Gardening Granny's Gardening Pages: August 2020

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

August 25, 2020 cuttings and color

Hello gardeners

Once again, I am sitting here wishing for rain. It’s been 10 days since we had any and its been hot for the last 5. I don’t like hot and humid weather. We are supposed to get a cool down over the next weekend and I hope it’s the last of this heat wave stuff. But its 2020 so who knows?

If you have lived in the same area for many years, I’m sure you have recognized a change in weather patterns over the years. I have lived here for over 25 years and I know it’s hotter and drier in summer than it was when we first moved here.

When we first moved here summer storms were frequent and they often featured intense lightning and heavy downpours. I would see lightning strikes in the farm fields across from us and lightning struck 2 trees on our property and a power pole in the first few years we were here. Now it seems the storm track has moved about 100 miles north.

I don’t miss the lightning, but I do miss the rain and the coolness a storm brings. Our storms are milder, which is fine, and the last few winters have been milder too, which is great. I also keep written weather records and I know the weather has changed. What I worry about is that it will keep changing in this direction- hotter and drier.

This is the second year in a row our sweet corn has failed to impress. I know weather has something to do with it. I planted a variety I had success with in the past and it started growing well this spring. Then the weather got hot and dry. I watered, but in raised beds the hot weather quickly dries out the soil.

I harvested some corn yesterday and while tasty, the ears were small, about 6 inches long. Many of them didn’t fill to the top, a pollination problem. I also know the garden area is shadier than it used to be. A mulberry tree grew up on the north side of the fence. It impacts the growing area only a little, slightly less sun in early am and late pm but it’s a factor. I think it’s my last year for planting corn.

My cucumbers are gone- dead from fungal disease. But the tomatoes soldier on. I am planting lettuce this week for fall.

The hardy hibiscus are blooming now. I love those big gaudy flowers. And all of my tropical hibiscus are in bloom too. The ligularia is blooming and toad lilies will be blooming soon, as well as the snakeroot. In the fields, goldenrod is now blooming, a boon for the bees. I leave some here and there in my gardens for color and as bee pleasers.

It takes a lot right now to be friendly to bees. I had to remove one hummingbird feeder that was too close to a walk because they attacked anyone near it. I see them chasing hummers away from the feeders. While yellow jackets are the most aggressive and are technically hornets, they are also part of the ecology. Yellow jackets eat aphids and fly maggots along with other harmful insects. Bald faced hornets are also plentiful now.

The populations of all bees and hornets are higher now and they are all very busy and protective of their food sources as they prepare for winter. Bumblebees are nesting under the back ramp and while they don’t bother me- or so far my husband, they are bothering my dog. He is jumping off the side rather than going over them.

So far, I am holding off on chemical control, although the yellowjacket nest under the front porch roof just may have to be treated. I have been soaking their nest area with a hard spray of water every night. They come out and attack the water! I wish they would just relocate. It’s hard to tolerate yellow jackets.

Making cut flowers last longer in a vase

In late summer everything seems to be abundantly in bloom and many gardeners cut flowers for inside the home. You may want to give big bougets of summer flowers to friends and relatives. Here’s some tips to make the bougets last longer.

First start with a very clean vase, scrubbed with hot water and soap. Bacteria are the biggest cause of early flower wilt and that awful smelling vase water. Don’t inoculate the water of a new batch of flowers by using a dirty vase. Don’t combine some older flowers that have been in a vase with new ones because you will bring bacteria clinging to the stems.

Always remove all foliage that will be beneath the water in a vase. If you bought the flowers make a fresh cut on each stem before putting them in the vase. Make stem cuts on a slant instead of straight across to expose more xylem tubes which take up water. Some people suggest cutting flower stems under water so no air bubbles get in the stem but this hasn’t be shown to be very effective in most research.

Fill vases with cold, clean water. If you have “city water” its fine to use. If you use a water softener at home, you should use bottled water. Well water that isn’t softened is fine - but if it has its own smell or looks bad you may want to use bottled water. If you use well water put a drop or two of unscented chlorine bleach in the vase.

Another choice for filling vases is one part 7-Up or another lemon-lime soda to 3 parts water. Use regular, not diet soda. Clear soda looks best. The citric acid in the soda acidifies the water and inhibits bacterial growth. The sugar in the soda feeds the flowers just a bit. Research has shown that this soda treatment does extend the vase life of flowers.

If you bought the flowers and you got a little package of “flower food” use it. It’s a combination of a number of things that lower the bacteria count and feed flowers and really does extend vase life.

Every few days dump the water in the vase and refill with clean water or water- pop solution. Keep the vase full to the top with water.

Things not to add to flower vases are aspirin tablets or vitamin tablets, (didn’t work in research tests), pennies, (the copper isn’t water soluble in our pennies) plain sugar (increases bacteria), vinegar, ( no results in research)or alcohol like vodka or gin, which don’t have any benefit according to research.

Putting your flower arrangement in the refrigerator at night will prolong its life. Misting flowers once a day seems to help. Keep arrangements out of the sun and away from heat sources. Remove wilted or dead flowers or foliage frequently.

Remember that some flowers just don’t last long in the vase. An open daylily will be gone the next day regardless of what you do, (but daylily buds on a stem may continue to open). Some flowers require special treatment to remain pretty for even a few days.

Long lasting cut flowers are roses, Asiatic and oriental lilies, glads, dahlias, Peruvian lilies, daisies, zinnias, mums, carnations, sunflowers, liatris, coreopsis, lavender, salvias, yarrow, phlox, asters, Echinacea, iris, bellflowers, daffodils, strawflowers, coral bells, obedient plant, gaillardia, and veronica.

If you are inside because it’s just too hot outside, at least make sure you surround yourself with flowers.

Plants for color in the late summer and fall shade garden

Color in late summer and fall is fairly easy to come by for a sunny garden. But what about the shaded garden? How do you keep the color and interest going in your shady garden? Hosta are often the backbone of shady gardens but by late summer they often look tattered or start to die back. Other foliage plants like heurchera may also look bedraggled by fall.

Some perennial plants though, are just beginning to reach peak and bloom by late summer even in the shade. Gardeners with shady spots may want to consider them. Here’s some of my favorites.

Ligularia dentata sometimes called Leopard plant is a large, impressive plant that has yellow daisy-like flowers in late summer. The plants are around 3 feet tall and wide at maturity, with large rounded leaves of deep green with a touch of bronze or maroon. The golden yellow flowers appear in clusters above the foliage in late summer. Hardy to zone 3.

