03/09/2025
You might judge the start of Spring by the first Skunk Cabbage, the Equinox, or with the blooming of the Red Maples. However you decide, it’s well on its way!
The transition of Winter into Spring is a great time to set an intention for what you want to learn this growing season. And in an attenpt to be as boring as I can, I’m committed to focusing on grasses 🌾
Grasses are easy to gloss over because they’re difficult to ID, but native grasses are important parts of our community. They’re the host plants for a number of Skippers (who, funny enough, are also really hard to ID!) and to the Little Wood Satyr (photo 2). Leaving areas of grass unmown throughout the year is essential to these butterfly populations. No Mow May does NOT cut it!! 🦋 Instead, opt for “no-mow” strips and be sure to focus on native grass.
Grasses are wind pollinated, but that doesn’t stop pollinators from harvesting their pollen! The honeybee in photo 3 is acting as a pest rather than a pollinator to this grass.
And, of course, grasses are some of our most important foods: wheat, rice, corn, oats, and sugarcane.
Remember that warm weather doesn’t mean it’s time for garden clean up! Wildlife is still hunkering down and need the leaf litter and dried stems from last year to make it all the way through early spring 🐝
