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The Maypop Hill Newsletter
The Maypop Hill Newsletter
An occasional report of what’s growing at Maypop Hill Nursery and the Miley homestead
An occasional report of what’s growing at Maypop Hill Nursery and the Miley homestead
in Norwood, LA; to subscribe to the free newsletter, contact us by email:
in Norwood, LA; to subscribe to the free newsletter, contact us by email:
maypophill@gmail.com
maypophill@gmail.com. Website:
. Website: maypophill.com
maypophill.com
December
2021
A pocket of perennials to please pollinators
A nature
photographer,
Michael Glaspell,
recently shared some
images from his own
yard and nearby
locations
-- of wildlife
and native plants.
His land-use ideas
incorporate tall
wildflowers and native
grasses for seasonal
interest, while
maintaining an
otherwise neat
appearance in a
residential
neighborhood.
Mikey, the nature-loving pooch
on page 4, helped us find this
little shy guy,
a Common Checkered Skipper,
according to the New Orleans
Bug Lady, Linda Auld.
The skipper was
in the
back 40 pasture,
“nectaring” on
horse manure.
Very few
flowers bloom
for us this late
in the year,
but we do
occasionally
see a bee or
butterfly
←Painted
Buntings (also
known as the
Rainbow Bird &
Box of Crayons)
are shy birds that
eat seeds,
including those
from native
grasses like
switchgrass, as
well as pigweed,,
wood sorrel,
St. John’s Wort.
They may
come to bird
feeders to take
white proso millet
and black oil
sunflower seeds.
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Bee Pasture, open and sunny,
preferably planted with
perennial native wildflowers
seed mixes which contain no
invasive weedy species
ideally, seed mixes collected
from similar latitudes
and soil types
Planning for Pollinators
for backyard beekeepers
and bumblebee ranchers
and edible landscaping
and environmental land use
Even a small-ish suburban lot can include some
design features that improve habitat for butterflies,
bees, birds, and other desirable wildlife.
Even much more better is to connect with neighbors
who participate in creating wildlife corridors
Eco-lawn
clovers,
low-growing perennials
grasses cut 3-4”
Orchard
Blueberry
Plums
Pear
Elderberry
Woodland Fringe
(not dense shade)
Red Maple
Titi (Cyrilla)
Magnolia
Sourwood **
Vines, trellised and well-pruned
Yellow Jessamine
Coral Honeysuckle
Passionflower
A neighbor-friendly front yard,
sufficiently manicured so that someone won’t
ask you if your lawnmower is broken
(which, yes, did happen to us, when
Miss Clara kindly offered to let us borrow hers.)
Pollinator Gardener’s House,
with maps of plantings, books, literature about
beekeeping,, soil test results, photos, seed catalogs
**
Choose plants
that match site’s
soil nutrients,
moisture,
sun/shade
Herb garden
borage, sage/salvia,
oregano, rosemary, others;
near-native annuals like
zinnias and cosmos
Perennial Pollinator Patch
seasonally changed to present
a showy mix of wildflowers and shrubs
that attract butterflies and people
Clean water
Pesticide-free
zone

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Maypop Hill Nursery & Publications
4979 Spec Garig Rd., Norwood, LA
Betty & LJ Miley, specializing in native plants of the South
email: maypophill@gmail.com web: maypophill.com Geaux native!
Mikey, go find any flowers and things that look pretty in
December. But don’t eat the daisies!
OK, Mom, here’s a
little goldenrod.
This is cute,
smells like a
wild onion.
.
Can I eat the
Winter Huckleberries?
The red ones don’t
look ripe.
If I rub the
witch hazel
flowers
on my
snakebite scar,
will it quit itching?