Bayscape Blog

May 10, 2012

Magnificent Migration

by Judy DeFiglio

I vowed all week to tackle the chore of weeding the garden.  I knew I needed to get those weeds early instead of letting them take over the garden like last year, but I kept putting it off (have I mentioned how much I hate weeding!).  Finally, out of excuses and seduced by the beautiful spring day, I headed outside. 

My dread soon turned to delight as hundreds of butterflies swooped in and descended on my garden.  What a fantastic experience.  The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) was migrating north and decided to stop by my native plant garden for some afternoon refreshment.  While I do design my gardens to attract butterflies and have many of them visiting throughout the season, I have never seen so many butterflies at one time.  It was truly amazing.

Too soon, by the next day, a large portion of the butterflies continued on their journey though many stayed for several more days.  Hopefully, some have decided to make their home here.

One reason so many lingered was that my native plant garden put out a big “welcome mat” for them with lots of early blooming natives for them to choose from.   While the redbud (Cercis canadensis), bottlebrush bush (Fothergilla gardenii), dogwood (cornus florida),  bleeding hearts (dicentra eximia) and mountain pinks (phlox subulata)  were just about done flowering, they still had some blooms remaining.  The mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), chokeberry (aronia arbutifolia), and arrowwood (viburnum dentatum) had just started to bloom.  The butterflies adoringly swarmed the flowers of the columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), blue star (Amsonia tabernaemontana), and false indigo (baptisia australis). 

Spring can be a difficult time to garden.  There is such a wide variety of temperature and weather and it varies from year to year. As much as I love my garden, I don’t want to be out there on a cold, damp day in March trying to coax some temperamental plant to bloom or worrying that the flower on some exotic will be killed by a sudden frost.  That’s one of the great things about gardening with native plants, rain or shine, cold and/or hot, these great plants just keep on going producing reliable blooms without any fussing. 

As for the weeds, I did get some done (is weeding ever done?) and playing with the butterflies in my garden made it much more fun.

A springtime of color, a banquet for butterflies and an easy care garden to enjoy.  Not one drop of fertilizer or pesticide applied. Good news for Barnegat Bay and the environment.  What’s not to love about growing natives?  Include some of these great spring blooming natives in your garden.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

The Littoral Society has revamped its website. Check it out for more information on native plants and Bayscaping for Barnegat Bay at www.littoralsociety.org.

If you are in need of native plants you’ll be happy to know that Hammett’s Garden Center on Rt. 9 in Forked River NJ is having a sale on native plants with 10% off the purchase of all native plants during the month of May.  Mention that you read about it at the Littoral Society blog site.  Hammett’s was the first retail nursery to commit to providing a specific area dedicated to native plants for the Littoral Society’s Bayscape for Barnegat Bay program.

There are several other opportunities to get native plants:

FREE Native Plant and Seed Swap
JAKES BRANCH NATURE CENTER
SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012
10:00 am to 1:00 pm

For information call Jakes Branch County Park 732-281-2750 or visit their website www.oceancountyparks.org. The event is sponsored by Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation.

There will also be a native plant sale at The 15^th Annual Barnegat Bay Festival on Sunday June 3, 2012 in Island Heights, NJ beginning at10 am. Sponsored by the Barnegat Bay Partnership there will be over 100 exhibitors and vendors.  Rain or shine come out and support this wonderful event.

Here is some great news for native plant lovers:

FREE Native Plant and Seed Swap
JAKES BRANCH NATURE CENTER
SUNDAY, MAY 20, 2012
10:00 am to 1:00 pm

This sounds like a super event.  Local organizations will be on hand with displays, literature and resources on the benefits of native plants and "green" gardening.  There will be nature walks, free seeds and seedlings, and you can even make your own seedling pots!
Also, you are encouraged to bring your own native plants or seeds to swap.  Please label each item with the common and scientific names, collections date and location.

For more information call Jakes Branch County Park 732-281-2750 or visit their website www.oceancountyparks.org.   The event is sponsered by Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation.

The Importance of Native Plants
by  Judy DeFiglio

Garden like your life depends on it- it does.  That’s my message today after hearing a riveting lecture by Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home- How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware.  I highly recommend that everyone read this fascinating book. It gives such insight into the crucial role of native plants in our environment. There are lots of beautiful pictures as well.

“Plants are not optional on this planet.” Says Tallamy, “With few exceptions, neither we, nor anything else, can live without them.”  He continues to explain that because food for all animals (man included) starts with plants, the plants that we grow in our gardens have a critical role. Unfortunately, when a home is built, the native vegetation is totally cleared, and replaced with a large lawn and a few ornamental plants of alien origin.  Often we don’t even know what is growing in our garden because a landscaper just planted some pretty, popular plants from who knows where.  We have 40 million acres of lawn in the US. Only 5% of the land in the US is undisturbed habitat.

