Pollinator Garden 2019

I can't believe I haven't updated about the pollinator garden in a blog post since 2017! I had a post sitting in drafts since last year and I've mentioned the garden many times on Instagram.

Some changes include the bird feeder being moved elsewhere, putting in a new bird bath, expanding the garden quite a bit, and planting more native plants. Speaking of the new bird bath...it is gorgeous! Steve got it from me during our second Annual Wold Lake Lawn Resort Vacation.

So pretty in the sunlight!

The pollinator garden looks wild, but that is exactly how I like my gardens to be...unruly and full of glorious texture. I planted mostly natives, with a focus on milkweed - since my last update I added Asclepias sullivantii, A. verticillata, A. syriaca, and A. tuberosa. A lot of milkweed spread, most notably the swamp and whorled milkweeds.

The wild bergamot I planted the first year spread significantly, to the point where I'll have to control it better next year. The lupine never came back, but the poke milkweed made a return in 2018 and 2019. I'm not sure the spotted beebalm or dianthus returned in 2019, but since the garden is so dense it is possible I just didn't notice them.  The silphium has yet to bloom, though the leaves seem to be doing well every time they come back up.

I missed some hostas when I tried to remove them last time, so hopefully I didn't leave any rhizomes this time around. Silver maple and boxelder seedlings are nuisances, but they're nothing compared to the field bindweed and creeping Charlie. I also let the fennel and bronze fennel go to seed the first year, naively thinking I'd have a few free fennel plants. (Dear past self: hahahahaha.)

Bronze fennel and fennel

We had so many insects, arachnids, and even a frog about the pollinator garden. I've been rearing swallowtail caterpillars, thanks to the fennel. It is really nice to see all the critters that visit or live in this small, wild space I've created for them.

I've tried to keep a list of all the plants I've put in this garden, but I went a bit crazy and didn't record everything. This is a list off the top of my head of what should still be in the pollinator garden:

Asclepias exaltata
A. incarnata
A. incarnata 'Cinderella'
A. incarnata 'Soulmate'
A. sullivantii
A. syriaca
A. tuberosa
A. verticillata
Aquilegia canadensis
Carex bebbii & C. radiata
Echinacea purpurea
E. pallida 
Eryngium yuccifolium
Eutrochium maculatum
Foeniculum vulgare
F. vulgare 'Purpureum'
Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote'
Liatris spicata
L. spicata 'Kobold'
Lobelia cardinalis
L. siphilitica
Monarda fistulosa
M. punctata
Nepeta cataria
Pycnanthemum virginianum 
Rudbeckia hirta
Silene regia 
Sisyrinchium angustifolium 'Lucerne'
Solidago sp.
Verbena hastata 
Veronicastrum virginicum
Zizia aurea 

Most of these plants were purchased from local native plant sales and at Gurnee Garden Center. I'm so excited to see what is in store for the pollinator garden in 2020! If you are interested in following along on updates to my gardens, follow me on Instagram!