Colubrids of the Arboretum

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Katie Schmidt

Spring and summer rains bring lots of green growth, lots of blooms, and lots of snakes! (Yes, this post is about snakes. But if I had put that in the title, would you have clicked on it?) Colubridae is the taxonomic name for the largest snake family, with approximately 2000 species and counting. Luckily, here at the Arboretum we don’t have all 2,000 to contend with — there are really only four or five common snake species you are likely to see on your walk here, and none are venomous.

As much as they may give you the heebie-jeebies, snakes are an essential part of the ecosystem and a fascinating aspect of Arboretum wildlife. Let’s dive in a little deeper and get to know these harmless friends.

Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis

*A small garter snake, barely thicker than a pencil, wrapped around some pincushion flowers here at the Arboretum. Photo by Scott Vogt*

Garter snakes, often misnamed as “garden snakes”, are indeed found all over our gardens and grounds. They hunt and shelter in leaf litter and shaded, moist areas. These snakes love to eat frogs, but will also eat slugs and snails, a mouse or another small snake if the opportunity presents itself. You may find them forming gregarious “mating balls” in spring, wherein groups of males all try to mate with a single female. Harmless and charismatic, these snakes are a welcome sight in the garden.

Eastern Racer, Coluber constrictor

This thin, beautiful snake lives up to its name — it is fast! When disturbed Eastern racers bolt to the nearest rock or shrub to take cover. Gorgeous greenish-grey scales give way to a pale underbelly and blue tones where the two colors meet. It maybe be confused with a coachwhip snake, though the latter are often longer and more brownish in color. As with all the snakes on this post, they are non-venomous and harmless to humans, but they are feisty and will bite if harassed.

Black Rat Snake, Pantherophis obsoletus

*Black Rat Snake from Wikimedia Commons*

Reaching lengths of five feet or more, rat snakes are conspicuous and much maligned. Harmless to humans, their large size causes undue panic. Unless you are a bird with a nest, you have nothing to fear! When caught trying to steal eggs, rat snakes will be flogged and pestered by robins and jays until they either succeed or surrender and retreat. As the name suggests, they prefer to eat rats, mice, gophers, and any other rodent they can find. This makes them a great friend living around your garden. If you find one stuck in an egress window, as often happens with this species, place a long branch or some other climbable object down there so they can escape on their own and continue their good work keeping the rodent populations low.

DeKay’s Brown Snake

These cute little guys rarely grow more than a foot long and camouflage themselves so well with the soil and mulch in our gardens that you hardly see them. DeKay’s are secretive and shy, and only as big around as your finger or so. Unlike most snakes that lay eggs, DeKay’s give live birth. The tiny babies are only as big as an earthworm and are usually spotted around our area in late summer. DeKays snakes like to eat slugs and snails, and even have specialized lower jaws that allow them to remove snails from their shell. One order of escargot, s’il vous plait!

Plain Belly Water Snake, Nerodia erythrogaster

*Photo by Thomas Shahan, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

There is something about a water snake that really gets people worked up. By far these are the snakes that get the most attention, swimming happily accorss the pond and making a surprisingly large S-shaped wake. Every summer these water snakes grow to great lengths in our pond, getting fat on tadpoles and small fish. They often coil up on floating mats of leaves and twigs to snooze by the pond banks. They also like to bask on the sidewalks near the creek, so watch where you are walking. Non-venomous, but very active, these snakes are likely to open their mouth, hiss, and let you know when you are too close! These snakes are often misreported as venomous cottonmouths, but those are only verifiably found in the farthest southeast corner of the Kansas.

Snakes may not be most people’s favorite form of wildlife found at the Arboretum, but knowing more about them can help alleviate undue nervousness, helping us all to appreciate their beauty and function in the ecosystem. Want to become a whiz at snake identification? Check out this Snakes of Kansas guide published by the Great Plains Nature Center, or take a picture (from a safe distance!) and use an app like Seek. The Facebook page for Kansas Herpetological Society is a great resource for learning about local reptiles as well, with many experts chiming in daily on public posts.