There are over 4 million miles of road in the US.  Then add in all the parking lots, driveways and other paved surfaces and you see why we have a rapidly growing problem.  An example of this impact according to Tallamy is that between 1990 and 2000 the Delaware Bay Watershed saw a 40% increase in impervious cover.  By 2002 41% of all native plant species in Delaware are threatened and 41% of their bird species that depended on forest cover are rare or absent.  Our own Barnegat Bay watershed could be facing similar problems.

Why is it so important to grow and/or preserve native plants? The food web depends on it. Many of our native insects will only feed on specific native plants. They cannot eat the alien species. In addition, many of our alien ornamentals were specifically bred to be insect resistant so they do not support insect life.  Add to this, that many birds need specific native insects to survive and so forth up the food chain.  While most people are correct when they think birds eat seeds and berries, actually 96% of our terrestrial birds eat insects in the spring and need them to feed their young. Other mammals also eat insects.

Too often gardeners are taught that insects are bad.  They grab the pesticide as soon as they see a bug.  If we eliminate every insect in our garden, we also eliminate the birds, the frogs, the hummingbirds and the butterflies.  Studies have shown that planting native plants and encouraging biodiversity in our gardens will keep the insects in check without having to resort to insecticides. Insects may nibble on the plants but birds & toads will come to eat the insects.  Yes, caterpillars will eat some of your leaves, but, you need caterpillars to have butterflies!

I hope you will go outside today and evaluate your landscape.  See where you can make some simple changes.  If you have a plant that needs replacing choose a native.  If you are adding to your garden explore the wide variety of native plants available instead of choosing alien species. Reduce the size of your lawn and replant the area with natives.  Each of us can make a difference in the environment by just making these simple choices.

As mentioned in my previous blog, the native plant trail and demonstration gardens at Jakes Branch County Park are progressing. Most of the native plants for the trail have been planted and the demonstration gardens are scheduled to be planted in the late spring. What great news for all of us who are interested in using native plants, bayscaping and helping to protect Barnegat Bay.  Workshops on native plants and protecting Barnegat Bay will held this summer and I’ll post that information as soon as it is announced.  

 Enjoy this great spring weather and the beautiful Eastern Redbud Cercis Canadensis blooming right now.

Eastern Redbud    Cercis canadensis

Spring Check List

By Judy DeFiglio

All I can say is WOW what a winter this has
been. It’s hard to believe that last
year we spent the entire winter buried under a foot of snow and this year we
never had more than a dusting. No, I
will not get into my thoughts on global warming, but March has just arrived and
I already have flowers blooming. The
weatherman is predicting a high of 67 today and when I finish this blog you can
bet I am heading out to the garden. I
will take a walk around and make a list of chores that need to be done.

Garden cleanup is a must ASAP. My perennials are emerging way ahead of
schedule and due to a back injury I never finished my fall cleanup, so removing
the old stems and raking the beds is a critical task. One word of caution, even
if it’s a beautiful day stay out of the garden if the soil is wet or you will
compact the soil and damage your garden.

Next on the list, I take all the leaves I
raked up, and head to the compost pile. I’ll add some of the leaves to the pile and
save the rest to add throughout the season. This will keep my compost balanced when I start adding the grass
clippings once mowing starts. While I am
at the compost pile I’ll fill my wheelbarrow with some of the rich, finished compost
that has been cooking all winter. I will
top dress my garden beds with the compost. Compost is the #1 thing you can do
for your garden. It enriches the soil,
it enhances the plants so no fertilizer is needed, it’s safe for the
environment, it’s organic, it takes tons of material that would otherwise be
added to our landfills and creates
“black gold” for your garden, it reduces pests and diseases on your plants and
it’s FREE!

If you don’t have a compost pile or bin,
make starting one the next project on your to do list. Even the smallest property has the room. You can even make compost in a garbage can.
Done correctly, there is no smell and little work, and did I mention it’s FREE!

Checking the list we move to digging and
dividing the perennials. Some I will
divide because they grew too large last year, others because I want more of a
particular plant. Some perennials I will
move to a new spot because I think they will look better. All of these projects are easy to do. Just
dig around the perimeter of the plant, digging deep enough to get the roots.
Lift the plant out of the hole and slice it into sections being careful not to
cut off the roots, then replant one section in the hole and plant the other
divisions where desired or give them away to a fellow gardener. That’s one of
the great things about natives, they are such great plants that you can dig
them, move them, and share them with others with very little effort.

If adding a new garden bed to your
landscape is on your list, now is a great time to do it. Decide the location, turn the soil, and don’t
forget to add the compost to get your garden off to a great start. Did I mention it’s FREE? You can then plant
seeds, use some of the plants you divided and/or purchase some new ones. This would be a great opportunity to add a
native plant garden or just incorporate some new natives in an existing
bed. For lots of information and ideas
read the older posts on this blog and check out the Littoral Society’s website www.littoralsociety.org for native plant bayscaping designs.

Now the part of the list I admit I
dread. Pull those weeds. A few small weeds ignored now will be a yard
full of large, monster weeds by summer. It’s easy to pull weeds by hand when they are just emerging in spring.
No herbicide needed. Besides it’s great
exercise.

Last on my list for now is mulch. A nice 3 inch layer of organic mulch will
prevent those weeds I just mentioned and also conserve moisture so you won’t
have to spend more time and money watering.

