The impact of several ninety-degree days and the earlier dark of the evening are hard to miss as you walk through the garden. Pollinators are busy early and late, resting in the heat of the day. Joe Pye Weed, a four-foot back-of-the-garden perennial, draws a variety of pollinators.
Few Monarch pollinators are around so far this season, but some migrating Painted Ladies are here. They live on all continents except for Australia and Antarctica. This one, posing on a zinnia, allowed time for a photo.
Moths, night shift pollinators, are featured in the July/August issue of Northern Gardener magazine. See your moth pollinators by turning your outdoor porch light near dark.
Pest proliferation can be one of the ravages of dry, hot days. Our laced green bean plants are beetle survivors. Some signs of recovery include more recent whole leaves and beans without holes. Recently planted beans also appear unaffected.
Though anticipated and tasty as always, the vegetable harvest seems a little delayed and less plentiful this season.
Naked Ladies (Amaryllis belladonna) bulbs, recently in bloom, have not been a cut flower at our house before. Since they don’t bloom with leaves (hence their name), pairing them with foliage seems a mystery. A solution came when they were featured in a bouquet on Backyard Farmer, a Nebraska Extension television garden show, along with annual ornamental grasses and their seed heads.
The August Fine Gardening magazine features a Carroll, Iowa, landscape with coneflowers, salvias, allium, penstemon, and several kinds of ornamental grasses. Since these are often grown in our region, seeing them designed and selected for a national publication is a treat. The magazines mentioned today are available for browsing at the Yankton Community Library.
These are the days of the garden season to see plant resilience and discover something new about plants. Thanks for joining us today. We hope to see you next week.
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