Mute swans are an invasive non-native species that pose a growing threat to native animals, habitat and people. Their numbers are well above an acceptable range, requiring the DNR to increase management efforts. The DNR needs your help to decrease this invasive population.

Free Mute Swan Webinar

• Mute Swan Outreach Webinar
• March 21, 2012
• 9:30 am to 12 pm
• Hosted by: DNR Wildlife Division
• Presenters: Barbara Avers, DNR Wetland and Waterfowl Specialist and David Marks, USDA Wildlife Services
• Overview and update of mute swan management efforts
• Overview and update of mute swan policy
• Mute swan outreach products and needs
• Training webinar participants to give presentation “Mute Swans – Invading Michigan’s Waters”
• Webinar Registration

The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is native to Eurasia and was an introduced species to North American parks and estates. Escaped individuals have established breeding populations outside of captivity and their aggressive behavior poses a great threat to native waterfowl.

Because of their strength & aggressiveness, Mute Swans have very few natural enemies to help control their rapidly increasing populations.

Mute swans compete for resources with other waterfowl such as loons, ducks, colonial waterbirds, tundra swans & geese and will sometimes completely displace, or even kill, native waterfowl.

More resources on Mute Swans

• Mute Swans – Invading Michigan’s Waters
• Mute swan facts brochure
• Frequently Asked Questions About Mute Swans
• Controlling Mute Swans in Ohio
• Mute swans – Minnesota DNR

In most gardens there are always plants that need some support to keep them standing tall. Bamboo garden stakes are the most economical & sustainable, but can be somewhat unattractive.

Why not turn these ordinary bamboo stakes into functional pieces of art with a few simple materials?!!

Materials:

• 16 – 18 gauge galvanized wire
• Marbles – we used 1″ marbles.
• Glass beads – we used Bead Treasures glass beads from Hobby Lobby.
• A piece of pipe – approximately the same diameter as the marbles used.
• Needle-nose pliers
• Bamboo garden stakes

Instructions:

Begin by cutting a piece of wire approximately 12″ long, this can be adjusted accordingly based on your own design. Somewhere near the middle of the wire, wrap it around the pipe 2 times. Slide it off the end of the pipe and fit a marble into the center of your newly created spiral.

Adjust the fit with your pliers and bend both ends of the wire outward from the center of the marble. From here you can optionally zig-zag the wire by bending it with your pliers. (For our project we sponged a small amount of turquoise paint onto the wire to give our finials an aged patina look.)

Top one end with a glass bead – it may be necessary to use a drop of waterproof glue if your beads do not fit tightly on the wire or you can lightly hammer the end of the wire to widen it. Stick the other end into a bamboo stake and you now have a functional piece of art for your garden!

Look for more DIY projects coming soon on NETWORK-GREEN.org

Network-Green is now on Pinterest. We’ve been pinning our favorite gardening resources, DIY projects & delicious healthy food resources + over 50 other boards on green and healthy living – This is a wonderful resource for everyone to network and share green tips, products & inspirations. ♥ Your Earth – Pin Green ✿

Pollinators are animals which transport pollen from one plant to another aiding in the plant’s reproduction – creating seeds & fruits. Common pollinators include insects (especially bees), butterflies, moths, birds, bats and small mammals.

Pollinators are important for a healthy ecosystem & critical to many food crops, but are often lacking in urban gardens & landscapes. If plants are not pollinated, seeds & fruits are not produced. If these plants cannot reproduce, native pollinators will not have the necessary food & shelter to survive, thus creating a vicious cycle.

By planting native flowering plants & grasses in the garden and/or landscape you will likely improve native pollinator populations by providing this needed food and forage.

Because native plants have evolved to adapt to their native environment, they are generally disease & pest resistant. This keeps them low maintenance & without the need for pesticides that can be detrimental to native pollinators, other wildlife, pets and humans.

Listed below are some native flowering plants that play well in the urban garden/landscape along with some interesting facts about the pollinators that love these plants.

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia grandiflora)

• Green Bottle Fly (Lucilia sericata)

Flies

Although flies are not as hairy as bees, making them less effective at carrying pollen, research indicates that flies may contribute significantly to the pollination of North American flowers and many food plants.