If you have made the move to gardening
with native plants your spring garden chores are now done. If you still have that high maintenance
garden full of exotics continue on for an endless list of fertilizing, applying
pesticides, watering, pampering, sweating, and spending lots of money.

Update
on Jakes Branch Demonstration Project

Great news
for native plant fans: You’ll soon be able to see all your favorite natives up
close and personal at Ocean County’s Jakes Branch County Park. Started last year, several environmental
organizations are combining their effort and plans are in the works to create a
multifaceted demonstration site that will promote “Barnegat Bay Friendly”
landscaping practices. Under the auspices of the Barnegat Bay Partnership the
participant are the Ocean County Soil Conservation, Rutgers University, Ocean
Parks and the Jakes Branch Staff, The Littoral Society, Rutgers Cooperative
Extension and Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve. There will be a native plant trail so you can
observe natives in their natural state and also a native plant demonstration
garden so you can learn how you can use native plants in your own garden. Included
in the project will be demonstration sites showing alternatives to lawns, and the
latest stormwater management. Workshops
and activities will provide a wide variety of information on ways to improve the
health of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem. Stay tuned for more updates.

Bayscape Blog 11/2/11
Native Plant List

What a great turnout today for our Littoral Society presentation on Bayscaping for Barnegat Bay that was held at Crestwood Village. As promised, here is the list of Native Plants that were recommended. Check out the previous blogs for additional information on these great plants and more.

Native Trees & Shrubs
Amelanchier canadensis- serviceberry
Aronia arbutifolia- chokeberry
Cercis Canadensis- redbud
Clethra alnifolia- sweet pepperbush
Fothergilla gardenii- bottlebrush bush
Hydrangea quercifolia- oakleaf hydrangea
Ilex glabra- inkberry holly
Itea virginica- Virgina sweetspire
Kalmia latifolia- mountain laurel
Magnolia virginiana- sweetbay magnolia
Myrica pensylvanica- northern bayberry
Prunus maritima- beach plum
Viburnum dentatum- arrowood

Native Perennials
Amsonia tabernaemontana- blue star
Aquilegia canadensis- columbine
Aruncus diocicus- goats beard
Asclepia incarnata- swamp milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa- butterfly weed
Aster novae-angliae- New England Aster
Baptisia australis- false indigo
Coreopsis lanceolata- lance leaf tickseed
Clematis virginiana- sweet autumn clematis
Echinacea purpurea- purple coneflower
Eupatorium coelestinum- hardy ageratum
Eupatorium perfoliatum- boneset
Gaillardia- blanket flower
Helenium autumnale- sneezeweed
Heliopsis helianthoides- false sunflower
Hibiscus moschuetos- hardy hibiscus
Liatris spicata- gayfeather
Lobelia cardinalis- cardinal flower
Monarda didyma- bee balm
Oenothera fruiticosa- sundrops
Penstamon digitalis- foxglove beard tongue
Rudbeckia hirta- black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba- brown-eyed Susan
Solidago sempervirens -seaside goldenrod

Another Successful "Bayscape for Barnegat Bay"

Native Plant Demonstration GardenProgram reduces water use, fertilizers, pesticides and creates natural habitats Supports Governor Christie's Goal for Public Education

Toms River, Ocean County: On Monday, October 31st, the American Littoral Society announced the completion of another "Bayscape for Barnegat Bay" native plant garden project.The Laurel Commons Condominium Association, located off Old Freehold Road in the Long Swamp Creek subwatershed of the Toms River and Barnegat Bay, unveiled 3 native plant demonstration gardens that will serve as natural landscape alternatives that can be replicated throughout their 22-acre, 220 unit community and also be used as models for other communities to follow suit.

The gardens were designed by the Society's native plant consultant and horticulturist, Judy DeFiglio of Garden Guidance. The installation and hardscaping were provided by Down to Earth Landscaping.

Helen Henderson, Policy Advocate said Laurel Commons is a leader in community stewardship for protecting and restoring Barnegat Bay. "From the Society's perspective, it is especially important for homeowners in the highly developed areas of the Barnegat Bay watershed like Toms River to see examples of good stewardship like this," she stated. "We are fortunate that the association's board wanted to be proactive in doing their part to protect and restore the Bay through their personal landscape choices".

On October 22nd at the Society's 50th Annual Meeting in Cape May, Laurel Commons Condominium Association was conferred the organization's Citizen Advocate Award.The condo association's Vice-President Paul Krauss contacted the Society 2 years ago amidst growing concerns he had about the declining health of the Bay."I was greatly disturbed by what I saw happening. Stinging sea nettles and algae blooms were causing my grandchildren to stop participating in 'Grandpa's Camp' which for years consisted of boating, water skiing and swimming in the Bay" stated Krauss. "My grandchildren simply didn't want to come in contact with the polluted water anymore so I was forced to sell my boat".

