Plants for pollinators and beneficial insects

Deer will definitely browse on buckwheat here .
Plots >1/4A. Near the house + dogs will usually out grow deer damage . More remote plots can be destroyed by deer.
Lately I enjoy just poking a few seed here and there ,every so often for attracting beneficial insects.
I have not had the common white buckwheat volunteer from seed here the following year. At least not more than a plant or two.
I am interested in trying some of these other varieties that may reseed

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Early pollinator forage-

Hairy Vetch seems to reseed here and other places that i drive by that are unmowed. I have a friend that owns a greenhouse near the railroad tracks and he has a stand that has been going for over a decadeā€¦seems to get thicker and taller every year. I think its also great green manure and nitrogen fixer for soils. I have seen it get almost 10 feet in totally undisturbed locations.

doesnt get that big here but spreads far and wide. almost as weedy as lambs quarters. i have crown vetch in my ditches near the road that is even more prolific, growing up and over other plants. im going to have to spray it back or kill it outright as its overwhelming my other pollinator mix flowers. now i know why many call it invasive.

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Purple Honey Locust- good for pollinators, habitat for birds etcā€¦ nitrogen fixer.

Stark sells this for around $40ā€¦ not sure how else one would get it but it sure looks nice.

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Youā€™d give the pollinators more blooms doing a regular black locust.

(But it does have pretty bloomsā€¦assuming you like purplish pink better.)
A honey locust it is not.

I have planted 2 that have bloomedā€¦and I do like the tree as ā€˜something differentā€™ in the landscape.

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I like itā€¦ not sure that i $40 like it. I read where its ā€˜invasiveā€™ and puts up suckersā€¦ does it grow true to seed?

Not sure why Buzz grafts them.

image

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No, not true from seedā€¦itā€™s grafted. (You might could control suckers if the rootstock didnā€™t suckerā€¦but Iā€™ve not found it to be too bad).

$40 sounds like a good enough priceā€¦they are certainly much more for a big one- inch caliper one at a garden center.

Hahaha, had to laugh, I guess itā€™s not allowed in NH (where I live) or VT! Funny that itā€™s in ME, skipped right over the NH coastline! :smile: Thanks for this!

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Hello friends I think the the seeds must have some kind of prehistoric DNA it takes a double dormancy to germinate and yielding capacity has widely improved

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Pussy willow was always one of the earliest trees blooming here, and would be humming with native pollenators.

I grew Takane and Red Soba buckwheat a couple of years back. It was rampant, but the floral display was minimal, compared to what I expected. No reseeding that I noticed, either in the flower bed or the garden.

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mine either reseeded or survived under the snow as its come back 3 yrs in a row. mine was Takane. put some in my steep ditch 2 springs ago and it came back there too. for you to get the full effect you would have to plant acres of it. farmers grow the white flowered one here but just before they harvest, the stalks turn crimson red. very pretty when you got a 50 acre field of it.

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Iā€™ve seen reports on some of the cattle/grazing lists of buckwheat showing up in fields plowed anew 40 years after the last time anyone remembered buckwheat having been grown there.

Some of the deer hunting folks plant it as a summer ā€˜smotherā€™ crop in foodplots, sowing winter rye in early fall and mowing or rolling/crimping the buckwheat to terminate it

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I found a picture yesterday of my praying mantis babies, they are definitely beneficial insects in my garden. They tend to catch butterflies.

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Any chance you have photos to share? That sounds amazing.

I love watching James Prigioniā€™s New Jersey permaculture food forest videos on YouTube.

He was my inspiration to start my own, lesser version, focusing on communal food sharing for neighbors as they walk by.

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@krismoriah Have you considered getting your yard wildlife certified? It sounds like youā€™re doing most of the things.

I hadnā€™t looked at asters. I wonder if the dwarf varieties would work in my dry hellstrip.

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The wildlife that lives on my property certify it every day. No desire for any human intervention other than the things i can do to help it along.

As far as seedsā€¦sure i just spread about three 5 gallon buckets full of seed and chaff this fall. I have been doing walks in the early winter and banging seeds into a bucket then putting those seeds in places that i know they would do well. Eventually the seed eating birds will find areas that i never thought of.

I added some things that i didnt find by roadside or that went to seed on my propertyā€¦ lots of goldenrod and asters mostly.

I got seed from here.

Ive been noticing alot of wild blackberry, wild black raspberry, wild red raspberry and wineberry popping up like crazy where i have left things aloneā€¦ i finally went on a hunt to figure out where its all coming from.

I found a thicket in an area of my property that i never ever goā€¦no reason to. Its a bench on the side of a hillā€¦ its full of all of themā€¦ So the birds are going up in there and eating berries and coming down and perching on trees and pooping under the canopy. Some people would dislike thatā€¦but im thrilledā€¦ they are creating their own food sources for laterā€¦ plus the bees will have to go to new areas and pollinate and forage.

Whoever owns my property next will likely hate meā€¦ but for my lifetime im happy with how its going.

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Ha, youā€™re right, the animals are their own certification.

Your place sounds like a delight. It must be very satisfying to see all that wildlife.

It is my personal passion and im very honored to have my home on their sanctuary.

I butt heads alot with folks that hate the things that eat fruitā€¦but i get itā€¦i struggle myself with it.

I tend to defend nature and wildlife a little too much and i dont get very many likesā€¦but thats ok.

This all started in a blackberry patch when i was about 4 years old. My mom, dad and I took a very long trek to get to this patch way way up in the hills. Gallon jugs were filled to the brim and mom made cobbler and juice and all kinds of thingsā€¦ but i was obsessed with the things that lived in the thicket. The bees, the bugs, the snakes, the turtles, the birds, the praying mantis, the rabbits. I couldnt get enough. My dad took me to the library and i became obsessed with anything and everything to do with blackberries and raspberries and bugs and birds and all that stuff.

I think i was about 7 years old and the summer trek to the blackberry patch was what i had waited forā€¦ lived forā€¦

We arrived and it had all been sprayed. A gas line was being installedā€¦ a right of way was being cut and cleared. Angerā€¦sadnessā€¦emotions happened.

It never ever came backā€¦

The rest of my adult life has been influenced by that. I still to this day am obsessed with the goings on that happen in/around/near brambles.

I collect varieties from all over the world and do my best to enjoy themā€¦ i have not met anyone or heard of such a personā€¦

A person whoā€™s actions and manner are eccentric is classified as a Lunatic.

So i am a Berry Lunatic. :crazy_face:

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Dandelions. About as good a plant as you can have for bees.

The honey doesnā€™t taste goodā€¦but at the time of year they mostly bloom, baby bees get all the honey usually.

Honeybees are not native. Nor is taraxicum officinalis. They both originate in Europe.

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ive seen Jamesā€™ videos as well. there are many on YouTube ive followed for inspiration. im not a pic person but ill have to post some next summer when the flowers are in bloom. this year the calendula survived and stayed in flower till nov. i need to plant some more of those.

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