Fnps-2009

Horticultural and Ecological Roles of Common Wildflowers in Home Landscapes Rufino Osorio May 23, 2009 FNPS Conference Unless indicated otherwise, all text and images are © 2009 by Rufino Osorio

Ecological Roles of Cultivated Wildflowers • GROUNDCOVER AND SOIL ENRICHMENT - Legumes fix nitrogen by way of symbiotic bacteria - Deep-rooted grasses and perennials (1) allow water to penetrate further into the soil and (2) they enrich the soil when their roots rot in place - A dense cover of diverse wildflowers and grasses protects the soil from erosion - And a dense cover of diverse wildflowers and grasses serves as a barrier to weeds and nonnative plants

Ecological Roles of Cultivated Wildflowers • INSECT PRODUCTION The principal source of food for baby birds, as well as numerous other animals, is insects. And the principal source of insects is native plants. Non-native plants, having left their insect herbivores behind, rarely can match native plants in the production of insect biomass.

Large-Flowered Milkwort Polygala violacea

Native plants can provide food for insects in quite unexpected ways. For example, the largeflowered milkwort produces capsules with tiny seeds about the size of a pin head. Yet, in spite of their small size, the seeds provide enough food for a tiny fly that develops from an egg laid in the seed. When the fly larva reaches maturity, it exits the seed and leaves only a hollow shell.

Ecological Roles of Cultivated Wildflowers • INSECT PRODUCTION Native wildflowers are an important source of pollen and nectar for native insects. Some native insects, such as certain bees, use only specific native wildflowers as food. Some are so specialized, that their larvae can survive on only the pollen and nectar from just one or two species. Many wildflowers, especially common ones, have small flowers that freely offer pollen and nectar to a wide variety of insects.

Large-Flowered Milkwort Polygala violacea

Many native wildflowers offer pollen or nectar rewards to native insects although this may not be obvious at first sight. The large-flowered milkwort, whose flowers are only about a quarter of an inch wide, are avidly visited by a large native bee. Note that the tiny size of an individual flower does not indicate the size of potential pollinators.

Creative Commons 2005 André Karwath (Wikimedia Commons)

Sedum pallescens is not native to Florida but it is a good example of how small flowers are able to attract insects in a very wide range of sizes.

Image taken by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Punctate_Flower_Chafer.jpg) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License

The tiny size of each individual flower is no impediment to the feeding activities of these punctate flower chafers.

Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes

Mock Bishop's Weed Ptilimnium capillaceum

Ptilimnium capillaceum • Winter annual that dies out in late spring or early summer • Tiny white flowers attract flies, wasps, bees, beetles, true bugs, and small butterflies; important source of nectar for tiny parasitic flies and wasps • Larval food source for black swallowtail butterflies • Prefers open, moist sites in light shade to full sun • Sow seeds in the summer; will germinate in the winter (in the south) or very early spring (in the north) • May be somewhat weedy, but this is not a problem in informal wildflower gardens

Water-Hemlock – Cicuta maculata

Conium maculatum • Long-lived perennial • Tiny white flowers attract flies, wasps, bees, beetles, true bugs, and both small and large butterflies; important source of nectar for tiny parasitic flies and wasps • Larval food source for black swallowtail butterflies • Prefers moist sites in partial shade to full sun • Dangerously toxic; must never be planted where it could be mistaken for an edible relative in the same family such as carrots or parsnips; in other words, do not plant it as an ornamental in vegetable gardens!

Greeneyes – Berlandiera pumila, subacaulis, and × humilis

Greeneyes – Berlandiera pumila, subacaulis, and × humilis

Greeneyes – Berlandiera pumila, subacaulis, and × humilis

Greeneyes – Berlandiera pumila, subacaulis, and × humilis

Berlandiera • Long-lived perennial • Brilliant yellow daisies attract bees and both small and large butterflies • The species pumila and subacaulis must have extremely well-drained soil in full sun; the hybrid between the two species has hybrid vigor and tolerates more shade and wetter soils than either of its parents • Tends to go semi-dormant or dormant in hot, humid summer weather • Old, dried flower stems will need to be cut to the ground once a year

Beggar Ticks – Bidens alba

Bidens alba • Everblooming perennial • Brilliant white, honey-scented daisies attract innumerable insects including bees, flies, wasps, beetles, day-flying moths, true bugs, and both small and large butterflies • Easily grown from seeds or cuttings in moist but welldrained soil in very light shade to full sun • The foliage is a larval food for the dainty sulphur butterfly, Nathalis iole • Barbed, seed-like fruits that stick to fur, feathers, and human clothing are a considerable annoyance • Extremely weedy due to excessive self-seeding • Doubtfully native

Oakleaf Fleabane – Erigeron quercifolius

Erigeron quercifolius • Winter annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial • Excellent groundcover for small areas • Easily grown in moist soils with 4–8 hours of full sun • Self sows, but not aggressively, once established • Masses of flowers attract a wide variety of bees, wasps, flies, true bugs, and both small and large butterflies

Prairie Fleabane Erigeron strigosus

Prairie Fleabane Erigeron strigosus

Prairie Fleabane Erigeron strigosus

Erigeron strigosus • Summer annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial • Easily grown in moist to rather dry soils with 4–8 hours of full sun • Self sows, but not aggressively, once established • Masses of flowers attract a wide variety of bees, wasps, flies, true bugs, and both small and large butterflies

Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinus

© 2009 Alan Cressler http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler

Snowy Squarestem – Melanthera nivea

Snowy Squarestem (and a beetle) Melanthera nivea

© 2009 Alan Cressler http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_cressler