Mr. Krauss, currently Vice-President of the community's board, contacted the Society and took the lead in convincing his homeowner's association to take actions on their property to help restore Barnegat Bay. To that end, the community will be reducing their lawn areas by 20%; replacing ornamental gardens onsite with native plant gardens; and participating in stormwater basin studies and retrofits to reduce nutrient pollution in stormwater runoff (nitrogen and phosphorus) that are harming the Bay.

The gardens at Laurel Commons are the latest in the series of "Bayscape" gardens being installed throughout the watershed as part of the Society's Shore Stewards program. The program, aimed at reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides; conserving water; and creating improved habitats for species such as birds, bees and butterflies supports the Public Education Action Item #8 of Governor Christie's Barnegat Bay Plan.

The condo association committed $10,000 of their own money to the "Bayscape" project, with help from matching funds the Society received from the Trust for Public Land's Barnegat Bay Environmental Grant Fund. The project will be identified with signage on the property.

Additional "Bayscape for Barnegat Bay" gardens have been completed in the Bay's watershed, including: numerous private homeowner residences; the Maris Stella Retreat and Conference Center in Harvey Cedars, LBI; the Morning Star Presbyterian Church, Bayville; and plans are currently underway for a garden at Jake's Branch County Park, Berkeley.

This year, the Society also enlisted its first official "Bayscape" retail nursery supplier at Hammett's Garden Center in Forked River.

For those interested in learning more about "Bayscaping", the Society will hold a workshop this Wednesday, November 2nd at the Hilltop Clubhouse, Crestwood Village 5, 325 School House Road, Whiting, NJ 08759 at 1:30 p.m. For more information, contact Helen Henderson at 732.575.5701

About the American Littoral Society: The American Littoral Society is a membership-based, coastal conservation non-profit organization headquartered on Sandy Hook in Highlands New Jersey. For more than 50 years, it has empowered people to care for the coast through advocacy, conservation, and education. To learn more, visit www.littoralsociety.orghttp://www.littoralsociety.orghttp//www.littoralsociety.org/.

About the Trust for Public Land: The Trust for Public Land conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. TPL has protected more than 24,000 acres in New Jersey, including over 11,000 acres in the Barnegat Bay watershed. To learn more, visit w.tpl.org/newjerseyhttp://www.tpl.org/newjersey.

About the Laurel Commons Condominium Association: The Laurel Commons Condominium Association represents the residents of Laurel Commons, a 22-acre community of 230 condominium units on Carnation Circle in Toms River, NJ that has been serving the community for over 20 years.

Beautyberry- Callicarpa americana


Bayscape Blog 10/7/11

The Fall Garden

by Judy DeFiglio

No one can argue that the flowers of spring and summer are gorgeous and plentiful, but if you think that your garden is done when summer ends, boy are you wrong! There is so much to see and enjoy in the fall garden, and if you’ve been including native plants in your landscape you will really get a beautiful autumn spectacular.

Many of our native perennials are bursting with colorful flowers. Deep, rich shades of purple, pink and yellow can light up your landscape. New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae) not only gives your garden beautiful late season color but also provides food for butterflies. Goldenrod (Solidago) add sprays of bright yellow to the scene. Another yellow fall bloomer with a unique blossom is Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale. For a wetter site, chose pink Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium fistulosum). These tall natives are a real focal point and also attract butterflies.

You can leave the seed heads of spent summer blooms to give additional texture and create interest to your garden bed. This will also attract a wide variety of birds to your yard. They are fun to watch and provide extra color. For instance, goldfinches absolutely love the seeds of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). The sight of these bright yellow birds perched on the black seed heads makes your garden pop with color.

Don’t forget the autumn leaves. Fall color is an important part of your landscape design. Be sure to include leaf color when you plan your landscape. Lots of people know the leaf color of their trees, but, you can really extend your fall season of interest if you also include shrubs and perennials that have interesting leaf color.

While on the subject of leaves, don’t forget the evergreens. An evergreen tree or shrub will provide a green background for blooms all year long. It also gives you something colorful and interesting to look at when all the rest of the leaves are gone. A good choice for a versatile native, evergreen shrub is Inkberry Holly (Ilex glabra). Unlike traditional holly, the leaves are small and smooth. It is more “user friendly” no need to worry about getting stabbed by sharp leaves. Inkberry can be pruned or sheared to keep it more compact, or even shaped, if that’s your style. No flashy flowers, but it has interesting black berries in fall. It blends well with all other plant material in your garden and helps create winter interest.

Many native shrubs deliver a bonus to the fall garden with their berry displays. The American beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana) has dense clusters of violet berries, while the Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) has abundant red berries that last throughout the winter. Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata) is not an evergreen holly. It loses its leaves, the better to see its dense bright red berries. The elderberries, black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) with its purple-black fruit or red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) are a worthy addition to the fall garden. These shrubs do tend to get large but if you have the space they make quite an impact.

No discussion on fall gardens would be complete without including ornamental grasses. This is certainly when they look their best. As may be expected, I recommend planting some of the great native ornamental grasses. If you want a large, impressive display, try Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), a 3 to 4 foot tall blue-green grass with attractive fall and winter color. If space is an issue, plant Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and elegant bunch grass that grows 18 to 36 inches tall and turns a rich shade of red in the fall.

