By Reba Kocher

Listen to this blog post here: Zinnia-2.mp3

If you’re like us, you are already planning what to put in your gardens for next season. You’re looking through seed catalogs and taking notes. Well, we have a great suggestion for next year’s garden--Zinnia! If you have some now, then you know just how awesome and easy it is to take care of.

Zinnia is related to sunflowers and belong in the daisy family. They are native to scrub and dry grasslands, so you can see them in the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and throughout South America. Because they are from these regions, they love dry, hot weather. They are best to plant as seeds in the late spring until the end of June. They grow pretty fast--from seed to flower in about 2 months! They are very low maintenance needing really only well-draining soil and full sun. They don’t need watered very regularly--only when the soil is dried through. They also don’t require fertilizer or mulching.

Zinnia are awesome because they are easy to take care of, but they are also so beautiful! They come in many different varieties. There are dwarf ones, tall ones, creeping ones, ones with single flowers, ones with double flowers, ones with cactus flowers, and so many more! They come in lots of colors and they can even be bi-colored or tri-colored. And.. the most exciting part? They will attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard! Definitely consider planting some Zinnia in your garden. We just planted some in our Children's Garden in late June, and they are beautiful and blooming. I have seen several Monarch butterflies drinking from them just today! Stop by and check it out!

Photos of the Zinnia in our Children's Garden

Cactus flower Zinnia

Tri-Colored Zinnia

Further Reading:

https://www.homestratosphere.com/types-of-zinnias/

https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/smart_gardener/zinnias_hardest_working_flower_summer_garden

https://www.gardendesign.com/flowers/zinnia.html

By Reba Kocher

Listen to this blog post here:moon_garden.mp3

Have you ever heard of a moon garden? They’re gardens that are meant to be enjoyed at night by moonlight. When we think about gardens and plants, we tend to think of beautiful sunshiny days with lots of bright colors. A moon garden allows us to challenge the idea of what a garden is. It will feature lots of white flowers, plants that bloom in the evening, and wonderfully fragrant flowers.

The white flowers and silvery foliage look beautiful glowing in the moonlight. Four O’Clocks open around 4:00P.M., as their name suggestions, are really cool to watch. Mostly flowers open in the morning when the sun comes out, and we rarely get to enjoy watching them open, but with a moon garden, there are several different flowers that you can watch open. Many of these flowers, like chocolate daisies, also have strong, sweet scents radiating through the garden. Another reason I like the idea of moon gardens because they are a really cool way to attract nighttime pollinators to your garden--like moths and bats. Clary Gardens is thinking about putting in our own moon garden? What do you think?

Chocolate Daisies

Four O'Clocks

Moonflowers

Want more moon garden info? The Chicago Botanical Garden has an awesome article about the history of moon gardens plus some info on what to plant! https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/smartgardener/moon-gardens

Create a moon garden yourself by checking out these links!

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/spaces/moon-garden-design.htm

https://www.thespruce.com/planting-a-moon-garden-2132163

https://www.thespruce.com/planting-a-moon-garden-2132163

https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/flowers/create-a-moon-garden

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/colorful/design-for-a-moon-garden/

https://www.farmersalmanac.com/moon-garden-33158

By Reba Kocher

Listen to this post here:Stinging_Caterpillars.mp3

I know that I said I would give you all a break from Lepidopteron, but I lied. I can’t help it; they are some of my favorite creatures. When I was looking for the monarch caterpillars today, I stumbled upon a Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillar. Milkweed Tussock caterpillars are really hairy and, in my opinion, kinda cute. They, however, should not be touched with bare hands! The reason I am bringing us back to caterpillars has more to do with the safety of visitors than it does with my fascination with them. Several people who visit bring their children, and I want to warn you that there are some stinging caterpillars, like the Milkweed Tussock, living here.

A Milkweed Tussock caterpillar with stinging hairs. Photo by Reba Kocher, at Clary Gardens.

