Friday, May 8, 2009

Beneficial insects

Here's a link on plants that attract beneficial insects:

Beneficial Insects

At least one of the recommended plants is highly invasive however, and exotic, so I ask you to not go there. The plant is Daucus carota, Queen Anne's Lace. Also, note that Maximilian's, or Prairie Sunflower, is native to Minnesota, so plant away ! Some references show this species as needing cold moist stratification to break dormancy on the seeds. However, I found the seeds sprouting in the bag in my refrigerator after just over a week or so of this treatment, so it doesn't need as long as may be recommended. And it may not need any stratification at all, though I haven't tried that. It could also be considered invasive, though native.

1 comment:

  1. Hiya Scott,
    A good project with the wild flower garden you have here. I don't do a lot of gardening but, probably for that reason, my 0.0101239 acre (that's 49 sq yds) patch on the Isle of Wight is a haven for native plants amidst the concrete patios and garden centre exotics.
    What you call Queen Anne's Lace I know as Wild Carrot, which grows on the clifftops near here and is indeed a great favourite with the insects. Our Queen Anne's Lace is Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) which looks beautiful lining the country lanes just now.

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