Grow Wildflowers, Grow Butterflies and Moths - Wildflower Packet Info for a Sunny Wildflower Mix

-

 

Free Wildflower Seeds!

Sometime in November 2021, I stumbled upon a simple model for inspiring people to try native gardening - give away free seeds, and leverage social media in the process. In the beginning, I simply gave away seeds to friends, family, and people on my block. But the most successful seed giveaway was on Nextdoor, which made distribution easy (I'd drop off seeds at a Little Library near my house or mail out to people). The seeds were popular but by themselves were not going to inspire people to create habitat gardens. So, I included a handout (below) with the images and info below, and also invited people to join the "Bring Back Bay Area Bees, Butterflies and Birds." group that I started on Nextdoor. I heard from many people that they found the resources very useful. And, within 8 months, over 325 people had joined the Nextdoor group and started sharing plants, seeds and tips with each other.


grow wildflowers - grow butterflies!

Butterflies and moths hosted by contents of one packet of 

“Hills of California Native Wildflowers” from Larnerseeds.com


This packet contains California native wildflowers in rich hues of gold, orange, pink, purple and blue that will cover a 25 square foot area if scattered thinly and allowed space to grow to their natural dimensions.  The flowers will bloom in succession from early spring through late summer, and can also be mixed with native grasses for a meadow effect. 

We all enjoy the flowers for their beauty, but to the bees, butterflies and birds, they are an essential source of nourishment for their survival. The flowers provide pollen for bees, nectar for butterflies and moths, and essential food for their young, the caterpillars. 

Butterflies drink nectar from many different types of flowers, but lay their eggs on just one or two types of host plants that will feed their offspring. The Variable Checkerspot, Silvery Blue, and other butterflies and moths listed on the next page rely on the plants in this packet as a caterpillar food source. The caterpillars, in turn, are essential for the survival of our local birds, since 96% of the birds that visit your yard depend on caterpillars to feed their young.*

Scattering this packet of native wildflower seeds is a joyful way to restore lost wildlife habitat while enhancing your gardening experience. I hope you revel in the beauty of the flowers, colorful caterpillars, variety of pollinators, baby birds, and the dance of life in your garden. 

Enjoy! 

Jennifer Dirking ~ EcoGardenista@gmail.com


PS: Spread the word to your friends and neighbors. Some neighborhoods are creating “butterfly corridors” with patches of wildflowers and native plants in each of their gardens.

*See NY Times Bestseller “Nature’s Best Hope” by Doug Tallamy or tune into the video:
https://bit.ly/Tallamy-CAPlants


Photo Credits:© Savannah Smith, Larner Seeds Demonstration Garden (from top left: Goldfields, Blue Flax, Arroyo Lupine; from top right, Lacy Phacelia, California Poppies)


Hills of California Wildflower Mix Contents

(with butterflies & moths they host)*


Farewell to Spring, Clarkia amoena (hosts White Lined Sphinx Moth, Clark’s Day Sphinx Moth)

Mountain Garland, Clarkia unguiculata (hosts White Lined Sphinx Moth, Clark’s Day Sphinx Moth)
Chinese Houses, Collinsia heterophylla (hosts Variable Checkerspot)
California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica (useful to pollinators)
Globe Gilia, Gilia capitata (host to Fairy Longhorn Moth)
Goldfields, Lasthenia glabrata (hosts Small Heliothodes Moth)

Tidy Tips, Layia platyglossa (hosts Small Heliothodes Moth)
Blue Flax, Linum lewisii (hosts Variegated Fritillary)

Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor (hosts Painted Lady, Acmon Blue, Gray Hairstreak) 

Sky Lupine, Lupinus nanus (hosts Orange Sulphur, Painted Lady, Acmon Blue, Gray Hairstreak) 

Arroyo Lupine, Lupinus succulentus (hosts West Coast Lady, Painted Lady, Acmon Blue, Gray Hairstreak)

Five Spot, Nemophila maculate (hosts Funereal Duskywing)
Baby Blue-Eyes, Nemophila menziesii (hosts Owlet Moth)

Lacy Phacelia, Phacelia tanacetifolila – (hosts Bilobed Looper Moth, beloved by bees)


NOTE: A more comprehensive list of the number of butterflies each plant hosts, and details about the plants and butterflies, can be found at Calscape.org

*”Host” = key food source for the caterpillars of these particular butterflies, that co-evolved to specialize over thousands of years. Butterflies die out without these plants. 


Photo Credits: © Savannah Smith, Larner Seeds Demonstration Garden - From top left: Purple Chinese Houses, Five Spot, Baby Blue Eyes, Bird’s Eye Gilia; from top right: Mountain Garland, Tidy Tips, Farewell to Spring


From top left: Variable Checkerspot © photojuls, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Spotted Sun Straw Moth © icosahedron. Mariposa Forester © catchang  from top right: Clark’s Day Sphinx Moth, © Daniel George Funereal Duskywing © BJ Stacey; Annaphila depicta © Paul G. Johnson. Some rights reserved. White Lined Sphinx Moth © chicagoman some rights reserved, Bottom: Variegated Fritillary © skitterbug, some rights reserved (CC-BY)


Right side: Gray Hairstreak © Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC-BY) Painted Lady  © Shirley Zundell, some rights reserved (CC-BY); Acmon Blue © icosahedron, some rights reserved (CC-BY); West Coast Lady, © Don Loarie, some rights reserved (CC-BY) White-lined Sphinx © Greg Lasley, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)Acmon Blue © dickwood, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC) Orange Sulphur © Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC-BY)


Planting instructions


Fall through winter is the ideal time to start growing California native wildflowers as these have adapted to capitalize on the fall and winter rains (October-February is best).  