Fall is a beautiful time in the garden. In addition, all of these natives I’ve suggested not only add color and interest to your landscape, but also are low maintenance and good for the environment. You don’t need to fertilize them so there is no fertilizer run- off to pollute our waterways. Isn’t it great when everyone wins!

Remember to become a Shore Steward. You don’t have to live on the shore to make a difference in the quality of the water flowing into Barnegat Bay. Don’t landscape, Bayscape. Choosing native plants will give you a beautiful landscape that requires no fertilization, so there will be much less pollution flowing into the waterways. Go to www.littoralsociety.org for more information.

Bayscape Blog 09/07/11

Time to Tackle Your Garden

September has arrived, school is back in session, and all that’s left of summer is the 1000 photos you took on summer vacation. If you are a gardener that’s all good news! Fall is the best time of all in the garden. The weather is starting to cool, so you can tackle all those projects you tried to do in July when it was over 100 degrees. Summer flowers are fading and as you cut off the spent foliage look for any empty spots that could use additional plants. Take some time to assess your garden to see what worked and what didn’t work this growing season and also what plants made you work. Then, let the fun begin, and get some new plants for your garden.

Yes, fall is the best time to add new plants to your landscape. If you are buying plants there are lots of sales going on, because retailers don’t want to care for plants over the winter. If you are looking for “free” plants, try trading with fellow gardeners. Many are digging and dividing now and have lots of extras to trade or give away. The weather is good for planting and there is enough time before winter weather arrives for the plants to adapt to their new home.

No matter if you are starting a new garden or renovating an existing one, the hardest part is selecting new plants. Where do you start? It can be really difficult to limit your choices. There are so many worthy plants available and we gardeners want them all! Make the process easier by choosing native plants. Read through the older posts on this blog to get ideas. You are sure to find some sensational natives to add to your garden.

The goal of any garden should be to have at least three seasons of interest, another good reason to turn to natives. Many natives have multiple seasons of interest. A good example is the native shrub chokeberry (Aronia). It has clusters of small white flowers in the spring, followed by a spectacular display of red berries that last from late summer until the end of winter and great red fall color too. Try a viburnum dentatum, with white flowers in spring, dark blue-black fruit in late summer and sizzling red fall color. For flowers, choose native perennials with long bloom times, interesting seed heads and good fall color. For additional interest in your landscape select flowers that will attract butterflies or hummingbirds. Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberose) will guarantee monarch butterflies and hummingbirds love cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis).

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received for choosing plants is “don’t fight the sight”. In other words, choose a plant that works in your space instead of choosing a plant and then trying to change the space so that the plant will survive there. Put sun lovers in sun and shade lovers in shade. If the plant is drought tolerant don’t plant it in a spot that is irrigated. If you have a wet site in your garden go with plants that enjoy wet feet. Plants will be happier, healthier, look better and require much less of your time.

Remember to become a Shore Steward. You don’t have to live on the shore to make a difference in the quality of the water flowing into Barnegat Bay. So this month don’t landscape, Bayscape. Choosing native plants will give you a beautiful landscape that requires no fertilization, so there will be much less pollution flowing into the waterways. Go to www.littoralsociety.org for more information.

Bayscape Blog 8/10/11

The Beauty and Benefits of Native Plants

By Judy DeFiglio

I just returned from the vacation of a lifetime, a fantastic trip to Alaska. I expected breath taking scenery, mountains, glaciers and lots of wild life and it did not disappoint. It is a truly majestic place, where you feel the power of nature like nowhere else. What I didn’t expect, was the enormous amount of flowers. Native plants were blooming everywhere, from Fairbanks to Ketchikan. What a spectacular sight.

I had the opportunity to go on a nature hike up the side of Mount Roberts in Juneau, and there, at 1800 feet, I was surrounded by a sub alpine meadow full of blooms. What was even more amazing, I recognized most of them. There were many of the same wildflowers we have in New Jersey or close cousins. Imagine my surprise, to travel to the other side of North America and see the same plants I have been growing in my garden! Of course they were blooming at a different time. Many of our spring bloomers were blooming in late July.

The difference I noted was that in Alaska not only do these native plants spring up all over in the wild, but also, everyone grows them in their gardens as well. Alaskans seem to understand the beauty of native plants and the benefits of including them in their landscape. The growing season is short but the summer days are long with eighteen to twenty hours of sunlight. You do see lots of container gardens filled with traditional annual bedding plants to provide constant color for those few short months, but for their gardens they choose natives because they know that the natives will survive the long, brutal winter and be back next year.

The Alaskan gardener also gardens for the wildlife. They are sure to plant natives that attract birds and lots of plants that produce berries to provide a food source for animals. Blueberry bushes are as popular in Alaska as they are in New Jersey.

Maybe we need to take a lesson from our 49^th State- accept the climate we live in and grow the plants that are happy here, instead of importing non natives that will never grow properly or become invasive and threaten our environment. We all need to do our part to save our waterways. Planting native plants in your garden is an easy, beneficial, and beautiful way to help. No fertilizer= no fertilizer runoff.

