Essentials for your pollinator garden: sap, moths and beetles.

This time of the year, the best thing you can have in your pollinator garden is sap.  There are probably lots of ways to come up with a sap feeder, but the easiest one is to let borer beetles and clearwing moths do their job- more on this in a minute.

Adult popular clearwing moth (Sesia tibialis), a yellowjacket mimic

In my garden, butterflies often owe their early spring survival to some unlikely sources- the larvae of aspen borer beetles and poplar clearwing moths.

Adult aspen borer (Saperda calcarata)

These larvae tunnel through quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), which kills the trees, but the journey provides so much along the way (I've written a lot about this relationship- click here for more information).  As one response to the attacking insects, aspen force sap out of the tunnels.

Larvae of the aspen borer beetle (Saperda calcarata)

Over the last couple of weeks we've had several butterflies in the garden including a few Milbert's  Tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti) and even a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa, our state butterfly) yesterday afternoon.  Judging from local blogs, Facebook, and actual interpersonal communications with people, other "out and about"  Missoulians are noticing them, too.

You may be wondering what they the butterflies ares eating, because if you have been looking around for the last few weekend, you'll have noticed that not much is flowering yet.  As a result, this is one of the most critical times of the year to support butterflies in your garden (or at least attract butterflies to your yard).On warm March days you can see the sap running (slowly) out of the holes in the trees, and when the first butterflies emerge this is where they go to eat.

An adult Lorrquin's admiral (Limenitis lorquini) feeds on sap on our aspen .

What butterflies need is a food source timed for their survival.  When many of our overwintering butterflies emerge from their hibernacula they are hungry.  With not much of anything flowing now the best food source is sap.

If you want pollinators, plant a lot of native plants and get out of the way!

These are not the Hymenoptera you are looking for

In May I started an insect collection.  I simply wanted to document all the insects in our garden.  Apart from our vegetable garden we have landscaped our yard with plants native to the Missoula area, we have over 100 species, and we don't water any of it.  More than 60 species of birds have used the yard, and annually three species of birds nest in our nest boxes.  I figured with all this diversity, it would be interesting  to collect, document and learn about all the insects that come here too.

I got my inspiration from this from various sources, including Douglas Tallamy's papers and books, and my friend Jen who is starting the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium.  

I have taken a couple of entomology classes in college (aquatic and terrestrial) and I thought I knew the deal.  I was wrong.  I had no idea how much diversity there was, and how interesting so many of these insects are.  I have now refined my collection to mainly flies (Diptera), bees, wasps and such (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptrea), some moths (Lepidoptera),  bugs (Hemiptera), and grasshoppers (Orthoptera).  I'm not even really collecting butterflies (I'm not that great at preserving them), dragon and damsel flies (Odonata- I'm not very good at catching them), really tiny things (not good at mounting them), and nocturnal insects (I'm diurnal).  Despite these various limitations and restrictions, I have collected well over 150 species of insects, and the summer is only half over.

Through all this, the thing that has stood out as the most interesting is all the mimics.  Beetles that are hairy and imitate bumblebees, flies that mimic wasps, moths that mimic yellow jackets, bees that mimic wasps, and so on. So far, I have collected over 20 genera of these mimics and as the summer continues I am sure there will be many more.

At the top of the post is one of my favorite yellow jacket mimics- it is actually a flower fly (Spilomaya sp.).  It does such a good job mimicking a yellow jacket that its deception is nearly complete.  It flies like a yellow jacket, in flight it extends its front legs- these have black fronts that make it appear to have longer antennae, like a yellow jacket.  The wings have a dark leading edge, that give it the appearance of a yellowjacket at rest folding its two sets of wings (like bees and wasps have), but it only has one (like any fly). 

The insect below is a moth- a poplar clearwing moth (Sesia tibialis) that mimics a yellow jacket.  It is very convincing- as its name suggests, its wings are clear to complete the mimicry.  I was fooled at first, too.  The first time I saw one in our garden, it was crawling out of the ground at the base of one of our decadent quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), and its wings had not expanded yet.  I thought for sure it was some solitary ground nesting yellow jacket or hornet, so I gave it its space.  I kept a eye on it, and the closer I looked, the more I realized it was not a yellow jacket at all, but a moth.

