Seriously it’s so weird! I’m like “Noooo bumblebee don’t use that creeping thistle use the NATIVE plants I put here for you!”
I guess it comes down to a most bumblebees and butterflies being super generalist in terms of nectar (since all nectar is pretty similar in composition), so as long as a plant has nectar they’re fairly content. Of course specialists will prefer the natives though.
hastipuddn
I felt a bit guilty for growing purple poppy mallow since I’m a bit out of its range. Today I found its leaves being used for what iNaturalist called a cocoon for a native butterfly. Now I don’t feel so bad.
Snyz
I visited a prairie reserve a few weeks back and the path I was on had some invasives, especially red clover. There are literally fields of native plants everywhere, but this swallowtail was happy here lol
Hey make do because they have to. You can help by restoring natives and removing invasive simultaneously
carbonaraspice
The bees were FERAL over this St johns wort I have. Waiting till the blooms die off until I pull it out.
Oedipus_TyrantLizard
Butterflies & bees on my property love to skip the bee balm & black eyed Susan’s to hammer the handful of creeping thistle I didn’t pull yet.
It really makes me wonder lol. I’m going to try to plant some native thistle for next year to see if that works
carrotsalsa
It’s been odd seeing more Multiflora rose taking over the land in the back and also seeing more catbirds etc. I don’t own the land, but was thinking about removing some of the multiflora – decided to wait till fall because so many birds use it to nest.
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Seriously it’s so weird! I’m like “Noooo bumblebee don’t use that creeping thistle use the NATIVE plants I put here for you!”
I guess it comes down to a most bumblebees and butterflies being super generalist in terms of nectar (since all nectar is pretty similar in composition), so as long as a plant has nectar they’re fairly content. Of course specialists will prefer the natives though.
I felt a bit guilty for growing purple poppy mallow since I’m a bit out of its range. Today I found its leaves being used for what iNaturalist called a cocoon for a native butterfly. Now I don’t feel so bad.
I visited a prairie reserve a few weeks back and the path I was on had some invasives, especially red clover. There are literally fields of native plants everywhere, but this swallowtail was happy here lol
https://preview.redd.it/e8bfntz4u5df1.png?width=1008&format=png&auto=webp&s=eb2acd41ff30b1681f39494d8a0868f0d8818f67
Hey make do because they have to. You can help by restoring natives and removing invasive simultaneously
The bees were FERAL over this St johns wort I have. Waiting till the blooms die off until I pull it out.
Butterflies & bees on my property love to skip the bee balm & black eyed Susan’s to hammer the handful of creeping thistle I didn’t pull yet.
It really makes me wonder lol. I’m going to try to plant some native thistle for next year to see if that works
It’s been odd seeing more Multiflora rose taking over the land in the back and also seeing more catbirds etc. I don’t own the land, but was thinking about removing some of the multiflora – decided to wait till fall because so many birds use it to nest.