Melanthera nivea • Short-lived perennial, sometimes shrubby; rarely behaving as an annual • Easily grown from seeds or cuttings • Tolerant of widely varying conditions from light shade to full sun and in moist to dry soils • Everblooming or nearly so in south Florida • White daisies are attractive to a wide variety of insects including bees, flies, wasps, true bugs, beetles, day-flying moths, and both small and large butterflies • Old flowering stems can be unsightly and may need to be pruned once or twice a year

Frostweed Verbesina virginica

Frostweed – Verbesina virginica

Frostweed – Verbesina virginica

Frostweed – Verbesina virginica

Frostweed Verbesina virginica

Polka Dot Wasp Moth Syntomeida epilais ssp. jucundissima

Verbesina virginica • Robust perennial tolerant of widely varying conditions from light shade to full sun in both moist and dry soils • Excellent specimen or accent plant • Flowers in the autumn, winter, or early spring • White daisies are attractive to varied insects including native bees, flies, wasps, true bugs, beetles, day-flying wasps, and both small and large butterflies • Plant looks best when cut to the ground once or twice a year

Blodgett's Ironweed – Vernonia blodgettii

Vernonia blodgettii • Florida's smallest and least aggressive ironweed; commonly 1–3 feet tall • Prefers evenly moist soils • Should have full sun for its best appearance and maximum flower production • Bright rosy-pink flowers are especially attractive to native bees and to both small and large butterflies

Pineland Heliotrope – Heliotropium polyphyllum

Pineland Heliotrope – Heliotropium polyphyllum

Pineland Heliotrope – Heliotropium polyphyllum

Pineland Heliotrope – Heliotropium polyphyllum

The tiny flowers of pineland heliotrope provide nourishment for many insects, such as this wasp, which would starve in a garden filled with long-tubed butterfly-garden plants.

Heliotropium polyphyllum • Extremely hardy and long-lived perennial • Excellent as a groundcover • Apparently pest free and, in 14 years of cultivation in my home garden, has never been bothered by any pests • Easily grown from root cuttings • Prefers moist to dry soils in full sun • The brilliant yellow or bright white flowers are tiny but are produced in innumerable quantities from spring to autumn and into the winter in southern Florida • Flowers are especially attractive to bees, wasps, and both small and large butterflies • Old plants with lots of long, straggling stems can be reinvigorated by being cut to the ground

Wild Poinsettia – Euphorbia cyathophora

Euphorbia cyathophora • Fast-growing summer annual • Easily grown from seeds • Prefers well-drained soils in light shade to full sun • Readily accessible nectar glands attract a wide variety of insects • Used as a caterpillar food plant by the ello sphinx moth, Erinnyis ello • Can be weedy due to excessive self-seeding • Plants will flower and seed themselves to the point of exhaustion and old, spent plants are unsightly

Queen's Delight Stillingia sylvatica

Queen's Delight – Stillingia sylvatica

Queen's Delight Stillingia sylvatica

Queen's Delight Stillingia sylvatica

Stillingia sylvatica • Long-lived perennial; sometimes shrubby • Readily propagated from cuttings taken in late spring or summer • Easily grown in moderately moist to dry soil in full sun • Essentially unbothered by pests or disease • Flowers from spring to autumn and, in southern Florida, into the winter • Readily accessible nectar glands attract a variety of insects but most notably large bees and wasps • After several years, stems may become unkempt or straggly and may need to be pruned back

Horsemint – Monarda punctata 'Robert Hopper'

Monarda punctata • Summer annual • Easily grown from seeds or cuttings; self-sows once established • Oregano-scented foliage is an additional interesting feature • Colorful bracts vary from almost pure white to pale or dark pink • Unexcelled for attracting a vast array of bees, flies, wasps, true bugs, and day-flying moths • Usually dies after flowering and setting seeds

Primrose-willow Ludwigia maritima

Ludwigia maritima • Long-lived perennial • Easily grown in moist soil in very light shade to full sun • Easily propagated from seeds or cuttings (may also be propagated from root tubers) • Flowers have easily accessible pollen and nectar and are especially attractive to bees and wasps • One of the food plants for the caterpillars of the banded sphinx moth (Eumorpha fasciatus)

Witch Grass – Dichanthelium species

Star-grass (Hypoxis juncea) is but one example of the many small wildflowers that can be grown with witch grasses.

Dichanthelium • Short- to long-lived perennials • Combine well with short wildflowers such yellow stargrass and wild-petunias • Numerous stems create a complex 3-dimensional space in which many insects, spiders, and small reptiles live or seek shelter • Flowers are visited by pollen-seeking flower flies • Foliage is a food source for a wide variety of skippers • Seed heads provide food for grain-eating birds and small mammals • Old, dried matted stems can be unsightly and may need to be raked or cut to the ground in the autumn

Piriqueta – Piriqueta caroliniana

Piriqueta Piriqueta caroliniana

Piriqueta caroliniana • Usually a short-lived perennial • Generally pest free • Easily grown from cuttings and seeds • Brilliant yellow flowers provide easily accessible pollen to a wide variety of native bees • Foliage is a food source for gulf fritillary caterpillars • Self-sterile and two or more clones are required for seed production • Often eaten to the point of death by gulf fritillary caterpillars

Indian-plantain (Arnoglossum ovatum) does not appear to be a showy wildflower but photographs can be deceiving. The image on the next page, taken from the side, reveals the full beauty of the startlingly white flowers.

Indian-Plantain – Arnoglossum ovatum

Arnoglossum ovatum • Long-lived perennial • Generally pest free but susceptible to root mealy bugs • Easily grown from seeds; also propagated by division • Brilliant white flower-heads provide easily accessible pollen and nectar to a wide variety of insects • Self-sterile and two or more clones are required for seed production • When grown in formal garden situations, old flower stems will need to be removed once or twice a year for a tidy appearance

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