Adult poplar clearwing moths lay their eggs in the cracks or crevasses of stressed popular, aspen and willow species, and similar to the poplar borers in our garden (Saperda calcarata), the larvae of the clearwing moth bore into the tree- pushing out sawdust and feed for a couple of years before they emerge.

This is another fascinating chapter in the aspen ecology story I have been telling as I track the aspen in our garden (click here, here and here for more information.

It is really only when you see its face, you recognize how harmless the moth is.

Now that I am paying attention I see so much more than I ever knew was out there.  I have learned so much and have a new appreciation for insects, their life histories, and the importance your garden can have.

The ecology of yellow evening primrose in our backyard

There have been several great blog posts about pollinator plants and pollinator gardening, calling attention to both the good and the bad. (the latter post very articulately describes the problems with pollinator gardens). A while back I wrote about my disdain for the trend that was pollinator gardening. OK, disdain is way too strong, but you get the idea.

In honor of national pollinator week (June 21- 27), Kelly Senser from the National Wildlife Federation compiled favorite pollinator plants from gardeners from across the country (click here for the story). In this, I wrote about one of my favorite plants in our garden, the yellow evening primrose, (Oenethera flava). Tonight my wife and I watched as one of our yellow evening primroses opened- click here for a video of it happening (the action really picks up at 55 seconds).

Though the flower is gorgeous, large and showy, the real reason I like it so much is it offers a wonderful microcosm of wildlife gardening. In short, the primrose is moth pollinated, because it flowers at night. That is pretty cool in an of itself, and probably not that typical in the run of the mill pollinator garden. However, the neat thing is this is the host plant for a moth that does not feed on its nectar, since it is a daytime flyer: the five- line Sphinx moth, also known as a hummingbird moth. And where this whole story gets more interesting, and typifies the intricate plant/ insect relation ship is that even though the eggs and larvae are tied to the primrose, it needs something else to complete its life cycle- soft duff or sawdust.

In our yard it finds fresh, loose sawdust at the base of our aspen (Populus tremuloides)trees. The reason for this accumulation of saw dust is that the trees are invaded by the larvae of a long horned beetle- the aspen borer (Saperda calcarata). As the larvae tunnel through the aspen they force out sawdust that collects around the base. Also, as a defence, the aspen pushes sap out these wounds. The sap is a critical food source in the early spring for many species of butterflies that overwinter as adults like the mourning cloak or Lourquin's admiral (shown below feeding ion the sap of an aspen).

So, from this one example you can see how interesting and intimate the association of plants and pollinators are. Furthermore, you can also tell how unrelated some of these plants and animals are. Provide native species, and diverse assemblages and you will be rewarded with much more productive "pollinator" gardens than if you tried to plant a garden for pollinators.

A new chapter in the quaking aspen and longhorn beetle story

The longhorn beetles aka aspen or poplar borers (Saperda calcarata) have hatched and lots of animals are after the larvae before they burrow deep into the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). This is just another chapter in the fascination ecology of quaking aspen and longhorn beetles. In order to determine how long it takes for the eggs to hatch, I labeled the places where female aspen borers laid their eggs (click here for more information), and I have been periodically checking back in on the egg masses (yes, this is the kind of thing I wonder about).

It turns out, it takes about 2.5 weeks for the larvae to hatch (which is consistent with the literature). I first noticed they hatched when I saw ants congregating around the egg mass locations, pulling the newly hatched larvae out (see photo below).All this activity on the aspen did not go unnoticed. Soon, bald-faced hornets moved in, displacing the ants, feeding on the larvae. And, if you recall, this is where the whole story began, with bald faced hornets chewing bark to mix saliva to make their nests.

It did not take long before any of the surviving larvae burrowed deeper into the cambium, protected from ants or bald-faced hornets. However, still shallow in the trunk or branches of the aspen, they are easy prey for woodpeckers. Last night a hairy woodpecker showed up. You can see in the photo at the beginning of the post and below this male hairy quickly drilled a hole into the aspen and spent the evening eating the borer larvae.

