Nursery Labels for Neonicotinoid Pesticides

Many of you know that bee-lovers have been pushing companies to label their plants for neonicotinoid pesticides.  Neonicotinoids are pesticides that are absorbed into the leaves and stem and other parts of the plant from the roots up.  Thus, they are less harmful for humans to use because you don't have to worry about residue or spray drift, but unfortunately they are also suspected to have a detrimental effect on helpful wildlife such as bees.

Recent studies have shown that, even though the low levels of neonicotinoids in plant nectar and pollen don't outright kill bees, it still adversely affects the bees' brains, causing them to struggle to learn and remember things.  Studies have found there is a relationship between neonicotinoid use and the Colony Collapse Disorder of bees, which has gotten so much press lately.

Check your labels!  Systemic products made by companies such as Bayer often contain
neonicotinoids, two of which are Imidacloprid and Clothianidin.

Since many gardeners certainly don't want the plants in the garden to be contributing to the death of bees, people have been petitioning the big box nurseries to label their plants for these pesticides.  I have to applaud BJ's Wholesale Club and Home Depot for stepping up (yay!).  They both have agreed to require their vendors to either stop using neonicotinoid pesticides or to label for them if they do continue to use them.

new Home Depot labels for Neonicotinoid Pesticides

I was at Home Depot the other day and got to see their new labels.  They say, "This plant is protected from problematic Aphids, Whiteflies, Beetles, Mealy Bugs and other unwanted pests by Neonicotinoids."  Wow, I am impressed with their marketing team - here I was expecting them to have a little tiny label shamefully admitting a plant had neonicotinoid pesticides, but instead they were spinning it into a positive thing!

back of the label

Most of their indoor plants had these labels.  I must say, after having battled all sorts of pest problems with my indoor plants, I rather understand why they would want to use neonicotinoids on them.  And since those plants are indoors, they aren't hurting bees.  (However, I do wonder what would happen if my plant-loving cat ate one of those plants...)

What about outdoor plants, though?  Do many of them have labels?

We don't have a lot of outdoor plants in stock yet, as it is definitely still winter up here in the Boston area.  Home Depot only had their berry plants and grapes in.  I was glad to see that most of them were not grown with neonicotinoid pesticides, though there were a couple varieties of grapes labeled for it.

I guess time will tell as to whether or not people will buy them.  Hopefully, the labels will lead people to be more cautious about buying these plants, or, at the very least, cause them to do a little research about what these pesticides are that are on their plants.

And hopefully, people will make different choices in their plant buying - putting pressure on growers to use alternative (and hopefully more wildlife-friendly) pest management.

So has anyone else seen these labels?  Or seen BJ's tags?  I am hoping some Southern gardeners can tell if many of their outdoor plants are labeled with neonicotinoid pesticides.   I am hoping, too, that other big-box stores will follow Home Depot and BJ's leadership in giving their consumers the ability to make more knowledgeable choices!  Kudos to them!

Gaze Into the Cosmos

It is now September.  Gone are the multitude of Purple Coneflowers, but in their place are now one of my favorite cottage annuals - Cosmos!

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Picotee'

I read on a garden website somewhere that if you have trouble growing Cosmos, well, you might just want to take up golf!  I, for one, am thankful for such easy to grow plants that put on such a great display with very little effort from me.

the front garden

Cosmos bipinnatus are ridiculously easy to grow from seed.  In the spring I went around the garden throwing seeds all over right before a good rain, and that was pretty much all the care I gave them.

a Cosmos bud about to open

Cosmos bipinnatus are part of the Aster family and are sometimes called Mexican asters (since they are native to Mexico).  They tolerate poor or dry soil.  Just give them plenty of sun.

The bees love them, and soon the Cosmos will be bursting with seeds and attracting Goldfinches in droves (as well as a couple children that like collecting the seeds for their next year's garden).

center of Cosmos 'Versailles Red'

If it is possible to stop gazing at the Cosmos (they are mesmerizingly beautiful), there are other things going on in the garden.  The chilly weather we've suddenly been having turns a gardener's mind to Asters and Mums, both of which went into my whisky barrel planters.

The Nicotania is still going in the mailbox garden.  

(That stuff is seriously like the Energizer bunny of the plant world!)

The Caryopteris 'Worcester Gold' is in bloom, to the delight of many different types of bees.

Carpenter bee on Caryopteris

This time of the year is also when the Goldenrod blooms.  I didn't personally plant any Goldenrod in my garden (in fact I weeded some out), but all the wild areas around the yard are full of the beautiful golden flowers.

Plasterer bee on Goldenrod

It's hard to believe that the summer is pretty much over.  There's a nip in the air, and newscasters are already talking of possible frost.  I refuse to believe it!  

I'm going back to gazing at my Cosmos and thinking summery thoughts!

I hope you all are enjoying the last few days of summer gardening!

To see what other garden bloggers around the world have blooming in their garden, visit Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens blog.

Dewberries

To the delight of my kids, Dewberry season is upon us!  In our backyard, Dewberries grow rampant in the open, sunny parts surrounding our detention pond.  Closely related to blackberries, these small berries are a little on the sour side, but still a delectable find to small children who like to roam the wild places and forage for food.

