The Farm Choice Country Store on South High Street in Harrisonburg not only can supply you with whatever you need to take proper care of the critters you love, but the owner can provide you with the information you need to keep them—and you—happy. Courtesy of Marlene A. Condon
Whether you have farm animals, pets or exotic animals (think llamas and alpacas), or you want to feed our local wildlife, you’ll find a trip to the Farm Choice Country Store well worthwhile.
Located on South High Street in Harrisonburg, it’s a clean and well-maintained supply store for both people and the animals they want to keep healthy.
For someone like me, who enjoys feeding and watching wildlife, the number of products available as you walk inside is fantastic. You have your choice of an incredible number of feeders of all types and a large variety of seeds to choose from. From 25-pound bags of peanuts in the shell for Gray Squirrels to a variety mix of seeds for birds (think sunflower, safflower, millet, milo, niger, and more, all packaged together), as well as nectar mixes and feeders for hummingbirds, you may well have a difficult time limiting yourself to only one or even a few selections.
But this store isn’t only for the birds and squirrels. Cruise around the different departments, and you’ll be astonished to find everything you need to feed well-pet rabbits and domesticated birds, cats, dogs, horses and other farm animals, as well as llamas and alpacas! This store is truly inclusive.
Are you a beginner and need assistance? The owner, Phillip Liskey, is delighted to help you find just what you need. He’s as much “into” helping to make animals “happy” as anyone I’ve ever met and thus is the perfect person to give you advice and solid information so you can do the same.
I spent a good 45 minutes speaking with him, and I was impressed by the number of people who stopped to ask him questions about feeding wildlife during that time. He always knew exactly where the item they were looking for was located and was always happy to bring it out to their vehicle for them, especially if it was a heavy item they needed help with. You couldn’t possibly spend time in a more friendly place!
I was amazed at how small the store is, yet it is so well-stocked. It’s loaded with inventory. Every kind of item you could need to take good care of the critters you care about is there.
And the cleanliness is wonderful. I’ve been to farm stores in other locations, and I can tell you for a fact that they were far from the immaculate place this store is. Spilled seed attracts rats and mice, rodents that exist specifically to “clean up” the environment. But people prefer not to see these critters inside or around buildings.
Mind you, I have nothing against rats or mice, having had both as pets when I was young and knowing they are vital for keeping our world running properly. And if you had a pet rodent, Phillip would know of just the right food to give it for a well-balanced diet.
Visit the Farm Choice Country Store. You’ll love it.
Contrary to popular belief, animals most active at night do sometimes come out in the daytime if it’s hot and they’re thirsty, or because they didn’t find enough to eat overnight. Courtesy of Marlene A. Condon
My mother, who is now deceased, was always there for her children. She didn’t excuse or condone anyone’s bad behavior or the poor choices they made in life, but she didn’t nag about it and was always right there to help us when needed.
Her behavior represents to me the true meaning of a mother’s love. You could do something stupid, such as when one of my older brothers totaled his car by speeding and losing control of it (thank goodness he wasn’t seriously injured), but he knew he could call home, and my mother would come to get him and help him deal with the situation.
On this Mother’s Day, I’d like to offer a tribute to all moms, whether human or not. I’ve amassed fascinating accounts of wildlife behavior that I feel can provide valuable, insightful lessons for folks. Herewith, a couple of those accounts that might guide you on your own journey through life.
Tough love
When people have children, they sometimes find it difficult to make responsible adults out of them. When your heart is full of love, it can be emotionally painful to take the steps necessary to, for example, push your children “out of the nest” to make their own way in life.
Yet, practicing “tough love” when necessary to accomplish this goal is vital, as it’s the whole point of parenting. A mama raccoon can illustrate how it’s done and why it’s so essential for her kits (and your children) to “grow up” when the time is right.