New Jersey Tea – KNPS 2025 Wildflower of the Year

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Brad Guhr

New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus and C. herbaceus) from the Buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae) is the Kansas Native Plant Society 2025 Kansas Native Plant of the Year. Since these two species have similar habitats and differ only slightly in their appearance and have overlapping distribution in Kansas, both were included in this year’s selection.

Ceanothus herbaceus is blooming beautifully in the Arboretum right now, so I figured it would be a good time to reshare the KNPS newsletter article (with permission) featuring New Jersey Tea.

Both New Jersey Tea species are woody shrubs that produce attractive clusters of small white flowers in late April to June and grow to 2-3’ tall. They are drought-tolerant species typically found in well-drained, rocky prairie habitat. Ceanothus americanus (eastern half of Kansas) only has the common name New Jersey Tea but C. herbaceus (eastern 2/3 of Kansas) also goes by Inland Ceanothus, Inland New Jersey Tea or Redroot.

*Ceanothus americanus* (Photo by Michael Haddock)

*Ceanothus herbaceus* (Photo by Michael Haddock)

In their book Growing Native Wildflowers, Dwight Platt and Lorna Harder summarize the subtle field characteristic differences between these species in their publication Growing Native Wildflowers:

The leaves of C. americanus are broader and ovate or egg-shaped, broadest below the middle, while the leaves of C. herbaceus are elliptic, broadest at the middle.
In C. americanus, the clusters of flowers are somewhat elongate and are borne on leafless stalks (sometimes with two small leaves at the base of the flower cluster), that grow out of the axils of leaves. In C. herbaceus the clusters are more flat-topped and are borne on the end of leafy twigs.
There is a ridge on each lobe of the fruit in C. americanus and no ridges in C. herbaceus.
The fruiting stalks drop even before the leaves drop in the fall in C. americanus. In C. herbaceus, the little stems and “saucers” that held the fruits may remain on the plant all winter.

Both of these Ceanothus species are attractive to nectaring butterflies and hummingbirds and the vegetation is host to butterfly larvae of the spring azure (Celastrina laden) and mottled duskywing skipper (Erynnis martialis). Culturally for humans, the leaves of New Jersey Tea were used as a substitute for black tea during the American Revolution.

New Jersey Tea is underutilized in native plant gardens and should be considered for a sunny spot in a home landscape. Collect the black, glossy seeds before they fall from 3-lobed capsules in July. Platt and Harder report success germinating the seed with treatment of one minute in boiling water followed by 2-3 months of cold, wet stratification.

*C. herbaceus* in bloom at Dyck Arboretum on 4/23/25 (Photo by Brad Guhr)

Whole plant view of *C. herbaceus* in bloom at Dyck Arboretum on 4/23/25 (Photo by Brad Guhr)

C. herbaceus w/ green, ripening seed at Dyck Arboretum on 5/21/25 (Photo by Brad Guhr)

To see more Ceanothus americanus and C. herbaceus photos by Michael Haddock and detailed species descriptions, visit kswildflower.org.

Saving Butterflies

Posted on April 9, 2025 by Lorna Harder

For more than 20 years, entomologists (scientists who study insects), have reported worrying annual declines in insect populations at the rate of 2% per year. As part of the insect world, butterflies, whose bright colors have enchanted people around the world for centuries, are no exception. Historical records and citizen science data make it possible to study and better understand changes occurring specifically in butterfly communities over time.

*E. Tiger Swallowtail on tall thistle – Photo by Brad Guhr*

In their recent study of butterfly populations, Collin B. Edwards and his coauthors analyzed butterfly sightings and captures from more than 76,000 surveys that were conducted at 2,500 sampling sites representing all regions of the contiguous U.S. over the past 20 years. These samplings came from 35 monitoring programs and included twelve million butterflies counted by both professionals and dedicated amateur naturalists.

Results of their analyses are sobering. The data showed a 22% decline in total butterfly abundance (abundance refers to the number of individuals of a particular species counted in a given area) across the contiguous U.S. from 2000 to 2020. The data also showed that the distribution of butterfly species was moving northward.

Patterns of abundance varied, with steepest declines in butterfly abundance occurring in the Southwest. However, variation in abundance between species was greater than variation in abundance between regions of the country. Overall, at least 74 butterfly species have declined by more than 50%. Only a few species saw increases in abundance. Researchers noted that this data analysis includes only about one-half of the known U.S. butterfly species. What is happening to the remaining half of the butterfly species, many of which are rarer, is not well known; and there remain substantial areas of the country that have not been sampled. Additional and more comprehensive monitoring and sampling and sampling are needed.