Black Snakeroot – Cimicifuga racemosa- has lacy looking foliage, which in the most popular varieties is chocolate or purplish colored. Plants can get 4-foot-tall and 3 foot wide. In late summer they have wands of pretty pink or white, lightly fragrant flowers waving over the foliage. Its a native plant. Hardy to zone 4.

Toad lilies, (Tricyrtis hirta) have become popular as shade plants. They have stalks of tiny orchid -like flowers in shades of pink, purple, and yellow in late summer. Plants are about 30 inches high and 12 inches wide, with oval shaped, ribbed leaves. They form clumps which slowly enlarge each year. Hardy to zone 5.

Japanese anemones (Anemone hupehensis or Anemone tomentosa ), will bloom well in partial or light shade. Once established, which can take a year or two, they form a clump of foliage covered with branching clusters of pretty pink or white flowers. The flowers are 2-3 inches wide and seem to flutter in the breeze. They can bloom for 6 weeks in late summer, or until a hard frost. Plants can get 3 feet tall in favorable conditions. Hardy to zone 5.

And don’t forget the annual shade lovers. Impatiens are popular, but wax begonias, fuchsia, pansies,(you can sometimes get them in fall) violas, tuberous begonias, torenia, lobelia, browallia, and coleus, polka dot plant, and caladium (foliage), can provide color in shade right up to frost.

Another trick for fall color in shade is to add potted plants like mums, asters, or dahlias. Although these prefer full sun, once they are in bloom, shade won’t harm them or stop them from continuing to bloom. I usually have some pots of tuberous begonias that were slow to start blooming sitting around that I stick in the shade for fall color.

Reproducing plants from cuttings

In social media I am constantly seeing people ask about sticking a broken piece of a plant in water – or even a leaf- to start a new plant. People urge other people to cut up dying plants and root them in water. Every fallen leaf or broken stem is seen as the start to a new plant.

Plants have the remarkable ability to reproduce asexually, that is to grow a new plant from a piece of a plant. One of the advantages of producing plants through cuttings is that the new plant started from a cutting will be exactly like the parent plant, (with a few odd exceptions). Many greenhouses reproduce hundreds of types of plants from cuttings.

But starting plants from a cutting- which is a piece of a plant- isn’t always easy, especially if you are just sticking a piece of plant in water. Some plants simply can’t be started this way. And only a few types of plants can be successfully started from just a leaf.

Many gardeners seem so sad at having to discard broken pieces of plants. Some feel they can’t afford certain plants, so they want to steal or beg a piece of plant and start their own. And there’s a superstition that plants started from a sneaky “pinch” grow better. So, this article discusses starting plants from cuttings.

Quick Points to remember

Not all plants can be easily started from cuttings, some are almost impossible to start this way.

Every plant species has different requirements for when and how to take a cutting and root it for the best results.

Rooting cuttings in water is not recommended for most plants.

Unhealthy or yellowing plant parts are not suitable for cuttings

Rose and other cuttings should not be started in potatoes.

Now for more information

It’s probably possible to start any plant from a properly taken cutting but in many cases, it can be very difficult and unlikely. Even having a chance at getting a cutting to root of some species requires a tedious and exacting procedure. In fact, most species of plants require knowledge of when and how to take a cutting from that species and what rooting conditions they prefer if you want to be successful at starting them.

If you are interested in propagating garden perennials or woody plants, you should consult a reference on propagation. It’s impossible to provide information on a vast number of species here. A reference means a book, or an online site from a scientific source like Extension, a horticultural college, or an experienced specialty site for a species, like the Rose Society or Hosta Society.

It’s simply unrealistic to think you can plop a piece of any plant in water and it will root. While there are some plants that will easily root in water (mostly tropical house plants) or from a piece of plant of leaf falling on the soil (sedums and other succulents do this well) most species require more planning and better rooting techniques.

Plants with a crown system of growth, think hosta and daylilies, may be difficult to start from cuttings. They are generally propagated by division, or tissue culture. Putting a leaf or stem in water will not result in a new plant.

Many plants with a woody stem or semi-woody stem, (trees, shrubs, some garden perennials and houseplants), can be started from cuttings only if you select the cuttings at the right time and start them with bottom heat and a misting system. The average perennial or woody plant in your garden cannot be started simply by putting a piece of it in water.

Some plants put out aerial stems with “babies” on them. Spider plants and “hens and chicks” are examples. Other plants produce “pups” or suckers at the base. Those baby plants can be easily rooted, and some will root in water.

What to start cuttings in

If you are going to try starting plants from cuttings remember this. Almost all plant cuttings start better in potting medium or another solid medium, like sand or peat, than they do in water. And plants you want to eventually grow in soil should be started in some sort of solid medium. Reserve those water started cuttings for a few select species, or plants you want to keep growing in water. (Note: I’m not considering hydroponic growing here, which is a whole other subject and is not the same as starting cuttings in water.)

For rooting all cuttings, the medium – or “soil” should be a soilless mixture or milled peat or vermiculite for best results. Don’t use garden soil or compost as these will often contain bacteria or fungi that will start rotting the cutting. Some people use clean sand for rooting cuttings, especially hardwood cuttings.

Basics for all cuttings

All cuttings should have at least two nodes on them. Nodes are points along a stem where a growth bud is, usually where leaves are found or will grow. Some people refer to nodes as “joints”. Nodes may look like swollen or like wider areas on a plant stem. In some plants there are many nodes close together and in others there are fewer nodes farther apart.

One node on a cutting will form the upper part of the new plant or the shoots, and the other will form the root system. You must be careful not to damage the nodes when you cut pieces off the parent plant. Longer cuttings with many nodes are not necessarily better. Cuttings with more than 4 nodes may not root well.

Flower stems do not have nodes, that’s why cut flowers like zinnias do not root in a vase of water. Most leaf stems do not have nodes either. A leaf from an oak tree or a rhubarb leaf stem will not grow roots. In a few plants though, a leaf that lands on soil or is inserted into a medium, can start a new plant. Succulents like jade plants, burro’s tails and others have leaves like this. An African violet or rex begonia leaf can start a new plant. But for the vast majority of plants a leaf cannot grow a new plant.

If cuttings are from the tip of the plant stem, they are called terminal cuttings. Terminal cuttings usually grow faster than other stem cuttings. The new growth will come at the end of the cutting, at the tip and you only need one additional node. If a piece of stem is cut into several smaller pieces, one piece at the end is the terminal cutting and the other pieces are just called stem cuttings. These stem cuttings will produce new growth from the side of the node.

Plant cuttings will root best if the end inserted in the soil or water to form roots is the end which would have been closest to the main stem of the parent plant (or bottom). This is especially true when making hardwood cuttings. When making hardwood cuttings that will be stored for a while it’s a good idea to mark the “bottoms” of the cuttings with paint or marker above the cut end so you don’t forget which end is to be inserted into the rooting medium.

