Submitted by NABA member Mary Anne Borge, November 27, 2010, Hunterdon County, NJ (southern NJ)
Amazingly, the velvety soft leaves of the Maple-leaved Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) were still clinging to their branches until a few days ago. Their colors are vibrant, in shades of pink to dark reddish purple, almost the color of merlot. It's the leaf shape that gives this shrub its name, because of its resemblance to the three-lobed leaves of Red Maple.
Maple-leaved Viburnum is a deciduous shrub that grows to a height of about six feet. THis versatile shrub can tolerate moist to dry soil, and it prefers shade to part shade. It flowers for several weeks in spring, usually from mid to late May. The creamy white buds show a blush of pink, and open to a round, flat-topped flower cluster about two to three inches wide.
In late spring and summer, this lovely shrub is a caterpillar food plant for Azures. The fruit of successfully pollinated flowers matures through the summer and ripens by fall. By the end of the fall bird migration, most of the fruit is gone.
Around here, a few of the dark blue berry-like fruits, called drupes, are still waiting to provide the local bird population with a tasty meal. Many of the fruits have already been eaten by hungry migrants, but a few remain.
Maple-leaved Viburnum is a wonderful addition to a shade garden, offering food to both butterflies and birds, bright spring flowers and wonderful fall color. It's also a great candidate for naturalizing in a woodland understory, which is its natural habitat.
Submitted by NABA member Mary Anne Borge, August 1, 2010, Hunterdon County, NJ (southern NJ)
From late July to early September, Cardinal-flower’s brilliant scarlet blossoms beckon to thirsty butterflies and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds like a neon sign to hungry travelers, promising a long satisfying drink. 
Each Cardinal-flower (Lobelia cardinalis) plant has a tall cluster of flowers that bloom around a central stem. In order to maximize the chances of successful pollination (and our viewing pleasure), Cardinal-flower stages the opening of its flowers over a period of several weeks. Blooming begins with the lowest buds on the stem, gradually moving up until all the flowers in a cluster have opened for business. All the while the flowers are blooming they will likely be visited regularly for their nectar.
Swallowtail butterflies, especially Spicebush Swallowtails, can’t seem to resist the bright red of blooming Cardinal-flowers. The flowers don’t offer a strong landing platform for visitors, since their perfect pollination partner, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, hovers and doesn’t need one. But Swallowtail butterflies are also willing and able to grasp the tenuous flower platform and hover for a drink.
In between visits
from the butterflies, keep an eye out for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. These energetic little birds are irresistibly drawn to the blazing tubular blossoms that are shaped to accommodate their long narrow bills and tongues, a design that allows them to access the bounty that is out of reach to less compatibly designed diners.
When the Hummingbird inserts its bill in the center of the bright red corolla to drink, the top of its head is snugly brushed by a long tube that arches above the flower’s scarlet lobes. The flower and the Hummingbird fit so perfectly together that it looks like a custom tailoring job. In newly blossoming flowers, the tube is tipped with a fused set of pollen-rich stamens that kiss the Hummingbird’s head, leaving a precious cargo of pollen for the Hummingbird to take to the next Cardinal-flower it visits. In this picture, you can see the stamens resting on the Hummingbird’s head. As the flowers mature, the stamens are succeeded by the flower’s female parts, called pistils, which are now perfectly positioned to receive the pollen transported to them on the head of a Hummingbird.
Cardinal-flower can grow to a height of three feet, and will tolerate sun to light shade. Although it prefers moist soil, established plants are doing well in spite of this year’s hot, dry summer weather.
This gorgeous gaudy plant with its bold blossoms is a wonderful way to entice Spicebush Swallowtails and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to visit your garden.
Submitted by NABA member Mary Anne Borge, August 1, 2010, Hunterdon County, NJ (southern NJ)
In spite of the extremely hot and dry weather we have been experiencing in the Mid-Atlantic, there are many native plant species that have been doing very well, even without watering.
Wild senna is among those plants. Senna hebecarpa, which is sometimes called American senna, is the species most commonly found in New Jersey. In nearby Pennsylvania, a closely related species, Senna marylandica (Maryland senna or southern wild senna), may also be found, although much less common. These plants can tolerate sun to part shade, moist to dry soil, and are drought tolerant once established. Both species grow to a height of about 3-5 feet, but they tend to be on the shorter end of that range in drier soil.
Although members of the pea family, wild senna’s are flowers are quite unusual for a pea. 
The flowers have five yellow petals, three up, two down, each lined with slightly darker nectar guides that the plant uses to point pollinators in the direction of their food reward. The dark brown, almost black tipped anthers (the male flower parts containing the pollen) add a stylish offset to the yellow petals. Each plant has many flowers, which are clustered near the top of the stem. Senna hebecarpa is somewhat more densely flowered than Senna marylandica, whose flowers are in slightly smaller clusters in the leaf axils, the junction of the leaf and the stem of the plant.
