Discoveries Out & About: Poke Milkweed ~ Asclepias exaltata

Poke (Tall) Milkweed ~ Asclepias exaltata


It's always nice to see a different type of milkweed, another plant for the Monarchs and the Monarch Mimicry Complex insects. I spotted this milkweed at a local park recently before it started to flower. It was growing in partial shade at the edge of an oak woodland. I also saw some plants in deeper shade too.

The Large Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) was the giveaway. Patiently waiting for the milkweed to flower and set seed where it will lay its eggs.

I later saw the Milkweed Leaf Beetle (Labidomera clivicollis) too, feeding on the leaves.

The flowers clusters are erect before opening, then droop downwards as they open. A very attractive and tall milkweed (reaching heights up to 5 feet), with large opposite leaves.

If you have a partially shaded spot with good moisture this is a great milkweed to add to your landscape.

Prairie Moon Nursery has seeds for sale.

Wasp Mimics

Related Posts
Robber Flies
Bee Mimics

The insect diversity in our yard has increased significantly each year since adding native plants.

My husband spotted this black and yellow wasp mimic just this weekend perched on some foliage.

Xylomya terminalis

It's actually a fly dressed like a parasitic wasp. A Xylomyid Fly (Xylomya terminalis), it lays eggs under bark or in wet wood where its larvae develop and "feed on the larvae of other insects" (Insects Their Natural History and Diversity). I would suspect that its larvae are parasitized by Ichneumon wasps.

The second wasp mimic spotted recently in the yard was a Stilt-Legged Fly (Rainieria antennaepes). These tiny long legged flies even have a thread waist like a wasp. "...this species waves its white-tipped front legs much the way wasps wave their antennae." "Stilt-legged flies are easy to watch, since they frequent exposed leaves and other surfaces where curious naturalists can get an eyeful of their strange sex lives." (Insects Their Natural History and Diversity)

Native Plant of the Week: Red Elderberry ~ Sambucus racemosa

Red Elderberry ~ Sambucus racemosa


Red Elderberry is a native shrub of woodlands and woodland openings. It is very common and new shrubs emerge frequently from bird dispersed seeds.




One of the first shrubs to leaf out in the spring, its white conical flowers open as early as the beginning of May.

Red Elderberry has long arching branches that grow quickly (and weakly due to the pithy stems). It often dies back significantly in the winter to resprout from the base. Because of this is does need some extra attention if you want to manage its form in gardens. Otherwise, you can let it grow naturally. It can reach heights of 10 feet or more but more commonly is around 6 feet.

Emerging leaves and flowers are welcomed by early emerging pollinators, other insects and migrating birds. This year we had several Orange Crowned Warblers that worked over the Red Elderberry shrubs over a two week period eating the insects. Read and earlier post about this.

This is a wonderful all around native shrub for wildlife. The red fruit is just maturing now which attracts many bird species including the Gray Catbird, Waxwings, Robins and Flycatchers.

It makes an attractive backdrop to native perennials, or as a featured grouping as a bird friendly thicket. It performs really well in our dry woodland as an understory shrub. It is most often found in upland wooded openings whereas the Canada Elderberry, which flowers later, prefers moister, lower lying locations.

USDA Plants Database

Red Elderberry is native to most of North America. See map.

Robber Flies: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

No, that's no bumble bee. It's actually a fly dressed like a bee (bee mimic). This disguise tricks predators into thinking that they're a stinging insect so they're left alone. On the flip side, they are voracious hunters as they predate and ambush their insect prey.

I was excited to spot this Robber Fly (Laphria flavicollis) the other day in the garden. It gave away its true identity when it landed and folded its two wings back behind it.

Other differences between these flies and bees include the hairy beards and wide set eyes "to scan for appropriate prey. They generally dart out from their perches to capture other insects, which they usually impale with their snout, forward-facing mouthparts, usually penetrating the victims through the neck or other chinks in the prey's chitinous armor. Robber flies use their mouthparts not only to impale prey, but also to inject a mixture of powerful nerve poisons and enzymes that liquefy the tissues of their victims. (Insects, Their Natural History and Diversity)

Another Laphria species, Laphria sericea was photographed in the yard last week. These flies are "common sights along woodland paths, where they sit on exposed leaves or twig tips and scan a discrete search area for potential prey." (Insects, Their Natural History and Diversity) This Robber Fly has distinctive orange hairs that cover the abdomen and thorax.