When dividing a stem into several pieces for cuttings make it’s a good idea to leave a small “handle “of stem above the top node of the section. This is generally cut on a slant. Pick up the cutting by the handle so you don’t damage the node which will become the upper parts of the plant. Beneath the bottom node of the cutting cut the stem straight across as close to the node as you can without damaging it. This part will go into the rooting medium.

Tips for different types of cuttings

Softwood cuttings are taken when the plant is growing and has leaves. The stems are generally green and soft, without bark. These are the cuttings generally taken from houseplants all year round and tender herbaceous perennials in early spring or fall if you want to carry certain plants through winter. The best softwood cuttings or stem cuttings come from growth the plant put out in the last few months. By the way, softwood cuttings are the ones most likely to root in water.

Plants that start well from softwood are pothos, philodendron, Tradescantia or Zebrina, bridal veil, purple passion plant, setcreasea, Swedish ivy, hoya, peperomia, petunias, snapdragons, tomatoes, coleus, cane type begonias, wax begonias, impatiens, geraniums ( Pelargonium), sedum, creeping phlox, chrysanthemum, Cuphea, Dipladenia, fuchsia, Hedera ivies (Boston ivy and others),heliotrope, poinsettia, plus many more.

Softwood cuttings can be rooted at any time. Prepare the cuttings by removing all but one or two leaves at each above ground node and all the leaves from the nodes that will be underground. If the plant has very large leaves cut the leaves in half. Dip the bottom of the cutting in rooting hormone, which can be purchased at most garden stores. All plants won’t need rooting medium, but for the more difficult plants you’ll get better results using it.

Make a hole in the moistened planting medium; do not push the cutting into the medium because this can damage the node that will make the roots. Firm the medium around the cutting. You can bury half the nodes in the medium and leave half above the “ground”.

Some wilting of leaves left on cuttings is normal, sometimes the leaves even fall off, but the stem will remain firm and green and new leaves should grow if the cutting is “taking.”

Semi-hardwood cuttings are an intermediate stage between a young green steam and an older woody one. They may be from tropical plants which don’t have a dormant period or taken from plants outside of a dormancy period but before the stems have heavy bark. Jade plants are an example, as are roses, grapes, ficus, jasmine, artemesia, buddleia (butterfly bush), lavender, caryopteris and brugmansia. Willows will start from semi-woody cuttings, hardwood or softwood. Rosemary can be started from soft or semi-hardwood cuttings.

Most garden plants propagated by semi-hardwood do best when cuttings are taken in late spring. For some tropical plants the season is not important. These cuttings take longer than softwood cuttings to root. Don’t let the soil get too wet or they will rot. You may need to experiment to see if some semi-hardwood cuttings need to be enclosed in glass or plastic to start well.

Many semi-hardwood rose cuttings are started under a jar right in the soil of the garden. The jars must be in a shaded area or it will be too hot inside. That’s an old method of rose propagation and starting them in containers of soilless medium is better. Remember that only roses grown on their own roots should be propagated by rooting cuttings. Grafted roses are propagated by grafting cuttings on hardy root stock.

There’s a “trick” floating around online that you can start rose cuttings by sticking them in a potato. This does not work. All you will grow is potatoes.

Several cuttings can be placed in one container. Most people enclose the container in a plastic bag to increase the humidity. Make sure that the cuttings do not touch the sides of any covering as the pieces may rot at that spot. If the enclosed area gets extremely wet remove the covering for a few hours. Place these covered containers in bright light but not in direct sunlight. Most of these cuttings do best in warm conditions.

Don’t tug at cuttings to see if they have rooted. If several new leaves have developed the root system probably has too. Carefully dig up the cuttings and pot them individually, if desired. Fertilize the new plants lightly and move into the lighting situation the plant requires.

One special note- cuttings of succulents and cacti should be given a day or two for the cuts to heal and form a callus before being inserted into rooting medium. I have found that cuttings of pelargoniums (common geranium) also respond well to a day or two of drying before they are put in rooting medium.

Hardwood cuttings are from woody ornamentals and a few indoor plants. They are usually taken from wood about the size of a pencil and they are taken while the plant is dormant, held in cold storage and rooted just before the parent plant would break dormancy. These cuttings may have bark on the stems. Plants to try include willows, junipers, arborvitae, forsythia, euonymus, camellia, privet, gardenia, citrus, cypress, dogwood, blueberries, weigela, mockorange, mulberry, and rose of Sharon.

Hardwood cuttings are taken after the plants have gone dormant and they are then stored in a cold- below freezing - dark place for several months. Hardwood cuttings are generally 8-12 inches long and should have several nodes. They should be kept moist- many people store them in a can of damp sand.

If the cutting is from an evergreen plant, remove most of the needles/leaves from the upper part of the cutting and all the needles from the nodes that will be inserted into the rooting medium.

About 6 weeks before the parent plants would normally come out of dormancy, bring the cuttings into a moderately warm 40-60-degree place for a week. Prepare moistened planting medium as for softwood cuttings, make holes in the medium for the cuttings, dip in rooting hormones and insert. I find that hardwood cuttings generally need rooting hormone to get started. Keep the cuttings in a cool – below 70-degree place in indirect light. Do not enclose these cuttings in plastic or glass but keep the humidity up in the room if possible.

Alternately some people put hardwood cuttings in pots soon after taking them and store the pots in a cold area – even outside in trenches- allowing the cuttings to begin to grow when the parent plant does, or they bring the pots inside earlier and treat as above.

When you see new growth, you can carefully transplant the cuttings into individual containers, fertilize lightly and place gradually into brighter light. It can take a long time for some hardwood cuttings to get growing well. I suggest growing them in containers for one season (to the next spring) before transplanting into the ground.

Problems and more tips

If you are having trouble getting a plant to root from a cutting, try adding gentle bottom heat. Seed starting mats or waterproof heating mats on low heat can work. Many professional propagators use a misting system on cuttings. I find that starting cuttings outside in a protected area in early spring works well because misty, drizzly weather is common here in spring. If a cold spell comes move the cuttings inside. Make sure heavy rainstorms don’t beat the cuttings down or flood containers.

If you are having trouble propagating a certain type of plant, try taking cuttings at a different time of the year or using softwood instead of hardwood or vice versa. Some plants are just very difficult to start from cuttings.

If the cutting doesn’t put out any new growth after a few weeks, or the bottom of the stem blackens, shrivels or turns mushy it isn’t “taking”. Discard those and start over.

