Oregon Native: Blue Elderberry

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Ashland Garden Club

Plant Name: Sambucus nigra caerulea
Common name: Blue Elderberry
Plant Type: Deciduous Shrub or Small Tree
Plant Height: 6’ – 20’
Spread: 6’ – 20’
Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
Flower Color: Cream or Yellow Flowers & Blue Berries in Fall.
Exposure: Part Shade to Full Sun.

Soil Requirements: Tolerates a variety of moist soils,
but prefers well-drained.
Water Needs: Regular Irrigation.
Attributes: Food Source for Birds; Deer Resistant; Attracts Bees & Butterflies.
Note: Accepts Pruning Easily; Susceptible to Canker, Powdery Mildew, Leaf Spot, Spider Mites, Aphids, Borers.
Uses: Bee, Bird, Butterfly Gardens; Bank Stabilization; Hedge; Pond/Steam Edge Planting.
Native to: Western North America
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 – 9

Report by: Viki Ashford

Photos from: Oregon State University https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/sambucus-nigra-subsp-cerulea

Oregon Native: Oceanspray

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Ashland Garden Club

Plant Name: Holodiscus discolor
Common name: Oceanspray
Plant Type: Broadleaf Deciduous Shrub
Plant Height: 4’ – 10’
Spread: 10’ – 15’
Bloom Time: May, June, July
Flower Color: Creamy White
Exposure: Sun to Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Moist; Gravelly or Rocky Soil; Adaptable to Most Soils, but with Good Drainage.
Water Needs: Tolerates Low to High Moisture Level.
Attributes: Fragrant Flowers; Attracts Butterflies, Hummingbirds; Host for Beneficial Insects.
Note: Prune severely each year after flowering to maintain graceful shrub; Susceptible to Fire Blight.
Uses: Hedge; Deer Resistant
Native to: British Columbia to California
Oregon Native: YES
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5b – 10b

Report by: Viki Ashford

Photo from: Native Plants PNW http://nativeplantspnw.com/ocean-spray-holodiscus-discolor/

Insectary Gardening

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Ashland Garden Club

From Earth Easy

https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/garden-mini-insectary/Gardening for Beneficial Insects

Tips and Suggestions for Your Insectary Gardening

Intersperse vegetable beds with rows or islands of insectary annuals. This will add decorative elements to your vegetable beds while luring beneficials toward prey.
Allow some of your salad and cabbage crops to bloom. Brassica flowers (cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, bok choy) are also attractive to beneficial insects.
Include plants of different heights in your insectary. Ground beetles require the cover provided by low-growing plants such as thyme, rosemary, or mint. Lacewings lay their eggs in shady, protected areas, so providing such places near crop plants is a good idea.
Tiny flowers produced in large quantity are much more valuable than a single, large bloom. Large, nectar-filled blooms actually can drown tiny parasitoid wasps.
Members of the Umbelliferae family are excellent insectary plants. Fennel, angelica, coriander, dill, and wild carrot all produce the tiny flowers required by parasitoid wasps.
Composite flowers (daisy and chamomile) and mints (spearmint, peppermint, or catnip) will attract predatory wasps, hoverflies, and robber flies.
Grow green manure. Clover and vetch, commonly used as cover crops for soil enhancement, are also effective insectary plants.
Herbs (coriander, dill and fennel) will attract hoverflies, lacewings, ladybugs, and tachinid flies to your garden. Coriander (cilantro) is one of the top insectary plants. Caraway, chervil, dill, fennel, and parsley flowers are also valued insectary plants.

“Mini Insectary” Plants	Beneficial Predators Attracted
Achillea filipendulina (Yarrow)	Lacewings, Aphidius, Ladybugs
Alyssum	Hoverflies, Lacewings, Tachnid flies
Amaranthus (Amaranth)	Ground beetles
Anethum graveolens (Dill)	Ichneumon wasp, Ladybugs, Lacewings
Angelica gigas (Korean angelica, giant angelica, purple parsnip)	Lacewings
Convolvulus minor (Dwarf Monring Glory)	Ladybugs, Hoverflies
Coreopsis (Tickseed)	Hoverflies, Lacewings, Parasitic wasps
Cosmos bipinnatus (Garden Cosmos)	Hoverflies, Parasitic wasps, Lacewings
Digitalis (Foxglove)	Dicyphus
Daucus Carota (Queen Anne’s lace)	Lacewings, Ladybugs, Hoverflies
Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel)	Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel)
Helianthus annulus (common Sunflower)	Pirate bugs, Beneficial mites,, Aphidius, Parasitic wasps
Iberis umbellata (Candytuft)	Hoverflies
Limonium latifolium (Statice)	Hoverflies, Parasitic wasps
Lupine	Aphidius, Aphidoletes, Hoverflies
Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm)	Parasitic wasps, tachinid flies
Petroselinum crispum (Parsley)	Parasitic wasps, hoverflies, tachinid flies
Scabiosa (Pincushion flower)	Hoverflies, Parasitic wasps
Shasta Daisy	Pirate bugs, Beneficial mites

Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)	Ladybugs, Lacewings
Verbascum thaspus (Mullin)	Dicyphus

Beneficial Predators	Prey
Aphidius (Parasitic wasps)	Aphids
Aphidoletes (Small midge)	Aphids
Beneficial mites (many species)	Thrips, spidermite, fungus gnats
Damsel Bugs (Nabidae)	Eggs of many pest insects
Dicyphus	Whiteflies, aphids, thrips, spider mites
Ground Beetles	Slugs, small caterpillars and grubs
Hoverflies	Aphids, mealybugs and others
Lacewings	Scale, aphids, mites, softbodied insects
Ladybugs	Aphids, mites
Pirate Bugs	Thrips, aphids, mites, scales, whiteflies
Tachinid flies	Caterpillars, beetle and fly larvae
Parasitic Wasps (many species)	Whiteflies, moth, beetle and fly larvae

Horticulture Report: Cotoneaster horizontalis

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Ashland Garden Club

Plant Name: Cotoneaster horizontalis cotoneaster_horizontal
Common Name: Rockspray Cotoneaster
Plant type: Semi-evergreen shrub
Height: 2-3 ft
Width: 5-7 ft
Bloom Time: May – June
Flower Color: Pink (tiny flowers)
Exposure: Full sun to Part shade
Soil Requirements: Requires well-drained soil, Withstands poor soil, but best in loamy soil
Water Needs: Medium
Attributes: Groundcover, Fall color, Textured arching branches , Red berries for birds, Dense foliage, Slow-growing, Semi-prostrate
Note: Tough, Easy to grow, Drought tolerant once established
Uses: Rock gardens, Rock walls, Mass plantings, Erosion control for banks & slopes, Winter interest, Shelter for Beneficial insects
Native to: Western China
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-7

ASHLAND GARDEN CLUB

A Gathering of Gardeners Passionate About Growing Things in Ashland, Oregon

Tag Archives: Plants for Beneficial Insects

Oregon Native: Blue Elderberry

Oregon Native: Oceanspray

Insectary Gardening

Horticulture Report: Cotoneaster horizontalis