Thursday, June 27, 2024

When My Heart Breaks



... I gave tours of my garden with a large map outlining all its contents posted on the patio.  The certified wildlife garden signs were secured on a tall post facing the street with a small overhang that sheltered the laminated map of the front garden, labeling all its contents.

It was also home for an outdoor brochure holder that once held quarterly
handmade newsletters on wildlife gardening, free for the taking.  After a few years, it became home to a colony of ants.  Need I say more.

So, what really matters?

The indifference to our environmental problems seems to be overwhelming where I live.  Maybe I’m a little unfair, but if you say you are worried about the environment, then you had better be someone who has started the change in your own yard or balcony.


Protecting invertebrates and their ecosystems is becoming a passion with me.  Big word for all those small  creatures without a backbone. 
Without all these creatures;  spiders, worms, snails, lobsters, crabs, and insects like butterflies, fireflies, hover flies, bees, dragonflies, lacewings, ambush bugs, and much more, our environment would most likely collapse.

Much misguided hatred against the unpretty of these creatures of our world.  One would think they were cousins of the sharks.  Powerful feeling isn't it, spraying that bug spray and your problem is solved; but, of course, it isn't in the bigger picture.

Everything has its good side.

Ants:  eat tiny and larger than themselves insects, aerate the soil with their tunnels,  fertilizee the soil with their stored food



Cockroaches: are food for many species, but also eat what other organisms leave laying, breaking it down and increasing the amount of nitrogen in the soil.   -

Spiders:  primary controllers of insect, are successful at eating many different types of insects-


Flies:   act as scavengers consuming rotting organic matter to get rid of rubbish and dead animal carrcasses - 

They all have purposes we don't always understand.

And, after you spray...

Those pretty insects you don't mind living with, that are also beneficial to plants and wildlife.  The tiny ones not noticed, the ones hiding, the ones hunting for prey, the ones resting, unseen, and the ones that came by later before the spray had dried... 

Dead.





One could go on, 
but why bother.

Not many seem to want any individual responsibility in the transition to environmental sustainability, where humans and nature exist in harmony to support their well-being. 

Sad, that many have fallen prey to the hypnotic persuation created by pesticide manufacturers proclaiming these so called pests our enemy.  I was surprised to find one exterminator's ad proclaiming hover flies as pests.  So rediculous, but I imagine many people are not even acquainted with hover flies.

So... spray that pesticide, SPRAY!  Yah!!!  Kill them little buggers, because you refuse to think they are here for any other reason than to torment you.




I'm here with my own little monster, which I was told is a cat; but, you know... I'm beginning to have my doubts.


On to our garden, where we provide equal opportunities for all invertebrates who chose to come by for a visit or stay.  You matter, as our helpers to create a beneficial ecosystem, but if a cockroach tresspasses into this person's house, we usually don't catch them in a glass and release back outside.  Sorry.  (not really)  





I guess both of these are Dryope flaveola, 
even though they look different from each other.





 Echinacea purpurea, Eastern Purple Coneflower





Common Grackle in tall Juniper tree.


Joe Pye Weed leaves unfurling and flower buds being exposed.


Clematis viorna - host to Plebian Schinx Moth





Hibiscus moscheutos, Swamp Rose-mallow flower buds'
Plants are grown in 20" diameter pots on patio.


Clethra alnifolia, Summersweet


Spider Daylily, "Aabachee"


Callicarpa americana, American Beautyberry flowers


Wild Petunia amongst Lyre-Leaf Sage seed heads -
Below it is Euphorbia cyathophora, Wild Poinsettia,
an annual wildflower.


New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) 
The last one in the garden, planted approximately 30 years ago.  
The ones that received part shade and more water grew huge, 
but eventually the ash tree shaded them too much and they died.


Grey squirrel heading towards the bird feeder pole.


Bombus griseocollis, the brown-belted bumblebee


on Echinacea purpurea, Eastern Purple Coneflower











Shrubby St John's Wort, Hypericum prolificum
Yellow flower amd brown dried flowers ready to fall to the ground, 
leaving the seed pods.


Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’



Planthopper





Monarda fistulosa, Wild Bergamot





It’s been a long June month filled with heat and humidity.  One rarely goes into the garden in the afternoon these days.  This early evening, as it nears closer to dusk, the heavens rumbled with steady thunder, and rain fell to cool the earth.  A nice way to end the day.

We scheduled an early visit with the manager of the company that works with our trees, to discuss our white ash tree.  There was a time before the Asian emerald ash borer appeared in the United States, when our ash tree supported many insects and their young, and the spiders that moved into the tree canopy to take advantage of this food supply.

It was mesmerizing to shine a flashlight into the ash tree canopy at nighttime, to discover what seemed like thousand of spider webs glistening in the beamed light.  It wasn’t always that way, though.  In the beginning of our time here, we had lots of green inch worms dropping down by silk threads from the canopy like Christmas tree ornaments, after they had chewed their fill of leaves to pupate. 

It was not a balance ecosystem, so I mail ordered thousands of Lacewing larvae, and placed them on all the leaves on the bottom branches of the ash tree.  Several years later, the inch worms on silk threads were few, and those pale green ethereal beauties, Lacewings, were seen often in the garden.

It’s been a beautiful love affair with this ash tree, but the garden around it holds no insect life these days.  Every other year, poison is injected into the trunk to poison the sap to kill the emerald ash borer.  The process has also carried the poison to the leaves, so anything that eats the leaves dies.  As the leaves fall to the ground and compost, the poison is transferred to the soil.