Most plants are not hurt from trimming off pieces for cuttings and it even stimulates some plants to grow better. Start several cuttings if you can, it increases the odds you’ll get a new plant. If you get all of them to grow you can share them with your friends.

Should you have a fall vegetable garden?

It’s late August and in the northern states it’s time to decide if you want a fall vegetable garden. Yes- a vegetable garden that you plant in the fall, some people do that. You need to decide soon because there isn’t that many days left in our growing season. But do you really want and need a fall vegetable garden?

Let’s take some time to discuss the pros and cons of fall vegetable gardens so you can make informed decisions.

The cons of fall vegetable gardens

For a lot of gardeners August is a miserable time to work in the garden. It’s hot and full of mosquitoes and the beach is calling your name. If you have a hard time keeping the garden weeded or even collecting your gardens harvest, you probably aren’t keen to start a new garden. Many people are going nuts trying to preserve the harvest they are reaping from their spring garden. And that’s all right; you don’t need to feel guilty.

You’ll need space for your fall vegetable garden. If you have empty beds you are all set. But waiting for a crop to be finished so that you can use the space for a fall garden may take longer than you planned. And tilling up new areas probably is more work than you want to do in August.

Fall vegetable gardens are always a gamble anyway. An early hard frost hits and you have done a lot of work for nothing. Cool and rainy fall weather won’t make some crops happy. It’s often hard to find seeds this time of year to sow fall crops and starter plants are even scarcer. If it all seems like too much work to you then it probably is. Just wrap it up for the season and rest with your garden soil.

The pros of fall vegetable gardens

Some people however may not have had time to plant a garden in the spring or for some reason their spring garden was ruined. These people may feel that their gardening urges are unfulfilled and are ready and eager to plant a vegetable garden in the fall. Or you may be worried that you don’t have enough fresh produce for the winter and want to add to your stores. And you may just be bored and want to escape from household duties or your spouse for a few more weeks. For you folks a fall vegetable garden makes sense.

Not every vegetable crop is suitable for a fall crop. Some won’t produce fruit if the daylight is getting shorter as it does in the fall. Some crops won’t have time to mature before a hard frost kills them. A good tip to keep in mind is to use day neutral varieties, (which means the length of daylight doesn’t affect them) and use varieties that have the shortest days to maturity.

In planting zones 5 and 6 you may have 6-8 weeks before a hard frost if you plant in late August. Some crops don’t mind a light frost, and some can be protected with row covers from a light frost. Crops that can be planted with a reasonable expectation of success include leafy greens of many types, kale, cabbage (early maturing varieties and started as plants), beets, turnips, radishes, carrots, green onions, peas, bush beans ( early maturing varieties and you may need row cover), broccoli and cauliflower- (early varieties).

Remember that seeds sown in hot August weather may need daily watering to get them to germinate. Before you plant you should add some vegetable garden fertilizer to the bed, especially if it was already used this spring. Don’t plant a crop in a bed that the same crop grew in in the spring or you are asking for disease and insect problems.

An alternative to a fall vegetable garden in the ground might be a few containers of things like salad greens and scallions. Then you can get the regular garden cleaned up and covered in compost and manure, while still munching fresh produce. And containers are easier to cover when frost threatens, or you may be able to move them inside a garage or shed for the night.

So, the decision rests on you. You can harvest your crops, add manure and compost and head off to the family cabin. Or you can get out there and start a whole new garden. Which will it be?

August is ripening grain in the fields blowing hot and sunny, the scent of tree-ripened peaches, of hot buttered sweet corn on the cob. Vivid dahlias fling huge tousled blossoms through gardens and joe-pye-weed dusts the meadow purple.

-Jean Hersey

Kim Willis

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Tuesday, August 18, 2020

August 18, 2020- Slimy Slug Stories

Hi Gardeners

I wish every summer day was as nice as this one. It’s mostly sunny and 75 degrees with a light breeze. My idea of wonderful weather. I took a walk outside to get some pictures, even though it’s a bit windy. You know how it is when you get a nice flower centered in the lens and the wind starts blowing it around, blurring the picture.

The milkweed pods are almost ripe, and the goldenrod is almost blooming signs that summers end is near. Still there are plenty of flowers in the garden and the rain we got this weekend perked them all up. New flowers in bloom this week are the hardy hibiscus and ligularia.

I am picking lots of tomatoes, but my sweet corn is not looking so great, the ears are quite small this year. I love fresh corn, so I hope we get some to eat even if it’s small.

It’s time to order those spring blooming bulbs. Don’t delay. If you need some online catalogs to browse see this article.

http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/have-youreceived-any-garden-catalogs-in.html

It’s also time to look for bargains in the stores- please wear a mask- on garden items and décor. You may also find bargain plants -but make sure you are getting hardy perennials and not left over annuals or tropical plants you won’t be able to over winter. It’s a good time to get deals on mowers and other equipment and tools too.

Potted mums are showing up in front of the stores. Even if they say they are hardy or garden mums, don’t expect them to return next year, even if you promptly plant them into the ground. Use them for decorative accents and filling in where color is gone in the garden. Most of these mums will not return next year because they don’t have time to establish and acclimate well before winter. If you want to try though, promptly plant them into the ground, don’t let them sit in pots. And keep them well watered through fall. Don’t cut them back until spring, mums do better if stems are left on over winter.

If you want mums that will return every year start with small mum plants in the spring. Keep them well watered the first year. Newer mum varieties for garden use are compact and don’t require much pinching back or fussing with. You can find mums hardy to zone 4 but some are less hardy than others so check the hardiness before you purchase them.

Jewel weed

Gardeners looking for interesting native plants that will grow in partial shade may want to plant some jewelweed. It is a favorite of hummingbirds and bees too. But beware, this plant is an aggressive spreader.

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is an interesting native wildflower that grows in shaded to partially shaded, moist areas. Jewelweed usually begins flowering in July and can continue until frost. It is found in swampy woods, marshes, ditches and wet fields. It will happily grow in most gardens that are regularly watered. It grows taller in partial shade, but will survive full sun if kept moist.

As a member of the Impatiens family the jewelweed leaf is very similar to the leaf of the impatiens we plant in our yards. They are large, broadly oval, thin, and have toothed edges. Jewelweed grows much taller than garden impatiens, with stems up to 8 feet in height if conditions are good. The stems are very succulent, can become as large as a pencil or larger, and have prominent swollen joints.

The flowers of Jewelweed begin as small clusters of whitish buds coming from a stem and leaf junction. They are on top of the leaves as they begin but by the time the buds open the leaves will have grown and the pretty yellow and orange flowers will dangle beneath them on slender stalks.

