Kentucky Native Plant Society, Author at Kentucky Native Plant Society

Hardiness Zones and Ecoregions

By Shannon Trimbolli, owner of Busy Bee Nursery and Consulting

Pick up almost any seed packet, read almost any gardening book, or attend almost any gardening class and you are likely to see a USDA plant hardiness map. The map was developed by the USDA and is based on the average minimum winter temperatures for an area. It divides the country into multiple zones with each zone representing a 10-degree temperature range. Each zone can then be further subdivided. So, for example, where I’m at in Kentucky is zone 6b with an average minimum winter temperature of between 0 and -5 degrees Fahrenheit.

_{The USDA Plant Hardiness Zones are based on the average minimum annual winter temperature. The zones were developed to help gardeners know what exotic, ornamental plants, vegetables, etc. would survive their winters. (Photo credit: USDA.)}

The goal of the plant hardiness zones is to help gardeners determine whether a plant will survive in their gardens. This is especially helpful for exotic ornamental plants, garden veggies, etc. because in garden settings you can presumably control how much water a plant gets, how much fertilizer it gets, etc. However, temperature is the key component that we can’t control and which plays a major role in whether a plant can survive in an area.

The idea of plant hardiness zones and their importance is so ingrained in us that it is common for gardeners to automatically mention what zone they are in when discussing a new plant with other gardeners. This is a good thing because it shows that people are recognizing that the same plant can’t grow in all locations and the person is being conscientious of the growing limitations for where they live. But plant hardiness zones also have their limitations, and one of those limitations is their usefulness for discussions around growing native plants.

Obviously, if a plant is native to a given area, then it can survive that location’s average minimum winter temperature. However, just because a plant can survive an average minimum winter temperature doesn’t mean that it is native everywhere that average minimum winter temperature is found.

For example, parts of New Mexico are in zone 6b, just like I am in Kentucky. However, when I drove through those areas of New Mexico a few years ago, I didn’t see any of my familiar Kentucky native plants naturally growing there. Yes, in controlled garden settings with supplemental watering, people in New Mexico might be able to grow some of the plants that are native to Kentucky, but in that type of situation the Kentucky native plants are being grown as an exotic ornamental plant. They no longer count as a native plant, because they aren’t native to New Mexico.

When it comes to native plants, plant hardiness zones aren’t much use, which makes sense because hardiness zones weren’t developed with native plants in mind. In the world of native plants, ecoregions are what we need to use instead of hardiness zones.

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Conserving the Monarch Butterfly in Kentucky

By Michaela Rogers, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

The iconic monarch butterfly, well known for its striking orange-enveloped wings contrasted by black venation, has become an insect of high intrigue across North America. The marathon-length migration the butterfly makes to Mexico to overwinter in the alpine oyamel fir forests inspires wonder and fascination. The biological mechanisms and evolutionary relevance of this journey have become the subject of scientific research, while first sighting of the adults, eggs and caterpillars each year draws excitement from community scientists who participate in observation recording.

Recently, the monarch butterfly has garnered even greater attention. News broke on December 15, 2020 that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) had come to a decision on the federal listing status of the monarch butterfly. The Service had been petitioned in 2014 to list the monarch as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Following comprehensive review of the current and future population status of the monarch butterfly, USFWS announced that listing the monarch as threatened or endangered is warranted, but precluded while higher priority listing actions are addressed.

This action results in the monarch becoming a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. As a candidate species, the status of the monarch butterfly will now be reviewed yearly by USFWS scientists until a listing decision can be made. The monarch will likely stay in the national spotlight for years to come, during which time data collection will continue to assess the population and habitat created or improved for the butterfly.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources views the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision as an indication of the vulnerable status of the species and as affirmation in the need for continued conservation work for the monarch. Conservation of the species will require efforts throughout the monarch’s range. Here in the state, we are moving forward with work on monarch preservation. Kentucky not only supports the iconic migration of the monarch, but serves as breeding habitat within the butterfly’s range.

Kentucky embarked on creation of the Kentucky Monarch Conservation Plan in 2016 following a targeted national effort surrounding concerns of population-level decline. During this time, garden clubs, native plant groups, and other organizations were already making headway for monarchs in the state. Published in 2018, this plan guides current priorities for monarch conservation, and will continue to do so through potential future changes in the listing status of the butterfly. Kentucky is also a member state in the Mid-America Monarch Conservation Plan, allowing for collaboration with other states across the monarch’s midwestern range to increase habitat. Of primary concern is increasing the number of milkweed stems in the region, which provide the sole food source of monarch caterpillars.

