy Northeast Native Wildflower and Grass Mix” on streambank renewal projects with great success. For Monarchs, we really recommend the “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”. It includes many of the species pictured above plus “Fort Indiantown Gap” Little Bluestem, a warm-season grass native to Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and milkweeds (Asclepias), which are not included in their northeast native wildflower blends. More than a dozen of the flowers and grasses currently included in this mix are derived from Pennsylvania ecotypes, so you can expect them to thrive in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.

Swamp Milkweed, a perennial species, is included in the Ernst Seed “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”. It is a favorite of female Monarchs seeking a location to deposit eggs.

Monarch Caterpillar feeding on Swamp Milkweed — A Monarch larva (caterpillar) feeding on Swamp Milkweed.

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is included in the Ernst Seed “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”. This perennial is also known as Butterfly Milkweed.

Tiger Swallowtails visiting Butterfly Weed — Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are among the dozens of species of pollinators that will visit Butterfly Weed.

In addition to the milkweeds, you’ll find these attractive plants included in Ernst Conservation Seed’s “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”, as well as in some of their other blends.

The perennial Wild Bergamot, also known as Bee Balm, is an excellent pollinator plant, and the tubular flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds.

Oxeye is adorned with showy clusters of sunflower-like blooms in mid-summer. It is a perennial plant.

Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), also known as Plains Tickseed, is a versatile annual that can survive occasional flooding as well as drought.

Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), a tall perennial, is spectacular during its long flowering season.

Monarch on goldenrod. — Goldenrods are a favorite nectar plant for migrating Monarchs in autumn. They seldom need to be sown into a wildflower garden; the seeds of local species usually arrive on the wind. They are included in the “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix” from Ernst Conservation Seeds in low dose, just in case the wind doesn’t bring anything your way.

Is something missing from your seed mix? You can purchase individual species from the selections available at American Meadows and Ernst Conservation Seeds. Partridge Pea is a good native annual to add. It is a host plant for the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly and hummingbirds will often visit the flowers. It does really well in sandy soils.

Indiangrass in flower. — Indiangrass is a warm-season species that makes a great addition to any wildflower meadow mix. Its deep roots make it resistant to drought and ideal for preventing erosion.

Why not give the Monarchs and other wildlife living around you a little help? Plant a wildflower garden or meadow. It’s so easy, a child can do it.

Planting a riparian buffer with wildflowers and warm-season grasses — Volunteers sow a riparian buffer on a recontoured stream bank using wildflower and warm-season grass seed blended uniformly with sand. By casting the sand/seed mixture evenly over the planting site, participants can visually assure that seed has been distributed according to the space calculations.

Riparian Buffer of wildflowers — The same seeded site less than four months later.

Monarch Pupa — A Monarch pupa from which the adult butterfly will emerge.

August 31, 2018March 30, 2024

Noxious Benefactor

It’s sprayed with herbicides. It’s mowed and mangled. It’s ground to shreds with noisy weed-trimmers. It’s scorned and maligned. It’s been targeted for elimination by some governments because it’s undesirable and “noxious”. And it has that four letter word in its name which dooms the fate of any plant that possesses it. It’s the Common Milkweed, and it’s the center of activity in our garden at this time of year. Yep, we said milk-WEED.

Now, you need to understand that our garden is small—less than 2,500 square feet. There is no lawn, and there will be no lawn. We’ll have nothing to do with the lawn nonsense. Those of you who know us, know that the lawn, or anything that looks like lawn, are through.

Anyway, most of the plants in the garden are native species. There are trees, numerous shrubs, some water features with aquatic plants, and filling the sunny margins is a mix of native grassland plants including Common Milkweed. The unusually wet growing season in 2018 has been very kind to these plants. They are still very green and lush. And the animals that rely on them are having a banner year. Have a look…

The flowers of the Common Milkweed were exceptionally fragrant this year. At their peak in early June, their hyacinth-or lilac-like aroma was so prevalent, it drifted into our building and overwhelmed the stink of the neighbor’s filthy dumpster that he had placed 12 feet away from our walls (100 feet from his).

Common Milkweed attracts a pollinating Greenbottle Fly (Lucilia species). The dumpster attracts the invasive House Fly (Musca domestica), carrier of dysentery, typhoid, and other wonderful diseases. Are you following this? Remember as we proceed, milkweed is “noxious”.

Busy Eastern Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa virginica) load up with pollen from the flowers of the Common Milkweed.

A Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus) munches on a tender fresh Common Milkweed leaf in mid-June.

Following the pollination of the flowers, seed pods will begin to grow. We trim these off the plants. The removal of the extra weight allows most of the stems to remain erect through stormy weather. You’ll still get new plants from underground runners. As you may have guessed, we’re trying to keep these plants upright and strong to host Monarch butterfly larvae.

We’ve planted a variety of native grassland species to help support the milkweed structurally and to provide a more complete habitat for Monarch butterflies and other native insects. This year, these plants are exceptionally colorful for late-August due to the abundance of rain. The warm season grasses shown below are the four primary species found in the American tall-grass prairies and elsewhere.