The flowers are yellow and funnel shaped ending in a narrow, curled tube called a spur. There is a flare of petals at the lower side of the opening that are usually orange. The yellow throat of the flower is speckled with orange and brown. There is another species of Jewelweed that has flowers that are entirely pale yellow. The flowers vary from 1/2 inch to an inch long.

The tiny flowers don’t look as if they would have much to offer but hummingbirds and bees will linger long over a patch of jewel weed, exploring each flower eagerly. Since they are late blooming they help hummers and bees prepare for migration or winter hibernation.

The flowers turn into long rounded seed capsules and the plant gets another common name, Touch-me-not, because the capsules explode at the slightest touch, throwing the hard, dark seeds far from the plant. The plant is an annual and grows from seed each year. Once planted and allowed to go to seed you will always have some around. In fact, you may find it taking over shade areas so be careful where you plant it. It is easy to pull though.

Gardeners who want to try the plant can either start with small plants in the spring or collect seeds to scatter in the fall. Just sprinkle seed on the ground where you want it to grow, don’t cover the seeds. Some wildflower nurseries sell plants in spring.

Jewelweed is one of the noted native and folk remedy plants. The leaves and stems contain an astringent and a fungicide. The juice of crushed plants is boiled with soft fat or lard and applied to hemorrhoids. The plant juice is said to heal poison ivy rash and insect bites and is used to cure athlete’s foot. It often grows close to poison ivy since the plants prefer the same conditions. The plant should not be taken internally.

While it can be a bit messy looking and spreads far and wide, jewelweed is a unique native plant you may want to try in a shadier corner of your garden.

Slimy Slug Stories

I went out late at night last week to look for meteors. When I turned on the light by the deck it was like a horror movie, slugs were crawling everywhere, the big yellow slugs that seem to prefer my garden now. They were crawling across the deck, they were on plants, they were on the bench and way up on the railing.

Like most gardeners I have noticed the damage to the leaves of some plants, big holes chewed in them. But when you are out in the sunshine enjoying your garden you rarely see the culprits who do this. (Well you might see another culprit- the Japanese beetle- but if you aren’t seeing lots of beetles, chances are your problem is slugs.)

Slugs are snails without shells. Truly, there are closely related species of slugs and snails, with the only difference being a shell. And even though many gardeners consider them to be insect pests, they are definitely not insects, they are mollusks. They are related to clams and oysters.

There are hundreds of species of these slimy creatures in the US, some native and some introduced. Because until recently slugs weren’t studied much, researchers don’t even know how many species exist here- or anywhere. Some common species are known and named but researchers are now trying to identify and name the rest of the slippery creatures roaming our country.

Like most creatures, slugs have a place in the ecological web. They clean up decaying plant matter and sometimes decaying creatures too. They feast on living plants but also fungi and lichens, animal manure, and sometimes on each other. Many species are omnivorous, meaning they eat whatever fits in their mouths. And other species of living things eat slugs: frogs, toads, snakes, fish, birds and small animals. In some places people even eat slugs, although that might not be a good idea as I will explain later.

Slugs can do a lot of damage in the garden, especially if the population is high. They eat numerous species of plants, and they also eat holes in soft fruits like strawberries and make eating a salad without carefully inspecting the greens unpleasant. Not only do slugs make plants unattractive, constant heavy feeding can kill some plants.

Slugs can also transmit diseases like downy mildew and botrytis between plants too. Gardeners with lots of slugs will want to control them, but you need to understand their biology and behavior first.

Slugs prefer thin leaved, juicy plants over plants with thick, rough or hairy leaves. They are quite fond of hosta, but some varieties of hosta can handle the damage better and attract fewer slugs. The heavy, wrinkled leaved types resist slugs.

Slug damage on hosta leaves

Slug biology

Most slugs look like a fat worm with a flared-out, flat, bottom side. The flared-out area is called the foot. They can stretch themselves out – up to 4 inches or more in some species and then contract. These contractions move the slug along the ground, and even allows it to climb. While a slug moves fairly slowly it can cover a lot of ground for a small creature. Some slugs travel 40 feet a night.

Slugs live in moist conditions. They love gardens with lots of debris or mulch. If they dry out too much they will die. That’s why they are nocturnal feeders, they avoid the sunlight. You’ll sometimes see them outside on a rainy day, but generally to see them you’ll need to go outside at night, or search in the dark hiding spots under things on the ground or garden litter during the day.

To make it easier to glide over the rough ground the slug produces a thin “slime” on the bottom of the foot. The slime protects the soft underside of the slug. It also helps it stick to surfaces like plant stems it wants to climb. Most of this bottom slime is clear, but some species of slugs produce a milky white or yellow slime. As they move slugs leave trails of slime which glisten in the light. This is another way to identify whether you have slugs, look for slime trails.

Since slugs don’t have shells to hide in when threatened, they cover themselves with a heavier mucous like slime for protection. This body slime also helps keep slugs from drying out. When threatened they contract into the tightest ball that they can, and the slime helps prevent predators from picking them up. Some slugs have slime that tastes bad too. Others have slime that has anesthetic properties, which causes a predator’s mouth to feel funny.

Slugs have two sets of tentacles, little “antennae” on the head with knobs on the end. The top set serve as the slug’s eyes, with light detecting cells on the ends. The lower set are the slug’s nose, they have scent detecting cells. Both sets of tentacles can be retracted into the slug’s skin.

The area directly behind the tentacles is called the mantle. It may be thicker than the rest of the slug body, which is called the tail by the way. On one side of the mantle, generally the right side, is an opening called the pneumostome. It’s how the slug breathes.

The slugs mouth opening has a radula, a structure like a jaw with small teeth. Its what the slug uses to “chew” or scrape holes in your plants or to attack other slugs or even earthworms. Slugs eat voraciously, many times their weight each day. The teeth on the radula are replaced as they get dull or break.

On the underside of the mantle the slug also has reproductive organs. Every slug is a hermaphrodite, they have both male and female sexual organs, but in most cases, they need to mate with another slug to produce fertile eggs. To mate they wrap around each other and stick their penises into each other.

Slugs often fight each other at mating time. I have never seen slugs fighting and it’s hard to imagine, but researchers say they can be quite aggressive with each other. Some slugs suspend themselves with a strand of slime from some object as they mate. And some slug species either bite or break those penises off when they finish mating and separate. All that kinky sex going on right in your garden is amazing, right?

After mating slugs produce round white or yellowish eggs, either deposited into the ground or under debris singly or in clusters. They may reproduce several times a year. Generally, it is the eggs which overwinter in cold climates, although some species of slugs do bury themselves deeply in the ground to overwinter.