Quaking aspen, longhorn beetles, and the wildlife that love them

Based on searches directing people to this blog, adult aspen borers (Saperda calcarata) are very active in people's yards and on their quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees right now. The insects themselves are fascinating, beautiful and downright crazy-looking. And although I love the intrinsic value of having the borers using the trees in our yard to complete their life-cycle, the complexity of their relationship to other species is enormous. As I have mentioned, aspen are probably the most important plant species in our yard for attracting and providing the needs for diverse species of insects and birds.

The photo above is of an adult Lorquin's Admiral (Limenitis lorquini) in the picture it is feeding on the sap from the damage the larval borers cause. Likely it is also drawn to the aspen to lay eggs; Populus species are the host plant for Lorquin's Admiral caterpillars.
Adult borer activity probably peaked in our yard a week or so ago, but a few adults (see below)can still be found mating and gravid females laying eggs (like the one above). I have received some wonderful comments from people (some on some blog posts and some via email), that are finding a new appreciation for these animals.

and the story continues...

I could hear their chewing from across the yard. Granted, we have a small yard, but they are small animals, too. The chewing I heard was the female aspen or poplar borer beetle (Saperda calcarata) enlarging a hole in the bark of one of our quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) to lay eggs of a new generation of long horn beetles. Over the last couple of weeks, the adult borer beetles have been mating in our yard, and the females have been laying eggs. One of our aspen, one we planted about nine-years ago is finally starting to succumb to the damage the borers are causing, and I am totally fine with this. Aspen are some of the most interesting and important trees in our yard, not because of the trees themselves but rather for the complex role they play in wildlife in our garden (read here).


Back to the dying aspen, ... I am actually looking forward to this aspen trunk dying (it is one of the largest trees in our yard) and becoming a standing snag (read here for more info). The diameter of this aspen is such that a black-capped chickadee or red-breasted nuthtacth could excavate a nest in its trunk, and there is already some progress to that end. As a result of the aspen borer life cycle, downy woodpeckers excavate the larvae in the late winter/ early spring when the larvae are close to the surface. The holes that the small woodpeckers create later become the beginnings of a cavity that chickadees and nuthatches will enlarge and excavate.

Even though this trunk is dying, this one has suckered and spread (a response to stress) and before long, a new aspen (or several will take its place). So by letting the borers do the work, we get several new aspen, a new snag, a lot of entertainment and wildlife habitat.

What is a weed?

Kate, The Manic Gardener, recently commented on Ecology of Quaking Aspen, and questioned whether planting quaking aspen would be akin to inviting tree-sized weeds into the yard. This got me thinking about "what is a weed".

Town Mouse/ Country Mouse had a similar post recently on terminology and I thought I would add to that. Here I will try to briefly define some common terms.

Weed
A “weed” is any unwanted plant. This is a totally subjective term that refers to someone’s arbitrary goals and objectives. What is a weed in my lawn might be a wanted plant a few feet away, and vice-versa.

I have several plants in my garden that many gardeners consider weedy. What is weedy to some may be hardy, drought tolerant, and easy to grow to others. Pictured in this post are Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii), showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), Missouri goldenrod (Solidago missouriensis ), and white yarrow (Achillea millefolium), all Missoula area native plants, and wonderful for wildlife. All are drought tolerant, and easy to grow and all are considered weedy. Wood’s rose, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), milkweed, fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) and goldenrod are often considered weedy because they spread with shallow rhizomes or runners.
If you are uncomfortable with their tendency to spread, you can be control this tendency by planting them in an open-bottomed pot, surrounding them in a garden bed with lawn edging, or like I do, by digging them up and potting them to move to other areas of the yard. Almost anytime in the summer I have potted aspen, goldenrod, rose, milkweed and others awaiting a new home.

There are some plants in our yard that I do consider weedy and I spend a bit of time reducing their numbers, but I am not so concerned that I want to get rid of them. Rather I like to manage how many I have. In our garden the plants I consider weedy are bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), the Montana’s state grass, and blue (or prairie) flax (Linum lewisii). Periodically I dig up the unwanted ones and pot them for other people (the liberated bluebunch is especially enjoyed by a wonderful landscape architect friend of mine). Having these "weeds" is not really the end of the world.

