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Where are the birds?

Where were the birds?

One hint might come from a day and a half jaunt to North Carolina after tiring of the late February weather. The afternoon we arrived and headed down along the coast it was bitterly cold and windy and their pond ice matched ours.  Limited success came only when we found a bridge pillar to shield us from the wind at an inlet.

The next day the wind dropped, the temperature rose and we headed inland about an hour and found a reasonable amount of open water. I offer this account only to point out that in that day and a half in North Carolina my wife and I saw more different birds than we have mustered so far this year in southern Pennsylvania.

This may call my fictitious reputation into question, but I have seen only 58% of the bird species logged in Lancaster County so far this year. Sure I’m a numbers guy but that doesn’t compare with the thrill of just getting out and seeing what you can see.

Ice, wind and the cold is part of the reason this winter has been rather slow on the bird front. Equally, or perhaps more importantly, was the excellent cone and seed crop across southern Canada. Last winter most of the northern vagrants visited my yard feeders. This year I waited until the first week in March for my first and only vagrant.

My two winter highlights were the variety of ducks that I often found below the Conowingo Dam and watching (from my easy-chair)the antics of the flocks of gulls repeatedly streaming past a large living room window at dusk heading for the protection of the Susquehanna River’s open water.

Birds are now on the move. I chuckled at a March 9 report by one of Pennsylvania’s most acclaimed bird authorities who lives just up the road in Schuykill County. He had just welcomed his first of the year robins, red-winged blackbirds, grackles and turkey vultures. They are all now twelve months of the year birds for us.

It amazes me that a long hour drive and a modest climb in elevation significantly changes the bird population. That appears true regardless of the season.

The first ruby throated hummingbirds have made it to the gulf coast early in March. I’m using hummingbirds.net/map to follow their progress.

April 1 is a good time to think about your feeders. You might be a few days early but you might get one of the first arrivals. I’ve also joined the facebook crowd by going to facebook.com/ebird. Once there I click on birdcast.info. From there I fumble my way to a regional map and another click will update me on the current migration patterns.

And of course there is the eagle cam you can access through the PA State Game Commission. Any day now the eggs laid in mid February should hatch.

With all the bird activity and gardening in the wings how am I supposed to keep up with my other interests?

Last fall some of our staff had the opportunity to attend the Perennial Plant Conference at Swarthmore College. Of all the speakers, the one that most gripped my attention was Whitney Cranshaw of Colorado State. His talk on recognizing and working with natural garden predatory insectsopened my eyes to a world of beneficial insects beyond lady bugs. Last week’s article touched on some well-known garden predators and how to recognize their various life stages.This week, a few of the less well-know insect hunters are up for discussion.

Green lacewings are identifiable by their long, thin green bodies, golden eyes, and large lacy wings. The adults are short lived and feed on nectar. The larvae are generalist predators, feeding on mealy bugs, aphids, thrips, mites and whiteflies. Often called “aphidlions” they resemble lady bug larvae, like tiny brown and yellow alligators with prominent pincher-like mandibles. The larvae feed for 2-3 weeks, then spin a cocoon on the bottom of a leaf. Four days later adults emerge.

Adult female green lacewings lay up to 400 eggs in their lifetime. The small light green-yellow eggs are suspended at the ends of slender stalks attached singly or small clusters on undersides of leaves. Green lacewings are sold commercially as eggs, but shouldn’t be released until larvae have hatched. But I bet if you look on the undersides of leaves in your garden this spring, you will see their unmistakable eggs.

Stink bugs have gotten a bad rap around here the last few years because of their Asian cousin- the brown
marmorated stink bug (BMSB). While BMSBs feed primarily on plant tissues, damaging soybeans, lima beans, squash, and for some reason, lilac bushes, there are several native predatory stink bugs. The spined soldier bug and the two spotted stink bug are the most common around here. Both adults and larvae stages are predatory. Spined soldier bugs(SSB) eat grubs, and beetle larvae. Two-spotted stink bugs eat several pests, but Colorado potato beetles and their young are on the top of their menu.

Recognizing the various stink bugs takes a careful eye. SSBs have pronounced spines sticking from their shoulders, but otherwise are medium brown and shield-shaped, like the hated brown marmorated. Juvenile stages look similar to the adults but are more rounded. Google can be your friend here- there are tons of great images on the internet.

Two spotted stink bugs are much easier to identify. Adults are shield shaped, have two black spots on their upper body and a key-hole shaped mark in the middle of their back. They come in shades of tan, yellow, orange or red with black markings. Again, the juveniles are slightly rounded, with an “o” shape on their back instead of a keyhole.