Causes of declines are varied – climate change, extended droughts, pesticides, habitat loss, and land use changes. In our region, butterfly species requiring grassland habitats are particularly vulnerable, with nitrogen deposition from fertilizers and neonicotinoids from pesticides adding to declines.

*Monarch caterpillar on common milkweed – Photo by Brad Guhr*

The solutions addressing butterfly declines are as varied as the causes. However, what we plant and what we avoid can make a real difference for local butterfly populations. While we may not be able to save the rarest species, we can certainly help conserve the butterfly species that are still reasonably common. Here are six actions that can be taken:

Know your local butterfly species. Take photos of butterflies you see. Consult iNaturalist for the butterflies noted close to where you live, and to help you identify species you find. Check the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) for additional identification resources.
Provide lots of nectar, spring, summer and fall. Flowering plants in sunny locations are perfect sites where butterflies can warm themselves and obtain nectar. The Xerces Society has comprehensive resources for pollinator gardening in our region of the U.S.
Focus on host plants. It takes a caterpillar to produce a butterfly! The native plant finder from National Wildlife Federation is a great resource for identifying host plants for local butterflies, based on zip code location.
Play the long game. Caterpillars eat plant parts, resulting in less than perfect plant appearances. But those chewed stems and flowers mean that your garden is successfully raising new generations of butterflies and their kin. Remember that native plants and insects have coevolved over time. Established plants recover, and your garden will be graced by the colorful presence of butterflies in the years to come.
Visit the Flora Kansas Native Plant Festival at Dyck Arboretum. Knowledgeable Arboretum staff are available to assist in finding native plants that will both support butterfly populations, and flourish in your landscape.
Participate in the annual NABA Butterfly Count. Ask Brad Guhr, the Harvey County KS organizer, about joining the count on June 28, 2025; or check the NABA website for a count in your local area. Butterfly Counts are community science in action. They are a great way to join like-minded citizens in learning more about butterflies, monitoring butterfly populations, and raising the general public’s awareness about butterflies.

*Gray Hairstreak on **Leavenworth Eryngo** – Photo by Brad Guhr*

*Black Swallowtail Caterpillar on Golden Alexander – photo by Brad Guhr*

*American lady butterfly on purple coneflower at Chase State Fishing Lake – Photo by Brad Guhr*

References

Bittel, Jason. 1 in 5 butterflies in the U.S. have disappeared in the last 20 years. National Geographic. March 6, 2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/butterfly-disappear-decline-united-states

Cardoza, Monica. April March 27, 2025. Butterflies are in trouble. Your garden can help. https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2025/03/27/supporting-local-butterfly-populations-climate-change/

Collin B. Edwards et al. Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century.Science387,1090-1094(2025).DOI:10.1126/science.adp4671

Goulson, Dave. 2021. Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse. Harper Perennial. 328 pp.

Photo credits

Tiger Swallowtail on Thistle: Dyck Arboretum of the Plains

Monarch caterpillar on Milkweed: Dyck Arboretum of the Plains

Black swallowtail caterpillar on Golden Alexander: Brad Guhr

Gray Hairstreak on Leavenworth Eryngo: Dyck Arboretum of the Plains

American Lady on Echinacea: Dyck Arboretum of the Plains

Rest the Water

Posted on March 6, 2025 by Scott Vogt

Over the past few years, I have taken up the hobby of fly fishing. It has been challenging to say the least. Learning the basics of casting, choosing the right fly or flies, reading the water and so much more has taken me to new heights of frustration and sometimes elation. Like many hobbies, learning to fly fish will take the rest of my life to just scratch the surface of all there is to know.

My journey to fly fish began with evening classes through WSU Community Education. I started with the basics and continued on to the casting class. During those classes, I devoured as much information as I could, but still felt like I was floundering. I watched videos, and read blog posts. I practiced casting a little bit before I went to Colorado and hired a guide who help me catch my first trout. It was small but I had accomplished my first goal of just catching one fish. That first fish was incredible. So colorful but resilient living in that cool flowing stream. It was quite the memorable experience.