We do have a lot of plants in our yard that are excellent "volunteers" that gladly spread around the yard. Some might find this annoying and "weedy," but I completely enjoy it. Plants in this category include rubber rabbit brush (Chrysothamnus nauseous), false lily of the valley (Smilacina stellata), Canadian white violet (Viola canadensis, pollinated and spread by ants), showy fleabane (Erigeron speciosa), hairy golden aster (Chrysopsis villosa), thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), or even blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora).

I look forward to my spring routine of carefully digging up wayward false lily of the valley and canaidan violet runners and potting them up. They root so quickly that ususally in a week I can transplant them or give them to friends. Also, stray blanket flowers (Gaillardia arristata), showy fleabane, and Wilcox's penstemon (Penstemon wilcoxii), frequently invade my little patches of lawn. These, too, I carefully dig up and pot for transplant. This is how we get most of our plants now- from other areas of the yard. I have my a eye on a bunch I want to pot up now, I just need for some snow to melt and the ground to thaw!

Native
In this country, “native” is typically defined as a plant that was here prior to European establishment, and was not transported or introduced by humans. Obviously, the big thing with “native” is scale, and this is where subjectivity comes into play, because often a species' “nativeness” relies on an artificial, arbitrary, political boundaries.

For example, “Montana native" quickly loses meaning when you think of the wide variety of elevations, habitats, climates, plant communities and topography of this state. Western red cedar (Thuja plicata), for example, is native to the damp, shadowy forests in extreme western Montana, but is not appropriate to the prairies of eastern Montana, even though it is native to Montana.

That is why in our garden we use plants that are not just native to the state, but native to the immediate Missoula area. Using locally native plants, we do not have to water them, and they attract a variety of insects and animals to our small yard.
Cultivar
There are many native genera that have been cultivated for use by gardeners- these are called "cultivars". A cultivar is a plant that has been selected and bred for specific traits. The unfortunate thing I have found is that many nursery workers do not understand these distinctions. Many well-intentioned gardeners, have returned home with plants they purchased that they thought were native, but were cultivars of native plants often bearing little resemblance to their native cousins.

You often see pink yarrow (Achillea spp.), enormous bunches of blanket flower (Gaillardia spp.), all sorts of juniper (Juniperus spp.), hybrid penstemons, assorted spireas, and different colored potentillas, in the native sections of nurseries. And althogh the genus is native, the plants are not. The problem with cultivars are many; ranging from conservation issues to wildlife and site appropriateness. If the cultivar were close enough to the native speices, and you lived in the vicinity of the native species, they could hybridize and this could be a conservation issue. On the other end of the spectrum , if the cultivar is too dissimliar to the native plant, the timing of the bloom, emerence, fruiting or of the aspects could be so foreign that it is not very useful to native insects and other animals that use and rely on the native. Finally, the cultivars are typically bred for traits that might suit a wide range of habitats, allowing them to be sold all over the west or the country. These generic traits might no longer match the conditions found in your yard or in its native locale.

When procuring native plants, try to find the most "native" native plants you can, and this could take some doing, but it is a fun and rewarding endeavour. It usually does not require you to collect seeds and grow all your own plants for yourself. That is, unless you were looking for an excuse to do that.

Endemic
An "endemic" plant is one that has a very limited geographic area or region. Physical, climatic and biological factors can contribute to endemism. Endemism can arise in two ways, either from a shrinking range, called paleoendimism, or more commonly as a result of reproductive isolation that leads to speciation or the creation of a new species. Because of their inherent limited geographic distribution, endemics can easily become threatened, endangered or extinct. Endemic species are prone to manifesting themselves on islands - either literal or figurative-because of geographic and reproductive isolation. In Montana, we have few endemic animals, though a couple of noteworthy endemic plants, including the Missoula phlox (Phlox missoulensis), which is limited to a small area- a relic of alpine habitat on a windswept ridge above Missoula.

Wild or Naturalized
"Wild" or "naturalized" is not the same as native. These terms refer to a plant or animal that is introduced and is doing quite well on its own- "feral" for lack of a better term. These species are reprodiucing and sustaining a population without the help of humans. Often these terms are used to describe non-native plants or animals we have given up on trying to control. Many confuse naturalized with native, and in many parts of the country (California and the east coast of the US, for example), few know or remember the native plant communities because of generations of human-induced changes to the flora.