I’m sure that many of you have played with woolly worms as children (I know I have!), which turn into Isabella Tiger Moths. They are big and hairy, usually black with a reddish-brown band. There are several types of fuzzy caterpillars that are like the woolly worm, but there are also fuzzy stinging caterpillars to watch out for. Stinging caterpillars have urticating, or nettling, hairs that either puncture the skin and inject a venom or puncture the skin and then break off into the new wound. Their hairs are either long and flexible or in stout bristles, but this does not dictate how the hair will sting you. For example, there are several species of tussock caterpillars with long flexible hair, but some of them with inject venom and others will break off into the wound.

A cute, harmless woolly worm. Photo by the Old Farmer's Almanac.

Why do some caterpillars sting? It is, as I’m sure you hypothesized, to keep them safe. A caterpillar, like the monarch butterfly caterpillars, are soft and squishy with no defense mechanism--other than their bitter flavor and poisonous bodies (if ingested). These caterpillars are able to protect themselves from predators with ease. If you were to pick up that Milkweed Tussock hanging out on our milkweed, you would experience great pain and, depending on your sensitivity, break out in a rash and/or have severe swelling. Some people have also needed to go to the emergency room! Please teach your children not to handle any kind of hairy or spiny caterpillars. If you do not know for sure that the caterpillar is harmless, do not touch it! Keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

If you or someone you know touches a stinging caterpillar, here is recommended treatment from the U.S. poison control https://www.poison.org/articles/2014-jun/caterpillar-stings

Check out the BYGL OSU link to see more photo of native Ohio stinging caterpillars. https://bygl.osu.edu/https://bygl.osu.edu/index.php/node/903

/node/903

Puss Caterpillar (photo by Donald W. Hall, University of Florida).

References & Further Reading

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef003

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/toupee-caterpillar-venomous-animal-weird-insect/

https://bygl.osu.edu/index.php/node/903

https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/stinging-caterpillars

https://bygl.osu.edu/node/518

By Reba Kocher

Listen to this blog post here:Milkweed_Bugs.mp3

If you have been keeping up with our blog posts, you know how much we love milkweed. We have a lot of it planted in our pollinator garden, and there are some stalks found near the childrens’ garden. If you have visited, or if you have milkweed growing at your home, you may have noticed a ton of orangish-red and black bugs crawling all over the plants. No need to fear! They are completely harmless to you and to other milkweed lovers--like monarch caterpillars.

These little guys, called Lesser Milkweed Bugs (Lygaeus kalmii) and Large Milkweed Bugs (Oncopetus fasciatus), look very similar to each other. They are differentiated by size and the design on their backs. Lesser Milkweed Bugs have black heads and a triangle on their backs that connects to their membranous wing portion (the tip of their back). In contrast, the Large Milkweed Bugs have red heads, a diamond on their backs, and a horizontal line before their membranous wing portion. Another thing that sets them apart is migration. The Large Milkweed Bugs migrate south at the end of their season (around fall) while the Lesser Milkweed Bugs remain in Ohio. The Lesser Milkweed bugs will lay their eggs and overwinter.

An adult Lesser Milkweed Bug. Photo by Joe Boggs.

An adult Large Milkweed Bug. Photo by Joe Boggs.

They are both considered true bugs. This means that they have a sucking mouth parts, called a proboscis, that injects a digestive enzymes into the plant so they can then suck up the liquified plant matter. Learn more about true bugs here: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/true-bugs . These milkweed bugs both feed on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), but they can also feed on other Apocynacae, like butterfly milkweed. They tend to only eat the seed pods and seeds. Due to the length of their proboscis, they can only reach up to the outside layer of the seeds inside a pod. Because they only eat the seeds, other bugs, like monarch caterpillars, are able to share the same plant. Milkweed sap, which they consume through the seed pods, contains a toxin called cardiac glycosides. Interestingly, their aposomatic coloring acts as a warning sign to predators that they are harmful, and all milkweed herbivores show red/orange on black coloration. In addition to this, studies have shown that predators that eat milkweed bugs have often fallen ill or even died from consuming these bugs. Luckily for us, we do not go around eating milkweed bugs! They are also not a pest, so they do not really need control methods. These are just two little bugs living their best lives.