*My very first trout. Small but incredibly beautiful.*

From those humble beginnings, I worked even harder to learn all I could about the art of fly fishing. I practiced casting several times a week when the weather was suitable. I watched more videos and read articles about streams and trout.

The next summer, I hired a different guide who was an incredible teacher. He was patient and kind to this novice. I learned more from him that day than from any videos I had watched or blogs I had read. It was like drinking from a fire hose. We caught fish…a LOT of fish. But he also made me stop for a moment and look around. While we were eating our lunch, he told me about the geology of the place, where the river starts, how it flows, the beauty of the surrounding mountains, the trees and plants, the clouds and sun, and the trout. He encouraged me to not just fish, but to observe, learn, listen and enjoy the beauty all around me.

*A little better sized fish, but look at where I am standing.*

*I was fly fishing down there. A stunningly beautiful place.*

You see, I was so intent on learning to fly fish that I had not stopped to look around. I was determined to catch as many fish as possible, but I almost missed the beauty in every direction. By making me stop for a few moments, I was able to really appreciate the majesty of my surroundings. It is so easy to forget to look up that we often miss some of the most rewarding experiences of our lifetime.

You may wonder what the point of this story is. Well, it started with a short phrase I read in an article that reminded me of what my guide taught me. It simply said, “…take a break and let’s rest the water.” These words made me pause and contemplate. Learning to rest the water is a way to fish, but also a way to live your life. Too often, our gaze is so hyper focused on something that we don’t take time to look up and around, to listen, and then to savor and enjoy the moments that too quickly pass.

I say this as we approach another spring. As our landscapes are transformed from dormant to green in the coming months, take time to step back and enjoy your handywork. Don’t over work it. Watch the pollinators, and birds. Observe the beauty of a delicate flower. Appreciate the resiliency of a native grass. This is one of my goals in 2025, whether with relationships, landscapes or hobbies – to take time to rest the water. Step back and take it all in, be present, and be attentive to the beauty all around us.

I leave you with a few images of the Flint Hills in the spring.

Aromatic Aster

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Brad Guhr

One of my favorite prairie wildflower species has to be aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium). Aromatic asters are hardy, drought-tolerant forbs that bloom toward the end of the growing season. Their leaves have an herbal scent when crushed. Aster species are host plants for caterpillars of butterflies including painted ladies, pearl crescents, and silvery checkerspots as well as many species of moths. In the late summer and fall, aromatic aster flowers delight the human need for color and provide nectar for many insects, most notably, butterflies, bees, wasps, flies and beetles.

*Aromatic aster var. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’*

According to Mike Haddock at Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses, aromatic aster is found across almost the entire state of Kansas on dry, open prairies. In our Dyck Arboretum reconstructed prairie, aromatic aster (seed collected from the Smoky Hills ~30 miles north of Hesston) is just about finished flowering. Its purple hues popped a couple of weeks ago among the reddish-brown colors of senescing warm-season grasses.

A Star in the Prairie Garden

In our native plant gardens, aromatic aster is the star of a show that we have been looking forward to all growing season. Aromatic aster fills garden spaces between other plants nicely where its dense, low 1′-2′ foliage crowds out weeds and lends above-ground support to neighboring plants. But its late-season flowers are the main reason that this species is a dominant part of our featured Butterfly Garden.

*Educational signage in our Dyck Arboretum Butterfly Garden bed (line drawings by Lorna Harder)*

While I enjoy observing all prairie flowers throughout the growing season and the pollinators they attract, aromatic asters just seem to take the human entertainment value to a higher level. Given the high number of flowers on each plant and the lack of anything else blooming this time of the year, this species usually seems to put on the greatest show of the year as it plays host to a busy array of insect pollinators.

The two varieties of aromatic aster in our Butterfly Garden are ‘October Skies’ and ‘Raydon’s Favorite’. They bloom at different times and in nice succession for a long season of attracting pollinators. I seem to usually observe the former blooming from late September to mid October and the latter from mid October to early November.

