Monarda didyma
What if “Mary, Mary, quite contrary” weren’t quite so contrary?
What if, instead of being unpredictable and whimsical, Mary cared deeply about the local ecosystem? How then might her garden grow? Instead of silver bells and cockle shells, might she plant Monarda didyma (bee balm) or Liatris spicata (blazing star) to attract native pollinators?
In central Pennsylvania and across the nation, the value of native plants, trees and shrubs has been documented, particularly as native pollinators have disappeared. Local conservancies and nurseries hold native plant sales each year to promote the return of native habitats.
“Native plants support a huge array of insect and bird life,” said Sharon Rannels, who helps run the native plant sale each year for Manada Conservancy. “They produce blooms year after year for butterflies and bees and insects and birds and for us to enjoy.”
In addition to attracting insects and pollinators, native plants improve air and water quality, reduce stormwater runoff and pollution, and increase wildlife, including beneficial insects that help control pests, according to the Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewards.
Many native plants are perennial—they come up in the spring, bloom, then make seed, foliage over the winter, and are ready to grow all over again. So, leaving the spent seed heads on old stalks will attract birdlife to a garden. In season, Monarda and Liatris draw a parade of butterflies and hummingbirds.
They’re also easy to maintain, Rannels said, noting the adage: “They sleep the first year, they creep the second year, and leap their third year.”
Gardeners new to native planting might worry the first year when their garden looks a bit wild, but within a few years, they will have beautiful blooms and foliage. Some plants spread more than others, but Rannels said they generally are easy to care for, do not require daily watering, and are hardier than non-native plants.
In the Beginning
Twenty-five years ago, the native plant movement was relatively new. Manada Conservancy was formed in 1997 to preserve the natural, historic, agricultural and scenic resources of Dauphin County through land conservation, environmental education and community engagement.
Now retired, Nancy Cladel initiated the native plant project for the conservancy.
The sale was born from a need to support the operation of the conservancy, she said, and from the beginning, conservancy members and volunteers started with plugs from native plant nurseries and nurtured them to be sold at the sale. Cladel said they were learning not only how to grow plants, but why they needed to focus on doing so, leading the plant sale to evolve to be so much more than just a sale.
“The insect population has plummeted in recent decades,” Cladel said. “[It’s] not noticed by most people because they’re small. When they’re around, they bother us, and we notice them. When they’re not around, we don’t notice.”
Insects feed birds, so with the decrease in insects, bird populations also plummet. Dr. Douglas Tallamy, chairman of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware and founder of the Homegrown National Park movement, conducted studies and discovered that native insects prefer native plants.
Ember Jandebeur, a master gardener and vice president of the Garden Club of Harrisburg, said that native plants also are locally adapted, which gives them a better chance of survival, benefits local ecosystems for wildlife, needs less maintenance, and requires less water and fertilizer.
Along with planting a garden full of native plants to increase native pollinators, Rannels suggests eliminating pesticides and herbicides, which are detrimental to all species.
Native Is Beautiful
Jandebeur likes a mildew-resistant cultivar of Monarda called Jacob Cline that attracts hummingbirds.
She said that her most active native pollinator is Solidago (goldenrod), which, contrary to common belief, does not cause hay fever. Other native beauties available at plant sales include Iris versicolor (blue flag), Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) and Rudbeckia triloba (brown-eyed Susan), among many others.
As a master gardener, Jandebeur helps at the Hunger Garden at the Capitol Complex, which harvested 900 pounds of vegetables for local food banks last season, and she assists with native pollinator gardens at Fort Hunter and the south entrance of Wildwood Park. She said that garden clubs promote not just learning but giving back to the community.
Cladel now gardens in a plant bed at her retirement community. Another bed tended by other residents offers a contrast to Cladel’s native plantings.
“Theirs is striking more than mine, but they don’t get the pollinators that I get,” she noted. “At a time when so many of us wonder what we can do with the problems of the world, this is something we can manage. I think everyone can do something.”
Buying Native
Manada Conservancy’s 25th annual native plant sale takes place May 3 at the plant nursery at East Hanover Nature Park at 328 N. Crawford Rd., Grantville. Preorder continues until April 15 unless plants sell out sooner. Several hundred additional plants will be available on sale day along with other plant vendors, art vendors, a nature walk and food. For more information, visit www.manada.org.
The Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewards will hold its sixth native tree and shrub fundraiser starting in August with pickup in late September and October from multiple locations. For more information, visit www.extension.psu.edu/master-watershed-steward-native-tree-and-shrub-sale.
The Pennsylvania Native Plant Society holds the Central Pennsylvania Native Plant Festival on May 3 at Millbrook Marsh Nature Center in State College, which includes speakers, music, vendors and information booths. For more, visit www.panativeplantsociety.org. The site includes other native plant sales and resources.
Dauphin County Parks and Recreation’s Garden Faire at Fort Hunter on May 4 includes native plants and pollinators along with many other vendors and events. For more information, visit www.forthunter.org/event/garden-faire.
Some nurseries also offer presales for their native plants. For instance, Hungry Hook Farm started preorders in March, and the nursery opens April 16 for browsing and preorder pickups. For more information, visit www.hungryhookfarm.com.
Photo courtesy of Donna Wierzbowski.
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So, have you eaten any pork chops lately?
When my child was younger, he loved to “garden” by hurtling a chubby handful of bird seed into the backyard of our apartment complex. He liked it so much that I built a raised bed to let his baby hands work in the soil.
