Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Marsh Marigolds Something a Little Different

 Growing Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) From Seed

 

Beth Reis - Black-eyed Susans Granby Ct
Native Black-eyed Susan's - Granby, CT

  Everyone is familiar with Marigolds (Calendula officinalis) the annual, that Kindergartners start in paper Dixie Cups for Mother's Day. Although, not native to the state of Ohio, USA, it is still by far one of my all time favorite plants. It is not very particular; blooming most of the growing season, adapting well to a wide range of soil, water and sun light conditions.


  On the other hand, the perennial, Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), a native Ohio species which belongs in the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) Family, has very little is common with traditional Marigold, found in the Aster (Asteraceae) Family. Although, both have unique and personal interpretation of the color gold, you can hardly call them cousins. Each year, I choose a native wildflower that I know very little about to raise from seed, Marsh Marigolds was one of my choices for 2014. Since the germination rate from one seed package was higher than I expected, I decided to get busy and start learning to care for them.

 


Monday, March 3, 2014

Managing Milkweed Aphids

Inviting Syrphid Flies for Lunch!


Syrphrid Fly - Hover Fly
Syrphrid Fly - Hover Fly


  How to best deal with Milkweed Aphids (Oleander aphids) which have a preference for Asclepias species (milkweed) has created a bit of a dilemma for sometime now.

    As an aspiring organic farmer, applying pesticides is out of the question, besides it doesn’t make sense to raise native plants only to exterminate insects one attracts. In addition, there is risk of accidentally damaging butterfly eggs and larvae.

    In the past, I devised a strategy which temporally outwitted those six legged beady-eyed, mustard colored aphids; I sold milkweed plants early in the season, before they flowered. This provided a reasonable solution as typically aphids infest our plants late in the summer. It quickly became apparent that customers preferred purchasing plants in bloom, especially ones they were not familiar with. Another possible course of action was to wipe down each plant. Not only does that mask the problem, I honestly don’t have the time or patience for it.