The natives in my garden are thriving despite the weeks of 100 degree weather, not so the few remaining exotics. I was fortunate to miss the heat wave will I was in Alaska, needing hat and gloves to visit the snow and ice covered glaciers. Since I wasn’t home, my garden was on its own. I’m happy to say that flowering in my garden right now are:

Perennials: Black-eyed-Susans (Rudbeckia), Blanket flower (Gaillardia), Blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), Gayfeather (Liatris), Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum), Phlox (Phlox paniculata), Purple coneflower (Echinacea), Rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos), Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), Threadleaf tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata)

Shrub: Sweet pepper bush (Clethra alnifolia), Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) Many other native shrubs are starting their berry display.

Bayscape Blog 7/11/11

The Butterfly Bonus

by

Judy DeFiglio

Last week I shared with you, my joy at watching a family of hummingbirds visit my Monarda all day long. Today, I want to keep the (garden) party going and add the bonus of butterflies. As I walked around the garden yesterday pulling some weeds and seeing if anything new was blooming, I was delighted by so many different butterflies gliding around my garden. What a sight! The flowers were gorgeous, so plentiful this year, but the extra splashes of color from the butterflies just added the crowning touch. What did I do to create this masterpiece of nature? I just planted the native plants that butterflies need and love.

Back in the blog of 9/27/10, Butterflies in Your Garden, I described what a butterfly needs to make your garden its home. This blog I want to focus on the flowers that you can grow to attract the butterflies. These plants are mostly for sunny spots because butterflies need the sun to be able to fly. Grow a variety of plants that bloom at different times and you will provide food for the different butterfly and their larvae throughout the season.

Spring blooming Bluestar(Amsonia tabernaemontana), has pretty, light blue star shaped flowers on 3 foot tall stems. It is an early nectar source for several butterflies. The foliage has good yellow fall color.

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) tops the list if you want to attract monarch butterflies. This bright orange flowered plant loves it hot and dry. It grows 12 to 30 inches tall and thrives in our sandy soil. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) is another milkweed that attracts monarchs. It grows 2 to 3 feet tall and as the name implies, likes a wetter site. The flowers are pink.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) grows 2 to 3 feet tall with large, dark pink flowers and provides nectar for a wide variety of butterflies (pictured above). It blooms all summer long. Another summer bloomer that looks good with coneflower in your garden and attracts many different butterflies is blazing star (Liastris spicata). The 3 to 4 foot tall spikes of pinkish-purple flowers add a great accent to your landscape design.

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) are the workhorse of any summer garden. The long lasting, bright yellow flowers are drought tolerant. Butterflies love them and so do I.

If you have the space, Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) will bring monarchs and swallowtails to your garden. This great plant with pinky, fuzzy flowers can grow up to 8 feet tall and like moist soil.

Asters (Asrer novae-angliae) are a great choice to attract butterflies later in the season. They can grow up to five feet tall, and the violet flowers look great in a fall garden. Another late bloomer that butterflies love is goldenrod (Solidago). The abundant, golden yellow flowers add a burst of color when most everything else in your garden has given up (and no they don’t cause hayfever).

Try some of these native plants in your garden. Not only will you get beautiful flowers, but also the added bonus of butterflies. Isn’t it wonderful that doing something so good for the birds, bees, butterflies and Barnegat Bay can bring such beauty and joy to ourselves too.

One of the jewels in my garden. Happy 4th of July

Bayscape Blog 6/1/11


The Jewels in My Garden

By Judy DeFiglio



I woke up to the perfect summer day today. Sunny and warm with a soft breeze and no humidity, it can’t get better than this. No wait, it did get better! I stepped out on the deck to enjoy my morning tea and was greeted by this amazing addition to my garden. Sparkling like a jewel in the sunshine, this industrious hummingbird was hard at work among the monarda. He even stayed long enough for me to run inside for my camera. What a beautiful way to start the day.

This is the kind of bonus you get when you plant natives in your garden. You can attract hummingbirds to your yard without having to bother with feeders, having to boil sugar water and washing out the tubes. Plant beebalm (monarda) and the hummingbirds come. Monarda is easy to grow and is very fragrant both the flowers and the leaves. It does belong to the mint family and can spread quickly. It is not difficult to remove but still, I plant it in lean soil and do not water or fertilize it.

Another native that attracts hummingbirds is gayfeather (Liatris). These three feet tall spires of rosy-purple flowers look great planted with coneflowers (Echinacea) and black-eyed-Susans (Rudbeckia) in a summer garden. Liatris also attracts a variety of butterflies. It’s easy to grow and easy to care for.

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is a hummingbird magnet. The bright, red, tubular flowers are one of their favorites (and one of mine too). This native tends to be short-lived, but it is so pretty it is well worth it for however long it stays around. It does needs moist soil, so it is a good plant for a wet site or rain garden.

Hummingbirds will also visit your garden if you plant our native columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis). They are an important source of nectar because they bloom at the time that the hummingbirds are migrating north in the spring. I love these red and yellow flowers with their interesting spurs.