Young raccoons are born helpless (like human babies) in spring and are completely dependent upon “mom” for survival (the dads, like some human ones, are absentee fathers not involved in raising their young because, unlike with humans, they needn’t assist). She provides them with warmth, mother’s milk, and protection from harm.
At about three months of age, they begin to be weaned from her milk and to learn crucial survival skills by accompanying her as she travels around seeking food and shelter. It takes many months for the kits to master these activities, but they have grown enough by the following spring to become independent.
However, like some human children, they don’t feel confident enough to leave their mothers. They continue to follow her, but she is pregnant and knows she can’t continue taking care of this older brood and a new one. Consequently, she’s forced to employ tough love. As the kits try to share food or be close to her, she angrily barks or snaps at them.
Yes, you can recognize emotion in animal voices. After all, the mama raccoon needs to make clear that the kits are no longer welcome and must move away. How else can we convey that message other than by using the same emotional tones humans employ?
This heartbreaking scenario is difficult to witness; you feel sorry for the young animals that so obviously do not want to leave their mom. But you know intellectually that those kits are ready to behave as adults, so that life can be perpetuated.
Love in its purest form
While you might feel the mama raccoon in this story is cruel or heartless, I can say I’ve witnessed a mother raccoon exhibiting great patience and love for her baby.
Years ago, I placed a Chimney Swift box on a tall radio tower in my yard. I hoped that this species would use the box for nesting. That situation never happened, but a female raccoon decided one year to use the box as a den for her babies.
One day, I heard a plaintive cry (I have microphones outside my house for research) that indicated an animal in distress. I immediately looked out and saw a small, young raccoon running around in circles at the base of the tower, obviously quite distraught. I realized it must have fallen from the box and felt helpless. I couldn’t possibly catch it nor get it back to the box (about 20 feet off the ground), even if I could!
But not to worry. I noticed the mother raccoon calmly climbing down the tower to retrieve her baby. Just as you see a mother cat do, she picked up the young-un by the scruff of its neck and made the arduous journey back up the tower—a vertical climb made quite difficult by the force of gravity—carrying that baby by her teeth.
It was a stupendous feat, illustrating a mother’s love, devotion, and concern for her offspring. I see my mother in this raccoon’s dedication to her family, as the raccoon seemed to do what she knew had to be done. That’s love in its purest form.
A squirrel is getting freshly emerged leaves from an Autumn Olive. Courtesy of Marlene A. Condon
I receive many catalogs, some of which sell “pest control” products. I dislike seeing the word “pest” used when referring to our wildlife because it evokes negative feelings in people, causing them to think that certain animals are extremely dangerous or useless and that these creatures should be destroyed.
Many folks get angry about wildlife when the real problem is an environmental one that should be solved first or an issue that has resulted because of how someone is doing something.
For example, when folks feed birds, a big difficulty can be keeping squirrels away from the feeders. Gray Squirrels enjoy seeds as much as the many species of birds that come to feeders, and they can be incredibly persistent about getting their share of the seed supply.
Several years ago, products started coming onto the market for treating birdseed with red pepper before placing it out for birds. With names such as “Scoot Squirrel!” and “Prevent,” these products would supposedly make the squirrels’ mouths burn for a while, causing them enough discomfort to avoid your birdseed.
I cringed when I saw these products being pushed even in bird magazines. It was touted as being safe for birds (because the avian creatures supposedly can’t taste it), but I had doubts. Nor did I think it proper for folks to make squirrels suffer, no matter that the pain was only temporary.
My concern for birds is that they will be temporarily blinded if pepper gets into their eyes, and the same goes for squirrels. If you’ve ever gotten red pepper in your eyes (I had when I used red pepper spray to keep a dog from biting me), you will know how painful it is.
Your eyes burn and water for a long time (if I recall correctly, it was more than 30 minutes for my eye to stop burning enough to see out of it). Thus, birds and mammals could suffer severe pain and be incapacitated long enough to get caught by a predator if the red pepper gets from the seeds to their eyes.