How slugs can harm humans

Contact with a slug won’t hurt you. However, you do want to avoid eating them accidently or otherwise. In 2018 a story was widely circulated in the press about a young guy in Australia who ate a slug on a dare. In 2010 he ate the slug and shortly after was diagnosed with eosinophilic meningitis, which was caused by a rat lungworm parasite that slugs carry. He suffered for 8 years before dying. Don’t eat slugs on a dare!

Slugs are intermediate hosts of several parasites, including roundworms and lungworms. They can also carry E.coli. People can be infected with these sometimes deadly parasites when they accidently consume slugs in a salad. Greens or vegetables that have been fed on by slugs may also transmit E. coli if not properly washed. Also, there are some people who cook and eat large slugs, like banana slugs. If they aren’t properly cooked the gourmand eaters may get these parasites.

Don’t let pets eat slugs either, because they too can be infected with parasites. It’s probably not a good idea to deliberately feed them to chickens, but chickens will eat slugs if they free range. Your chickens may need to be treated for roundworms, but they won’t pass the parasites to you through eggs or meat.

One type of roundworm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) infects whitetail deer with “brainworm”. They get it when they eat slugs on vegetation. Deer have evolved some resistance to the worms and often don’t die from it. However, as deer move north now due to climate change, they are infecting moose, elk and caribou, which are killed by it.

Controlling slugs

So now that you know more about slugs how do you control them in the garden? A key to controlling slugs is knowing that they need moist conditions to survive. If you are experiencing lots of slug damage in the garden, you may want to remove mulch under the plant canopies away from the bases of plants. Also remove debris like fallen leaves and garbage, old boards, logs, even garden art that sits on the ground.

Elevate plant containers off the ground or deck surface by an inch or so to remove a hiding place for slugs in the daytime. An inch of clearance allows good air flow and dries the spot under the pot out. Plant foliage should be kept from touching the ground or other surfaces so slugs can’t crawl up it and get into pots/containers to hide. They can still climb pot sides but elevating the pot helps stop that.

People who put things like rocks, crushed plastic bottles and Styrofoam chunks in the bottom of pots for drainage make good places for slugs to hide. They crawl into drainage holes and have a nice moist hiding spot among the crevices of these things.

Slugs will hide under things like melons and cucumbers where they rest on the ground and they will often start eating holes in them there too. Try to trellis these plants if you can. For melons you can slip an overturned mesh basket under them, or anything that won’t provide an additional hiding place. Make a stand for melons with a plastic pop bottle cut in half.

You can handpick slugs and drown them in water but that’s a time-consuming task best done at night using a flashlight. Tongs or tweezers make grasping the slimy slugs easier. Maybe you can pay some kids to hunt them.

Many gardeners know that slugs can be trapped with beer. Take a plastic carton with a lid, like a cottage cheese carton, and make a few holes in the sides just under the lid. Fill the carton with beer up to the holes. A mixture of yeast and water will work just as well as beer. Put the lid on the carton and bury it in the ground up to the holes. Slugs will crawl into the holes and drown in the beer. You’ll need to empty the traps every few days.

If you have racoons, skunks, or bears around they may empty the beer out for you even with a lid on the carton. Those animals can do even more damage to your garden so you may want to abandon beer traps if they show up. But the lid will keep pets from getting drunk. Put your traps under overhanging plants in shady moist places.

Crushed eggshells do not prevent slugs from crawling over them. There are many videos online that can prove that. Diatomaceous earth only works as long as it’s dry, and when sprinkled outside that condition doesn’t last long. Fine gravel, like chick grit, used as a mulch may have some benefit. Yes, salt will kill slugs, but you can’t surround plants with salt or the plants will die too. Never spray plants with salt either. I suppose you could chase slugs with a saltshaker. Good luck with that.

Copper bands will discourage slugs from crossing them. They get an electrical reaction when they crawl over copper and they avoid it. Copper is expensive though and is best used to band containers of favorite plants. Some people have had success with rings or borders of fine metal screen. But I have seen slugs crawling up metal railings so I’m not sure that would be totally effective.

Remember if there are already slugs hiding in a container or your protected area or there are slug eggs in the soil, a barrier won’t help. Also plant foliage can’t touch the ground on the outside of the barrier or they will use it as a bridge.

If slug damage is extensive you may want to try a pesticide. Carbaryl and methiocarb/ metaldehyde and iron phosphate are chemicals that kill mollusks and there are several commercial snail and slug pesticides with these ingredients. Iron phosphate bait is marginally safer. Follow label directions exactly and remember these baits can be dangerous to kids and pets.

Spraying a copper sulfate solution on plant foliage won’t kill slugs but it does repel them. These sprays are usually sold for fruit tree protection and are mixed with water. Don’t use them if you use baits or traps because they will keep the slugs away from those.

Parasitic nematodes (Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita) of slugs are sometimes used in organic commercial crops to control slugs. They are applied to the soil and take a while to become effective controls. They are rather hard for home gardeners to find.

Don’t get upset if you see a few slugs in the garden. It’s impossible to completely eliminate them and many times the damage is slight. How much slug and snail damage you tolerate before moving to controls is a personal decision. Do however, avoid eating slugs in your salad. LOL

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

August 11, 2020 pickles and melon thumping

Hi Gardeners

Last nights rain passed us by. It’s been exactly a week since we had rain. I had to water the containers a few times, but this morning I was back out watering the rest of the garden. It doesn’t look like we have any rain coming for at least a few days.

I have been seeing monarch butterflies for the first time this week. Other butterflies have been around, but it takes the monarchs a while to get here. We have plenty of milkweed around for them and lots of flowers to visit too. One flower that all butterflies like is anise hyssop. I have lots of that, too much of that, and there are always butterflies and bees around it.

The rose of Sharon’s are in bloom and the buddleias are starting to bloom. Soon the hardy hibiscus will be blooming, and the snakeroot is getting buds too. The tropical hibiscus are blooming like crazy. Garden phlox, black eyed susan’s, echincea, mums, monarda and shasta daisies are blooming. There are still some sporadic daylily blooms, but the last oriental- Casa Blanca is almost done blooming. Dahlias, zinnias and cosmos are blooming.

My “daffodil” begonia finally bloomed. I am not impressed. It’s the first bloom, maybe others will be different. It’s much like any tuberous begonia bloom, except the inner petals are longer than the outer. Doesn’t look much like a daffodil to me though, of course it’s salmon color. I do like to try new things. The leaves of this plant are mottled, I fertilized it again and it’s looking better but I’m a bit worried about that.