Choose A Site & Prepare Your Soil. Choose a spacious site in full sun. Prepare your soil (or several very large pots), by removing all existing growth and debris. If your soil is clay, break it up with some compost or cactus soil (sold at nurseries). 


Water thoroughly to help seeds settle into the soil. Continue to water a few times a week, unless it rains, so they don’t dry out after germinating. 


After you plant your seeds, let the area ‘go natural’ by leaving the leaf litter on the ground. While many butterflies go into chrysalis on stems or other hard surfaces like branches, many others go into chrysalis in the debris. If you rake or blow it, you could accidentally throw them away. Use stepping stones so that you won't crush native bees and other insects that will set up their homes underground as you develop habitat.


Avoid using pesticides anywhere in your garden, it will kill the beneficial insects such as bees, butterflies, moths, and ladybugs that you are trying to attract. Try to ignore bugs, as they are part of the ecosystem (for instance, hummingbirds eat aphids). If you hose the plant or try to remove pests you may dislodge butterfly or ladybug eggs or kill tiny caterpillars.  Avoid using herbicides as they also poison the ecosystem you are trying to nurture. 


Questions? Contact Jennifer Dirking – EcoGardenista@gmail.com


Resources for Growing Native Plants for Butterflies and Bees


Check out the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). It is the leading organization with reliable information about native plants, and has great resources including YouTube videos, chapter gatherings, online plant sales. https://bit.ly/CNPSChapters


Want to find more California Native plants specific to your area, and the butterflies that use them as host plants? Then check out this amazing, colorful database, filled with pictures and links to nurseries:  Calscape.org


Seek answers to these questions (some of my favorite videos):  


Why should we grow native plants to save birds and butterflies? NY Times Bestseller Doug Tallamy’s inspiring call to action is here: https://bit.ly/TallamyCNPS2020 


How can you restore nature in your garden? Dennis Mudd shares his ingights: https://bit.ly/DennisMudd


When should you plant, water, prune, or leave things alone? Helen Popper shares a month-by-month guide for California gardeners: https://bit.ly/HelenPopper


What planting methods and soil will ensure success? Haven Kiers from UC Davis shares research: https://bit.ly/HavenKiers


Looking for more native seeds? Check out the great selection of native seeds and seed mixes at Larnerseed.com, klamathsiskiyouseeds.com PCSeed.com (also botanicalinterests.com sells “California Color” and “Narrow Leaf Milkweed”).


Need Plants? Find nurseries and plant sales at: https://bit.ly/CNPSnurseryList   Also: CNLnatives.com, YerbaBuenaNursery.com, AnniesAnnuals.com, WegmansNursery.com, SummerWindsNursery.com


Great Books:  https://bit.ly/Native-Plant-Butterfly-Books


Field Trip! Check out ideas at: https://bit.ly/Field-Trip-Ideas

  

Join the movement! Register your native garden (or the section that is native, like this milkweed) as part of the Homegrown National Park (it is free!). Or go the extra mile by making a gift to help recapture 20 million acres for native butterflies, bees, and birds:  https://bit.ly/HomeGrownNationalPark


© Jennifer B Dirking 2022





Comments

Post a Comment

Please Leave a Reply

Popular posts from this blog

Still Life

-
Image
The land we live on is a small patch of coastal scrub in San Carlos, California. When we moved here in 2007, it looked like a picture from a magazine, with Japanese maples, Chilean jasmine, French (via China) roses, all kept in a tidy corral by an English Box hedge (from southern Europe).  But the garden was just that, a picture. A "still life." The plants were picture perfect, tidy and pruned. They would have fed the ecosystems in their native countries, but here, far from the insects they co-evolved with, they were simply pretty objects for us to look at.  Our gardener came and meticulously clipped the plants, mowed the lawn and aerated it. He clipped seed heads from our Mexican sage and kept things looking, well, picture perfect.   Before: Our garden as a "still life" picture, with imported  plants,  providing no food for local ecosystems. But as it turns out, this picture has a very steep price.  My husband and I were so busy working that it did no...
Read more

Summer Joy! California Fuchsias and Bees

-
Image
The California "Moonglow" poppies have ceded the stage and the California Fuchsias are having their moment. Known also as Epilobium canum, these have the common name of 'fuchsia' as the flower form is reminiscent of the imported plant by that name.   These plants are powerhouses in the garden, blooming from late July into October, and feeding White Lined Sphinx moth caterpillars (in my sister-in-law's garden) and a variety of bees. I had originally planted just one of these plants to try it out, and as soon as it bloomed, a hummingbird appeared. After drinking from its meager 12 blossoms, the hummingbird zoomed over to me, hovered in front of my face as if to say "plant more!"  I wound up adding 5 more and am so glad that I did. The hummingbirds visit this frequently and it is a favorite with the bees. Even late in the day the blossoms seem to glow and draw a lot of comments from neighbors and other passer-by. A troop of Girl Scouts toured the garden one...
Read more

It's Working! The Leafcutter Bees Have Arrived!

-
Image
  At last!  We have leafcutter bees in our garden!  We have been busy and traveling, so did not actually see them take some of these leaves for their nests, but we are so happy to see that they have found our garden in any case.  W e're watching for them now, noting that leafcutter bees are striped like a honey bee, but carry pollen on their abdomens (see image below).  They are solitary bees that cut circular pieces of leaves from plants such as Western redbud, rose and azalea. They then use these pieces to line their nest and also plug the spaces between their egg cells. You can find them nesting in wood, hollow stems from plants, or in other natural cavities. It is easy to encourage them to nest in your garden by providing them with some of these natural materials or even a 'bee hotel':  https://beegarden.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/How-to-build-and-use-bee-blocks.pdf California is home to over 1,600 species of native bees - more than any oth...
Read more