Some of the Sulphurs, such as the Cloudless Sulphur, are known to use the ild sennas as host plants. The Cloudless Sulphur pictured here is resting on the leaves of a wild senna. During irruption years for Sleepy Oranges, I have seen them as far north as nearby New Hope, Pennsylvania in the neighborhood of a large patch of these plants. You might be surprised by the butterflies this plant attracts to your garden.
The fruit of wild senna is much more typical of the pea family than the flowers. Long, thin, segmented pods develop, shaped like a large comma, turning a warm brown when ripe, in contrast to the yellow fall foliage. If allowed to stand in the garden in winter, the pods will eventually spit, disbursing the seeds. Birds may be attracted by the food provided by the seeds.
Wild senna leaves and seed pods contain a chemical that acts as a powerful laxative. This chemical is effective in people, and in animals such as deer, making it pretty undesirable for grazing. Always a good thing!
Submitted by NABA member Mary Anne Borge, June 6, 2010, Hunterdon County, NJ (southern NJ)
Umbrella shaped clusters of the tiny sunshine yellow flowers of Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) have been lighting up my shade garden for about six weeks. While the bloom period is just finishing (everything was a bit early this year with the unusually warm temperatures), the fruit from the pollinated flowers is beginning to develop, and will be attractive for many weeks to come. The rich green foliage of Golden Alexander is visible for much of the year. 
The golden flower umbels reach a width of about 2.5-3 inches. They help identify Golden Alexander as a member of the parsley family, and a food plant for the caterpillars of Black Swallowtail butterflies. The bloom period usually begins in early May, and the long lasting flowers will generally be seen well into June. The dry fruit capsules will be present on the plant throughout most of the summer and into fall. Even after the fruit falls or is eaten, the flower pedicels (stems) offer an attractive starburst shape for visual interest when left standing through the winter.
Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea), and the almost identical looking Heart-leaved Alexander (Zizia aptera) reach a height of 1-3 feet. They can tolerate sun to at least part shade, and like somewhat moist soil. I have them in a shaded bed along the edge of a driveway. They have adapted very well, and are very easy to grow. Golden Alexander will spread readily from seed.
In my garden, this plant is not preferred by deer. Always a good quality!
Submitted by NABA member Mary Anne Borge, May 6, 2010, Hunterdon County, NJ (southern NJ)
Violets are among the flowers that should be included in your landscape if you want to entice some lovely butterflies, showy moths and industrious solitary bees to share your space. Violets rely on solitary bees as their primary pollinators, but they are also visited for their nectar by butterflies and moths. Fritillary butterfly species use violets as their host plants; for the caterpillars of Great Spangled and Meadow Fritillaries, violets are required eating. The showy black and white Giant Leopard Moth may also seek out violets as food for its caterpillars. A Bad-wing Moth can be seen in this photo, striking a regal pose while visiting the violets in my back yard.
Female Fritillary butterflies seek out patches of violets and lay their eggs nearby. After hatching, the caterpillars crawl near the violets and spend the winter in the leaf litter below them. To me, this is the perfect excuse for not cleaning up the fall leaves, but rather allowing them to act as a natural mulch and fertilizer, as they do in a woodland. It’s a good practice for the soil, the violets, and the Fritillary caterpillars, not to mention your back. In spring, as the violet shoots emerge through the leaves, the caterpillars will nibble them before pupating and eventually emerging as butterflies.
Don’t worry about the caterpillars eating all of your violets. They won’t. Nature has a way of keeping things in balance. I have found violets to be very easy to grow. They reproduce readily, with ants helping to prepare seeds for successful germination, and dispersing the seeds.
Violets are so determined to survive that they have two different strategies for reproduction. In addition to the showy flowers that are insect pollinated before producing and dispersing seeds, violets develop a second set of flowers below their leaves. These flowers are self-pollinated, and only open to release the seeds they produce. You might end up with some interesting results if you plant more than one species of violet, since they are actually quite promiscuous, and will hybridize freely.
A bonus that makes violets even more interesting is that their leaves and flowers are edible. Violets also have many medicinal properties, and are a subject of research for their potential to treat skin cancers.
Right now, a profusion of these lovely blossoms in various shades of blue, white and yellow can be seen in many areas. Some of the many species that do well in our area are New Jersey’s state flower, the Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia), Canada violet (Viola canadensis), Striped Cream Violet (Viola striata) and Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens). Violets are especially appropriate for naturalizing, and make a lovely ground cover, particularly in shady spots where it is difficult to grow grass. Mix your violets with Christmas (Polystichum acrostichoides), Lady (Athyrium filix-femina), Marginal (Dryopteris marginalis), or Evergreen (Dryopteris intermedia) Ferns for an easy care carpet beneath the trees.