The impatiens were doing well but it looks like they may have downy mildew. They are going downhill fast. It’s a shame but there’s not much one can do. I won’t be able to plant them next year though, because the fungus overwinters.

My big beautiful tomatoes are splitting- a function of all the rain we had last week. Not much to do about that either. I will say however that the Goliath tomatoes are excellent tasting and get big. Try some next year if you haven’t had this variety. The split tomatoes still taste good with bacon and toast.

My violet stemmed taro has huge leaves this year. I planted some of it in a tub of soil this year instead of the little water feature. I guess it likes drier conditions better. I left some taro in the water, but it has smaller leaves. My elephant’s ear is growing some, but the taro outshines it. I am disappointed with the cannas I have this year. They aren’t growing or blooming well, time for some new ones next year.

Tonight is the best night for the Perseid meteor shower. Before dawn is the best time, but they fly all night. Look directly up and they can be in any direction. They will still be pretty good tomorrow night too.

Knowing when to harvest melons

Melons includes cantaloupe, honeydews, watermelon and some other varieties. Melons are one of the harder things to judge when they are ready to harvest and an unripe melon just doesn’t taste very good. Melons don’t continue to ripen after they are picked. An overripe melon is equally awful. As you grow melons year after year you will get adept at recognizing ripeness but until then count on a few mistakes.

Cantaloupe doesn’t develop the netting on the surface until late in development. They may look green and smooth at an earlier stage. Other melons may also change appearance as they mature. A few melons have been developed to change color when mature so they are easier to pick at the right time. Study the descriptions of melon varieties so you know what to expect and mark the variety in the garden. Garden experts get many questions about what type of melon is growing in another gardener’s garden each year as people try to figure out what the odd-looking fruits are.

Most melons develop a yellow spot when mature where the melon rests on the ground. This will turn tan or brown as the melon continues to age- melons with deep yellow verging to tan spots should be perfect. The tendril on the end opposite the stem should be dried up or absent.

Some melons will easily slide off the vine when mature but this isn’t a reliable test as some ripe melons will need to be pulled or cut off. If a melon begins to crack its generally ripe- on the verge of over ripeness, although excessive rain may cause some unripe melons to crack too. It’s ok to eat cracked melons if insects or animals haven’t beat you to it.

You can thump the melon, but it takes experience to recognize the hollow sound of a ripe melon. Smelling muskmelon, cantaloupe and honeydew can be a good test; a ripe melon can be smelled without cutting it. That’s the way chickens and other animals recognize ripe melons and extra interest in your melon patch means the melons are ripening.

Old-timers often use the plug test on watermelon. When you think a watermelon looks ripe take a pocketknife and cut a small plug out of the melon and examine it. Cut a bit off the end and taste it. If the melon isn’t ripe you can put the plug back in and wait a few days. The same plug won’t be a reliable indicator for a second test though.

Know what interior color your ripe melon should have also. Watermelons in particular can have a wide variety of flesh colors when ripe from white to deep red. If you cut open a watermelon and the flesh is yellow, it’s not because it isn’t ripe, although it might not be, it’s because that variety has yellow flesh. Some of the rarer types of melon may have flesh colors you don’t expect. If you have cut open a melon, a taste should let you know if it’s ripe. White seeds or lots of immature looking seeds are also a sign the melon isn’t ripe.

All melons in a patch or even on the same plant will not be ripe at the same time. Each melon must be judged on its own merits.

Don’t eat melons that aren’t ripe, or you will be very sorry on the porcelain throne. Unfortunately, you’ll need to compost these. An overripe melon won’t taste good, but won’t hurt you. If you want to save seeds from a melon, you want it very ripe, maybe too ripe for good taste.

Picking a melon always involves a bit of faith. Patience is your friend. When you hit it right your reward is sweet.

Late summer daylily care

Once daylilies quit blooming they often start yellowing and looking unappealing in the garden borders. There are some things gardeners can do now to make things look neater and to improve the health of their daylily plants so they can return larger and more vigorous next year.

First remove any old flower stems and seedpods. Next remove any yellowing leaves. If much of the plant is looking yellow and droopy cut the whole plant back by half. If you are dealing with the old-fashioned “ditch” lilies you can cut or mow them right to the ground.

It’s important to remember that there are some varieties of daylilies that keep blooming through the summer until frost. These should have yellow leaves removed if they have them but be careful not to remove buds and good foliage.

After cleaning up the day lilies give them some fertilizer. This will cause them to put out some new growth and allow them to add new roots and increase the clump size. You can use any flower fertilizer or even a lawn fertilizer without weed control. Immediate use, rather than slow release formulas are preferred for this application. It’s nitrogen the plants need now, so make sure the first number on the fertilizer container is higher than the others. Follow label directions for the amount to apply.

You can use compost, but since it takes a while for it to give the plants a nitrogen boost, fertilizer works better. Don’t use coffee grounds, despite internet lore their actual nitrogen content is very low, and they actually retard the growth of many plants. Blood meal might be a good organic option.

Since many other plants don’t need the nitrogen boost now you may want to carefully apply the fertilizer right around your daylilies. Water after fertilizing if conditions are dry. Keep the daylilies watered if it’s hot and dry through late summer and fall, until frost kills them.

Your daylilies should start developing new foliage soon. This is fine and won’t harm them going into winter. Some varieties of daylilies will die back to the ground after a hard frost, but some will remain green, at least in warmer zones.

It’s not a good idea to divide daylily clumps while it’s still hot. Wait until September for zones 4-6 or October in zones 7 -8 or better, wait until early spring, just as growth starts. Remember that day lilies don’t bloom well for a year or two after division.

Daylilies vary as to how often they should be divided. Some varieties are very vigorous and need dividing every 3-4 years. Others grow more slowly and can be left alone for longer periods. When clumps get very large and blooming slows down, that’s the year (or following spring) to divide them. Don’t make your divisions too small, each division should have 4 or more “fans” or leaf sets. This will get you blooms again quickly.

Daylilies are an important part of the perennial bed for many gardeners. A little care after blooming will keep them producing for you for many years.

Deadheading- should you do it?

As we gaze out over our gardens, we often notice that many plants are setting seed in August. The art of removing dying flowers before they make seed heads is affectionately called deadheading by gardeners. But should we remove seed heads to keep plants from expending energy setting seed or leave the seeds to feed the birds and make new plants?

Annual plants, those that complete their life cycle in one year or plants that are treated as annuals because they die if left outside in a northern winter, may continue blooming longer if flowers are removed as they fade. When annual plants set too many seed pods it signals to the plant that their job - reproducing the species- is done and they can quit blooming and die.