Big Bluestem, a native warm-season grass in flower.

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium “Fort Indiantown Gap”) in flower. This variety grows on the tank range at the military base where the armored vehicles and prescribed burns substitute for the herd animals and fires of the prairie to prevent succession and allow it to thrive.

Partridge Pea can tolerate sandy soil and is a host plant for vagrant Cloudless Sulphur butterflies.

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is a popular native grassland wildflower.

Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) in flower. This and the other native plants shown here are available as seed from Ernst Seed Company in Meadville (PA). They have an unbelievably large selection of indigenous species. You can plant a small plot or acres and acres using really good mixes blended for purposes ranging from reclaiming pipeline right-of-ways and strip mines to naturalizing backyard gardens.

A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly, a migratory species like the Monarch, on Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). Yes, it is that Echinacea, the same one used as a supplement and home remedy.

There was Monarch activity in the garden today like we’ve never seen before—and it revolved around milkweed and the companion plants.

A female Monarch laying eggs on a Common Milkweed leaf.

A third instar Monarch caterpillar with Oleander Aphids (Aphis nerii) on a Common Milkweed leaf. Both of these insect species absorb toxins from the milkweed which makes them distasteful to predators.

Fifth instar (left and center) and fourth instar (right) monarch caterpillars devour a Common Milkweed leaf. There were over thirty of these caterpillars in just a ten by ten feet area this morning. We hope that if you’re keeping a habitat for Monarchs, you’re enjoying the same fortune right now!

A slow-moving Monarch stopped for a break after making the circuit to deposit eggs on milkweed throughout the garden.

Third instar (top), fourth instar (right), and fifth instar (left) Monarch caterpillars quickly consume the leaf of a Common Milkweed plant. Caterpillars emerging from eggs deposited today may not have sufficient late-season food to complete the larval segment of their life cycle. Need more milkweed!

After benefiting from the nourishment of the Common Milkweed plant, a fifth instar Monarch caterpillar begins pupation on Big Bluestem grass.

Two hours later, the chrysalis is complete.

Another chrysalis, this one on flowering Switchgrass just two feet away from the previous one. An adult Monarch will emerge from this pupa to become part of what we hope will be the most populated southbound exodus for the species in over five years.

There it is, soon ready to fly away. And all courtesy of the noxious milkweed.

A chrysalis can often be found on man-made objects too. This one is on the rim of a flower pot.

Ornamental flowers can attract adult Monarch butterflies seeking nectar. We’re now more careful to select seeds and plants that have not been treated with neonicotinoid insecticides. There’s growing concern over the impact these compounds may be having on pollinating species of animals. Oh…and we don’t mow, whack, cut, mutilate, or spray herbicides on our milkweed, but you probably figured that out already.

SOURCES

Eaton, Eric R., and Kenn Kaufman. 2007. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York.

August 7, 2017August 27, 2023

Fussy Eaters

She ate only toaster pastries…that’s it…nothing else. Every now and then, on special occasions, when a big dinner was served, she’d have a small helping of mashed potatoes, no gravy, just plain, thank you. She received all her nutrition from several meals a week of macaroni and cheese assembled from processed ingredients found in a cardboard box. It contains eight essential vitamins and minerals, don’t you know? You remember her, don’t you?

Adult female butterflies must lay their eggs where the hatched larvae will promptly find the precise food needed to fuel their growth. These caterpillars are fussy eaters, with some able to feed upon only one particular species or genus of plant to grow through the five stages, the instars, of larval life. The energy for their fifth molt into a pupa, known as a chrysalis, and metamorphosis into an adult butterfly requires mass consumption of the required plant matter. Their life cycle causes most butterflies to be very habitat specific. These splendid insects may visit the urban or suburban garden as adults to feed on nectar plants, however, successful reproduction relies upon environs which include suitable, thriving, pesticide-free host plants for the caterpillars. Their survival depends upon more than the vegetation surrounding the typical lawn will provide.

The Monarch (Danaus plexippus), a butterfly familiar in North America for its conspicuous autumn migrations to forests in Mexico, uses the milkweeds (Asclepias) almost exclusively as a host plant. Here at Conewago Falls, wetlands with Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and unsprayed clearings with Common Milkweed (A. syriaca) are essential to the successful reproduction of the species. Human disturbance, including liberal use of herbicides, and invasive plant species can diminish the biomass of the Monarch’s favored nourishment, thus reducing significantly the abundance of the migratory late-season generation.

Monarch caterpillar after a fourth molt. The fifth instar feeding on Swamp Milkweed.

A fifth molt begets the Monarch pupa, the chrysalis, from which the showy adult butterfly will emerge.

Adult Monarch feeding on Goldenrod *(Solidago)* nectar.

Butterflies are good indicators of the ecological health of a given environment. A diversity of butterfly species in a given area requires a wide array of mostly indigenous plants to provide food for reproduction. Let’s have a look at some of the species seen around Conewago Falls this week…