*Comparison of aromatic aster varieties ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ on left and ‘October Skies’ on right (Photo by Janelle Flory Schrock)*

Whether I’m walking with elementary schoolers, college students or retired master gardeners, this Butterfly Garden spot on a sunny afternoon is always a regular stop. The flowering spectacle by aromatic aster in this time of the year is one of my favorite flower/pollinator interactions in the prairie garden.

When trying to capture the jaw-dropping wow factor of a landscape scene like the Flint Hills or a Kansas sunset, a photo or video never conveys the inspiring scene I want. Nevertheless, here is a video of the super busy pollinator scene I witnessed yesterday (10/22/24).

13 Butterfly Species Observed

The butterflies I observed nectaring on the flowers of aromatic aster var. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ yesterday included the following species: checkered white, sachem, common checkered skipper, fiery skipper, dainty sulphur, clouded sulphur, orange sulphur, eastern tailed blue, common buckeye, monarch, pearl crescent, Melissa blue, and American lady (not all species were visible in the video). Various species of bees (audibly busy), flies, beetles and moths were also abundant.

Stop by and see our Butterfly Garden before the aromatic aster finishes its show in the next week or two. Better yet, add different varieties of aromatic aster to a sunny spot in your landscape where you can enjoy a similar show for years to come.

For a broader review of asters in general, see my colleague’s great past posts, Asters: Autumn’s Crescendo and All About Asters.

Benefits of Planting Perennials

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Scott Vogt

As gardeners, we have many choices of plants to introduce into our landscapes. From trees, shrubs, annuals, and perennials (including grasses), the options seem to be endless. Here at the Arboretum, we gravitate toward perennials for a number of reasons.

What is a perennial?

Unlike annuals that germinate, flower, set seed, and die all in one season, perennials are typically cold-hardy plants that will return again and again each spring. If situated in the right place in your landscapes, perennials will thrive, and will bloom either in spring, summer, or fall.

In my mind, the benefits of planting perennials in your home garden are as follows:

Incredible Root Systems

It often takes perennials several years to develop a sustaining root system after being transplanted from a pot. These root systems compared to many annuals is much more extensive and much deeper. During periods of drought, these deeper roots feed nutrients and moisture to the plant. The deeper roots of grass are credited with developing the deep layers of top soil found in many states that now support farm crops. These roots also control erosion, sequester carbon, and break up tough compacted soil.

Xeric Garden interpretive signage located on the Dyck Arboretum grounds. Artwork by Lorna Harder.

Diversity of Perennials to Establish in the Landscape

As I said earlier, there are so many different types and varieties of plants you can choose to establish in your display beds. A well-designed landscape with a variety of perennials will enhance the aesthetics and appeal of your property. With perennials that bloom at different seasons during the year and attractive grasses for fall and winter interest, you can create a diverse habitat for wildlife and pollinators, too. Keep in mind, the habitat you create is provides homes for insects and food for birds during the long, cold months of winter.

Prairie Window Project, August 2016. Photo by Brad Guhr.

Do perennials require less maintenance?

The key to success with perennials such as native wildflowers and grasses is putting the right plant in the right place in the right way. Perennials will NOT require less maintenance if you are trying to grow something in your landscape that has no business being there. Learn as much about the plants you want to use before you put them in the ground.

Perennials typically last several seasons. You don’t need to plant every single year like you do with annuals. By planting them once, you save money and time. You will need to clear last year’s growth in February or March and occasionally divide some clumps of perennial grasses as they expand over time. Perennials are a cost-effective and sustainable choice for landscaping.

*Panicum virgatum* ‘Northwind’ ready for spring.

Perennial plants can be the anchors to a landscape. While trees and shrubs provide the backdrop, perennials provide the elements of habitat that pollinators and other wildlife seek. These permanent pieces of your garden puzzle add beauty year after year. They can be combined to add continuous blooms and interest throughout each growing season. As perennials come in and out of bloom, a diverse collection of wildlife and pollinators will discover your landscape. This is ultimately the real benefit of a perennial garden.

A note about annuals

When I think about annuals in the landscape I don’t think about petunias. I choose annuals on their ability to provide nectar for pollinators. Nectar-rich annuals need to be drought tolerant and self-seed, too. See this article about a mostly annual garden.

