Rethought Green Lawn...What's Flowering Instead?

Several years ago we stopped mowing our lawn and incrementally started adding "wildflowers". For sure, this is not a pure/pristine restoration effort, i.e. this will never mirror a historic plant community. The objective is: a) propagate larval host plants for butterflies b) cultivate plant species known as key nectar sources for pollinators c) demonstrate/be-a-catalyst for rethinking the "green lawn".

Have had success in meeting objectives though the yard is still evolving/changing. Have been adding different native species (seeds) every year. Of course, this takes time and patience. This method is pure expectation and fun. I wonder what will take root and multiply. Will Monarchs appear at some point in time on the Showy Milkweed? Build It and They Will Come exampled butterfly usage a few years ago. Nothing like looking out the window and seeing some beautiful flowers (see below) at a minimum. Consider using a part of your lawn for ecology and beauty. Thank you :-)

Black-eyed Susan

Coneflower

Wild Flax

Paintbrush

More Spring Wildflowers

Our neighborhood has open space "parks" that are essentially disturbed patches of native bunchgrass/forbs. So after work visited for some discovery/camera work. Had success; found three new wildflower species for the year in bloom.

All were fairly easy to detect, 6 inch plus in size either vertical (Hoelbell's Rockcress [Arabis hoelbelli], horizontal (Large-fruit Lomatium [Lomatium macrocarpum] or bushy (Western Gromwell [Lithospermum ruderale]. Wildlife watching strategy can be summed up at times as "what's different?" So, in thirty minutes got fresh air, exercise, employed photography skillset and experienced "flow" (read Csikszentmihalyi 1990). You should try it...it is fun.

Hoelbell's Rockcress

Large-fruit Lomatium

Western Gromwell

Create a Great Butterfly Watching Experience...Discover Spreading Dogbane First

So what the heck is Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)? It is a perennial flowering plant related to Milkweed that grows between 10 and 40 inches in height. Fragrant, small, bell-shaped flowers hang downward from the apex of the plant. Meadows, forest openings, and ravines in disturbed or intact habitat are home. Distribution includes most of the country, avoiding the southeast and southern Great Plains. Extensive background information of the plant can be found at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Finger Lakes Native Plant Society websites.

Spreading Dogbane

This plant flowers at at time when many other wildflowers have bloomed and gone to seed. I touched on this topic, plant phenology, on my blog earlier this spring. Essentially, wildflowers adhere to a timetable that is very ephemeral in nature...for us that is. Plants main job is to reproduce, in the form of a seed or fruit. Pollinators, such as bees and butterflies are part of the fertilization process. Wildlife seems to have an innate intelligence concerning the where, when and how of food/resources. It is taking me a while to discover this. I know in early spring find sap wells for overwintering adult butterflies. As the season progresses my looking targets specific wildflowers and mud puddles:


When late summer and fall roll around, I'm checking out the blooming Rabbitbrush. I've been missing a plant(s) that is attractive to butterflies for mid to late summer...until six days ago. A mid-elevation Sapphire Mountain wildflower meadow was the destination for a Fritillary finding expedition. As I zig-zagged made my way up Sawmill Creek Road, spied a stand of flowering plants at the 3.5 mile mark:

Dogbane Location (red rectangle)

I stopped the car, nice pull off on switchback corner, and walked over to see if there was any activity. To my surprise it was teaming with butterflies, mostly Fritillary species. Took many still photos and video of the butterflies in action:

Perhaps Spreading Dogbane is in your area to make for a great butterfly watching experience. Or don't worry about this fact...go to your favorite forest preserve, nature center, wildlife refuge and make your own wildlife discoveries :-)

Dragonflies...Found Far From Water

While photographing butterflies and wildflowers this morning in the neighborhood, encountered some dragonflies. Our home is about 4500 feet from the Bitterroot River and about upslope by 100 feet. Good wildflower stands of Arrowleaf Balsmaroot, Wyeth's Lupine, Leafy Spurge (sic) and Meadow Death Camas were attracting a variety pollinating insects. So it seems logical that predatory insects (dragonflies) would be around. Dennis Paulson (Damseflies and Dragonflies of the West 2009), odonate authority, states that "non-breeding immatures (and mature females) can be found well away from water..." Much for me to learn on just this dragonfly behavior; seems that much luck is involved looking for these creatures away from water.