Currently, stakeholders of the Monarch Plan are working to increase habitat, which includes both milkweed and native flowering plants (a source of nectar resources for adult butterflies) on the landscape. There are now 827 Monarch Waystations officially registered in Kentucky, and thousands of acres of habitat have been improved or added for the benefit of monarchs and other pollinators through the enhancement of private, public, and right-of-way land. A variety of educational events and outreach initiatives have been aimed at raising awareness for the monarch in the state, with several hundred monarchs tagged over the course of fall tagging events, over a thousand seed packets distributed, and presentations given in classrooms, during workshops, at club and professional meetings, and most recently, in virtual settings.

Conserving the monarch butterfly has been called an “all hands on deck” approach, with participation from the transportation and agricultural sectors, public agencies, non-government organizations, private businesses, and urban, suburban and rural environments all being important in support of such a widespread species.

Planting milkweed is one of the most important things you can do to help the monarch. If you don’t have a garden, you can aid instead by participating in community science initiatives that track monarchs along their migration route (visit monarchjointventure.org and journeynorth.org to learn about opportunities). Follow us on Facebook at “Kentucky Monarchs” as we share information and links related to monarch butterflies in Kentucky, and remember that no effort is too small to help conserve monarchs!

Michaela Rogers is an Environmental Scientist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. She serves as the Monarch and Pollinator Coordinator for the agency and manages implementation of the Kentucky Monarch Conservation Plan.

3 Ways to Turn Christmas Trees into Wildlife Habitat

By Shannon Trimbolli, owner of Busy Bee Nursery and Consulting

This is the time of year when Christmas trees seem to be everywhere. After the Christmas season, many of those trees are hauled out to the curb to be hauled to the landfill. However, did you know that if you have a live tree that you can use it to create wildlife or fish habitat when you get ready to take it down instead of sending it to the landfill?

To use your Christmas tree for wildlife or fish habitat, first remove all decorations, lights, hooks, tinsel, etc.–basically everything that didn’t naturally grow on the tree. After your tree is undecorated, you have a few different options.

Carolina wrens are one of the many songbirds that will use brush piles. Not only will they take shelter within the brush pile, but they will also hunt for insects and other arthropods living there. Photo credit: Richard Smith, cc-by 2.0

1) Create a brush pile on your property

Brush piles provide songbirds, lizards, snakes, and rabbits and other small mammals with places to hide, hunt, and live. To start a new brush pile, move the undecorated tree to an appropriate place on your property. You don’t want to build a brush pile next to the house or the garage or shed because it could attract critters that we don’t want in our homes. If you live in town or a subdivision, you’ll also want to make sure there aren’t any ordinances against having brush piles on your property.

Once you have found the right spot for your brush pile, you can just lay the tree on its side, maybe throw some other sticks and limbs you pick up around your yard on top of the tree and call it good. This creates a small, natural brush pile similar to what would happen when a tree falls naturally. You can also make a much larger and more permanent brush pile by gathering your neighbors’ discarded trees, cutting off the branches, building a tick-tack-toe type grid with the trunks, then piling the branches and any other limbs you find on top of the trunks. If neither of these designs works for you, then you can do an internet search on “how to create a brush pile for wildlife,” and you’ll come up with several other designs for building brush piles. No matter what design you choose, you can keep adding to your brush pile every year and even grow vines over it during the spring and summer.

2) Create a fish attractor in your pond

If you have a pond on your property, you can use your discarded Christmas tree to create fish habitat. The branches will provide places for smaller fish to hide from larger fish. Small invertebrates living in the water will also take up residence along the branches. The simplest way to create fish habitat with your Christmas tree, is to secure the tree to something heavy like a cinder block and plop it into your pond in an area that is deep enough that the tree will be submerged. (When you secure the tree to whatever you are using as a weight, you can lay the tree on its side; the tree doesn’t have to stand up underwater.) Larger, fish attractors can be built by securing several trees to the same weight or by building a lean-to type frame out of untreated lumber and then securing multiple trees to the frame.

Christmas trees can be used to create fish habitat in ponds and lakes. Many state and federal agencies collect trees to use for fish habitat in public lakes. Photo credit: Sue Sapp / U.S. Air Force, public domain

3) Give your tree to someone else to create a brush pile or fish attractor

If you don’t have a place for a brush pile or fish attractor on your property, you can give your tree to someone else who can use it for those purposes. In Kentucky, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has several drop off locations all across the state, where they will accept Christmas trees to use for creating fish habitat. If you aren’t in Kentucky, call or email your state’s Fish and Wildlife Department and ask them if they have a program to accept Christmas trees for wildlife or fisheries habitat. If they don’t have such a program, then ask if they know of another agency or organization who might be able to use your tree.

