My method for spotting them includeslooking for floating leaves that were caught in the web. Then I look more closelyto determine if it is a Joro or a native spider. They are often up high but Ivefound them just 3-4 feet off the ground in vegetation. They like powerpoles. Once I identify it as a Joro, I use a broom/rake or long stick to reach upabove them and try to quickly wrap the web and the spider up together and getthem to the ground where I squish the spider. I know that some people are usingthe long-reaching bug sprays (hornet/wasp) to hit the ones that cant bereached manually. Regardless of how you kill the spider, do try to get the webdown so that bugs/birds dont get caught. I am also seeing new spiders moveinto choice locations where I removed one before so double check spots.

We don't have to tolerate these invasive spiders. Take action now to reduce next year's population.

There are a number of reasons why people garden. Some peoplewant things to eat, some want flowers, and a number of people do it just tosatisfy the expectation that the landscape has plants in it. Chances are thatno matter what your reason is, you spend time making choices about what to plant.Its a point that Ive tried to make many times: what you plant can reallymatter. Todays post is about choosing host plants, a choice that allows you toactually contribute to creating new life through your landscape.

Host plants are those used by insect herbivores (those thateat leaves such as the caterpillars of moths and butterflies). While someinsect herbivores are specialists (limited host plants) and others aregeneralists (have several different host plants), the important point is that theseinsects do have relationships with plants and without their special plants,they cant make more.

Since most people are interesting in supporting butterflies,I will focus this post on them. Keep in mind that if you include a number of keystoneplants in addition to what I mention here, you will likely support hundreds ofspecies of butterflies and moths.

Georgia is home to over 160 species of butterflies.Butterflies include large and well-known species like the Monarch butterfly andour state butterfly, the Eastern Tiger swallowtail; medium-sized species like theAmerican lady, the Gulf fritillary, and the Cloudless sulphur; small specieslike hairstreaks and azures; and all the ones known as skippers. With carefulplant selection, the average residential landscape can support close to 30 ofthem by providing host plants. Some plants support multiple species. The following table is available as a PDF file here.

Butterfly

Native Host Plants

Eastern Tiger swallowtail

Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera), native cherries and plums (Prunus), ash (Fraxinus), or sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana).

Spicebush swallowtail

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), Sassafras, tuliptree (Liriodendron), sweetbay magnolia (M. virginiana)

Eastern Black swallowtail

Golden Alexander (Zizia), Angelica, meadow parsnip (Thaspium), and other parsley-family members (Apiaceae). Note: parsley, fennel are non-native hosts.

Pipevine swallowtail

Woolly pipevine (Aristolochia tomentosa), Virginia snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria)

Zebra swallowtail

Paw paw (Asimina triloba)

Giant swallowtail

Wafer-ash/hop-tree (Ptelea trifoliata), Hercules club prickly ash (Zanthoxylum sp.)

Palamedes swallowtail

Redbay (Persea borbonia) and plants in the Laurel family (Lauraceae)

Red-spotted Purple

Black cherry (Prunus serotina), hawthorns (Crataegus), oaks (Quercus), serviceberry (Amelanchier), and willow (Salix)

Monarch

Queen

Milkweed (Asclepias sp.)

Hackberry Emperor

American snout

Hackberry (Celtis sp.)

American lady

Cudweed (Pseudognaphalium) and pussytoes (Antennaria)

Painted lady

Native thistles (Cirsium) and members of the mallow family

Red Admiral

Question mark

Eastern comma

Nettles (Urtica) and false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrical)

Silver-spotted skipper

Long-tailed skipper

Pea family plants like butterfly pea (Clitoria mariana) and Amorpha and American wisteria (Wisteria frustescens)

Viceroy

Mourning cloak

Willow (Salix)

Common buckeye

Plantain (Plantago), native wild petunia (Ruellia), and purple false foxglove (Agalinis)

Gulf fritillary

Zebra longwing

Passionvine (Passiflora)

Variegated fritillary

Passionvine (Passiflora), Violets (Viola)

Great Spangled fritillary

Violets (Viola)

Cloudless sulphur

Partridge pea (Chamaecrista sp.) and Senna

Red-banded hairstreak

Sumac (Rhus sp.)