Submitted by NABA member Mary Anne Borge, April 1, 2010, Hunterdon County, NJ (southern NJ)
On April 1, I saw my first Spring Azure of the season. The sparkling little butterfly was a bit shy, refusing to come close enough for a good photograph while it flirted with the flowers of a Leatherwood (Dirca palustris). 
Fortunately, this lovely little bee was happy to pose. Leatherwood offers nectar as an enticement to this unsuspecting assistant in its pollination process. As the bee drinks, its body brushes against the flower, picking up grains of yellow pollen from the flower’s male parts, the stamen. Those are the parts that look like antennas topped with little yellow knobs. If Leatherwood’s strategy is successful, the pollen will be deposited on the female parts of the next flower approached by the bee, setting the stage for pollination. The chance of successful germination increases if the pollen reaches a separate Leatherwood plant, since cross pollination generally yields more robust offspring.
Leatherwood is a deciduous shrub that grows to a height of 5-6 feet, with a similar width. It can tolerate full 
shade to sun, but it prefers shade to part shade, showing its best fall color, a warm yellow, in that situation. Leatherwood’s bright yellow bell-shaped flowers bloom in late March to early April before the leaves unfurl. They are usually in clusters of twos or threes, opening from fuzzy buds. If the flowers are successfully pollinated, fruit develops quickly, turning red as it matures. The name Leatherwood comes from the fact that the branches of this shrub are extremely pliable, so much so that Native Americans used the bark and twigs for cording and ties.
This spring was the first time I noticed that Leatherwood has a lovely fragrance. Apparently the unusually warm temperatures released the aroma, allowing it to waft through the air for quite a distance. It’s usually still cool when this shrub is in bloom.
Leatherwood blooms at about the same time as Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), and likes a similar habitat. (And my second Spring Azure of the season was drinking from the flowers of a Spicebush!) Leatherwood and Spicebush make a nice match in a shady garden, lighting the space with their sun-colored blossoms. As a bonus, their berries will also beckon birds to your yard, to add to the pleasure brought by the butterflies.
Submitted by NABA member Mary Anne Borge, March 12, 2010, Hunterdon County, NJ (southern NJ)
American Hazelnut - Signs of Spring!
Finally, the warm spring-like weather has encouraged the Hazelnut to flower! For me, American hazelnut (Corylus americana) is the first plant to bloom in the spring, or more accurately, in late winter. Depending on the weather conditions, this shrub may begin to bloom as early as late February, or as late as the first or second week in March. The flowering period overlaps with its close relative, Beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), which begins to bloom just a week or two later.
With separate male and female flowers on the same plant, both species of hazelnut enlist the assistance of the wind in their pollination efforts. The flowers bloom before the leaves unfurl, increasing the odds that the wind will successfully transport the pollen grains from the male flowers to a compatible female flower, since there are no leaf surfaces to impede the pollination effort.
Cream colored catkins containing the male flowers are visible all winter long hanging stiffly from the American hazelnut’s branches. As the winter unfolds, the catkins grow longer and looser, their color evolving to include a hint of yellow. At maturity, thousands of tiny grains of pollen are released from the cluster of male flowers encompassed by the catkins, traveling on the wind in search of a female flower as a mate, preferably on a nearby American hazelnut. Pollination with a separate plant expands the gene pool, and increases the likelihood of successful offspring.
The female flowers are wonderfully gaudy in a subtle, inconspicuous way. Usually found at the tips of branches, the buds appear to be small and reddish brown during the winter. In bloom, the female flower parts resemble tiny, bright magenta sunbursts. Check the American hazelnut’s branches to see these petite, spidery female delights when the catkins containing the male flowers elongate and move freely in the wind. 
If the flowers are successfully pollinated, nuts are produced, ripening by late summer. It is while the shrubs are fruiting that these two species of hazelnut are most easily distinguished. While their flowers are very similar, the nuts have very distinctive coverings. American hazelnuts have a leafy sheath with a ruffled edge, while Beaked hazelnuts coverings are long, tubular and beak-like, giving this species its name. The nuts are desirable food for small mammals such as squirrels and chipmunks, and even for fox.
During its growing season, American hazelnut may provide food for many beneficial pollinators, including some of the most beautiful giant silkworm moths such as the Luna, Polyphemus and Cecropoia. A bit to the west of where I live, Beaked hazelnut may also be used as a food plant by the caterpillars of the Early Hairstreak butterfly. In turn, these insects provide food for birds, especially during the critical period when the birds are feeding their young families.
This multi-stemmed shrub grows to a maximum height of about ten feet, and can expand to a ten foot width. It makes a good candidate for a hedge row, alone or with a mix of other shrubs. Native to this area in local woods and wood edges, American hazelnut can tolerate part shade to sunny conditions.
Plant this versatile shrub to attract birds and other wildlife to your yard. It will also provide welcome assurance that spring is just about here!