This is not improbable because the red-pepper coating could easily get onto feeder surfaces that the animals may touch directly with their eyes. Because a squirrel handles the seeds with its paws that it might then use to wash its face, it could deposit the red pepper into its eyes directly. I implore you to avoid placing such concoctions onto your birdseed.
Years ago, I overcame the “squirrel problem” by putting my feeders on poles with baffles to keep mammals from climbing to the feeders. The poles and trees, shrubs, and tall brush piles were placed at least 8 feet from my house because squirrels can jump horizontally that far from a stable perch.
A blooming Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana)stands alone in a sea of native trees, the only woody plant able to feed native pollinators flying on a March day.
French philosopher Henri Bergson is quoted as saying, “The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”
In the case of “invasive” plants, most people’s minds are prepared only to see useless alien plants pushing out native plants and posing a threat to us and our native wildlife.
In other words, having been repeatedly exposed to the misleading invasive-plant narrative recounted day after day on television news and public television programs, as well as in newspaper and magazine articles, people see what they’ve been told to see. But what they think they see is not reality. It’s the mis- and even dis-information with which their minds have been filled.
Herewith, truisms regarding the wildlife value of so-called invasive plants that only the unbiased eye can see.
• Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata). This Asian shrub is the most valuable plant for wildlife usage I’ve ever documented, yet it is, perhaps, the most hated of “invasive” plants. Because it’s easily seen filling in old farm fields and highway medians, usually alongside the native Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) — once also despised by farmers — it appears to be overly numerous.
Yet, we should be thankful for this plant. Like the redcedar, it’s a colonizer working to refurbish degraded soil that has been compacted by cows or bulldozers and is nutrient-poor due to loss of topsoil—conditions most native plants find difficult or impossible to grow in. But unlike the native juniper, Autumn Olive feeds a huge variety of wildlife with its buds, blooms, fruits, and even its leaves, thus dispensing vital nutrition throughout the year. By increasing the diversity of plant life in degraded areas, Autumn Olive also increases the diversity of wildlife.
• Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus). Almost equal in value to the Autumn Olive, this Asian shrub also provides a cornucopia of food in the form of buds, blooms, fruits, and stems for an array of wildlife, in addition to nesting sites for birds.
English Ivy (Hedera helix L.) Brought here by early European colonists, English Ivy is a superb vine for assisting pollinators and birds in areas of disrupted soils (old homesteads and more recent developments). It makes flowers in fall when many blooming plants are petering out, and the resulting blue fruits persist into winter. A plant that spreads mainly by vegetative growth is typically found only where people dwelled long ago or, more currently, having been deliberately planted by them.
• Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica). Once disparaged as much as Autumn Olive is now, this vine is a wonderful wildlife plant. In this time of climate change, non-native plants are much more reliable in their habits. They can be counted on to assist animals that come out of hibernation or migrate back too early to receive sustenance from still-dormant native plants. Ruby-throated hummingbirds, in particular, benefit from its early blooms, which are loaded with nectar upon their return to our area in April.
• Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana). Native to East Asia and spreading for the same reasons other “invasive” plants move away from their original locations. This species grows profusely in the disrupted soils of retired farmland and disturbed areas of old and new developments. The multitude of trees in limited areas— eye-catching in spring due to the white flowers conspicuously covering every bough— draws attention to their presence. Because these wildlife-friendly trees are non-native, folks complain about them, but they shouldn’t. In this time of pollinators struggling to survive, Bradford Pears are a lifeline, supplying a large supply of nectar for bees and numerous other kinds of insects. The fruits are especially important to wintering birds.
• Royal Paulownia (Paulownia tomentosa). Originating in Eastern Asia, this large tree was admired just a few decades ago for its unusually large purple flowers that opened in spring. However, with the big push for only native plants to occupy the landscape, people have been cutting down these unique trees. What’s left are empty spaces unable to provide the wealth of food the Paulownias once did. The huge foxglove-shaped blooms hold an abundance of nectar for pollinators and transform into pods of tiny seeds beloved by finches, especially the American Goldfinch and the Purple Finch from farther north.