Some annuals have been selected over the years to keep blooming even if seed pods are not removed. Examples of these are petunias and marigolds. However, they look nicer if dead blooms are removed. Many other annuals, however, will bloom better and longer if deadheaded before they begin making seed pods.

Even if you want your annual flowers to bloom for a long time you can stop deadheading in September unless you are worried about the plant reseeding around the garden. The shorter, cooler days of autumn may promote a glorious “last chance to reproduce” flush of bloom, but after September annual plants usually slow down their blooming dramatically, even if not killed by frost. Let your plants set seed, especially those whose seed is loved by songbirds. This includes cosmos, sunflowers, zinnias, tithonia, and asters. When the seed heads are gone, and frost has hit the plants pull them all out.

Some perennial plants bloom longer if the dying flowers are removed and deadheading perennials keeps energy going to the plant’s roots and shoots, instead of nurturing seeds. But some perennials are not going to re-bloom regardless of whether you deadhead them. You may want to keep some plants deadheaded to prevent them from spreading seed throughout the garden. And of course many plants look neater if dead blooms are removed.

However, many of those perennial seed heads also feed songbirds and if you like birds around the garden you may want to leave seed pods on the plants beginning late in the season. Plants that provide good snacks for birds are echinacea, coreopsis, roses, gaillardia, heliopsis, poppies, perennial rudbeckia, shasta daisy, monarda, and ornamental grasses. Once the seeds are gone the seed pods can be removed to tidy things up, or plants cut back to the ground.

You may want to consider leaving the seedpods of some plants for winter interest or to make dried arrangements. Ornamental grasses can provide both. Rose hips can look quite cheerful in the winter also. Plants like clematis and hydrangea have interesting seed heads for dried flower arrangements as do celosia, poppies, amaranth, lavender, yarrow, some sedums, strawflowers, and statice. These may also provide winter interest in the garden.

Some plants do benefit by prompt deadheading so that plant resources go to building a bigger and better plant. Unless you are trying to get seed to start new plants, tulips, iris, daylilies, hosta, Asiatic and oriental lilies and peonies are best deadheaded soon after blooms fade. Hybrid tea roses are also good candidates for deadheading while their hardier landscape rose cousins can be left to make rose hips.

If plants are not deadheaded many will spread around the garden. If having baby plants pop up everywhere doesn’t bother you then don’t deadhead. If you don’t like things out of place or feel some plants are too invasive then keep the blooms picked off those plants before they make seed. Some notorious self-seeders are hollyhocks, morning glories, larkspur, dame’s rocket, phlox, sunflowers, some poppies and yarrow.

If you want to save seed from the garden remember that seed from hybrid varieties of plants may not look anything like its parent. Also, you may need to enclose the seed pods of plants with a paper bag. (Don’t use plastic bags, it causes moldy seeds.) Otherwise the birds may beat you to them or they may be scattered and lost.

Deadheading does keep the garden looking nicer, but if a natural garden that feeds the birds and regenerates itself is the goal then let the seed pods stay on most garden plants. After August, deadheading does little to keep annuals blooming and for most perennials really doesn’t affect them one way or another. By the time most garden plants have turned brown and crispy from cold weather the seeds will be gone and they can be chopped down and composted if you must tidy up before winter.

Monarch mistakes

Raising monarchs in captivity has become a widespread hobby, with thousands of people collecting eggs from the wild or ordering butterflies or their chrysalises from commercial breeders to rear. These people are convinced they are helping the monarch population survive. But are they?

In the last few years several research studies say human interference isn’t necessarily helping monarchs as a species. And studies suggest that human rearing of the butterflies may actually harm the species as a whole. But scientists are having a hard time convincing some people that a more hands-off policy for monarchs might be better.

A study published two years ago, which found that monarchs raised inside or even in cages outside, didn’t migrate well, raised the hackles of hobby breeders. They complained that the study wasn’t a good one and that hand raised, marked (tagged) butterflies were found in Mexico. However, a new study, published this month has confirmed the conclusions, hand raised monarchs don’t migrate well and they are also less vigorous than wild raised butterflies. It’s a larger and more comprehensive study, that addressed several issues in the first study that hobby breeders objected to.

Before we go on lets briefly discuss monarch biology. Monarch butterflies feed on a variety of flowering plants in North America, but their larvae, or caterpillars, feed only on milkweed plant species. Monarch butterflies migrate- that is each year the last generation of monarchs flies south to wintering grounds in Mexico- or as we have just discovered, in Florida. If they stayed, they would die. These butterflies never come back to the north, but their offspring does, migrating north each spring.

It’s still uncertain what allows butterflies that have never flown south or north to find their way back to a suitable place. It takes 2-3 generations of butterflies to make their way to the far northern areas of their range. One butterfly does not make the whole trip. Every year fewer butterflies return north, and as a whole, monarch populations are declining, as are the populations of many insect species. But the pretty orange and black butterflies plight somehow has captured the hearts of many people and they work hard to try and save them, even if some of the methods used aren’t scientifically sound.

Back to the new research. Scientists in this study raised the monarchs in a variety of conditions, in a greenhouse exposed to natural sunlight, outdoors and in a lab. The sourced the monarchs from wild collected eggs and commercially raised butterflies. Some were tagged and released in the fall, and indeed some found their way to Mexico. But most did not. Most of the human raised butterflies simply didn’t migrate or migrated a short distance. Studies found they had lost the ability to orientate themselves with true north, as they need to do to find their way to Mexico.

The reason for the failure to migrate successfully is still unclear. Many studies are ongoing to test theories. And other differences between wild monarchs and captive bred ones that can’t be explained yet were found. Captive raised butterflies have shorter, rounder forewings. They are also paler in color. These traits were found to be associated with less vigorous flying behavior.

Some people counter that maybe raising one generation inside and then releasing them to breed a generation in the wild would help. There is some indication however that some of these traits that contribute to less vigorous butterflies could be genetically passed along. In the wild butterflies that aren’t fit usually die before reproducing. Captivity protects butterflies that should be weeded out by natural selection.

Scientists don’t want people to stop raising monarchs completely. Raising a few for children to learn about them increases interest in conservation and insects in general. But the idea that collecting monarch eggs from the wild and raising them in cages is a good idea and helping conserve the species should be discouraged. Leave the eggs where you find them. Commercially raising large numbers of them for release is also useless for species preservation.

It is a good idea to increase habitat for butterflies and if you want to help that’s what you should do. Grow milkweed and lots of flowers that bloom in the late summer and fall, when the monarchs need them to feed on before they fly south. But don’t collect eggs or caterpillars, leave them alone. Let nature do her thing. That’s the way to help monarchs.