Today at Plant Exchange, we’re featuring bits about a flower’s nectar supply, thoughts before planting, and plant pests from the USA.
How soon does a flower visited by pollinators replace its nectar?
Nectar attracts pollinators to the flower and then helps the plant by moving pollen to other flowers.
Natalie Hamilton for Smithsonian magazine, December 2020, responded that it depends on plant pollinators attracted to the plant. She gave a couple of examples. Borage adjusts the amount of the sugary nectar in its small blue flowers to the number of bees and butterflies that visit as soon as a few minutes. Agaves, found in the desert, produce nectar for bats only at night.
Thoughts Before Planting
The smell of the soil and the joy of the outdoors calls us to get planting. Jennifer Rensenbrink for Northern Gardenermagazine, November/December 2020, wrote about tips for success in planting on right-of-way or boulevards along city streets. Her ideas may be applied in many garden bed settings. Most flowerbeds have limiting constraints such as unobstructed walkways by the bed, a view of the plants from all sides, soil damaged from winter street salt, etc.
Notice the amount of direct light available before choosing the sun or shade plant. Add organic matter to the soil before planting. What bed doesn’t need more? Plant more of fewer kinds of plants; easier to manage plant needs. Read plant tags for plant heights but be ready to move them if they grow differently. Also, be aware that other changes that will present in the season.
Do other countries have invasive species that come from North America?
Emerald Ash Borer from the Orient takes a toll on ash trees in this region. We can name pests attributed to other countries. Floyd Shockley for Smithsonian magazine, January/February 2021, responded that the Colorado Potato destroys potato, eggplant, tomato, and tobacco plants for European and Asian gardeners, where they use fewer pesticides. We have many garden challenges in common.
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Interesting. Beautiful flower photos! Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
I learned early on that blue gum is an invasive exotic species from Australia, but found it ironic that the Monterey pine that is native nearby had become an invasive exotic species within the native range of blue gum in Australia. It still seems odd to me that species of Yucca have naturalized in Australia, without their very specialized and exclusive pollinators. I still to not know if they actually disperse see, or simply grow from broadly dispersed roots (which would make more sense in regard to dispersion without pollination).