It’s a terrible price to pay for keeping an ash tree alive.  We are having ours removed later this summer at quite a hefty price tag.  I will miss it greatly, but it is time to let it go.  The empty space it will leave, well… I don’t even want to think about it.  No doubt the dogwood will die, and the wild garden beneath it that holds the trilliums and other spring ephemerals will suffer.

The stump cannot be ground, because of all that is in the area, but we have been assured that if we can find a space between the tree roots to plant another type of tree, it should do fine.  Hopefully I can find a space big enough for at least a gallon size.  We shall see next year.  One must not dwell on the negative when it comes to these matters.

I’ve had a rough day, decision-wise, and would like to drift without a thought for the rest of the evening.  I plan to chill with the air conditioner upped a notch until I am freezing, then back down a notch as I climb into bed and bundle up tight.




I'm tired—
Tired as the lazy stones
That are always sitting down,
Most tired as the sky
That stays up all night and day
Whether it's early with spider-vines
Or late with frogs singing.

~Gertrude Louise Cheney, "Drowsyheads"






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19 comments:

  1. Hello,
    We have never used pesticides here, living with well water we watch what goes into our ground. Your garden and flowers are lovely. The Monarda or I call it Bee Balm is one of my favorite plants. Great captures of the Grackle and all the insects. Take care, have a happy day and a great weekend!

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  2. Your nature shots reveal passion and beauty. I can understand why we all need to do more for the environment

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  3. ...the smallest things catch your eye!

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  4. You live your ideals when so many don't.

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  5. Beautiful selection! Flowers make me smile.

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  6. I love your photography. The detail on your photos is simply wonderful. I always hate tree issues. Good luck with yours.

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  7. In Australia, most spiders are our friends. I like to say that's the reason we don't have malaria...#Saturdaycritters

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  8. Hello,
    It is sad about your Ash tree, we just paid a hefty price to have two big pine trees taken down, they were too close to our house. I love your coneflowers and the clematis, lovely garden and photos. You did a beautiful job capturing the insects. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your day and have a great week ahead. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

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  9. Thank you Yvonne for reminding us how the world should work in unison, how everthing within it, however small and seemingly insignificant is actually a vital part of it. We are so arrogant in destroying things that get in our way or slightly annoy our way of life that we refuse to see the bigger picture. As usual you knowledge of plants, flowers and bugs and bees puts my obsession with feathered things only into perspective. Thank you also for your best wishes re my arthritis, something that I have learnt to live with if not enjoy.

    PS. Our first spider lily opened today. But if I see a lily beetle I will be tempted to spray it.

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  10. Oh my it all matters! Thank you for such lovely insights and photos!

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  11. Love the garden & the wildlife focus!

    https://craniumbolts.blogspot.com/2024/06/hoskote-lake-jewels.html

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  12. Hello Yvonne, What a beautifully written reflection on your relationship with the ash tree and the inevitable changes in your garden. The cycle of life and the impact of invasive species like the emerald ash borer have certainly taken a toll, and your decision to let the tree go must have been incredibly difficult. It’s heartbreaking to see the ripple effects on the surrounding ecosystem and the loss of such a significant presence in your garden. Here’s to hoping that the space left behind will eventually give way to new growth and that you find solace in the cooler evenings and the memories of the beauty your ash tree brought over the years. As for me, I’m going very, very slow with blogging. I need time to read and relax away from the always changing World Wide Web. Hope you and your hubby have a wonderful summer! John

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  13. What a gorgeous post, Yvonne.

    I loved what you wrote about the little critters. That's the truth. And pesticides are a complete no-no. The way you take care of all the being in your magnificent garden, is commendable to say the least.

    Loved all the images and that little poetry.

    Have yourself a blissful rest of the week.
    Cheers!
    Natasha

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  14. You had write a lovely and interesting blog with the beautiful photos you get from your garden. You see thats is a fruit fly but this is the Dryope flaveola. You can search on it on google. Keeping a tree a life is not easy if it has deseases in his for example. The poem was also very beautiful. It was a pleasure to visite your website.

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  15. Very true what you write about the little creatures that live next to us!
    I don't like many insects (some, like mosquitoes, I kill them). When I find an insect in the house that doesn't fly (or flies slowly), I catch it in a jar, if I can, and take it outside. If I can't catch it... I drive it away somewhere so I won't see it again. :-) I'm sorry about your ash tree. I have a linden tree that I love very much and I hope it lives a long time. I "examine" him from time to time, to make sure he doesn't have any disease... When it doesn't rain enough, I go down and water him with water from the can (I live in a condominium).
    I read these lines with pleasure. Ever since I discovered your blog I have been admiring your wild garden.
    All the best!

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  16. There are many spiders here too

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  17. Cats do look strange without their fur! Lovely nature filled post.

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  18. yes, agree with your sentences that "Flies act as scavengers consuming rotting organic matter to get rid of rubbish and dead animal carcasses...."

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  19. I know your pain at having to remove a beloved old tree. I have a gigantic maple tree, the base is so big it would take 3 people to wrap their arms around. Unfortunately it's dying and its limbs hung over power wires. Every time there was a storm, it would knock down the power wires. Anyway, we finally had those limbs removed...$1000 just to remove the limbs. The huge tree stumps are still standing, as well as half the tree. We will have the rest taken down in the winter, but I can't even imagine the cost of that. :(

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