If you are looking for a flowering shrub that attracts hummingbirds, sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) is a great choice. This is a versatile plant that will grow in sun or shade and in wet or dry sites. The white flowers are fragrant and there is a pink form available. One cultivar is aptly named “Hummingbird”.

Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is a hardy, fast growing vine that will grow in any soil. It can take dry, infertile soil and even salt spray from the ocean, but do not plant this one in fertile soil or it will take over your garden. That being said it is a spectacular native plant and hummingbirds love the large red trumpet shaped flowers. Grow it on something sturdy. It can be pruned back if it gets too large.

Try one or all of these native plants in your landscape and enjoy the extra special treat of these jeweled visitors to your garden.

Bayscape Blog 6/22/11

Hot Color for a Hot Summer

By Judy DeFiglio

What a great spring this has been. The blossoms on every tree, shrub and flower have been spectacular and abundant. Maybe that long snowy winter was worth it. The plants sure seem to have liked it. Now summer has arrived with another round of great native plants to put on their show. As the heat kicks it up a notch so does the color in the garden. Lots of the wonderful, drought tolerant natives that bloom in summer have intense colors: sizzling reds, hot oranges and deep golden yellows. Use these to add a spark to your landscape. Bright colors can really give a lift to a tired yard. A word of caution, don’t get carried away by making your whole garden look like it is on fire. Too many “hot” plants close your garden in and make it feel small. Too many intense colors give the garden a chaotic feel instead of the calm, serene feeling we usually like in our garden sanctuaries. Add a few areas of green, white or pastel flowers throughout your landscape to calm and cool things down .

Here are some native plants that welcome the heat of summer and add a great splash of color to your landscape. They can take the heat, they like it dry and an additional bonus, they all attract butterflies to your garden:


 Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa grows 2-3 feet tall with whorls of fragrant pink flowers.

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) grows 2 to 4 feet tall with golden yellow flowers.

Blanketflower (Gaillardia ) 12 to 24 inches tall with red daisy-like flowers tipped with yellow. They bloom all summer long.

Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) grows 2 to4 feet tall with spikes of pinkish purple flowers.

Butterfly weed, (Asclepias tuberosa) 24 inches tall with bright orange clusters of flowers.

New England Aster (Aster Novae-Angliae) up to 60 inches tall with violet to purple flowers in late summer. Attract butterflies

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) grows 36 inches tall with rosy pink flowers.

Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) 2 to 4 feet tall with masses of golden yellow flowers in late summer.



Don’t forget that native grasses make a wonderful addition to your drought tolerant garden. They add movement, color, texture and interest that lasts through several seasons. A perfect choice to plant between two hot colored plants that may need a little help to blend well together.



Bitter switchgrass (Panicum amarum)- clump forming grass that gets 3 to 4 foot tall it. It can be grown right on the dunes.

Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)-grows up to 3 feet tall and turns a rich shade of red in the winter.

Northern Sea oats ( Chasmanthium latifolium)3 to 4 feet tall with interesting seed heads in fall.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgata) a blue-green bunch grass with attractive fall and winter color it grows 4 to 5 feet tall. a great choice to replace Miscanthus



Keep following this blog for updates on several native plant gardens that are in development around Ocean County. Jakes Branch has started their Native Plant Trail adding 70 new native shrubs and trees along the trail (see picture) and several display gardens are in development. The Ocean County Master Gardeners are currently adding a native garden to their display garden in front of the Ocean County Agriculture Office on Whitesville Rd. When completed these gardens will be great resources for residents to visit to get ideas and information on how to start their own native plant garden.

Bayscape Blog 5/12/11

Beautiful Baptisia

by Judy DeFiglio

If you are looking for a spectacular plant for your spring garden consider the Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo). Big, bold, blue and beautiful, this plant has it all. The intense violet-blue pealike flowers on four foot tall stems really command attention. The leaves are an interesting blue-green color with an oblong shape. The flowers are long lasting and followed by two inch long black seed pods that add an additional season of interest to your landscape. The plant emerges in spring with flower stalks that look almost like asparagus, then grows several feet to bloom in mid May.

Baptisia prefer full sun but can grow in part shade. They have a deep taproot and do not like to be divided or moved, so plant them where you want them to grow. I recommend you plant them in the back of the border or center of an island bed. Though this is a perennial, it is shrub-like in appearance and gets three to four feet wide, so give it room to grow. Even after the flowers fade this is a plant that will look good in your garden. It may be large but it is not sprawling and retains a nice vase-like shape.

This native plant grows well in our sandy soil, but enjoys a bit of compost mixed in, especially if you are growing it at the beach. It even has a good degree of salt tolerance. Since it is in the legume family it has nitrogen-fixing ability so no fertizer is needed, great news for our environment.

While the blue is my favorite, there are also white and yellow flowered varieties of Baptisia. All of them put on an impressive display.