By Reba Kocher

Listen to this blog post here: cecropia.mp3

Cecropia moth. Photograph by Cathy Keifer/Shutterstock.

Once again, happy National Moth Week! Did you know that you could find North America’s largest native moth (and in my opinion one of the most beautiful) in your backyard? They’re called Hyalophora cecropia. They belong to the family Saturniidae, also known as giant silk moths. They can be found all over the United States and into the southern Canadian provinces.

Their host plants are usually maples, but you can also find them on cherry and birch trees. Unlike a lot of Lepidoptera, they lay their eggs on both sides of the leaves. Cecropia eggs are white and reddish brown. After they hatch, their caterpillars will actually go through five instar stages, each one lasting a week to ten days. During the first stage, they are small and black. In the second stage, they get a little bigger and they are yellow with bristles. The third through fifth stages are green with bright yellow, blue, and red/orange bristles. As they move into stage five, their colors begin to dull. Unlike most other caterpillars with bristles, cecropia are not poisonous.

When they are ready to pupate, they will spin a large dark brown silk cocoon. The cocoon may look either baggy or compact, and it is believed that this is to combat various environmental conditions. Finally, the adults emerge, usually around 4:00A.M.-6:00A.M. in spring or early summer. It takes them a few hours to dry before they can open their wings and fly. As adults, they do not have functional mouths or digestive systems. Because of this, they only live for about two weeks. During this time, their main objective is to mate. Females will emit a pheromone, and using his antenna, the males smell it and will travel up to 7 miles to mate. Once they pair up, they will begin to mate in the early morning into the evening. You can see the whole life cycle here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8YU0UoLLuE

Eggs. Photograph by David Britton.

1st Instar. Photograph by David Britton.

2nd Instar. Photograph by David Britton.

3rd Instar. Photograph by David Britton.

4th Instar. Photograph by David Britton.

5th Instar. Photograph by David Britton.

Adult. Photograph by David Britton.

Adults mating in Licking County. Photograph by Jennifer Bush.

As wonderful as these moths are, unfortunately, their numbers are declining. Several factors contributed to this including: squirrels eating them, a destruction of woodlands, people leaving their outdoor lights on, parasitoids, and the presence of ladybugs. The reason that outdoor lights pose a problem for moths of all species is that scientists believe that artificial lights interfere with the moths’ navigation systems. They use the moon for direction and use this to find a direct path to wherever they’re going. That’s why when you see a moth outside your porch light they are flying around in a circle. They can’t figure out a direct flight path. As mentioned, parasitoids are also a huge problem for these moths. Parasitoids include parasitic wasps and parasitic flies. The parasitoid will lay eggs inside or on top of a young caterpillar, then once the eggs hatch, the larvae will eat the organs and muscles of the caterpillar. They also force caterpillars to pupate sooner than they usually would. This allows the parasitoid to feast upon the resting pupa and this, obviously, leads to the death of the pupa. Unfortunately, there has been an increase of caterpillars deaths this way because a parasitic fly was introduced in the United States to eat the European Gypsy Moth, and while it does eat the gypsy moth, it also eats cecropia. Similarly, the ladybugs, who are generally released to eat aphids, will occasionally mistake cecropia eggs for aphids.

Though it is too late to see any cecropia this year, be on the lookout next year! And please try to turn off your porch lights at night. Think about the moths!

Watch this awesome video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=27&v=MKd9U_Y4mas

References & Further Reading:

https://dev.extension.purdue.edu/Ohio/article/10561https://dev.extension.purdue.edu/Ohio/article/10561

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/moth2/cecropia_moth.htm

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0174023

https://extension.umaine.edu/home-and-garden-ipm/fact-sheets/common-name-listing/cecropia-moth/

https://extension2.missouri.edu/ipm1019#Cecropia

https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/cecropia-moth

https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-2015-11