Another photo of Laphria sericea (atkis complex) that I photographed at a local park last year.

"Robber flies are strong flyers, and usually capture prey on the wing. It is not unusual for them to capture insects larger than themselves". (Insects of the North Woods)
Read an earlier post about Bee Mimics

A Wasp Short Cut to Nectar

Short Green Tongue

Many of our native bees have long tongues to reach the nectar in tubular flowers. These include Bumble Bees, Carpenter Bees and Miner Bees.

They travel up long tubed flowers reach the nectar sources with their tongues then back out of the flower to move on to the next.

While watching mason wasps in the garden last week, they seemed to be really attracted to our Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus) but did not attempt to crawl up the flower. Instead they were landing on top.

On closer inspection, I realized that they were chewing a hole through the flower with their powerful mandibles to reach the nectar at the top of the flower.

As it turns out, the majority of the flowers on my Hairy Beadtongue plants have holes in them.

What an ingenious and easy short cut.

Have you seen this behavior before?

Native Plant of the Week: Ohio Spiderwort ~ Tradescantia ohiensis

Common (Ohio) Spiderwort ~ Tradescantia ohiensis


Common Spiderwort is a great native perennial plant for well drained soils. Its showy three petaled flowers open in early spring and flower into July.

We added several Common Spiderwort plants in our grant plan last year where we did a wildlife corridor between our prairie species into the backyard shaded woodland.

The plants are doing really well in our sandy soils, the flowers open up in the mornings, close for the mid-day heat then reopen in the evenings for pollinators.

Common Spiderwort has a unique form, the long linear leaves branch out horizontally like arms. It contrasts well with any other plants.

Pollinators include syrphid flies who like the open flowers with easy access.

If you have well drained soils in full or part sun, this is a nice native to include in your landscape. Many forms of Spiderwort are readily available through the horticultural nursery trade. The flower color can range from purple, pink, light blue and white.

Common Spiderwort is native to eastern North America from Ontario south to Texas and eastwards.

Red Spotted Admiral Butterfly ~ Limenitis arthemis

Red Spotted Admiral Butterfly ~ Limenitis arthemis


Here in central Minnesota, we are in a hybridization zone of two subspecies of the Red Spotted Admiral butterfly. The White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis) and the Red-Spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax). "In the blend zone, all possible combinations of the traits of the two subspecies can be found." (Butterflies Through Binoculars, The East)

I saw one of these hybrids in our yard yesterday pictured in the first photo. This butterfly could be classified as the Red Spotted Purple except for the two white spots on the outer front wings.

Another hybridization of the two subspecies photographed a couple of years ago.

The White Admiral has a broad white band and is darker in color. This butterfly was photographed in the Boundary Waters near the Canadian border.

The side profile of the White Admiral with its white band. The Red Spotted Purple is similar except the white band is absent.

The major native foodplant for the White Admiral is Birch and Poplar trees and the Red Spotted Purple prefers Cherry trees.

The hybridization zone stretches "from southern Maine south to Connecticut, and in the mountains of Maryland, and west to southern Minnesota. (Butterflies Through Binoculars, The East)

Road Trip: Central Ontario, Part 3

Fringed Milkwort
Polygala paucifolia

A native plant synopsis of our recent road trip to central Ontario from Minneapolis through northern Wisconsin & Upper Michigan.

Other posts about this trip:

Upper Michigan, Part 1

Central Ontario, Part 1

Central Ontario, Part 2

We drove north into the Bruce Peninsula, a peninsula in Lake Huron separating the main part of the Lake and Georgian Bay. This Peninsula's bedrock is comprised of limestone, the northern end of the Niagara escarpment that runs through Ontario and into upstate New York.

Fringed Milkwort (Polygala paucifolia) was in full bloom in the cedar woodlands and edges. This tiny plant only reaches heights of about 6 inches. The irregular flower is five parted, with two larger sepals that look like wings. Another common name for this native is Gay-Wings.