Swamp Dewberries

There are several different types of Dewberries, but in our yard we have Swamp Dewberries, Rubus hispidus.  Also called Bristly Dewberries or Swamp Blackberries, they are native to the Eastern half of the U.S. and Canada.  This Dewberry plant is a low-growing, trailing vine that is covered in prickly hairs and spreads to form a low groundcover.

As indicated by the name, the Swamp Dewberry likes swampy places.  They are frequently found on the edge of wetlands (such as my detention pond).  In early summer, the plants are covered in white flowers, small but pretty.

As with so many native berrying plants, Dewberries are beloved by wildlife.  Native bees use the leaves for nesting material, and the flowers attract many different kinds of bees, small butterflies, and other assorted creatures in search of pollen and nectar.

Honeybee on Dewberry flower

The berries that result from the pollinated flowers are an important source of food for a large variety of songbirds and gamebirds.  Small animals such as chipmunks, mice, and raccoons also eat Dewberries.  The leaves of the Dewberry plant are also eaten by rabbits and deer.

a tiny bee on the Dewberry flower

I honestly would not grow Dewberries in a garden setting, as it spreads quite rapidly and would become weedy and take over.  If one needed a groundcover for a large wild area, however, this would do the trick.  Dewberries are one of those pioneer plants that are first to reestablish after a fire or after an area has been cleared.  They prevent erosion of soil and establish conditions for other, larger plants to move in.

I am glad to have a lot of Dewberries in the backyard, however.  I like having plants for the enjoyment of wildlife, as well as for the enjoyment of two (sometimes wild) children!

Happy Wildflower Wednesday!  

To see native wildflowers growing in other bloggers' yards, visit Clay and Limestone's site.

Common Milkweed

With the great migration of Monarch butterflies in serious danger of becoming extinct, I knew I needed to have milkweed in my new garden.  I started seeds, ordered seedlings, and ended up with a few dozen milkweed plants clustered around the garden.   Apparently I didn't need to worry so much about planting milkweed - while exploring the back wild edge of our property, I found that Mother Nature had beaten me to the punch!

cluster of milkweed flowers, starting to bloom

I found an entire stand of Asclepias syriaca, otherwise known as Common Milkweed, in my back yard.

The pollinators were in love.

I'm just going to lie here and drink some nectar...

I had never smelled Common Milkweed flowers before.  Beautifully fragrant, they smell like lilacs to me.

The nickname of Common Milkweed shows how plentiful it used to be.  This plant was considered a terribly fast-growing, hard-to-control weed by farmers (and still is, oftentimes).  

One of the few herbicides that works on it is glyphosate (known often under the brand Roundup), which one of the reasons why Roundup-ready crops were so welcome by farmers.  Finally this weed and many others could be easily gotten rid of with what (at the time) seemed like minimal impact on the environment...

In 1996, 3% of corn and 7.4% of soybeans grown in the US were herbicide-tolerant.  By 2013, 85% of corn and 93% of soybeans were herbicide-tolerant, much of it grown in the Midwest, the corridor of Monarch migration.  Of course, the increase in herbicides led to a sharp decline of milkweed...

...which led to a sharp decline in the population of Monarch butterflies.  I'm sure other wildlife populations are affected, as well (and we won't even go into the evolution of Roundup-resistant weeds that are now spreading.)

Skipper butterfly on Milkweed

It is interesting how many plants we think of as weeds, really turn out to be important in the ecosystem.

A noxious weed to farmers that invades their crops and can affect their livelihood?  A necessary plant to survival for a butterfly?  It is hard to strike balance when talking about this one small but impactful plant, but it certainly can't be healthy to lose such large numbers of wildlife.

So I will do a little gardener's dance at the fact that I have Common Milkweed weeding it up in the back yard and plant a few more milkweed seedlings in the front.  I haven't seen any Monarchs yet..

...but I want to be ready for them and any other native wildlife that might need a helping hand.

Where Have All the Bees Gone?

In my last garden, I remember stepping out into my backyard and hearing a hum rising up from all the bees enjoying the clover and other flowers.

honeybee on clover

Two years later, I now have a new garden and a nice big patch of clover, but...

where are all the bees?

are the bees hiding from me?

Oh yes, if I search I can find a few bees..

Bumble bee on salvia

But it is worrisome.  

Is it because so many bees died off after the hard winter?

Am I seeing the effects of Colony Collapse Disorder?

Or is it because my garden isn't as established yet and hasn't been 'discovered'?

a tiny sweat bee, covered in pollen

There seem to be a lot of factors affecting bee numbers.  It is a perfect storm for bees and other pollinators out there - pesticides, pathogens, parasites, loss of habitat, and a harsh winter on top of that.

label on a bottle of Tree & Shrub 'Protect & Feed' granules
Imidacloprid and Clothianidin are Neonicotinoids, pesticides that absorbed into the plant and are suspected of being harmful to bees

In good news, though, the topic has been getting so much attention that pressure is being put on law makers.  Last week, during National Pollinator Week, the White House announced a Presidential Memorandum to address the loss of bees, monarchs, and other pollinators.  The memorandum established a task force to look into the problem and come up with a plan.  It also ordered pollinator-friendly practices to be put into effect on federal lands in order to build up habitat.

Bumble bee on holly

Well, we all know government, so we'll see how effective this will be, but at least it is a step in the right direction.

miner bee on clover

As my rather empty patch of clover knows,
the pollinators need all the help they can get!

Everybody Loves Cosmos