The “Bugs” of Serendipity Gardens: an Invisible Army

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Grasshopper camaflagedOne of my gardening goals for this year was to pay more attention to the bugs in Serendipity Gardens. I am using the term “bugs” very broadly to include all the small creatures that crawl, hop,  or fly — such as bees, beetles, butterflies, caterpillars, and spiders. In this post, the word “bug” also includes creatures that camouflage themselves perfectly, like the grasshopper in the photo, and more. Put more simply, my intent was to learn more about ALL my garden’s inhabitants.

A New Attitude Toward Bugs

In previous years, like many gardeners, I simply thought of bugs as pests. I felt thankful that I did not seem to have too many, though I did see evidence of leaf-eating insects from time to time and every now and then, I caught sight of a slimy slug. Basically, the bugs were things to get rid of. Over time, however, as I became more interested in developing an ecosystem, I also began to wonder about the bugs that live there.

This past winter,  I read Jessica Wallister’s book Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control. The book  was my inspiration for wanting to know the bugs better. From Wallister, I learned just how important the bugs are in the whole scheme of gardening — bad bugs and good bugs alike, since the former are often the food of the latter.

Here are Wallister’s own words:

“An ecosystem, in essence, is a community of organisms functioning hand in hand with their environment and each other to exchange energy and create a nutritional cycle. Insects are innately connected to each and every activity occurring in the ecosystem of your garden … Plants are unable to survive without them.”

The bottom line seems to be — it’s all about the food!

Something Ate My Hops!

Hops, eatenThe serious plant pests we had  this summer included sawfly larva, which decimated a rose early in the spring; the ubiquitous Japanese beetles, which finished off the rose blossoms later in the summer; aphids that sucked on swamp milkweed stems; web worms that colonized a viburnum; and whatever ate my hops, shown here. The damage is pretty incredible, but we never saw anything doing it.

Perhaps the worst infestation in Serendipity Gardens happened two years ago. During a particularly hot summer, we had an attack on the baptisia from the Genista Broome moth. The moth larva very nearly ate all the leaves off that beautiful plant before I even noticed, and ultimately, after we picked the moth larva off and killed them, we had to cut the plant to the ground. It came back the following year, however, apparently none the worse for the experience.

Otherwise, we have not had major plant pest outbreaks. I assume this is because frogs, toads, birds and good bugs help me keep the bad boys more or less under control. The funny thing is that the good bugs seem to be almost invisible!

The Good Bugs I Saw … and the Ones I Didn’t

Wallister helps me understand why I see so few bugs when she writes:

“… there is another group of insects that is equally valuable to gardeners. The significance of their work is less recognizable — in part because the results are less tangible to us as the work takes place on a scale far smaller than our own. It’s hard to notice what you don’t see.”

Most every day, I see various species of bees and other pollinators buzzing around in the garden. Two plants they particularly like at this time of year are Lemon Queen sunflower and September Charm anemone, both shown here:

Bee on SunflowersBee on Anemone

I saw the outbreak of yellow jackets that was brought under control when a predator of some sort, possibly a skunk, ate most of them. A few ladybugs have been visible, along with some red and black bugs that seem to like the milkweed. Creatures that look like black butterflies are common sights, but when they fly from a plant to the ground, they reveal themselves as grasshoppers. Webs signal that one or a few spiders are lurking nearby. Occasionally a dragonfly skims the air near the pond. Butterflies and hummingbird moths sip nectar, while the crickets that I cannot see make their autumn racket.  But these are all I saw, despite several bug-hunting trips around the garden.

A Continuing Goal

What most strikes me as I write this post, is that despite my goal, I remain fairly ignorant of the bugs that live in Serendipity Gardens. Clearly, I need to hone my ability to observe, understand and appreciate ALL the wildlife that inhabits the garden. In the meantime, I am very thankful for the work the bugs do every day. I want to plant things for all of them to eat!

Are you, like the crew at Serendipity Gardens, changing your attitude toward bugs?

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