Whether or not your state has a program to reuse discarded Christmas trees, please don’t just dump your tree on public property (on land or in a lake). Let the land managers decide where to put the fish attractors and brush piles because they know what all of the land uses are in the area and are tasked with balancing wildlife and natural resource needs with visitor use and safety issues.

Shannon Trimboli enjoys helping people connect with nature in their yards and communities. She owns Busy Bee Nursery and Consulting, which specializes in plants for pollinators and wildlife. She also hosts Backyard Ecology where she provides a free weekly blog and podcast focused on igniting our curiosity and natural wonder, exploring our yards and communities, and improving our local pollinator and wildlife habitat. Learn more at www.backyardecology.net.

Rediscover hedgerows

By Alicia Bosela, Owner of Ironweed Native Plant Nursery

Hedgerows—strips of mixed plants and shrubs—are a wonderful under-utilized and under-appreciated habitat. They have been called linear nature preserves in the sense that they can be highly diverse (combining meadow and forest plants), they support a wide array of wildlife, and they provide ecosystem functions that sustain the health of our air, land, and water.

Hedrerow 2 -- Mindy Rose — Photo by Mindy Rose.

Cecropia Betty Hall — This Cecropia moth cocoon would be well protected in a hedgerow.
Photo by Betty Hall.

Their benefits to wildlife span the spectrum. The woody species alone might read like a veritable critter buffet: hazelnut, wild plum, persimmon, red mulberry, wild crabapple, and elderberry. Other food for wildlife includes both early nectar—blooming redbud, viburnum, dogwood, hawthorn, and black cherry—and late season nectar—asters, sunflowers, and goldenrods. Hedgerows provide shelter for wildlife, a nesting place for birds and create corridors that allow safe passage for scores of species from salamanders to rabbits. The leaf litter is a virtual nursery for developing stages of lightning bugs and other beneficial insects. Many Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) roll up in leaves to overwinter in the litter, snug as a bug!

When we think of attracting wildlife like hummingbirds and butterflies to our yard, our first thought might be of a continuously flowering native pollinator garden. While pollinator gardens are highly recommended and needed, we have learned from the monarch that a dearth of larval host plants might be a weak link in the chain of our pollinator’s lifecycle. In general, woody plants host the caterpillar stage of more Lepidoptera than herbaceous plants. More woody host plants mean more caterpillar food and more caterpillars to feed native birds and their young.

From a management perspective, it is important that invasive exotics like autumn olive, Bradford pear, wintercreeper, bush honeysuckle, and privet be removed in favor of native plants. A study by Dr. Tallamy, a University of Delaware entomologist and ecological gardening advocate concludes, “…in terms of the everyday needs of the animals that eat caterpillars, we found 96 percent less food available in the invaded (non-native hedgerow) habitats!”

…native hedgerows are certainly a habitat worth rediscovering…

There are physical benefits of hedgerows as well. They catch and store water, act as windbreaks, and protect against erosion. In residential areas, they are great privacy fences, sound buffers, and can prevent snow drifts. A final benefit of native plant hedgerows is that they really ‘pay it forward’ when birds disperse seed from native plants instead of spreading seed from invasive exotics. Though under-utilized, native hedgerows are certainly a habitat worth rediscovering.

Hedgerow 1 Mindy ose — Hedgerows provide habitat and they’re beautiful–it’s a Win! Win!
Photo by Mindy Rose.

References: Nature’s Best Hope by D. Tallamy (2019).

Alicia Bosela owns Ironweed Native Plant Nursery in Columbia Kentucky, a certified woman-owned business. Before opening her own nursery, she was the Assistant Director of Clay Hill Memorial Forest Environmental Education Center. You can contact her at www.ironweednursery.com.

Citizen science opportunity: have you seen falcata alfalfa?

By Jonathan O.C. Kubesch, University of Tennessee—Knoxville

Falcata alfalfa (Medicago sativa ssp falcata) is a stunning subspecies of the purple-flowered alfalfa commonly seen in the eastern United States (Figure 1; USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Program, 2015). Falcata alfalfa was introduced to South Dakota from Siberia by an eager professor in the early 19^th century, however, the subspecies has appeared in the Kentucky flora in the time since (Shaw et al., 2020; Smith 1997). Falcata alfalfa improves the quantity and quality of forages for rangeland with tradeoffs for native species richness in South Dakota (Xu et al., 2004). The Kentucky collections may have come in seed bagged from elsewhere, especially as seed production shifted from the region to the Willamette Valley of Oregon (Figure 2).