Choosing Plants for Birds: Be Beak Specific

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Katie Schmidt

Bird enthusiasts often flock to Dyck Arboretum to observe birds in our prairie, woodlands, and pond. In fact, Dyck Arboretum has been a data collection site for the Halstead-Newton Christmas Bird Count for 20+ years. Many FloraKansas patrons ask about how to attract more birds to their own landscapes, and the answer is simple: provide food, water and shelter!

The Arboretum is a hot spot for birds because of the density of native plants on our grounds providing excellent habitat. Birds spend most of their lives looking for food, so add plants to your landscape that produce berries, seeds, nuts, and nectar. A birdfeeder is nice, but native plants will provide fresher sources of nutrition at the appropriate time of year. Each bird, with its specially evolved beak, has favorite food sources that fit its skillset. Try some of the food plants shown above to increase the avian diversity of your neighborhood!

*Zizia and sumac to attract caterpillars (nesting birds need thousands of insects to feed the young).*

Interested in helping birds even more? Join the Halstead-Newton Christmas Bird Count, conducted each year on the Saturday closest to the winter solstice, and help to gather data about bird populations in our area.

And join us and our friends from Kauffman Museum on Saturday, March 2nd, for a spring symposium entitled “Murmurations & Exaltations: Birds & Birding in a Changing World.” We will start the morning with a bird walk, come inside for breakfast and conversation, and then hear presentations from three of our state’s top bird experts!

Winter Food for Birds

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Scott Vogt

This winter has been one of the harshest Kansas has had in quite some time. Plants and animals have been tested with extreme cold, frozen soils and snow. It’s incredible to imagine that anything can endure these conditions. Over the past few weeks, I have watched the birds find food where they can. They are relentless in their pursuit of seeds and berries. After all, their lives depend on them.

Selecting plants that attract wildlife – including birds – to your garden is an important horticulture trend. The key to increasing wildlife diversity in your landscape is having as many different habitats and food sources as possible. Fruiting trees and shrubs provide food and shelter during these cold periods for wildlife. Leaving these sheltering spots, birds can find seeds from wildflowers and grasses during the day.

Here are several trees, shrubs and perennials that I have observed birds scavenging for food on over the past few weeks. They provide great winter food for birds.

Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum rufidulum)

This large shrub or small tree (20 feet high by 20 feet wide) can be found in eastern Kansas. It has creamy-white flowers in April and May followed by blue-black fruit in September. These fruits persist on the tree into winter, but are devoured quickly with the first snowfall. Buds are a rusty color that open to glossy green leaves and turn a beautiful reddish-purple in the fall. It is a very under used plant that provides excellent winter food for birds.

Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium)

Blackhaw viburnum is the other native viburnum to Kansas that has abundant small prune-like fruit in the fall. With a mature height of 12 to 15 feet and a spread of 8 to 12 feet it is slightly smaller than Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum. In spring, it is covered with cymes that are 2 to 4 inches in diameter. The dark green leaves provide consistent fall color of red, yellow and orange.

Possumhaw (Ilex decidua)

Possumhaw is the only holly native to the Great Plains. It can grow to be 15 feet tall and wide. Branching is often dense and after leaf drop the round red fruit are revealed. The shrub is a heavy producer of fruits that are persistent into the winter months. When snow and sleet cover their regular food, birds flock to possumhaw and clean the branches in a short time. Deciduous holly are dioecious, meaning that there are both male and female plants and both are needed in close proximity to each other in order to have fruit set.

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)

Eastern red cedar is the only conifer native to Kansas. This is my top recommendation to homeowners looking for an evergreen tree, since there are so many diseases affecting pine trees these days. There are still some nice pines available, but they are not native. This juniper has dark green foliage and can reach over 20 feet tall with a dense conical habit. The dense branches provide excellent cover for birds during the winter. The female trees are often loaded with frosty 1/8 to 1/4 inch diameter cones that provide excellent bird food in the winter.

Eastern red cedar does have one drawback. Bagworms can decimate a tree. Bagworms have been very problematic over the last several years here at the Arboretum, but regular spraying with Bt (a biological insecticide) has been effective for us, especially when the larvae are smaller than ¼ inch. Begin checking for bagworms about the first week of June.