A nice surprise along the road was Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea). Growing in shallow soils on top of the limestone bedrock in both full and part sun.

The most surprising roadside plant was Yellow Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium parviflorum). Very abundant in the clearings, also growing in shallow soils and full sun. I have never seen so many scattered in such a large area.

We camped at Bruce Peninsula National Park. We hiked a couple of miles from the campground to the rocky limestone shoreline of Lake Huron.

This Peninsula is a favorite spot for divers for all the shipwrecks around the Peninsula and the very clear water.

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) was growing in amongst the large boulders.

A native Geranium (Geranium bicknellii) was also making a go of it in the rocks. This Geranium is a very common native of both woodlands and more open or disturbed areas in Ontario.

Near our campsite and along the hiking trails were many Striped Coralroot orchids (Corallorhiza striata). We saw these in moist shaded areas under White Cedars.

Close up of the Striped Coralroot flowers.  

Native Plant of the Week: Large Flowered Beardtongue ~ Penstemon grandiflorus

Large Flowered Beardtongue ~ Penstemon grandiflorus


The Large Flowered Beardtongue is one of the showiest Penstemon species in our garden. The large light purple tubular flowers are very attractive and are set off by the silvery-gray clasping leaves.

A short-lived perennial (sometimes biennial) readily self seeds so you will usually have this native flowering each year. It thrives in our sandy soils in full sun, the poorer the soil the better. A nice companion right now with our native Lupines which are also in full bloom.

This native is very effective utilized in a mass planting, attracting many bee species who work their way up the tubular flowers. After the flowers are finished the silver foliage continues to be an attractive feature.

We have grown it successfully from seed and have since collected seed from our plants are resown it in different areas of our landscape.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
2011. North American Plant Atlas. Chapel Hill, N.C.

See map below for native range.

Road Trip: Central Ontario, Part 2

A native plant synopsis of our recent road trip to central Ontario from Minneapolis through northern Wisconsin & Upper Michigan.

Bluebead Lily
Clintonia borealis

Other posts about this trip:
Upper Michigan, Part 1
Central Ontario, Part 1

The central Ontario landscape is made up of huge granite rock outcroppings known as the 'Canadian Shield' where glaciers receded leaving vast areas of exposed bedrock.

We stopped at the French River area and it was great to see Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) in flower, before this I had only seen it with its blue berry later in the summer. The shiny green basal leaves look similar to an orchid species. A native of shady, medium moisture woods.

Small Striped Maples (Acer spicatum) were flowering along the woodland openings. This is an extremely versatile small tree, tolerating many different soil types and moisture levels.

Its mature height is about 15 feet, and it can tolerate a quite a bit of shade in an understory. The mature bark has vertical stripes.

Striped Maple
Acer spicatum

Striped Maple flowers are beautiful, cascading downwards like rain chains. The light yellow-green flowers were in full bloom at the end of May.

A typical plant combination on the open sunny bedrock. The Common Juniper (Juniperus communis) which is the basis for many spreading Juniper horticultural varieties. Also more Low-Bush Blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) and several moss species.

A great woodland combination of Bluebead Lilies, Wild Sarsparilla (Aralis nudicaulis), American Starflower (Trientalis borealis), Canada May Flower (Maianthemum canadense), Wood sedges and Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum).

In the extremely shallow soils was Pale Corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens), this native annual (sometimes biennial) plant was in full bloom.

With softly lobed blue-gray leaves this native reaches about 40 inches in height (in good soils).

The tubular flowers are medium pink with yellow tips and hang downwards in clusters.

Further south, Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) was flowering. This evergreen woody native makes a great groundcover in dry acidic soils.

More Canada May Flower (Maianthemum canadense), growing between a rock and Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera).

The Large Yellow Lady's Slippers were in full bloom too further south, as featured in the Native Plant of the Week post last week.

Also Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis), one of my favorites in this area.

Read the post about this native.

Last but not least, a new butterfly sighting, Juvenal's Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) seen puddling in a muddy pot-hole in the woods. This butterfly's major foodplant is Oak trees.