• Black Knapweed (Centaurea nigra). A lovely herbaceous plant that blooms well into fall, even during severe droughts, this invaluable plant is targeted for removal by folks who are against non-native plants and ignorant of their great worth to wildlife. Black Knapweed is one of the few plants our overabundance of deer refrain from eating, even when food is scarce. Without this species of knapweed growing in my yard in 2024, bees, beetles, and butterflies would have died, especially those still active in late fall as the heat of summer endured into fall.
• Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Once considered the scourge of lawns, this small, yellow-blooming herbaceous plant has practically disappeared from towns and subdivisions, thanks to pesticides. They might also be lost in rural areas, as people have become obsessed with manicuring (sanitizing) the environment. But it should be noted that they feed pollinators, sometimes even on warm winter days when nothing else is blooming and insects are active.
A Pennsylvania Leatherwing beetle (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus) finds nourishment on a Black Knapweed (Centaureanigra) bloom in September in the author’s yard.A pair of goldfinches visit a small bamboo (subfamily Bambusoideae) stem in the author’s yard to obtain water and/or sap.The interestingly shaped fruits of English Ivy (Hedera helix L.) near the end of December help to feed local and migratory birds at the edge of a restaurant’s parking lot in Charlottesville.
People need to recognize the significant roles “invasive” plants play in our environment.
A native Northern Cardinal finds sustenance by consuming the seeds from an Asian Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) tree on a fall day.
Before writing this article, I saw yet another discussion on social media about woods being cleared for more development. In Charlottesville and Waynesboro over the past few months, I’ve been stunned by the absolutely enormous areas of red clay made visible by bulldozers pushing down trees and other kinds of plants. And I’ve wondered how, in the face of all this destruction of natural areas, anyone believes the most pressing problem for our wildlife can be “invasive” plants.
This abundance of development makes the biggest problem for the environment completely clear: too many people on the planet — 8.2 billion and increasing every moment.
Although discussing our booming numbers is considered impolite, if not taboo, folks need to be made aware of the ensuing consequences of human overpopulation.
According to WorldAtlas.com (a site that provides content about the environment and other subject matter), human exploitation of resources — e.g., overhunting, overfishing, and poaching endangered species — is responsible for a 37% loss in wildlife biodiversity. Habitat degradation and alteration accounts for a further 31.4% loss, with complete habitat loss being responsible for another 13.4%. These three causes comprise the major reasons for wildlife depletion at almost 82%.
But what is the most publicized explanation for wildlife losses? So-called “invasives”. Yet “invasive” species rank fifth out of the seven major causes of decline in wildlife populations worldwide, accounting for only 5.1% of the loss in biodiversity. As this category includes non-native animals, I suspect that non-native animals are the real problem rather than non-native plants. Non-native animals compete for space (habitat), whereas all plants provide environmental services that assist wildlife. Only in rare instances might alien plants be problematic, such as in wetlands.
Isn’t it time to focus on problems that are far more impactful and solvable than removing “invasive” plants that assist wildlife in surviving in degraded areas? Cats, for example, are estimated to kill 1.3-4.0 billion birds and 6.3 -22.3 billion mammals annually in the United States.
If people truly care about our wildlife, why has it been impossible to eliminate this longtime threat to our critters? The answer: People are reluctant to take on this battle thanks to vocal proponents of letting both pet and feral cats roam freely.
Whether it’s a private individual who doesn’t want to make his neighbor angry or politicians who worry more about votes than doing what’s right for the greater good (wildlife keeps the environment running properly), people find it easier to kill plants. And, of course, they themselves may even agree with allowing cats outside.