Even though they are not insects, my favorite group of predators that you should try to protect in the garden is spiders. Despite my best efforts to the contrary, my 6-year old daughter still screams when she sees a spider. All spiders eat other bugs- and most eat pests. The spiders that hunt on or around garden and agricultural plants provide the greatest plant protection benefit. There are tons of web-spinning spiders, but less well-known are the crab and wolf spiders.

Crab spiders do not spin webs to catch their prey, but are capable of spinning silk for drop lines, or to hold their eggs. They instead ambush and pounce on prey mostly on flowers or bark depending on the species. Goldenrod crab spiders can actually change the color of their bodies from white to yellow to blend in with the flowers they hunt on. They snatch their prey and suck the juices from mites, wasps or other flying insects. Young spiderlings hatch from eggs looking like miniature adults. Crab spiders live for about a year, sometimes overwintering in a semi-dormant state on garden debris

Wolf spiders are also non-web spinners. Usually found in mulch or leaf litter, the mother carries her babies on her back until they are large enough to hunt for themselves. They pounce on crickets, grasshoppers, ants and earwigs living on the ground. Wolf spiders are mottled brown, black and gray to blend in with the ground. They have eight legs and eight eyes in two rows of four.

This spring and summer when you are working in your garden, keep an eye out for the small “workers” there too.

Raise your hand if you are ready for winter to be over. I must confess, a groundhog crossed the road in front of me last week and I hit the gas. However there is no more reassuring sight that spring is on its way than seedlings coming up in the greenhouse or in a sunny window.

Seed catalogues populated my mailbox this winter and the seed display racks are up in my local feed and general stores. Of course I found a few I couldn’t resist. Growing your own seeds indoors is easy; you only need a few supplies.

You don’t need fancy trays or pots. Leftover 6-paks from last season’s trips to the greenhouse, small pots, or even cardboard milk cartons cut in half will work. Just ensure there are drainage holes in the bottom. Some people favor peat pots that can be planted directly in the ground. Those are great too. If repurposing old pots, a good soak in a 10% bleach solution for a few min will help prevent disease.

Light, peat-based potting soil, usually called “seed starting mix” can be found at most hardware stores or garden centers. This is the best for starting seeds. Don’t use soil from the ground. It is usually too heavy- plus the ground is frozen anyway. Ding-dang winter.

One of the most important things to do is not plant the seeds too early. It is easy to get in a hurry and sow seeds long before the weather will permit putting them outside. Check the seed packet or catalogue information for germination time and how long seedlings must stay indoors. Marigolds and tomatoes usually only take 4-6 weeks. Seed those in late March –early April for putting in the garden in May. Eggplants and peppers need a bit longer 6-8 weeks before setting outside. Last frost date for this area is May 15th.

Some large seeds benefit from a light scratch with sandpaper, or soaking overnight in water to help soften the seed coat. Morning glories, nasturtiums, and artichoke seeds come to mind.

Most seeds don’t need light to germinate. Until they come up, keep the soil moist and warm. Saran wrap over the top of the soil will keep it from drying out. Keep them warm, usually 60-70 degrees is ideal. I started lots of seeds in my bathroom for high school science projects and the humidity and warmth seemed to be helpful.

Once they come up, move them closer to light source. Seedlings will stretch if they don’t have enough light. A grow light is helpful but not necessary; a south-facing window will work. Just be sure it isn’t too drafty- the seedlings should still be around 60 degrees.

Young seedlings don’t need fertilizer. They come packed with enough nutrients to keep them going for a while. Seeds are high in carbohydrates, proteins and oils, enough to keep the tiny plants going until they have several sets of new leaves. The very first leaves to open are called cotyledons or “seed leaves”, start counting sets of leaves after the two cotyledons. When seedlings have 2-3 sets of true leaves, transplant them to small pots or 6-packs to easily plant them in the garden later. At this point a weekly drink of blue fertilizer will help keep them going.

In May, set small plants outside on the porch for a few hours a day for several days to harden them off before planting them in the ground. If frost is predicted, bring them in or if they’re already in the ground, cover them.

Good luck with your seed starting adventures. I’ll let you know how I make out with my old-fashioned 3ft tall marigolds, and Carolina Reaper peppers. I know spring is coming. Those tiny green leaves give me hope.

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the health of our pollinators and beneficial insects. See what I did there- “buzz”? Some are blaming it on mites, some on pesticides, some on changing temperatures and habitat destruction for new housing. I’m going to stay out of that fight.