Exotic or non-native
"Exotic" or "non-native" refers to a speices that is originally from outside a particular area. This does not imply it is "invasive" (see below), and can represent anything from a plant native to somewhere else in the US, or one native to Asia. Tomato plants are exotic or non-native to North America, but they aren't really a conservation threat. They do not escape and become wild or naturalized. On the other hand, some exotics do become invasive, and that is where the real problems begin.

Invasive
Invasive plants, which are usually non-native, become a nuisance, displace of native species, and spread and become eastablished quickly. Invasive species you may be familiar with include leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula), yellow star-thistle (Centaurea solstitialis), and kudzu (Pueraria montana), just to name a very few. The good news about exotic or non-native species is that very few introduced plants and animals become invasive. This is really good since thousands of species have been introcued to this country and continue to get introduced, annually. The bad news is that the few invasive species we do have in this country are cuasing significant ecological and econonic damage and in many cases they will never be eradicated.

Noxious
"Noxious" is a legal term defining a plant designated by state or federal agricultural agencies as ones that are injurious to "agricultural and/or horticultural crops and/or humans and livestock". Noxious weeds are required by state or federal law to to controlled.

Many invasive plants, and many noxious weeds, were intentially introduced as ornamental plants in garden settings and have since escaped. A few famous examples include Dalmatian toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), and salt cedar (Tamarix ramosissima). This is where you have to consider your plant selection and the effects or your own small garden in the environment. Another good reason to garden with native plants: if they spread outside your yard, they are just returning from whence they came, they will not wreak havoc on your local ecosystem.

I was recently asked by a journalist writing a story about planting native shrubs and trees for birds if there were any Montana native plants that were noxious weeds. The answer is no. For a list of Montana noxious weeds and other information click here .

Ecology of Quaking Aspen in our Yard

The quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) performs diverse and intricate ecological roles in our garden and might be the most important plant for wildlife in our yard. In the wild, quaking aspen occur in a wide variety of habitats ranging from riparian areas to dry hillsides, and in the garden, aspen can be planted in a variety of locations especially if it receives partial shade or water. In our yard, they thrive in the absence of supplemental water- in its place we planted them where they will receive some shade.

In the wild, quaking aspen provide important breeding, nesting and cover habitat, and forage for a variety of birds and mammals. Quaking aspen is host to a variety of insects, some of which are important foods for other animals including woodpeckers. Wildlife species consume nearly every part of aspen at one time of the year ranging from the roots, to shoots to bark and catkins. Because of this, in the wild, it is truly a keystone species in many habitats.

Quaking aspen are native to the Missoula area, though they are probably at the edge of their range. This location can cause stress and make them susceptible to a variety of pests.

Though a beautiful tree, quaking aspen are maligned by many urban foresters because of their tendency to sucker, and for their predisposition to borer beetle infestations. However, borers are just one of the many insects that use the aspen.

Here is how it often goes…In our yard, it might begin with the bald-faced hornet looking for nesting material. The hornets chew the aspen bark, and mix it with their saliva to create their papery nests. The holes they create in the aspen bark allow the aspen borer beetle (see photo above), to easily open up the cambium to deposit the eggs (more on this later…). Bald-faced hornets are big and mean looking, and often mistaken for yellow jackets. Bald-faced hornets are truly beneficial in your garden, and they even pollinate flowers as summer goes on. One of their main prey is yellow jackets and they even lie in wait for them near food sources. You have probably noticed the two species near a food source, but, watch closely, and you may see the bald-faced hornets ambush and kill yellow jackets. Frankly, I am not a huge fan of yellow jackets, so this is pretty neat and gratifying to see.

Back to the borers. Once the adult borer lays its eggs in the bark of the aspen (see photo above, and notice all the pock marks on the aspen bark from bald-face hornet gnawing), the cool stuff really starts to happen. The aspen borers are a type of long-horned beetle (named for the very long antennae in adults- not for horns, unfortunately), and the one we have in our yard is Saperda calcarata, (also called Poplar borer). Some of these insects may reach two inches long, and are very well camouflaged mimicking the texture and colors of aspen bark and fungi (see photo below). The entire life cycle (from egg to adult) takes about three years in our area.