Blanket Flower is native to the Southwest, so it may not be a first choice for Midwest pollinators, but it makes up for this with its warm colors, compact behavior, long bloom period (June-October) & easy maintenance.

• Also observed on Blanket Flower: Long-horned bees, Bumble bees, Sulphur butterflies

Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)

• Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

Skippers

Skippers are not true butterflies, but are more closely related to butterflies than moths. Both butterflies and skippers are extremely sensitive to pesticides and toxins, so their presence alone, is indicative of a healthy environment. Providing nectar plants like Blazing Star and planting host plants, which include many native grasses & plants of the Legume family (Fabaceae), can help increase skipper populations.

Blazing Star is also a preferred nectar plant for the Tiger Swallowtail & Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies. It is a beautiful addition to the landscape for early summer color.

• Also observed on Blazing Star: Bumble bees, Syrphid flies

Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

• Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis)

Moths

Many moths, like butterflies, feed on nectar. Most moths are crepuscular (active during twilight hours) or are nocturnal (active during nighttime hours), making them important pollinators for early morning & night blooming plants such as Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) & Yucca species.

Brown-eyed Susan is very pest resistant and a great nectar source for pollinators & a good seed source for birds.

• Also observed on Brown-eyed Susan: Syrphid flies, Sweat bees, Tachinid flies, Bee flies, Skippers and a Monarch chrysalis.

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

• Leaf-cutting Bee (Megachile)

Leaf-cutting Bees

Leaf-cutting & Mason bees are important pollinators of wildflowers, fruits, vegetables and other crops. The Alfalfa Leaf-cutting bee (Megachile rotundata) is not native to North America but is cultivated here for the sole purpose of pollination, mostly for alfalfa & carrots. Mason Bees (Osmia) are used as commercial pollinators in crops such as alfalfa and blueberries.

• Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Monarch Butterflies

Butterfly Weed is a member of the Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae). Milkweeds are the sole Monarch caterpillar food source. Milkweeds have a unique pollination mechanism making them reliant on insects for pollination.

• Also observed on Butterfly Weed: Sweat bees, Small Carpenter bees, Wasps

Coneflower (Echinacea)

• Metallic Green Bee (Agapostemon virescens)

Metallic Green Bees

Metallic Green Bees are in the Sweat Bee family (Halictidae). They are small but an awesome sight nonetheless. They are considered to be generalist pollinators because they visit a wide variety of flowers and do not discriminate among specific plant species. These bees use a technique called buzz pollination. The bee places the anther (the pollen bearing structure of the flower) in its jaw and vibrates each flower with its flight muscles, releasing the pollen.

Coneflowers are also excellent food sources for many other pollinators, beneficial insects & particularly birds. For this reason it is recommended to allow some flowers to seed. Also be sure to plant naturally occurring cultivars. Many tissue cultivated Coneflowers are sterile and therefore do not produce seeds. E. purpurea, E. pallida, E. tennesseensis, and E. paradoxa are all natural species.

• Also observed on Coneflower: Long-horned bees, Bumble bees, Leaf-cutting Bees, Gold finches, Chickadees

Coreopsis (Coreopsis grandiflora)

• Small Carpenter Bee (Ceratina)

Small Carpenter Bees

Small Carpenter Bees are often confused with Metallic Green Bees because of their greenish-blue color, but they are much darker & duller. Like Metallic Green Bees, they are generalists and will visit a great variety of flowers.

Coreopsis is a great addition to any garden because of its long bloom period (June-October). It also attracts many beneficial insects & pollinators and birds like to feed on the seeds

• Also observed on Coreopsis: Syrphid flies, Bee flies, Bumble bees, Leaf-cutting bees, Skippers, Sweat bees, Chickadees

Come back for more native plants and the pollinators that love them – coming soon in Pollinators ♥ Native Plants Pt.2

additional resources:

• Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
• Pollinator Conservation Resources
• Pollinators and Native Plants

• Late Monarch Butterfly feeding on October blooming Spiderwort.

With little care, native plants can add a rainbow of color to the garden all season long. With occasional deadheading & cutting back, the following native perennials all have bloomed for over 15 weeks. Most are still blooming as of today (mid October).

• Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)
• Bloom time: June – October
• Care: Cut stems with spent clusters to side shoot to encourage new blooms.

• Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata ‘Purple Flame’)
• Bloom time: July – September
• Care: Cutback spent flower clusters to encourage side branching.

• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia Cardinalis ‘Queen Victoria’)
• Bloom time: July – October
• Care: Cut down spent spikes 2 to 3 in. from the ground to encourage new blooms. Short-lived, leave a few flowers to self-seed.

• Purple Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe involucrata)
• Bloom time: June – October
• Care: Snip spent flowers & stems to encourage new blooms. Will self-seed, but is not invasive.

• Prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)
• Bloom time: June – October
• Care: Snip faded flowers to encourage new blooms. Leave a few flowers to self-seed.

• Variegated Tickseed (Coreopsis ‘Tequila Sunrise’)
• Bloom time: June – September
• Care: Snip faded flowers to encourage new blooms.

• New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Alma Potschke’)
• Bloom time: *June – October *This is not supposed to bloom until late summer, but began blooming in June & continued through October!
• Care: Cut plants back in July to keep them compact & encourage new blooms.

• Tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’)
• Bloom time: July – October
• Care: Deadhead spent flowers & cutback to side shoots to encourage new blooms. Cut stems to the ground when they have finished blooming.

• Blanket Flower (Gaillardia grandiflora ‘Arizona Sun’)
• Bloom time: June – October
• Care: Deadhead spent flowers to encourage new blooms. Short-lived, leave a few flowers to self-seed.

• Pink Tickseed (Coreopsis rosea ‘Heaven’s Gate’)
• Bloom time: June – October
• Care: Deadhead spent flowers & cutback to side shoots to encourage new blooms. Cut stems to the ground when they have finished blooming. Can be short lived in the Midwest, mulch heavily in the fall after a couple of hard frosts for winter protection.

Update: This Dianthus (not native, but is non-invasive nor cumbersome) blooms prolifically May – June. Once it has finished blooming, it can be sheared leaving a nice attractive mound of blue-grey foliage that will occasionally send up new blooms throughout the summer into late fall. This plant is still blooming as of today. (This photo was taken Oct. 17th)

• Cheddar Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’)
• Bloom time: May – October
• Care: Cut back spent flowers to side shoots or shear entire plant to encourage new blooms.

Fall is here & Michigan’s beauty is in full color! Whether you walk, run or bike… Be sure to take a fall color tour. Also be sure to check out West Michigan’s U-Pick Farms & Cider Mills.

• Sedum (Sedum telephium ‘Autumn Joy’)

• Toad Lily (Tricyrtis formosana ‘Samurai’)
• non-native, but plays well with others.

• Bugbane (Cimicifuga ‘Chocoholic’)

• Smooth Aster (Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’)

• Dwarf Goldenrod (Solidago ‘Little Lemon’)

• Fall Aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ‘Henry III’)

• Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

• New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae ‘Alma Poetschke’)

• Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)

• Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

• False Sunflower (Heliopsis)

• Meadow Rue (Thalictrum dasycarpum)

• Grey-Head Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

• Western Sunflower (Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’)

• Stokes’ Aster (Stokesia laevis)

In conjunction with National Pollinator Week, Michigan recently adopted their own resolution!

• Adopted by Senate, March 16, 2011
• Senate Resolution No. 25.
• A resolution proclaiming June 20-26, 2011, as Michigan Pollinator Week.

Celebrate Michigan Pollinator Week & help sustain our beneficial native pollinators by planting native flowers (75% of all flowering plant species need the help of animals to move their heavy pollen grains from plant to plant for fertilization) – These insects, birds, bats & small mammals depend on these host plants & food sources as much as we depend on their pollination!
An estimated one third of our food, beverages, spices & medicines need to be pollinated by animals.
Two of Michigan’s most important crops, cherries & blueberries, are 90% dependent on honey bee pollination.

The use of pesticides can have a negative impact on honey bees & native pollinators and may be linked to CCD. If necessary pesticides should be applied early in the morning while most pollinators are still at rest. Insecticidal soaps, such as Neem oil, are the safest option as they are intended to target soft bodied insects and generally don’t affect bees.

With any insecticide, please read and follow the directions on the manufacturer’s label for your own safety & to reduce the risk of harming beneficial insects.