Pictured below is an immature male Dot-tailed Whiteface (Leucorrhinia intacta) perched on plant stem that I bumped into and photographed. Also saw in flight a darner, likely California Darner (Rhionaeschna californica) and a meadowhawk, likely Variegated (Sympetrum corruptum). One particular dragonfly that took me a couple of seasons to find, Sinuous Snaketail (Ophiogomphus occidentalis), have now found regularly in the upland conifer forest...does not intuitive!!! Does add to the challenge and fun...give it a try in a wild, albeit from water, area near you :-)

Dot-tailed Whiteface

Sinuous Snaketail

Wildflowers Blooming

Beautiful spring weather today...low 60's with clear blue skies. Main priority for wildlife watching excursion is to add bird species to month list. Recorded 93 species in 2008; starting today have only 81.  Did find 3 'monthers' this morning : Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatch. As happens often, 'things' are found outside of priorities/targets. Found 5 colorful, at times tiny in size, species of wildflower in bloom: Sagebrush Buttercup, Yellow Bell, Spring Draba, Bulbous Woodland-star and Blue-eyed Mary (photos below). It was fortuitous in finding some of them; great overview of 'mastering the art of observation' by Brain Pickings Newsletter. This time I'll claim finding them to a "connected mind" :-) Find something great!

Collinsia parviflora

Lithophragma glabrum

Ranunculus glaberrimus

Draba verna

Fritilliaria pudica 

'Yard' Restoration...Continues

Yesterday I seeded about 400 square feet of yard to native wildflowers, photo below. Note the sand on the soil; the process of planting requires adding small seeds to 10 cups of sand, mixing thoroughly, then distributing on bare ground. That's it!!

The rock garden seed mix was acquired from Native Ideals Seed Farm. Here's a species list of what was planted:

No doubt it won't be kool-aid; hoping it will look something like this in two years or so (another part of our 'yard'):

Now have very little to mow; I've built it and they have come...wild your yard-planting time is now!

Butterflying Before the Storm

The day started out stormy with a midday respite of sunshine. Did some weeding in our meadow restoration (photo below) while weather cooperated.

Home Meadow

Hurried doing a quick butterfly reconnaissance on a native patch of wildflower, grasses nearby before a thunderstorm rolled in:

Found two species of 'Blue' around flowering lupine (Wyeth's lupine):

Arrowhead Blue

Boisduval's Blue

Scanning...the Skies and the Ground

The last half of May in western Montana is a time of cool/wet conditions. True to form, here's a video from our Lolo porch this morning:

So instead of going on a 'field trip', I've processed some photos and video from the past couple of days for your reading, viewing pleasure. Staying home sometimes has its advantages, found two first of year butterfly species from our yard: Purplish Copper (Lycaena helloides) and Boisduval's Blue (Plebejus icarioides):

Purplish Copper

Boisduval's Blue

Looking at the ground yesterday, spied a Sticky Geranium (Geranium viscosissimum) in bloom in a small native plant patch along Marcure Road west of Missoula:

Sticky Geranium

Just east of Marcure Road is Loiselle Road, this gravel road was immediate to somewhat degraded native pasture...though sufficient for usage by a pair of Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni). Check out the following video of these birds in flight; compare with the excellent written description of flight found in the default reference material (Hawks in Flight [1988] by Dunne, Sibley and Sutton):

First wildflower of 2010...

While searching the burn area of Blue Mountain (3/21/2010 at Missoula, Montana) for bluebirds and woodpeckers, found sagebrush buttercup (Rannunculus glaberrimus) in bloom on the dry east facing slope. Extensive information about this plant can be found at: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/rangla/all.html

Did find western bluebird (Sialia mexicana) in numbers in the burn area. The birds were very vocal. Ralph Hoffman [Bent 1949] describes the vocalizations as "chu, chu, chu". Also in Bent, Grinnell and Storer described the song as "...simple affair...call notes uttered over and over again". Captured video, though dark, highlights a male/female with accompanying sounds of these birds.

Species not found on this trip or with any regularity in the mountains so far this year, evening grosbeak (Coccothraustes coccothraustes), was found in the town of Stevensville by Deborah Goslin (3/16/2010). Made it to location on 3/19 and found the birds readily by listening. Video is here:

Mount Jumbo and Snow Buntings

Climbed Mount Jumbo (elevation ~4600') on Sunday, March 7. Started at 11:30 am on a beautiful sunshiney day of 40+ degrees. Went up the Cherry Street trailhead in Missoula using the steep "L" trail for a gain of 1100 feet with the target being a group of snow bunting at the summit. Immediately spied horned lark in the grazed areas of native grasses. After 10 minutes or so heard a single snow bunting call. Walked closer to origination of sound, sat down near fenced pen area for sheep, and waited. Within 15 minutes a group of 10 snow buntings flew by (within 50 yards) calling ...got real good looks at the birds...stunning black/white pattern. It is incredible to get these birds without going to the windswept frozen plains and serendipitously finding them in amongst swirling longspur or lark flocks feeding on minute seeds. So my thanks go to Paul Hendricks who posted his sighting of these birds on the Yahoo site of MOB.

Great views from on top. Wildflowers should be good in a while...some are greening up well. Thanks also to the citizens of Missoula for acquiring this land as open space not only for people, but for a great variety of wildlife also.

Get outside and take it all in...