In this video, Beverly is joined by Angela Chandler of The Garden Academy. They give us tips and tricks on providing nectar in the cool season.
– [[Beverly]] Hi, welcome to The Arbor Gate. I’m Beverly Welch here with my dear friend, Angela Chandler of the Garden Academy.
– [[Angela]] Hi, Beverly.
– Hi, Angela. How are you?
– I’m doing great.
– We know it is the cool season is upon us. And we’ve had such a dreary wet season. Yesterday, we finally had a bright sunny day.
– It was beautiful.
– It was gorgeous. So, as I was walking through the nursery, I noticed suddenly appearing all the honey bees. I saw monarch butterflies, I saw sulfur [[00:00:37]] butterflies. And I started paying attention walking real slow trying to notice where are they going? What’s attracting them? And what should we have in the landscape right now?
– You know, this is true Beverly because we do have a 12-month all year long growing season. And because all of these little creatures do overwinter with us, we need to think about providing winter forage for them. They need two sources of winter forage. They need plants to provide heavy nectar because the nectar is their [[00:01:07]] carbohydrate or energy source. And then we need plants that provide pollen as well because that’s their protein source.
– Okay. So, as I said, I walk through and kind of did some homework for everybody to let them know what they were attracted to. And we have examples of every type of plant that will work for us in the cool season.
– Very muchly so. And the nice thing about it is it’s such a variety that there is plants that can fit into every garden that will still take care of [[00:01:37]] wildlife.
– Center shade. So, we’ll start by mentioning two of our evergreens or as we mentioned in the landscape video, our garden bones. They get overlooked often times in the summertime because they’re just a beautiful green shrub. But as you notice behind you there you cannot beat.
– Isn’t that fabulous?
– It’s amazing. This is sasanqua camellias for a midwinter through late winter early spring bloom. And here is some examples right here [[00:02:07]] all colors. You’ve got the Ruffle Bloom from the October Magic Ruby, you’ve got the Yuletide, my personal favorite, you’ve got the soft pink. So, it will fit into any decor, any landscape.
– They do. And Camellias have a very long blooming season. We have them blooming from October all the way through winter into early spring. So, it’s a really good selection for the garden.
– And you know, these sasanquas will take a lot of sun. The other thing that we can do right now are the roses.
– You know, people forget about the idea [[00:02:37]] of roses for a pollinator plant, but they really do attract them, especially the open-flowered, some more old-fashioned type of roses, good source for both nectar and pollen fur.
– We know, and all of our roses that we carry are on their own route, we carry all the [inaudible 00:02:52]. And people do forget about these as a landscape shrub.
– And they are have enjoyed this weather. Well, it’s been kind of a little wet and miserable for us, the roses are in their glory right now.
– And the fall and the winter blooms are [[00:03:07]] more intense in color, they’re larger in size and their fragrance is remarkable.
– They are really are amazing. And they’re very floriferous right now.
– Yes, they are. So, I’m gonna bounce back over here to some of our fall blooming favorites that people really don’t realize what a favor they’re doing to the insects by planting them. And who can pass up the gorgeous dianthus?
– I couldn’t pass them up.
– Fragrance amazing. We’ve got any color, any size the new supras with this lacey [[00:03:37]] edge to them. And you know why they call dianthus pinks, don’t you?
– No, oh because of the edges, like taking shoes.
– Exactly, exactly. And you know, it’s really funny to watch. I saw a big bumblebee yesterday trying to squeeze himself into this little [[inaudible 00:03:53]] and blue.
– They will make it.
– They do. Also, we forget about the salvias. A lot of our salvias here bloom almost year-round.
– They do the fall blooming salvias really will continue throughout the winter time for us most [[00:04:07]] winters. And again, even though we think of this as a tubular plant and think about things like hummingbirds, the butterflies love them. And you’ll notice in your garden that the bees are actually sometimes sipping from down here at the edge.
– I did notice that.
– And some of the larger bees will actually chew through the pedal to be able to sip nectar.
– This is another one that is overlooked often and they’re little Salvia Sinhalas. It stays this compact size, you almost want to use this as an edger or a border [[00:04:37]] plant in the fall. This as you can see it’s getting ready to bloom. The bloom is an intense indigo blue color, but look how gorgeous this forage is.
– That forage is gorgeous.
– It is a good one. And you can’t overlook the phlox. Phlox is such a utilitarian plant in the garden, one of grandma’s plants for sure.
– It is, and one of my favorite. I just love the phlox they can grow here.
– And calendula? That is a cool season annual. So, if your plant it in the fall, you’ll [[00:05:07]] get to good bloom seasons off of it. And it’s also edible and medicinal.
– You know, one of the things I love about calendula in the winter it is that sort of pop of sunshine even on a grey day.
– A very happy color. Another overlooked category of plants that are good fall bloomers are succulents and sedums.
– You know, some of them are fall and into winter. The sedums do beautiful as fall bloomers and then many of the aloes bloom very muchly all through [[00:05:37]] winter. And their blooms persist. Once they send up a spike these blooms will last for a very very long time. And one of the lovely things about this family is they come in all different sizes.
– They do. People often think of verbena as only a summer blooming perennial but it is extraordinary through the following winter and I think actually prefers that here.
– I think it does. It likes a little rest, it usually has a burst of bloom. And the trailing ones can be used so many different places in the landscape.
– And we can’t go past the [[00:06:07]] lavender.
– No, that one’s a fabulous specimen.
– And the honey bees were all over this plant yesterday. So, what great fragrance. The Mexican mint marigold again, another useful plant in the landscape.
– Kind of a staple plant, I think for the herb garden and even for the perennial garden.
– Absolutely. And painting with our roses is so important and they love the alyssums. And what a great companion with the roses because the stay such a compact size.
– It [[00:06:37]] does. I like to underplant alyssum around the base of my roses all through winter time and it really lasts a very, very long time. And of course, this one so full and so beautiful.
– It is, it’s gorgeous. And again, the fragrance.
– Always fragrance.
– And speaking of fragrance, I love the story you told me about these petunias.
– I was mentioning to Beverly that when I see my nose will pick these up any time I walk through the nursery. And it’s a fragrance that just takes me back. My great grandmother loved them and always had them in their garden [[00:07:07]] and it just literally brings a smile to my face every time I catch a whiff. There’s that scent of petunia is the petunia fragrance, there’s nothing like this.
– There is nothing like it. And again, overlooked in the fall planting.
– And so beautiful. And you know, available in a lot of colors and so it is something that you can mix up and really bright in the winter garden.
– So, what a great way to feed our friends all winter long.
– Definitely. And then when we do move into the later winter, we parked ourselves here [[00:07:37]] for a reason and that’s the idea of the hollies. Of course, this holly is in its glory right now.
– It’s beautiful.
– And be making its definite, it’s a Christmas show.
– But in addition, they are also very late winter bloomers and all of the hollies from the natives to the cultivated are really really great forage for the bees.
– I’m hoping the sun comes out soon so we can do go on another search.
– That would be wonderful.