‘Canaertii’ is a female variety with dark green foliage that sets copious blue-green cones and matures to 20-30 feet. This tree has attractive branching architecture. A formal cultivar of Eastern red cedar is ‘Taylor’ which grows to 20 feet tall but only gets three to four foot wide. It too produces cones that birds enjoy.

Bad Bird Feeders – Ornamental Pear Trees

You can’t fault the birds for finding the fruit of pear trees and eating them. The problem is that a tree that was suppose to be sterile now produces so much fruit that it is on the verge of becoming a noxious plant. Do not plant another ornamental pear tree. They are becoming so prolific that they are pushing out desirable native plants.

Perennials as bird feeders

Coneflowers: These cones feed a host of birds including blue jays, cardinals, and goldfinches.

*Birds use their beaks to carefully extract these seeds.*

Sunflowers: Our native sunflowers are great sources of food for birds during the winter. Keep in mind that most native sunflowers can be very aggressive in the landscape. I have seen many different kinds of birds this winter working seedheads of Maximillian sunflowers outside my office window.

Rudbeckia: Even though the seeds are smaller than that of other perennials, blackeyed susans attract many different types of birds, including American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, Northern cardinal, and white-breasted nuthatch.

Native grasses: Big bluestem, Little bluestem, switchgrass, and indiangrass are great food sources for juncos, finches, and many of our native sparrows.

*Blaze Little Bluestem seeds*. *Photo by Emily Weaver.*

Flower Bugs: A Book Review

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Katie Schmidt

Angella Moorehouse has given us a great new resource for learning about and appreciating the “little things that run the world”. This book focuses on true bugs, a group of insects that don’t get a lot of good press, and their relationships to some of our favorite native flowers. It was published in 2023, by Pollination Press LLC out of Minnesota.

What is a true bug?

Most people can identify a butterfly and bumble bee. Most can even recognize a grasshopper, or praying mantis. But when we encounter a true bug, the common response is, “what IS that?”. True bugs, meaning an organism in the order Hemiptera, are not as well recognized. That might be because there are so many of them (~40,000 species, and counting) or because they lack the good press that pollinators and other crop-benefitting insects have garnered in recent years. Until now!

*Biodiversity Heritage Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*

“This book is intended to showcase the diversity of a misunderstood and under appreciated group of flower-visiting insects and to introduce a wider audience to the diversity of true bugs and the role that they play in our natural areas.”
Angella Moorehouse, Flower Bugs, A Guide to the Flower-Associated True Bugs of the Midwest

To be very simplistic about it, true bugs are identified by their double set of wings and their sucking, piercing mouthparts (perfect for sipping plant juice, or the liquified insides of other bugs…yum!). It is a pretty broad categorization. Perhaps that is why there is so much diversity in this order of organisms.

Like any good guide book, it has a short section of introductory information to prime the beginner bug enthusiast. Complete with diagrams and taxonomic tables, you will feel like an expert before you even get into the profile pages. It contains tips for how to effectively attract, capture and even photograph bugs, should you wish to catalog your sightings. The book then devotes the next 260 pages to detailed insect profiles.

The Little Details

For each species, readers get a full color photo, seasonality chart, native range map, feeding and behavior notes, and a list of plant species they are likely lurking on. For a beginner with little knowledge of insect classification, it will be difficult to use this alone as an identification guide. But in conjunction with an app, like iSeek, it will be a gold mine. The app can narrow it down to genus or even species, then use this book to get a positive ID. It is a great resource to learn more about the insects encountered in the yard and garden. Identification is key, especially if you are considering using pesticides as a control measure for a given insect in your yard. The downside is that this book focuses on midwest species, and their map does not include the Great Plains. Though Kansas is not on their map, rest assured, many species covered in this book are common in our state. It remains an excellent resource for our area.

Be Kind to the Bugs

The public is finally starting to wise up to the bee crisis, and the pesticide problem. Many folks come to the FloraKansas Native Plant Days asking for pollinator friendly plants. But no one comes asking about true bugs. After all, aren’t these the creepy crawlies that halloween and horror movies tell us to beware of? Aren’t these the pesky bugs that prey on our houseplants and invade our cellars? In a word, no.

This book reminds us that these little creatures play an important ecological role, no matter how under researched or unnoticed it may be. With their fantastic array of colors and great many variations in shape, size, and ecological role, it is hard not to be charmed by the bugs in these pages and to look with ever more wonder the next time I meet one in the real world.