Figure 1. Falcata alfalfa. Courtesy of Bing Creative Commons (accessed August 19, 2020).

Falcata alfalfa’s use in rangelands presents a question: why alfalfa has not naturalized into the South? Given it has historically been found in cultivated and disturbed environments, has the species formed any stable populations outside of agricultural use? And given falcata’s success in the High Plains, why hasn’t the species been used in the South?

Figure 2. The Willamette Valley of Oregon. July 10, 2020.

Figure 3. Falcata alfalfa (USDA PI 631577) growing on a misting bench in Knoxville, Tennessee. August 19, 2020.

Falcata is promising given its performance in low fertility conditions (USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Program, 2015). A research project at the University of Tennessee is investigating the horticultural performance of falcata alfalfa in the Southeast. Seed from the United States Department of Agriculture—by way of Canada and originally from eastern Italy—is being grown to study the plant in the eastern United States (Figure 3; USDA PI 631577). Concerns about introducing new plant species into the Southeastern flora prompted this present article. A fair number of plants introduced to the eastern United States have gradually moved outside of agricultural fields, such as tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus), but the subspecies of alfalfa have not escaped and persisted for extended periods in the wild.

The Tennessee-Kentucky Plant Atlas is a helpful tool for this sort of research (Shaw et al., 2020). Documenting the localities and conditions that falcata alfalfa has been found in the native flora should expound on these questions and theories regarding the species and subspecies persistence in the Southeast. Through the Atlas we can tell that escaped alfalfa does not necessarily take over native habitat in Kentucky and Tennessee in the same way that alfalfa has persisted in the High Plains of South Dakota. However, the Atlas is limited to collections made before 2002 (Shaw et al., 2020). With that in mind, citizen scientists are critical to documenting falcata alfalfa in Kentucky in 2020. The species should be seen where the purple flowered alfalfa occurs, such as disturbed areas and pastures.

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From The Lady Slipper Archives: New England Aster: 2010 Wildflower of the Year

The Lady Slipper newsletter of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. With this article, we will begin to occasionally feature an article from a past issue. This one, about one of Kentucky’s loveliest natives, the New England Aster, first appeared in the summer of 2010, Vol. 25, No. 2. If you would like to see other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 34, No. 1, Winter/Spring 2019 (after which we moved to this blog format) can be found.

The author, Mary Carol Cooper, left a huge legacy to the native plant community when she passed in 2016. In almost every native plant gathering, her name is mentioned and a moment is given over to appreciate her knowledge, which she freely shared. Her passion led many of us to our love of natives; she was a mentor and friend to many of us.

New England Aster: 2010 Wildflower of the Year

By Mary Carol Cooper, Salato Center Native Plant Program Coordinator

The Wildflower of the Year is chosen based on the number of nominations it receives and this year more wildflower enthusiasts statewide voted than ever before! They chose New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) as the Salato Native Plant Program Wildflower of the Year for 2010. Aster comes from the Greek word for “star.” It describes the star-like form of the flower. Other familiar words using “aster” are astronomy, astrology and astronaut. According to Greek legend, the aster was created out of stardust when Virgo (the maiden Astraea, goddess of innocence and purity) looking down from heaven, wept. Asters were scared to all the gods and goddesses and beautiful wreaths made from the blossoms were placed on temple altars on very important festive occasions. Known in France as “eye of Christ” and in Germany as starworts, asters were often burned to keep away evil spirits. A hodgepodge of asters was thought to cure the bite of a mad dog. Shakers used the plant to clear their complexions and ancient Greeks used it as an antidote for snakebites and to drive away snakes. Virgil believed that boiling aster leaves in wine and placing them close to a hive of bees would improve the honey. Native Americans found many uses for asters, from treating skin rashes and earaches to stomach pains and intestinal fevers. Nerve medicines and cures for insanity were made from some asters and others were eaten as food. Some were smoked in pipes as a charm to attract game, especially deer. Today there are no medical uses for asters.

**New England Aster, photo by Thomas Barnes**

The genus Aster has recently undergone a name change due to close study using DNA testing and other techniques. There are about 150 flowering plants in North America traditionally placed in the aster genus. About 50 of them are considered common and widespread. Now there is only one species left with the name Aster. The other species have been given several tongue-twisting generic names. For the botanist, renaming of the asters brought accuracy and order. For the layperson, it removed some wonderfully colorful names and replaced them with unspellable and unpronounceable names! Aster novae-angliae was translated as “star of New England” and now as Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, it is literally “fused hairs of New England.” The word Symphyotrichum was created in 1832 to describe the hairs on the seeds of a European plant.

