Signs of Summer 12: Our Yard (Two Years On) (Part 2)

our house in Greeley when we moved in (July 2020)

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog … My yard part 2

Deborah and I wanted the yard of our new house to support three things: 1. a place for our grandson, Ari, to play, 2. an area of native grasses that would resemble a mini-shortgrass prairie and, 3. a place where we could grow as many species of native, dry-steppe plants as we could. Our guiding themes in all of this were minimizing water usage and using native plants that would support pollinators and as many other insects (and their larvae) as possible!

As I wrote last week, we dedicated the back yard to be the Ari-play-area and covered it with playground mulch, a climbing dome and a swing set. We had a landscape contractor remove the front yard turf and left about a third of it of it (about 1300 square feet) to be converted into prairie. The other two-thirds (about 3000 square feet) we bordered with rock “dry creek beds,” crisscrossed with a compacted gravel pathway and then constructed a set of brick-lined planting circles from one end to the other. That fall (2020) we heavily mulched (finely shredded cedar (“gorilla”) mulch) around the planting circles.

Front yard planting ring. Photo by D. Sillman

In spring 2021 we tilled up the very compacted soil within the planting rings and enriched it with compost. We then planted an array of native, flowering perennials, yuccas and cactuses in the rings. These plants are what I would like to call the “intended components” of our yard. There were also “unintended components” in the form of wild and feral plants that began to grow in the protected spaces of the yard (but I am going to talk about those the week after next!).

The ”intended components” of our yard consisted of plants we purchased from the High Plains Environmental Center (Loveland, Colorado) and ones that we grew from seed that we obtained through the Audubon Society of the Rocky’s “Habitat Hero” program. We put the plants and/or their seeds out in the planting rings of our front yard in the spring of 2021 and replanted (when necessary) in the spring of 2022. Many of the plants we selected were listed in D. Hazlett’s comprehensive description of the 521 plants growing in the nearby Pawnee National Grassland (USDA publication: “Vascular Plants of the Pawnee National Grasslands”), and all were native to Colorado and all had characteristics that were favorable to pollinators and other types of insects (as described by D. Tallamy in his “suburbitat” publications).

Tallamy has looked  deeply into the human-created habitats in our cities and suburbs and has some important insights about the quality of these ecosystems. It is not enough, he states, to just make green, leafy spaces around our homes. Those spaces have to be conducive to the growth and survival of native insects in order to be considered a fully functional component of the biosphere. We need to think about trees and about all of the plants growing next to and under and on top of those trees in order to really develop functioning ecosystems!

Photo by D. Sillman

Tallamy proposes that we “re-wild” the America landscape by shrinking our lawns (a very unproductive and lifeless expanse of alien plant species (the “Kill Your Lawn” program recently featured in the New York Times (June 15, 2022) is even more adamant about the need to get rid of that patch of alien grasses that sits in front of your house!). He also proposes that we remove those exotic plant species that have been favored by ornamental gardening and landscaping practices since so many of these species are not palatable to our local vertebrate or invertebrate consumers. We need to create no-mow zones (to stop from grinding up billions and billions of grass-dwelling organisms), reduce outdoor lighting (which disrupts local invertebrate and vertebrate activity patterns and also long distance migration pathways), plant keystone species (those plants that are shown to be , region by region, critical to the life cycles of our pollinating and decomposing insects), welcome pollinators, and avoid chemical herbicides and pesticides. The resulting, complex suburban and urban vegetative habitats would be full of munching caterpillars, hunting spiders and a glorious diversity of beetles and other insects than would, in turn, support and sustain a myriad of birds and other vertebrates that feed on them.

So what all did we plant in our yard?

Photo by D. Sillman

Rocky Mountain Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis): a spectacular and extremely long-lived, flowering perennial with tall, spiky, purple flowers and dense, grass-like leaves. The flowers attract a large number of pollinators including many lepidopterans. It has a very deep root system which makes it extremely drought-resistant. Blazing star leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of a number of flower moth species (like Schinia gloriosa and S. sanquinea). The plants overwinter as underground tubers called “corms.”

Public Domain

Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea and E. angustifolia): purple cornflowers (E. purpurea) grow throughout the eastern and central regions of North America. The can be found in moist and dry prairies and woodlands and are important nectar sources for a wide range of bees, butterflies, wasps, beetles and flies. Most of the pollination of these flowers is carried out by bees and butterflies. Coneflowers also produce abundant “thistle-like” seeds in the late summer and early fall that are avidly consumed by a wide range of birds (including goldfinches, cardinals and blue jays). Purple cornflowers differ from other coneflower species in that they do not have deep taproots. The basal stem of the purple cornflower (its “caudex”) is densely covered with abundant, but shallow fibrous roots. Although this plant is very drought resistant, its lack of a tap root may limit its ability to survive long periods of extremely dry conditions. The very similar narrow leaved coneflower (E. angustifolia), however, does have a very long, delicate taproot that enables it to reach down into the subsoil for its moisture requirements. The narrow leaved coneflower is found primarily in western and central dry prairies and is highly valued for its use in traditional, folk medicine (to treat snake bites, sore throats, toothaches and headaches)

Photo by D. Sillman

Maximilian sunflower (Helianthus maximilianii): Maximilian sunflowers are one of the five sunflower species that are native to Colorado. It is found extensively across the Great Plains and also across most of North America. Maximilian sunflowers grow from a thick (and edible!) underground rhizome and form a dense mass of thin, tall (1 ½ to 10 feet) long-leafed stems with bright yellow flowers (2 to 3 ½ inches across) at their tips. The flowers attract a wide range of pollinators and nectar feeders (including many wild and domesticated bees, butterflies and beetles). The stems and leaves support numerous caterpillars of moths and butterflies, and the seeds produced by the flowers are consumed by a wide range of birds and mammals. At all stages of its life, this plant supports other living organisms! It is, clearly, a keystone species in any dryland ecosystem!

Photo by D. Sillman

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristate): Common blanket flower is said to have gotten its name from the similarity of its flower colorations to the colors of traditional blankets made by Native Americans and also from its tendency to grow into a dense “blanket-covering” of flowers across an area. It is a very short-lived perennial (2 or 3 years) but extremely drought-resistant and especially found in dry prairie habitats east of the Rocky Mountains and on up into the mountains themselves. It is a frequent food plant for a variety of lepidopteran larvae. Many types of bees (both wild and domesticated) and butterflies come to blanket flowers for nectar.  Species of blanket flower are found all across North and South America.

Photo by T. Tuason, Wikimedia Commons

Western White Clematis (Clematis ligusticifolia): Western clematis is also called “virgin’s bower” or “pepper vine.” It’s natural range covers most of western North America, and it grows in a wide range of habitats (from streamside riparian forests, to ponderosa pine stands, to dry sagebrush deserts). It is very drought tolerant and generates a dense covering of delicate, white, extremely fragrant flowers that attract large numbers of insects (including many types of bees and butterflies) and also hummingbirds. Birds frequently make their nests in the protected spaces enclosed by the clematis vines. The flowers after pollination form plume-like seed heads which further contribute to the concealing and protective nature of the vines. The common name “pepper vine” comes from a Native American practice to chew clematis stems and leaves for their refreshing, pepper-like taste. Native Americans also used these leaves to revive tired horses! Great caution should be taken when eating these leaves, though, because clematis contains significant levels of very poisonous chemicals.

(Continued next week!)