In the garden: June 16 to 30, 2023

In June, choking smoke from Quebec forest fires and hot, humid weather kept me indoors a lot, so I only took a few photos.

Poke Milkweed pods (June 25 and July 20, 2023)

I’ve been growing Poke Milkweed for a few years now. This year for the first time, I have seed pods forming. I didn’t noticed any pollinators visiting the flowers, but I guess something did.

In the 2nd photo seed pods are poking through a railing that has Climbing Bleeding Heart/Climbing Fumitory (Adlumia fungosa) growing on it. I bought my first Climbing Bleeding Heart plants from Beaux Arbres Native Plants.

I’ve never seen any Monarchs laying eggs on Poke Milkweed, nor have I found any eggs or caterpillars on the leaves. Apparently, Monarchs prefer Swamp Milkweed and Common Milkweed over other types.

Similar flowers, different scale (June 26, 2023)

I did snap a few pictures of flowers in the front yard, including these Northern Catalpa (1st photo) and Foxglove Beardtongue/Penstemon digitalis blooms (2nd photo). They’re very similar, except the Northern Catalpa flowers are more than twice the size.

I usually see European Wool Carder bees frequenting Foxglove Beardtongue flowers, but I haven’t seen any this summer at all. I can’t say I miss them though because the males are aggressive, ramming and chasing other bees away. I have nick-named them’ bully bees’.

New Jersey Tea: a late June pollinator magnet (June 20 to 26, 2023)

When New Jersey Tea is in bloom it attracts so many pollinators. It’s mesmerizing to watch the activity. They started blooming mid-June and are still blooming on July 5th.

I planted my 5 New Jersey Tea shrubs next to our seating area, in the terraced garden. It’s pictured here with a variety of coral bells that has dark leaves and bright flowers — leftover plants from ornamental gardening days.

Rabbits really like to eat New Jersey Tea. One of my shrubs was eaten the ground and another was defoliated (last photo). Every winter rabbits eat them too. Thankfully the shrubs grow quickly and bloom on new wood. With all the rain we had in July, my NJT shrubs have even rebloomed.

Wild Indigo Duskywing chrysalis (July 2, 2023)

At the end of May, I hosted my first big garden tour of 2023. While I waited for participants to arrive, I watched a Wild Indigo Duskywing laying eggs on Lesser Wild Indigo leaves. While I’ve seen this kind of butterfly before, I’ve never seen one laying eggs.

A few days ago, I noticed some Wild Indigo Leaves with holes in them, as well as leaves stuck together. There are green chrysalids hidden inside the clusters of leaves. They’re stuck together with webbing strings.

Ontario Goldenrod, aka Solidago simplex var. ontarioense (June 21, 2023)

For years now, I’ve been encouraging people to grow a species of goldenrod to provide late summer and early fall flowers for pollinators. Well, not all goldenrods bloom in late summer and early fall — like Ontario Goldenrod. In my garden, it bloomed continuously from mid-June into July, and is still reblooming sporadically in August.

A few years ago, I bought seeds for Ontario Goldenrod/Solidago simplex var. ontarioense from Botanically Inclined. It grows around the Great Lakes in shallow, alkaline soil. I chose it because it’s only about a foot tall. It actually reminds me of Silverrod because of its similar size and flower spikes.

I had good germination and ended up with lots to seedlings. I stuck them here and there, in sunny spots in the front and back gardens to see where they’d perform best. They’re actually growing and blooming well everywhere I planted them.

This is now one of my favourite plants. It’s a favourite of all kinds of small bees too.

Knautia Macedonia (July 2, 2023)

At the end of June, I opened our garden for a tour organized by the Greater Ottawa Water Garden Horticulture Society. Many visitors asked me about Knautia Maceondica, which had just started blooming.

It’s a short-lived, non-native bee favourite, and blooms non-stop for months. I bought my first plant almost 20 years ago and each year a few plants pop up here and there. It’s such a beautiful colour.

Common Whitetail dragonfly (June 21, 2023)

In June, we saw numerous dragonflies in the yard, especially near the pond. This Common Whitetail was hunting in the back of the yard, but stopped to perch on top of a bamboo pole.