Then, there are many other aspects of human lives that people don’t want to change. Blaming plants you don’t care about might be preferable to shutting off your outdoor lights that, during warm weather, attract insects that should be mating, such as moths that have declined precipitously,
Some folks give little thought to all the animals they kill while driving and thus don’t limit their trips out and about even though they could with better planning. They should also consider the soil and water pollution caused by runoff of the gas and oil that collects on roadways and parking lots.
You might think people would care about the pollution caused by vehicle exhaust, a leading cause of climate change that affects both wildlife and people. You can drive by any public school in your area before classes begin or end and see a long line of cars waiting to get into or out of the school grounds, even though buses drive by or close to these people’s homes twice a day.
Another serious threat to wildlife is the use of pesticides around homes and businesses, not to mention the pesticides employed in the war on so-called invasive plants.
As an individual, you can help stem the loss of wildlife by seriously considering the actions listed above and limiting how much you participate in them. If you truly care about the future of the Earth and our lives on this planet, you should step up to the plate.
Contact local politicians and make them understand the need to pass a law that demands that cats be kept indoors. It should go without saying that anyone who truly cares about these animals wouldn’t want them to be outside in cold weather (they originated in warm-climate areas) and to be exposed to the dangers outside, such as being run over by a vehicle or sickened by disease.
There are many problems, but they are obvious and fixable. We need folks to stop focusing on the 5% (alien plants and animals they see as “weeds” and “vermin,” respectively) and start focusing on the 95% (everything else) that truly damages the environment, leading to a great loss of biodiversity.
A native Eastern Tent caterpillar feeding upon an alien Multiflora Rose shrub in Albemarle County disproves Doug Tallamy’s contention that native plant-eating insects “should be able to eat only vegetation from plants with which they share an evolutionary history.”
On June 8, 2011, the journal Nature published a commentary by 19 ecologists who urged conservationists to “assess organisms on environmental impact rather than on whether they are natives.”
“Classifying biota [the plants and animals of a region] according to their adherence to cultural standards of belonging, citizenship, fair play and morality does not advance our understanding of ecology [the relations of organisms to one another and their physical surroundings]. Over the past few decades, this perspective has led many conservation and restoration efforts down paths that make little ecological or economic sense”.
This other side to the story regarding alien species — in particular, nonnative “invasive” plants — is rarely publicized, yet it should be. It’s been 14 years since this essay appeared and was ignored by virtually everyone. As a result, the general public, government at every level, scientists, the media, and especially environmental groups and the people that support them have currently instituted a scorched-earth policy that’s bringing about much destruction of viable habitat and the poisoning of our environment via herbicides.
Many people now fervently believe that so-called invasive alien plants pose a dire threat to native insects, undoubtedly due to the 2007 book by entomologist Doug Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home, which they often cite. In it, he wrote that “scientists who know what they are talking about” developed “an extensive body of theory” that predicts that native plant-eating insects “should be able to eat only vegetation from plants with which they share an evolutionary history.”
This assertion, which holds that herbivorous insects eat only those plants they have co-evolved with under the same environmental circumstances, sounds logical to the uninitiated. However, it disintegrates under scrutiny.
Dr. Tallamy tells us these 6-legged critters that feed upon plant tissues are limited to feeding upon “no more than a few plant lineages [a single line of genetic descent through time],” thus making them “specialists.” However, each plant lineage can include hundreds, if not thousands, of species around the world — which means an insect is likely to be able to feed upon at least some of the plants that are related genetically, regardless of their country of origin.
Indeed, gardeners and butterfly enthusiasts know full well that the Monarch butterfly can feed on milkweeds that are not native to their region. The Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is often planted in eastern gardens and is considered native because it grows in the United States. Still, it’s only native to the western half of North America. If President Thomas Jefferson hadn’t made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the central area of our country might still be owned by France, in which case no one would dare call this milkweed “native.” Obviously, geo-political boundaries do not determine whether a plant is native to your location.