The borer's eggs typically hatch within two weeks, and the newly emerged larvae chew through the bark, where they spend the first year. As the larvae grow, they eat and tunnel through the wood deeper into the heartwood and sapwood for two years. This tunneling produces the bulges and lumps you see in the trunk. All the while, they force coarse shavings, like sawdust out the holes. In the summer, you can literally watch this happen – just look for fresh sawdust at the base of an aspen at follow it up and you will see saw dust emerging from holes in the trunk. If you look closely enough, you may even see the larvae. The chewing and tunneling weakens the tree and allows the invasion of canker and fungi.

The accumulation of saw dust and borings beneath the aspen is home to the chrysalis of several moth species in our yard including the five-lined sphinx moth. Whereas butterfly caterpillars often pupate in a chrysalis that is suspended beneath a leaf or twig, sphinx moth caterpillars burrow into loose, dry duff to pupate. The loose, dry wood shavings the borer larvae produce is perfect for sphinx moth caterpillars to excavated and pupate within. The chrysalises are dark brown to almost black and look nearly dead. If you do find one when you are rooting around, if you watch carefully you might be able to see it move. Just place it back into the ground.

The five-lined sphinx moth, or commonly called a hummingbird moth, caterpillars are specific hosts of the Oenothera flava (yellow evening primrose) in our yard. The giant caterpillars have marking on them that mimic the shape of the narrow, serrated leaves- fantastically camouflaging the 4” caterpillars (see photo below).

As a result of the larvae boring though the tree, the holes “bleed” or produce sap you can see running down the sides of the aspen. This sap is a great food source for a variety of insects, including butterflies. In our yard, the mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa, the Montanan state butterfly) is especially fond of it, and sap is its primary food. The mourning cloak only lays its eggs on twigs or in the shallow cavities of the quaking aspen, or related species, where the adults and caterpillars feed. In addition to butterflies, the sap attracts a variety of other insects from ants to yellow jackets and ultimately bald-faced hornets, which prey on the insects, and the cycle continues.

The presence of the aspen borer in the tree further weakens the aspen making it susceptible to more invasions of aspen beetles. These stresses on the tree also cause it to sucker- which is good because at this point the aspen is on its way to dying (though it make take 6-20 years for the initial trunk to truly die and by then a sucker is there to replace it). Quaking aspen seldom occur individually, and having a cluster of them is not only more natural and more beautiful looking, but it is also a way to provide for its longevity and succession.

In the fall, after about two years of growth, the larvae will move shallower- just beneath the bark, where they pupate during the winter. In February, in our yard, downy woodpeckers will drill into the bark looking for these pupae. In doing so, the woodpeckers drill holes that will create small cavities for insects to hide, lay eggs and even for adult aspen borers to deposit the eggs of a new generation. Once fully developed, the adult aspen borer beetles emerge through a hole in the bark, and spends its adult life mating, and dispersing is eggs to host quaking aspen.

The cavities and holes left by the borers create wonderful places for a variety of insects and spiders to raise their young. In turn, insect eating birds, like warblers, chickadees and others scour the aspens gleaning insects, spider eggs and others from the trunk, crevices and cavities of the aspen.

All this can happen around a quaking aspen in your yard, or, you could use a few types of insecticide and kill the borers.

Plants in our landscape

Our goal has been to use plants in our landscaping that are not only native to Montana, but native to the Missoula area. Once you consider the vast size and diversity of habitats in Montana, "Montana native" quickly loses meaning. what might be native to one part of the state, may not be native- or even appropriate to plant in another part of the state. Although exclusively using Missoula area plants may seem like a limitation, even in our small yard we have over 100 species of native plants. Nevertheless, trying to keep to Missoula area plants has been a fun challenge (the challenge being trying to keep my wife from planting species that don't belong) and goal.
Since we do not irrigate our landscaping, it is important to choose plants that are drought tolerant (hence using plants that are native to the valley), but we found that plants that would normally be associated with moist areas can thrive in the absence of water if you plant them in the shade, even partial shade. On the north and east side of our house and woodworking shop we have many species that you would normally find in riparian areas.
In our south facing front yard and boulevard, we have planted the most drought tolerant species. And in the backyard that does receive some shade (from the house, mainly), we have a greater diversity of micro-climates (the main two being being hot and dry and dry and shady). Click here for a list of most of the plants in our landscape, organized by location.