The Midwestern Native Garden. Charlotte Adelman
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Another force disruptive to the mutualistic interactions between native plants, butterflies, and other insects is spring cleanup. Most homeowners give little thought to this modern-day ritual. We may notice that there seem to be fewer butterflies, fireflies, and birds around, but we rarely connect this circumstance to our gardening practices. Yet, the leaf litter that naturally mulches and fertilizes the soil holds insects in various stages of their lives. Removing these layers and/or covering them with sterilized mulch from the hardware store inhibit the growth of native woodland plants. It deprives robins, native sparrows, and other birds of insect food. It also deprives baby firefly or lightning bug (really beetle) larvae that live in the soil of the worms, snails, and slugs they eat, preventing their development into the adult fireflies that add magic to our summer evenings. Cutting host plants down too early kills the baby butterflies that overwintered as larvae or pupae. Gardeners who leave host plants in place through late spring help overwintering butterflies successfully reproduce. There is also the possibility of observing the emergence of adult butterflies that spent the winter there in their other stages of life. Leaving leaf litter intact enables gardeners to observe the robins, native sparrows, and other spring migrants that search for dormant insects, worms, and other bugs. Natural leaf litter enhances the beauty of woodland wildflowers that grow in soils rich in natural mulch. Choosing native host plants and conducting suitably restrained spring cleanups, including not using pesticides, are easy techniques for gardeners who love butterflies, fireflies, and birds and hope to see them prosper.
American robin (Turdus migratorius)
White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
The benefits offered by native flowers, such as providing nectar and pollen and serving as butterfly reproduction sites, are rarely equaled by introduced flowers. For gardeners interested in fostering bees, birds, and butterflies by planting native spring flowers to replace introduced (that is, exotic, nonnative) spring flowers, we offer the following suggestions.
Nonnative:
AJUGA, BUGLEWEED. Family: Mint (Lamiaceae). Genus: Ajuga (A. reptans). There are other species and cultivars. Origin: Europe. Height: 6–12 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Bluish flowers late spring and summer. Cultivars may have purple or multicolored leaves. Cultivation: Partial shade. Well-drained soil. Can be a persistent weed. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive in much of the Midwest.
Ajuga (Ajuga reptans)
Native Alternatives:
GREEK VALERIAN, CREEPING POLEMONIUM, JACOB’S LADDER, SPREADING JACOB’S LADDER. Family: Phlox (Polemoniaceae). Genus: Polemonium (P. reptans). Height: 8–18 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Large light blue or violet bell-shaped flowers 2–3 weeks April to June. Foliage remains green through fall. Cultivation: Sun/shade. Moist or average garden soil. Note: Threatened or endangered in parts of the Midwest. Nature Note: The flowers attract Eastern tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) (p. 136) and spring butterflies, skippers, moths, honeybees, bumblebees, and the ruby-throated hummingbird, the only hummingbird that breeds in eastern North America. Greek valerian is pollinated by a specialist bee: the Andrena polemonii, an oligolege of Polemonium species. Nonnative Note: Don’t confuse Greek valerian with the European Jacob’s ladder, also known as charity (P. caeruleum).
Greek valerian (Polemonium reptans)
Ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris)
Other Native Alternatives:
CANADIAN ANEMONE (see below); CANADIAN WILD GINGER, p. 76; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38; WILD GERANIUM, p. 47.
Nonnative:
ANEMONE, SNOWDROP ANEMONE. Family: Buttercup (Ranunculaceae). Genus: Anemone (A. sylvestris). There are cultivars. Origin: Europe. Height: 10–18 inches. Ornamental Attributes: White flowers. White woolly fruit. Cultivation: Light shade. Moist soil. Very aggressive; WOOD ANEMONE (A. nemorosa). There are cultivars. Height: 6–8 inches. Early spring.
Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa)
Native Alternatives:
CANADIAN ANEMONE. Family: Buttercup (Ranunculaceae). Genus: Anemone (A. canadensis). Height: 8–36 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Beautiful, long-lasting, yellow-centered white or lavender-tinted flowers May to August. Foliage persists to frost. Conceals empty spaces left by ephemerals. Long-lived plants create showy colonies that are low-maintenance groundcover. Cultivation: Sun/light shade. Moist or average garden soil; AMERICAN WOOD ANEMONE (A. quinquefolia); CAROLINA ANEMONE (A. caroliniana). Height: 4–6 inches. Ornamental Attributes: “Produces flowers of exceptional beauty.”10 April, May. Cultivation: Sun/light shade. Dry soil. Note: Endangered or extirpated in parts of the Midwest; LONG-HEADED THIMBLEWEED, p. 102. Nature Note: Anemone flowers have abundant pollen that attracts small bees and beneficial flies. Mammalian herbivores rarely eat the foliage.
Canadian anemone (Anemone canadensis)
Carolina anemone (Anemone caroliniana Walter)
Nonnative:
AVENS, HERB BENNET. Family: Rose (Rosaceae). Genus: Geum (G. urbanum). There are other species and hybrids. Origin: Southern Europe. Height: 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Yellow spring flowers. Feathery seed heads. Compound foliage. Cultivation: Sun. Welldrained moist soil. Nature Note: The hooked achenes cling to fur, feathers, and clothing, helping distribute the plants far and wide. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive in parts of the Midwest.
Avens (Geum urbanum)
Native Alternatives:
YELLOW AVENS. Family: Rose (Rosaceae). Genus: Geum (G. aleppicum var. strictum). Height: 1–2 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Yellow spring flowers. Feathery seed heads. Compound