We know that countries share plant lineages (and even some species), so it should be expected that phytophagous (herbivorous) insects should be able to eat vegetation from other areas on the Earth, and, indeed, they do (in contrast to Professor Tallamy’s “extensive body of theory” to the contrary).
In Bringing Nature Home, Doug Tallamy recounts the plight of native Eastern Tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) that ran out of cherry leaves on a tree too small to feed them adequately. He mentions that leaves were still available to the caterpillars in the form of a Japanese Honeysuckle vine (Lonicera japonica) that had climbed the little tree. Still, he points out that the caterpillars “had not taken a single bite out of the alien plant…even in the face of starvation.”
The duplicity embedded in this tale is the subtle suggestion that the caterpillars would have eaten the honeysuckle if only it had been native, as he never points out that the caterpillars would have faced starvation even in the presence of a native vine if—like the alien honeysuckle—it wasn’t a member of the Rose Family (as is this caterpillar’s preferred native host plant, the cherry).
I have documented tent caterpillars feeding on a relative of the cherry—the nonnative, unevolved with, and much despised Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) growing at the base of a leaf-stripped Black Cherry tree (Prunus serotina). A factuality is that you can find native insects feeding upon nonnative plants, but, of course, you need to look!
People have been manipulated into believing alien plants serve no ecological purposes when, in fact, they very much do, in very many ways, for innumerable insect (and other) species. As the 19 ecologists wrote in their paper, “[A] valuable step would be for scientists and professionals in conservation to convey to the public that many alien species are useful” and that “Natural resource agencies and organization should base their management plans on sound empirical evidence and not on unfounded claims of harm caused by nonnatives.”
A Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar is shown. Marlene Condon / For The DN-R
Gardening is in full swing at this time of year. Sadly, many a gardener will kill practically any kind of insect found on his plants, even if he doesn’t know what the insect is and whether it will even seriously harm the plant he found it on.
One type of insect that has a particularly bad reputation is the caterpillar. Caterpillars are the immature or larval form of moths and butterflies, and, except for the Harvester butterfly whose carnivorous caterpillar eats aphids, they feed on plant material. This week, I want to try to convince you not to destroy caterpillars because moths and butterflies are disappearing from our midst.
In a nature-friendly garden, caterpillars do not create havoc. Defoliation of native trees and other native plants by native caterpillars is rarely a problem due to native-predator populations that evolved along with these insects. Predators help to limit overpopulation of their prey, which limits how much plant material gets eaten. That’s why any area, whether it be a homeowner’s yard or a farmer’s working acreage, is more prone to insect damage if the land is not maintained in an ecologically “smart” manner.
Unfortunately, natural predators are often wiped out due to habitat loss, which is what has happened with Loggerhead Shrikes that had lived around farms in Virginia. These birds (that somewhat resemble Northern Mockingbirds) ate mostly insects. But, they needed hedgerows for nesting and for storing food. Because modern farms have become almost as manicured as most homeowners’ yards (not an ecologically good thing in either case), a hedgerow between fields has become a thing of the past.
Predators also succumb to the deliberate killing of insect “pests” — a term I consider inaccurate — via the use of insecticides. Many predatory insects, such as our native Carolina Mantids, will die right along with the intended “victims.” Because there are naturally a smaller number of predators than prey, it should go without saying that killing those few predators helps to make a garden or farm more prone to overpopulation of the prey insects that then can’t help but cause plant damage. They need to eat!
However, no animal is supposed to eat itself out of house and home. People think caterpillars exist to cause the deaths of their food plants, but that doesn’t make sense. How could their species continue to survive? Dead plants can’t reproduce to create food for current or future caterpillars, which means that at some point, these organisms would not be able to obtain nourishment and would die.
The overpopulation of any species dooms the environment to dysfunctionality. It can’t function properly when it’s out of balance.
A more selfish reason to leave caterpillars alone is so you’ll have the opportunity to view the beautiful creatures that comprise the adult forms of some of them. Many moths and butterflies are as joyful to behold as the painted canvases we must travel to an art gallery to see. But garden properly and these airborne canvases will come to you!
Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com
A Goldenrod Soldier Beetle feeds on goldenrod nectar and pollen in the author’s yard.
From late summer until fall, goldenrods brighten the countryside with deep-yellow flowers that almost seem to glow in the sunlight. Because these native plants can be up to six feet tall, very few people grow them in their gardens, thinking of them as “weeds.” However, you may want to find a field of goldenrods to gather seeds and enjoy these plants in your yard. And now is the perfect time.
There are at least 100 species of goldenrods, and they can be challenging to tell apart. However, it does not matter whether you can identify each specific plant. All these plants share beautiful characteristics that make any of them suitable for the garden — especially for the wildlife garden.
The most valuable service that goldenrods provide is feeding many kinds of insects. The numerous flowers on each stem produce large quantities of nectar. Observe a goldenrod up close, and some of the insects you will see feasting on this sugary substance are honeybees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, many kinds of wasps, and Monarch butterflies.
Many of the insects you notice will die with the coming of cold weather, but the Monarchs are traveling south to escape the certain death that winter will bring to them. These beautiful creatures need energy to keep moving, and goldenrods are a vital source of nourishment. Indeed, for this reason alone, goldenrods are extremely precious plants to cultivate in your yard.
Goldenrod flowers make pollen so they can reproduce themselves, but not all pollen is used for fertilization. Animals, such as soldier beetles, eat some of this protein-rich substance. There are many species of soldier beetles, so named because some species have bright colors that make people think of old military uniforms. There are 4,000 species of soldier beetles worldwide and 468 in North America.
One soldier beetle that is often found on goldenrod is the Goldenrod, or Common, Soldier Beetle. It has orange wing covers that are about one-half black. If you need a reason for wanting to entice Goldenrod Soldier Beetles to your yard, their larvae are predators of other insects, which helps keep their populations at sustainable levels.
If you see Goldenrod Soldier Beetles mating (from August through September and sometimes later), you can rest assured that you will have allies the following year, helping you to avoid the use of pesticides in your garden. Goldenrod Soldier Beetles can be found on a variety of plants, but they are especially noticeable on goldenrod.
If you look very carefully at the goldenrod flowers, you will undoubtedly find other predatory creatures. Crab spiders and daddy longlegs seek out meals by preying upon the insects that visit for nectar or pollen. Ambush and assassin bugs lie in wait for other insects, just as their names suggest.
The goldenrod flowers are the site of much activity. Indeed, the entire plant functions as a cafeteria for a whole host of creatures that visit for a meal.
Few folks appreciate the value of plants coming up wherever they can, such as by this street drain in hilly Staunton.
Many folks view the natural world as something of no real significance to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nature provides our life support system as we travel around the sun and through the universe upon spaceship Earth.
Space travelers in manufactured spaceships always need to bring along oxygen. Without it, a person will not survive. You should remember this fact the next time you observe weeds coming up between plants in your flower bed, in bare lawn spots, or even in the cracks of a sidewalk. Consider their value and perhaps leave them be.
Plants fill in empty spaces not just for aesthetic reasons but to ensure the proper functioning of the environment that supports all life. Nature abhors unused space because it’s not productive. So, it’s a good idea to embrace those violets in the lawn and those dandelions in your flower bed. This variety of plant growth on your property supports a variety of organisms, making your personal part of the world more healthful for you and your neighbors.
You should welcome a variety of critters on your property so they can work for you. Pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, flies, wasps, and many others, fertilize your crop flowers so you can obtain food. Slugs, snails, and some kinds of flies and beetles break down and recycle your plant debris and animal remains to make fertilizer available for new plants in the next growing season.
Birds, for instance, play a crucial role in maintaining balance. They eat many of these small organisms, which helps to limit their numbers. An overpopulation of any one kind of organism harms the ability of other organisms to survive. Natural resources are limited and therefore must be shared.
