Durham Garden Forum

05/29/2026

We are learning that some monarchs do fly back from Florida! 🦋

Monarchs are famous for migrating to their overwintering sites in Mexico and California, but every year, some actually end their journeys in Florida. It’s always been a bit of a mystery what happens to these butterflies. One idea is that they and their offspring stay in Florida and get absorbed into a year-round residential population that never leaves.

But thanks to new Bluetooth radio tags, Xerces scientists discovered that monarchs that overwintered in the panhandle and north-central Florida flew north this spring, with one making it as far as Alabama!

Depending on the numbers of monarchs emerging and migrating north from Florida, these migrants could add to populations in the Northeast, but there is a risk. A high percentage of monarchs in many Florida cities and suburbs are infected with a protozoan parasite called OE. OE is spread largely from non-native tropical milkweed. Native milkweeds die back each winter, killing off the parasites, but tropical milkweed does not, leading to a buildup of parasites.

Thankfully, we’ve found that monarchs overwintering in Florida’s natural areas with native plants had low levels of OE! Floridians should continue to support the conservation of public lands in their state, and replace tropical milkweed with native species.

Learn more about this discovery ⤵️

https://xerces.org/press/florida-may-play-bigger-role-in-monarch-butterfly-survival-than-previously-thought

05/29/2026

Easy Tip Layering: A Guide to Hydrangea Propagation, by Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master Gardener℠ volunteer of Durham County

Jeff Kanters discusses the art of "tip layering" for plant propagation. He's had success at tip layering hydrangeas, and this method can be used with a variety of plants. An advantage of tip layering is that you may get a larger plant established more quickly than a smaller rooted cutting.

Jeff tells us what tools are needed for a successful propagation, and also outlines a step-by-step approach. Give it a try, free plants!

Read more about tip layering here ➡ https://wp.me/p2nIr1-7uD

📸 Photo: An impressive flowering Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

05/29/2026

WOODY KEYSTONE PLANTS: The Viburnum genus ranks fairly high for larval host support in the Wild Ones list of native woody plants, supporting caterpillars of 104 Lepidopteran species, including the Columbia, Polyphemus, and Little Wife Underwing moths as well as the Red-banded and Banded Hairstreak butterflies. In addition, the flowers of these shrubs attract pollinators for nectar and pollen, while their fruits are a critical food source for birds from late summer into the winter. The tendency for some species to form dense, multi-stemmed thickets provides excellent cover and nesting sites for birds, such as cardinals, robins, and mockingbirds.
There are ten species of Viburnum native to Virginia. Black Haw (Viburnum prunifolium), the tallest species at 12 to 15 feet, is common throughout the state. Arrowwood (V. dentatum) and its variant (now designated as V. recognitum) are also widely distributed. Both of these species grow well in dry to moist soil and can be used in shrub borders or as a hedge or screen. Possumhaw (V. nudum), which is indigenous to the Coastal Plain and Piedmont, does best in moist to wet conditions and is well-suited for use in low spots, in rain gardens, or beside streams or ponds.
Learn more about the characteristics and care of Black Haw and Possumhaw on the MGNV website at https://mgnv.org/plants/native-plants/shrubs/

05/29/2026

Can you help the bumble bees?

05/29/2026

Pipsissewa or Striped Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata) is native to eastern North America and it’s blooming right now in my area of the South Carolina Piedmont. You can find it in shady pine-hardwood forests with clay soils. Despite its name, the leaves of Striped Wintergreen do not have a wintergreen taste or odor, nor is it used as a winter green flavoring. The interesting coloration of the leaves gives it another name - Dragon's Tongue.

In late spring, Striped Wintergreen has nodding white flowers that are pollinated by native bumblebees. If you look closely at its outer ring of tan anthers (pollen producing structures) below the white petals, you’ll notice that they are bifurcated and have a tiny hole at their tip. The wing vibrations of a hovering bumblebee cause pollen to exit these holes and dust the bumblebee (see the comments for a close-up of the flowers). As the dusted bumblebee visits other Striped Wintergreen flowers, some of this pollen will adhere to the sticky, green stigma in the center of the flower. After this pollination, s***m within the pollen can fertilize an egg within the female part of the flower (the pistil). The nodding flowers of Striped Wintergreen turn upward as the seed capsules are produced over the summer.

05/29/2026

Golden Alexanders are the native host plant for the Black Swallowtail. Plant these.

The Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) is a butterfly species commonly found in gardens. Its range extends from southern Canada through the eastern and midwestern United States, reaching west to the Rocky Mountains and into parts of the southwest, including Arizona and northern Mexico.

05/29/2026

Little things we can do to help wildlife around our yards.

What you did right this month — and what the yard did with it.

You left the leaf litter under the shrubs.
→ Firefly larvae completed the pupal stage underneath it.

You left the dead branch on the oak.
→ A chickadee nested in the cavity and fed her chicks from it all month.

You didn't spray the caterpillar web.
→ Dozens of bird species fed from it. The tree releafed on its own.

You left a bare patch of soil near the fence.
→ Ground-nesting bees moved in.

You left a dish of wet mud near the wall.
→ The barn swallow rebuilt.

You didn't mow the back edge.
→ The tall grass gave fireflies a place to flash and fledglings a place to hide.

🌿 None of this cost anything. No purchase, no project, no permit.

The things you didn't do mattered more than the things you did. The leaf litter you didn't rake. The branch you didn't cut. The edge you didn't mow.

The yard noticed 🐾

05/29/2026

Ferns are so cool.