In bloom now - Monarda!

Adam Eyring

You probably have noticed patches of deep red or pink tall flowers on your local travels this June and July. There's a good chance they are two different species of Monarda. The red ones are Monarda didyma and the pink are Monarda fistulosa. Didyma is an eastern North American native while fistulosa is native to all of North America.

Monarda didyma

These plants are in the mint family and have common names such as bee balm, bergamot, oswego tea, and horsemint. They are herbaceous perennials and if you look closely, are well-visited by a number of critters thanks to the strong fragrances. Didyma is among the most fragrant of Monarda and a favorite of hummingbirds, which have the ability to reach into the deep flowers. The pink fistulosa are frequented by large bees. Both flowers are also visited by some butterflies and moths.

Monarda fistulosa

Monarda are very easy to grow and spread fast. The best time to plant them is when they're short in spring or to transplant their dormant stems in the fall. As mentioned above, they are tall (and leggy) and thus it helps to plant them as a group so they can support each other - otherwise staking may be necessary. Although I've never encountered it, I've read they can be susceptible to powdery mildew and thus one solution is to plant them in full sun and ensure some wind can pass through them. 

A good place to visit these flowers is at the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center Pollinator Demonstration garden. Seriously consider planting native shrubs & perennials that supply nectar & pollen for an array of native bees & birds.

Bees & Germander

by Michelle L. Dauberman

The plight of the bee is getting more and more serious if you ask me.  I’ve been doing my best to support them in the vegetable garden and in the landscape by providing the plants, shrubs and trees that they love to visit but here’s a small shrubby plant/herb that I’ve overlooked:  Germander (Teucrium).

Germander is quite hardy and can handle a variety of garden/landscape situations including poor soils and drought like conditions.  It can tolerate part-sun but prefers full-sun.  The lavender flowers that the bees find so appealing form on spikes, July through September.  A bonus of this plant is that there are evergreen varieties so, if you’d rather use it in your landscape as a low laying hedge rather than in the herb or vegetable garden, have at it.  You’ll have something green to look at while everything else is dormant. 

These are tense days for the bees so think about using this non-native (yes, I said not native) small sub-shrub as a compliment to your other native pollinator friendly plants, shrubs and trees and bring on the bees!

If you’d like to take a look at this plant in action visit the PSU Edible Demonstration Garden at the Horticultural Center, in the beautiful Fairmont Park, right here in Philadelphia.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Yellowjackets - Love 'em or hate 'em

By Sandy Grimwade

Recently I was admiring a beautiful apricot tree in Center City loaded with soft orange apricots, but the apricots were swarming with yellowjackets. Gardeners have a love/hate relationship with yellowjackets -- they are know for their beneficial predation on many harmful insect species and their nasty habit of getting aggressive if disturbed.

What are yellowjackets and how should we, as gardeners, take advantage of their good side and avoid their dark side?

German yellowjacket (Vespula germanica)

Yellowjackets are social wasps that live in colonies of males, workers and queens -- very similar to the social arrangements of honey bees to which they are distantly related. Only the queens overwinter, and when they emerge in the spring, they establish a new colony in a small paper nest which she builds. Soon the colony starts to grow rapidly, and by the end of summer may contain 4,000 to 5,000 wasps. This is why yellowjackets become so common in late summer, and also the reason why they become more aggressive, especially as food shortages start to occur in the fall. Then yellowjackets start showing up at outdoor picnics, on garbage cans, and on fallen fruit.

There are several species of social wasps that are commonly called yellowjackets. The common wasp and the German wasp are European species that are now fully established in North America.The eastern and western yellowjacket and several others are native species. They all look quite similar and have similar habits.  The German yellowjacket especially is a recent and aggressive invader, and is overtaking the eastern yellowjacket as the dominant species in this area.

Eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons)

Yellowjackets are very beneficial insects -- they are mostly insectivorous and they feed on the larvae of blowflies, houseflies, beetles and many insects that harm ornamental and edible plants. Unless a nest is located in an inconvenient location, we should leave them alone and let them get on with helping to keep the garden free of harmful insects.

As everyone knows, yellowjackets can become aggressive if they or their nests are disturbed. They prefer not to sting but will do so if provoked.

A yellowjacket sting is unpleasant for most people and can be serious for those who are allergic. So, don't look for trouble. Don't go near suspected nests, and don't flap your arms if they start coming close. If yellowjackets become aggressive and start making trouble when you are in the garden, you may need to resort to spraying the colony. This should be a last resort in our relationship with these social and beneficial insects.