New England Aster is an erect perennial that grows to a height of 2’ to 6’ tall with a stout root crown or thick, short rhizome and clustered stems, usually with spreading hairs. The leaves are alternate, sessile, entire, lanceolate, 1” to 4” long with pointed lobes at the base that conspicuously clasp the stem. The ray flowers range from violet, rose, or magenta and are very showy. The disk flowers are yellow. This aster is one of our largest and showiest asters. There can be from 40 to 80 ray flowers on a head! These asters bloom from August to October and are a critical late-season nectar plant for butterflies, especially the Monarch, that stock up for their long migration to Mexico. New England Asters are found in mesic to wet open woods and fields across Kentucky. They prefer average to moist soil and full sun. Not only are the New England Asters critical for Monarch butterflies, it is the host plant for the Pearl Crescent and one of the host plants for the Saddleback Caterpillar Moth. Several game birds, including the wild turkey, a few songbirds, including the tree sparrow, and small mammals, such as the chipmunk and white-footed mouse, feed on the leaves and seeds. Work plantings of New England Aster into your fall landscape. Use them singly or in small groups in the rear of a sunny border. They look beautiful with our native sunflowers, goldenrods, mistflower and rose mallow. They are also perfect for rain gardens as they thrive on moist to dry soil. They are easy to naturalize in roadside ditches, road banks, and open grassy areas. A sunny site where soil remains moist throughout the season is also ideal. Asters have always been recognized as decorations. The flowers of most species last several days after being picked and put into vases, so what better than New England Asters in beautiful fall arrangements along with other fall bloomers.

Observations on Cohabitation with a Native Landscape

By Karen Lanier

I am a transplant. I’m not a Kentucky native, and I’ve become naturalized here. In 2012, I shifted my lifestyle from migratory traveler to a rooted homesteader when I moved from the arid southwest to the lush and verdant southeast. By staying in one place for the past several years, my restless wandering spirit has calmed down. In the forest garden that my partner, Russ Turpin, and I call our yard, I find unexpected joy in relationships between myself and the place, the plants, and the animals.

Curiosity and a disdain for boredom spurs me to learn more about the natural world. I don’t take for granted the beauty of our natural yard that buffers our home from the traffic, heat and noise of the city.

My home environment is much more urban than many of the places I’ve lived, so it’s important for me to bring nature as close as possible. A landscape full of native plants, providing habitat for insects, birds, amphibians, and mammals, is also a vibrant space for human creatures like me to just be. Daily comforts of my forest-y yard include the smell of moist leaf litter, dappled shade of oaks and redbuds, rain droplets bejeweling jewelweed, wild mushrooms appearing in all colors and shapes, and spicebush hedges that provide a privacy screen.

It’s not all peace and harmony though. Nature can be a difficult neighbor. I’d like to share four main considerations for the novice natural landscaper to be mindful of. In any relationship, it’s important to manage our expectations and work with natural tendencies.

1. Scaling Down

As I’ve come to terms with the smaller adventures that await me just outside my back door, my appreciation for the little things has grown immensely. I had never known the spectacular scenes of fireflies as a child, so I’m full of wonder at these luminescent fairy-like creatures on warm summer nights. (https://www.hobbyfarms.com/the-decline-of-fireflies/)

A spicebush swallowtail caterpillar graced our garden and kept us turning leaves over to check on it for weeks. Finding other insect eggs underneath leaves is like discovering new life on another planet, but it’s right under our noses all the time! Within our 7,000 square foot yard, keeping an eye out for the incremental changes in the landscape gives me a reason to take slow and quiet walks, and look and listen closely.

Fitting everything we want into the property requires a lot of creativity, and some compromises. Planting in layers maximizes space. I have learned that there are not many colorful flowers that grow in the shade, so our yard is monochromatic compared to our neighbors’ sunny and nearly treeless lots. Accepting that the yard is a woodland rather than a park ecosystem was an important step in stopping the cycle of wanting something to grow just because I like it, only to watch it die because it’s the wrong plant in the wrong space.

Now, we have agreed to leave a space open until we find the right shade-loving plant for the forest floor layer. Some happy residents there are wild ginger (Asarum canadense), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), and a variety of ferns and sedges. Our newest additions are forest medicinals: black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), and goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). Planted last fall, they are thriving under the protection of our big pin oak. It feels like we have made a new friend who feels right at home. Their habitat is the right size, has the right amount of light, and fits them with just the right amount of space.

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