I am very excited about all the enthusiastic gardeners I am meeting as I continue to spread the word on using native plants to beautify their landscape and help the environment. I will be posting updates on workshops and lectures and hope to meet lots more of you in the future. Become a member of the Littoral Society and receive emails of upcoming events at http://www.littoralsociety.org/

Bayscape Blog 5/6/11

Spring Beauties

By Judy DeFiglio

What a gorgeous spring we are having this year! I can’t remember when we have had such a beautiful display of spring flowering trees and shrubs. I have so many blooms on my dogwoods, redbuds and fothergilla it is amazing. The chokeberries are opening and the viburnums are ready to burst. I am so happy I switched to all these native plants a few years ago, the rewards are endless, and the only work I had to do this spring was rake some leaves, which I used in my compost pile, and renew some mulch in my garden beds.

You can send me all the glossy catalogs you want advertising the top 10 new plants for 2011, I admit they are pretty to look at, but, what really makes my heart skip a beat is stepping outside and seeing the beautiful, uniquely shaped blossoms on my old fashioned bleeding hearts ( Dicentra eximia). This native perennial has arching stalks of pink, heart- shaped flowers, grows 18 inches tall and is a spring bloomer that puts on quite a show. It can take some morning sun but prefers some shade in the afternoon. The foliage is fern like and greenish-blue. Another native Dicentra, dutchmen’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) is an all white variety with interesting pants-shaped flowers in early spring. It is smaller, only growing to 6 inches tall and prefers a moist, shady spot.

My mountain pinks (Phlox subulata) are another native perennial that looks especially spectacular this year. The carpet of pink flowers is so thick you can hardly see the green leaves. This plant likes well drained, sandy soil and full sun. It looks so pretty spreading through my rock garden. It’s been blooming for several weeks already and even after to flowers fade, the fine, narrow leaved foliage will continue to look great throughout the summer.

If you weren’t able to attend the Littoral Society’s Native Plant Workshop at Hammett’s Garden Center last weekend you really missed a great day. Beautiful weather, wonderful native plants, interesting info on how to go native and an enthusiastic group of people interested in environmentally friendly gardening. Who could ask for more! Helen Henderson, Policy Advocate for the Littoral Society explained, “Hammett’s Garden Center is our first retail nursery to commit to providing a specific area dedicated to native plants for our Bayscape for Barnegat Bay program. This is the American Littoral Society’s grass roots Shore Stewardship program that encourages residents of the Barnegat Bay watershed to adopt more bay-friendly landscaping and grounds maintenance practices including using low-maintenance native species instead of non-natives that require excessive water, fertilizer, and pesticides that ultimately run off the land into the bay. The program’s mantra is, Don’t landscape- Bayscape.” To learn more about the Bayscape for Barnegat Bay program, visit www.littoralsociety.org/bayscape_for_barnegat_ bay.aspx. Hammett’s will be stocking the native plants suggested in this blog with new shipments arriving each week.

Time to go outside and enjoy the show!

Bayscape Blog 4/27/11

What’s in a Name?

By Judy DeFiglio

When I am giving a talk on native plants or writing this blog I often get asked why I use the Latin name for plants. Am I being a plant “snob”? Am I being a “show off”? or, just trying to impress? The answer is none of the above. I include the Latin name of the plant so you get the right plant for your garden. Common names can be colorful, fun and interesting but they are just that, names given and used by locals for a plant growing in their area. This can cause a problem because often the same plant is called a different name in different parts of the country. For example, what is called beebalm in some areas, oswego tea in other places, and wild bergamot elsewhere, has the same Latin name, Monarda. All over the world, no matter where you go, the Latin name is the same for a specific plant. So if you want to be sure you get the plant you want, use the Latin name. It really isn’t as difficult as you may think. I bet you already know some. How about chrysanthemum, coreopsis, sedum or phlox?

Another question I often get asked is, “can I use a cultivar or do I have to get the species?” For this discussion a species is a plant growing naturally in the wild. Cultivar, the combination of the words cultivated variety, means a plant selected for its desirable characteristic, propagated and maintained by cultivation. This question is hotly debated among native plant enthusiasts. Some feel that if it isn’t a species growing in the immediate area it is not “native”. Others feel that if a cultivar is created from native plants it still deserves the name “native”. I recently attended the NJ Native Plant society conference and a debate was held on this very issue. Both sides presented strong arguments and valid points. The results: for now we agree to disagree. BUT both sides did agree that using cultivars from native plants was far superior for the environment then using non natives.

This is the point we are trying to make with our Bayscape for Barnegat Bay Shore Stewards Program. Using native plants is best but if they don’t work in your landscape using “improved” native cultivars is preferable to using non native or exotic plant material.

Remember Saturday April 30, at 10 a.m. there is a free workshop on becoming a Shore Steward and using native plants in your landscape.

Hammets Garden Center Rt. 9 Forked River, NJ

Join Policy Advocate Helen Henderson and Bayscape Horticulturist Judy DeFiglio to learn about Barnegat Bay and the use of native plants in your yard. A presentation will be made to help you plan your Bayscape for Barnegat Bay garden and plants will be available for immediate purchase. Light refreshments will be provided.

Hope to meet you there.