The same idea applies to plants. When bunnies eat some of your flowers, these cute mammals — adored by children and some of us adults — are limiting plant numbers to prevent overcrowding. Overcrowded plants or animals end up diseased — Mother Nature’s mechanism for reducing the overpopulation of organisms when other control measures have failed.
If you dislike certain animals because you fear them, learning about the critters in our world goes a long way to helping you coexist peacefully.
For example, you may fear getting stung by bees and wasps, but you probably realize we need them to pollinate plants to provide fruits, vegetables, and nuts to eat, and so we can get honey from honey bees. To live in agreement with these insects, follow this basic rule: Pay attention to your surroundings whenever you are outside among plants so you don’t inadvertently touch a bee or wasp or get too close to a nest.
Remember, these animals are not interested in harming you because they could get injured or killed by attacking you. Therefore, they behave defensively, just as you would do if you or your offspring were about to be injured or killed.
If you respect nature, nature will respect you.
Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). She writes a blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com/
A stalkless dandelion bloom is less likely to be eaten by wildlife or cut by a lawnmower and thus is more likely succeed in making seeds.
One of the earliest plants to bloom in spring is the Common Dandelion, sprouting up in fields and yards and alongside roadways. It’s probably the most recognizable flower in the United States, especially to children. They are often taught to make a wish before blowing apart the perfectly formed sphere of seeds that develops at the top of the stem. Although many people think of this perennial as an uninvited and unwanted lawn weed, its bright, cheery, yellow flowers can be a welcome sight, especially after a cold, dreary winter.
The scientific name of the Common Dandelion is Taraxacum officinale (ta-RAX-a-come a-FISH-in-AL-a). Its genus name, Taraxacum, is medieval in origin and means “bitter herb”’, referring to the leaves that are sometimes used in salads. The species name, officinale, derives from Latin for “shop”, and is applied to plants that were sold for medicinal purposes.
The roots of dandelions have been roasted and ground for a caffeine-free coffee substitute in different countries during various ages, and their flower heads can be made into wine. The common name is from the French, “dent de lion”, meaning lion’s tooth, and probably refers to the teeth on the jagged leaves. Dandelions belong to the Sunflower Family.
The first sign of a Common Dandelion is a formation of irregularly toothed leaves radiating from a central point at ground level (known as a basal rosette). Shortly thereafter, a yellow flower head, up to 1½ inches across and containing 100 or more tiny flowers (called florets), rises from the center on a hollow stalk.
If the flower stalk gets cut before it sets seed, the next flower stalk will be shorter, a scheme to make it less conspicuous to grazing animals—or lawn mowers! Eventually a flower head will come up that is completely stalkless, level with the ground and far less vulnerable to decapitation. With luck, it will exist long enough to produce seeds for another generation, demonstrating a wonderful strategy for these plants to survive the many hazards of life.
Dandelion flowers are an extremely valuable food source for the first insects to emerge in the spring. Even though these plants are introduced from Europe, many insects make use of them, content to find nectar at a time when few native or cultivated plants are blooming. After pollination by a variety of insects, a “blowball” of parachuted seeds develops that is perfectly adapted to dissemination by the wind—or children!
Other animals, such as rabbits, graze upon the fresh green leaves. You should watch for the wide variety of creatures that visit this plant.
If you’re lucky, you may chance upon an entire field of Common Dandelions only recently gone to seed, each plant still holding high its orb of silky-haired achenes (small dry single-seeded fruits which remain closed at maturity). Gaze upon this sight, as it is surprisingly beautiful. It’s only after the globular clusters of seeds have begun to break up that these plants acquire a disheveled look that people love to hate.
Marlene A. Condon is the author/photographer of The Nature-friendly Garden: Creating a Backyard Haven for Plants, Wildlife, and People (Stackpole Books; information at www.marlenecondon.com). You can read her blog at https://InDefenseofNature.blogspot.com.
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