Gardens are alive – sharing space with nature’s creatures
I was just out in my garden where many flowers are in bloom. While looking at a flowering lavender, I counted six or seven honeybees feasting on the nectar in the blue flowers as well as a bumblebee checking out the whole garden. Butterflies were also flitting around, inspecting the flowers. I spotted both pipevine swallowtails and anise swallowtails.
One winter a mud dauber wasp and company took up residence on a shed door on the inside. Over the winter the population got smaller, and in the spring they left. I never disturbed them and never knew where they went.
Pipevine swallowtails lay their eggs on the leaves of pipevine (Aristolochia spp.), also called Dutchman’s pipe. Anise swallowtails lay their eggs on wild fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). The pipevine swallowtail males are black and blue; the females, all black, are constantly laying eggs on my pipevine. The anise swallowtails have not laid eggs yet but I’m hopeful they will.
I often see young blue belly lizards sunning themselves and waiting to catch dinner. For many years, these lizards have lived inside a small shed on my property. They emerge under the door to catch some rays. I saw five of them the other day. The males are black on their backs, a sign that it’s spring and they are eager to mate. I have named them all “Lizzy.” Many of them also live outside the shed and my dog, Joy, knows where each one is. She never has personal contact, however.
I don’t usually go out in the dark, so I don’t see the creatures of the night. However, I did meet a skunk one night in my nightgown while I was looking for my cat. I never backed up so fast in my life.
Bats and moths, both pollinators, fly around after the sun goes down. A few years ago I put up a bat nest, following all the instructions, but I never had a tenant.
I recently read that we should leave moths alone as we need them to pollinate our crops. Moths are in the same family as butterflies and make up about 75 percent of the Lepidoptera species. Some like to get into closets and snack on wool, but they will leave polyester alone.
I am a champion of the tomato horn worm. Most people will kill them if they see them, but I prefer to put them on soil with a bottle over them and feed them tomato leaves. When they are ready, they burrow into the soil, emerging the following spring as night-flying sphinx moths. One of their favorite plants is Nicotiana.
I have a few large worm bins and creatures move into them all the time. The bottoms are lined with wire mesh so moles can’t enter, but sow bugs and other bugs come and go. I also see occasional garter snakes of varying sizes. I think they come to eat the small toads that live in my worm bins. Some of the toads will sit on my hand while I move things around. They also eat the flies that get into worm bins, and I would not be surprised if they snacked on a worm. Typically the worms don’t come to the surface of the bin, and the toads don’t go down.
One fly that I welcome in my worm bin is the soldier fly in its larval stage. The larvae munch away on the organic matter, decomposing it quickly, so I’m happy to see them. After they hatch, they seem to head right back to the bin and lay eggs.
Among the unwelcome visitors are snails and slugs. They are hermaphrodites (they have both male and female parts) and lay dozens of eggs multiple times a year.
One summer, I coexisted with a black widow spider. She lived in one corner of the worm bin, tending her eggs and web, and I stayed out of her way. I read that they only bite when frightened, and we learned to live with each other.
I have a similar relationship with the spiders around my house. When their web gets too big, I take it down and they rebuild. They help keep flies under some control. Most of these spiders are daddy longlegs and they love my garage.
I did have one unfortunate experience with a brown recluse spider. I was cleaning at my mom’s home and felt a pain in my wrist. That’s when I saw the brown beast. After a couple of days, I had an open wound that was sore. When I went to the doctor, he immediately told me not to move from my seat, and he treated me with antibiotics right away. I still have a small scar. Luckily for us, they are rarely seen in California.
Although I live close to the Napa River, I no longer find bullfrogs, large toads, salamanders and some of the butterflies I used to see. This makes me sad. Did you know that you can lay a bullfrog on its back and it won’t move? I put many a frog back in the river just by doing that.
For the most part I live happily with the creatures in my garden. Most are beneficial and many are interesting. For instance, why does a lizard run in front of me when it goes to hide? If I were the lizard, I would head the other way. I also have moles and gophers but that is another story. I’m not sure I am winning that battle.
Composting Workshop: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for a free backyard composting workshop on Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Skyline Wilderness Park, 2201 Imola Ave., Napa. No park entrance fee for registered workshop attendees. At the end of the workshop, you may purchase a discounted compost bin for $20. Register here.
Library Talk: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County and Napa County Library for a free talk on “Growing Cown: Our Field Test Favorites” on Thursday, May 7, from 7 to 8 p.m. via Zoom. Master Gardeners experimented with corn in home gardens and share their findings. Register here.
Tree Walk: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County on a free guided tree walk in Napa’s Fuller Park on Friday, May 8, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Discover some of the many exotic and native trees in this historic park. Meet at the corner of Jefferson and Oak. Space is limited and registration is required for each participant.
Help Desk: The Master Gardener Help Desk is available to answer your garden questions. Use our online Plant Problem Help Form or email us at [email protected]. Include your name, address, phone number and a brief description of the problem. You can also visit us in person on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa.