The book is available now in our gift shop, and many of the plants listed in the book as host to these insects can be purchased at our FloraKansas Native Plant Days, coming up soon!

Celebrating and Protecting our Native Birds

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Lorna Harder

In the late 19^th century, the rising fashion of feather plumes on hats and an appetite for wild game had taken a steep toll on native bird populations in the United States. By 1900 more than fifty North American bird species were on the brink of extinction, among them the Great Egret.

*Great Egret at the Dyck Arboretum in March of 2022. Photo by Gerald Leinbach.*

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count

Alarmed, citizens joined with scientists and lawmakers to take action to protect birds. Among them were Boston socialite Harriet Hemenway, who initiated a boycott of feathered hats, and ornithologist Frank Chapman, who proposed counting birds on Christmas Day. Thus began the Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), marking the beginning of the longest running citizen science project in U.S. history.

From that first count day in 1900, growing numbers across the country joined in. Among them were the Ruth Sisters and Dwight Platt, who initiated the Halstead-Newton (KS) CBC in 1949. Like their counterparts across the continent, local birders have, for the past 75 years, fanned out across local rural and urban landscapes each Christmas season, to count and record birds that are seen and heard. Their reports, combined with CBC reports from across the nation, have contributed to a rich and growing database of information – information that helps us understand the status of North American birds.

*Harris’ Sparrow at Dyck Arboretum in March of 2023. Photo by Dick Zerger.*

Declining Native Bird Populations

Despite century-old laws that protect native birds, in 2019, the first-ever comprehensive assessment of net population changes in the U.S. and Canada showed staggering across-the-board declines. All told, the North American bird population is down by 2.9 billion breeding birds in every biome – that amounts to 1 in 4 birds lost. Grasslands showed the steepest declines of all. Habitat loss is a major reason for these losses in the 20^th century.

2.9 Billion birds gone. Graphic by Jillian Ditner. — *Image: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/vanishing-1-in-4-birds-gone/*

Making a Difference for Native Birds

Yet, not all the news out of this assessment is dire. Some groups of birds are doing well, and for good reason—governments, societies and citizens have invested in saving them. Wetlands conservation efforts and dedicated conservation funding like the Duck Stamp have paid off with healthy waterfowl populations. Raptors benefited from conservation policies, like Endangered Species legislation and the banning of harmful pesticides such as DDT. The gains among game birds like the Wild Turkey are due to dedicated conservation funding and efforts of hunting groups. People can bring back our birds!

*Image: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/vanishing-1-in-4-birds-gone/*

Want to know how YOU can help save native birds? Here are seven simple steps!

Make windows safer, night and day. Up to a billion birds die each year colliding into windows. Screens, lines, or films break reflectivity during the day, and turning off lights at night during migration prevents birds from getting disoriented.
Keep cats indoors and work to reduce feral cat populations. Up to 2.6 billion birds are killed annually by cats, the #1 human-caused reason for loss of birds aside from habitat loss.
Reduce lawn and plant natives. Replacing 40 million acres of lawn in the U.S. with native plants offers huge opportunities to provide food, shelter and nesting areas that sustain birds.
Avoid Pesticides. Pesticides can be toxic to birds directly, or contaminate the seeds and insects they eat. Good for you and the birds!
Drink coffee that is good for the birds. Shade-grown coffee preserves forest canopy in tropical and subtropical regions of the world where migratory birds like orioles survive in winter.
Protect our planet from plastic. Waste plastic pollutes our oceans, harming sea-going birds. By reducing use of plastics, avoiding single-use plastics, and recycling, you are protecting our birds.
Become a community scientist! Watch birds and share what you see. Hundreds of thousands of people are reporting what they are seeing in backyards, neighborhoods, and natural places around the world. Join a project such as eBird, Project FeederWatch, Christmas Bird Count, or the Breeding Bird Survey. Your contributions will provide valuable information to show where birds are thriving—and where they need our help.

Have a happy holiday season with the birds! And be sure to visit the Kauffman Museum’s special travelling exhibit A Day with the Birds: Community Science and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, on display January through August 2024.

Category Archives: Wildlife