Summer azure

Dogwood (Cornus sp.), NJ Tea (Ceanothus americanus) and wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia)

Carolina satyr

Fiery skipper

Zabulon skipper

Various native grasses

As the growing season comes to a close, my #momentinnature for September spotlights ripening fruits. Fruits like these nuts on red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) provide food for critters (several on the ground had already been nibbled) as well as the beginning of new plants.

I usually gather most of my buckeye nuts because I know people who like to propagate them for others who want to add more native plants to their landscape. Red buckeye is a wonderful plant to support hummingbirds as well as bees. The squirrels have added many of them to my woodland over the years. If I find them early enough, I can dig them up and donate them to plant sales or give them to friends. After the second year of growth, the roots are usually too deep to move.

Seeing this ripe cluster made me smile this week and think about how much our landscapes can nourish the local ecosystem.

Several weeks ago I heard about leaf pounding which is away to use the juices in a leaf to make an imprint on paper or fabric. Itseemed like a fun idea to immortalize a favorite leaf and create a unique shirt(and involve kids). I searched around for instructions and decided that I likedtheseinstructions the best.

I found that their tip to tape the leaf down with maskingtape was a good one. Once you start pounding with a hammer, the leaf can sliparound so dont skimp. The best color comes from taping the leaf to the frontof the fabric (like a shirt) and then turning it inside out to pound. Becareful, the color can go through to the other side of the shirt so put somepaper between fabric layers.

My husband had a thin board and that worked well for doingit on the counter; I could not imagine trying to do this in my lap as theysuggested. The hammering does make a lot of noise so others might want to leavethe house for a while.

It is late in the season so it is possible this would workbetter earlier in the year when leaves have maximum moisture. I used 4different types of leaves (all native, of course!): netted chain fern, oakleafhydrangea, redbud, and oak. The stems and mid-rib of the leaf are the juiciestso I thought the fern did the best because it has a lot of mid-ribs. I do agreewith their recommendation that you pound all the edges first.

Of course, I got the grandkid involved to make a shirt ofhis own and then we made one for his mom. He especially wanted to use the heartleaves (redbud). I have the cultivar Cerciscanadensis Forest Pansy and while the burgundy was mostly faded, it camethrough well on the stem. Once the sassafras and maple leaves start to turnorange, I plan to try one of those to get some color.

If youd like to preserve some leaves in a unique way orcreate a very nature-themed shirt, consider giving this a try.

It is only when you want something that you realize thereisnt enough of it. Childrens books that thoughtfully and accurately talkabout appreciating nature is one such item. Now that I have a grandchild of myown, I appreciate finding books that can inspire the youngest of us to recognizethe value of what we do in our garden. Grandma Lisa's Humming, Buzzing, Chirping Garden is an excellent new one.

There are a number of things to like about this book,starting with the rhyming cadence that children love so much as well as theaccurate depictions of native flowers (asters, beebalm, goldenrod, oh my!). Ialso particularly like how it tells the very real world story of taking anexisting landscape and working through the steps to transform it into an actual habitat garden, including the step of removing the English ivy and othernon-productive plants.

The book introduces children to a number of concepts (mygrandson shouts We need bugs! every time that we read the line But Grandma,why do we need bugs? Dont they sting and bite?). Just including nativeplants into their growing vocabulary is incredibly worthwhile but youll alsoread to them about the food web and why plants like violets are not weeds tothe insects. For the curious older child, a glossary of terms is included at theend.

Three years ago, just after my grandson was born, I wroteabout ThePuddle Garden. Both books, as well as others for children, areavailable at ThePollination Press website which also has great books on bees, wasps, andsupporting pollinators. Ive ordered several copies for holiday gifts and doorprizes for when we have meetings again.

TAGS:Georgia Using Plants Native 

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