I am most interested in helping to identify the beneficial insects naturally in our gardens so they don’t get sprayed or squished by mistake. Most insects go through three life stages; egg, larvae, then a pupation to adult. The length of a life cycle depend on species, temperature and time of year, but most insects go from egg to adult in less than a month.

This will be a two-part article describing the life cycle and identification tips for some of our local beneficial insects and pollinators.

Lady bird beetles, or lady bugs are a gardener’s best friend. An adult lady bug eats around 50 aphids a day- but the larvae are bug-eating machines. They can eat over 400 aphids in the two week period between when the egg hatches and the larvae pupates. They also eat scale, whiteflies and a variety of mites. The larvae look nothing like its mother, however. They cannot fly, and resemble fuzzy red-and-black alligators. The eggs also have a distinctive shape. Yellow oblong torpedoes cling in a cluster to the underside of leaves. Adults usually lay their eggs on aphid-infested leaves so when their babies hatch, adequate food is nearby.

Praying mantises are fun to find in the garden. Much larger than lady bird beetles, they have triangular heads, and elongated bodies with arms bent in a “prayer” position. They should be called “preying” mantises because these insects voraciously feed on harmful moths, grasshoppers, crickets and when fully-grown can even manage mice. Adult mantises lay their eggs in the fall in groups of 100-400 on a shrub branch or perennial stem. The eggs form a round light brown casing called an ootheca. My 9-year-old, Liam, is especially good at finding these. This case protects them from the elements over the winter. When temperatures warm in the spring, the egg case cracks open and the nymphs emerge in search of something to eat.

Unlike lady bug larvae, praying mantis nymphs looks similar to their adult form, just smaller. They will molt six times. Each period is called an instars. They shed their exoskeletons, and progressively growing larger until they reach adult size. At which point they mate, the female famously bites the male’s head off, and the whole thing begins again.

Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies may not garner as much attention as the plight of the monarchs, but I love swallowtails. They don’t migrate- so generally they are one of the first butterflies we see in the late spring. They have 2-3 broods in a season, usually the third brood overwinters in its chrysalis to emerge in the spring. The adults drink nectar from a variety of flowers, but the larva or caterpillars, like to eat members of the carrot family. Adults lay eggs singly on leaves of Queen Anne’s Lace, parsley, dill or fennel. The caterpillars are white and black striped with yellow spots. I’ll never forget the customer who lamented she couldn’t grow parsley because the caterpillars ate it all, so she squished them as fast as she could. Please don’t do that. If you want parsley and butterflies- plant extra.

We’ll pick this up next week for some more of my favorite helpful bugs.

Though many of us still feel the bite of winter, to local greenhouses spring is already sprung. Propagation of annuals and perennials as well as vegetable starts and herbs began in February and March here in Lancaster County.

One of the first things to be planted are bare root perennials. I never gave much thought to where they came from- we picked interesting varieties out of catalogues in September, they show up in boxes tucked safely in sawdust in February. We plant them into almost frozen soil with very little heat and they give beautiful full perennials come late April and May.

On the base of it, bare root perennials are what you make when you dig up a mature plant, divide it and share some with a friend of neighbor. There are nurseries that specialize in this form of propagation that most of us do in our yards regularly.

We had the pleasure of visiting one such nursery in Michigan several years ago. They have hundreds of acres of perennials growing in neat rows. We were there in August, the beginning of the harvest season. Large machines trench the soil exposing the plants. Workers follow behind collecting the plants into bins. From the field they are transported back to the warehouse where roots are sorted, divided, graded and boxed into bundles of 20 or 25 and packed in sawdust. The boxes are then kept in cold storage until needed for shipping. The sheer size of these coolers was overwhelming. Harvest lasts until late October or early November depending on when the ground freezes and snow cover.

Similar operations in the Netherlands also ship to the US horticulture market to greenhouse growers and homeowners alike. The US can import bare root plants from Europe relatively easily. Shipping plants in soil is not possible due to USDA restrictions to prevent import of insects or disease.

The climate and soil conditions in Michigan favor bare root production, unlike many places in the US. Michigan’s sandy loam soils and relatively temperate climate mimic the conditions in Holland. Dutch immigrants to the US with a history in horticulture started many of our Michigan businesses.

Not all perennials are grown from bare root- usually it is the ones that do not do well from rooted cuttings. Good candidates also bulk up quickly in the field. Daylilies, astilbes, bleeding hearts, irises, lilies, ligularia, baptisia, and peonies are usually grown from bare roots.

This spring when you are at your local nursery buying perennials, look at the astilbe or peony in your hand. It may have been in a field in Michigan or Holland last summer.