In this episode, Lisa and Pam visit with Connie Schmotzer, who walks us through the Penn State Pollinator Habitat Certification Program, revealing the steps to establishing diverse landscapes that sustain pollinators in all stages of their life cycle. She offers advice for gardeners of all levels, suggesting ways to transform even the smallest corner of your yard into a flourishing habitat.
In this episode, Lisa and Pam visit with Connie Schmotzer, who walks us through the Penn State Pollinator Habitat Certification Program, revealing the steps to establishing diverse landscapes that sustain pollinators in all stages of their life cycle. She offers advice for gardeners of all levels, suggesting ways to transform even the smallest corner of your yard into a flourishing habitat.
Hello everyone and welcome to Pollinator Confidential, a podcast featuring the untold stories of native plants and the pollinators who love them.
Pam:I'm Lisa Schneider and I'm Pam Ford, and we are Penn State Extension Master Gardeners from the Snetzinger Butterfly Garden Habitat Project, located in Tootick Park in State College PA.
Lisa:Well, pam, we've got a few weeks to go yet, but it looks like we've almost made it through another winter.
Pam:And it's late winter and you're starting to think about what we're going to do in the garden this year, and while you're planning, you're already thinking about supporting pollinators. So why not consider having your garden certified with the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners?
Lisa:And to tell us more about that we're talking today with Connie Schmozer. Connie was a consumer horticulture educator for Penn State Extension in York County for 22 years and in the last 15 years of her work with Extension her focus was on native plants and pollinators, including a three-year pollinator trial at Penn State's Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center, where master gardeners and staff monitored 84 species and cultivars of native plants for their attractiveness to pollinators, and she continues to provide leadership for that trial garden as well as coordinating the Penn State Pollinator Habitat Certification Program, which is the focus of our conversation today. Welcome, connie. Thank you for being here.
Connie Schmotzer:Oh, thank you for having me.
Pam:Back in 2011, when the discussion of pollinators and their habitat needs was fairly new. Connie, I remember you giving a presentation to a group of interested master gardeners about this newly developed Master Gardener Pollinator-Friendly Garden Certification Program. I've always wanted to know what led to the creation of the program, connie. How did that align with what was happening in the decline of pollinator populations?
Connie Schmotzer:Well, actually that was the reason we started the program. The years following colony collapse back in 2007 were filled with lots of questions about pollinators that no one really had the answer to, and as research began to shed light on the problems that pollinators face, we realized that gardens could be part of the solution. Our Master Gardener State Coordinator suggested that we start a certification program to encourage people to help pollinators, and a year later we accepted our first application.
Lisa:Great. So for those who aren't familiar, let's talk a little bit about the process. What's the first step?
Connie Schmotzer:If you think that you might qualify for certification or just want to start creating habitat for pollinators, the first thing to do is download the planning worksheet from the website. That worksheet details everything that you need to do for pollinator habitat and includes a comprehensive list of some of the very best pollen and nectar plants as well.
Pam:I certified my garden. I forget what year it was, but I was number nine. That was one of the first ones. Now there's over a thousand, I think. Oh, you're dating yourself.
Lisa:I know, I am.
Pam:And so when I look at the application now because I have to fill it out again because we moved the certification requirements have been adjusted over time.
Lisa:Yeah, if we look at it now, we can appreciate the increased focus on habitat needs, as opposed to just planting the right flowers, layered landscapes and providing for the whole life cycle and so forth. Connie, what have been the biggest changes to the certification requirements over the past 13 years?
Connie Schmotzer:Actually, the biggest change was an increase in the number of plants that are needed for certification.
Connie Schmotzer:We've had the shelter, the pesticides and invasive plants, in the certification for a long time, but we've found that what we really need most of all is for people to plant an abundance of plants, for pollinators, for blossoms.
Connie Schmotzer:In the very beginning we only required one tree or shrub and only six different perennials. We didn't specify the seasonality of those perennials or the numbers of each species that were needed. But we now know that a good habitat includes a wide diversity of food sources, of the trees and the shrubs as well as the herbaceous perennials, and that pollinators need nectar and pollen from March to November. So we've adjusted of the requirements on the application to meet those needs. But another change in the application is requiring a variety of pictures. When we first started we asked people to please send us pictures or a sketch, but we quickly found out that, since we can't go to the garden sites to evaluate them, we rely really heavily on good pictures to complement the application and show us that layout of garden beds that contain the required plants. We have a better idea of, you know, whether this particular application is showing us good habitat.
Pam:That is very, very helpful. It can sometimes be overwhelming to begin the process For my own property, because I live in a wooded area. We first had to tackle all the invasive shrubs that had taken over that wooded area.
Lisa:And I had a completely different challenge, which was a vast expanse of nothing, hardly any trees and only a few spring blooming shrubs and perennials. And I'm sure that everybody you know has their own unique challenges wherever they are, so it could be hard for them to know where to start. So, connie, what are some of the best ways to start that transition to a habitat? In other words, where do we begin?
Connie Schmotzer:There are so many different ways and, as you two just indicated, both your properties are so different and all our applicants are facing that as well. We often tell people one of the simplest ways is to just plant a native tree or some shrubs. Now, most properties can can absorb at least one tree or a couple of shrubs, because each tree and shrub will have myriads of blossoms you know thousands of blossoms and quickly provide nectar and pollen for pollinators without really too much effort on the homeowner's part. For those that have empty garden space and I think most of us probably do you know we've got beds that are mulched but there's a lot of space in between plants. Plug in some native pollinator plants into that mulch area.
Connie Schmotzer:The mulch isn't helpful for pollinators and filling in that empty space with plants instead of mulch actually makes it easier to care for. We kind of refer to all of that as green mulch. And then, lastly, most of us have more lawn than we really need. You know, lawn has a purpose a place for people to walk, a place for people to play. But for the most part we have a whole lot more than we need. So convert some of that to garden beds. Fill in those garden beds with really good pollinator plants, and you're well on your way to creating your great habitat.
Pam:So, connie, many people ask why it's so important to have native plants as the foundation of our habitats. Why is that? And maybe it would be helpful to define for everyone what is a native plant.
Connie Schmotzer:That's a good idea. Well, as you know, we base the whole certification on native plants. These are the plants that were here before the European settlement. Okay, so they go back hundreds and hundreds of years. Why are they important?
Connie Schmotzer:A number of reasons. First of all, 25 to 30% of our native bees are specialists. That means that they need pollen from a few select plants, plants that they co-evolved with and if they don't have those plants, they can't exist. Secondly, native plants are naturally timed to blue with the emergence of our native pollinators. A study back in 2002 at UC Berkeley found that natives were four times more attractive to pollinators than non-natives. And that all makes sense because of their co-evolution. And then those who are listening, who know Dr Doug Tallamy follow Dr Tallamy know that most butterfly and moth caterpillars can only feed on plants that they co-evolved with.
Connie Schmotzer:So in order to have those butterflies, we need those plants. And in order to have birds who rely on those caterpillars, we again need those native plants. So, yeah, pretty important. You don't have to have 100% natives in your yard, but one of the studies showed that in order to raise one nest of chickadees in your yard, you have to have 70% of your plants must be native and right now it's just the opposite. About 25 to 30% of the plants in your yard are native and in most yards the rest are non-native.
Pam:So, connie, from the research studies you have been involved with, what have you learned about cultivars of native species and their attractiveness to pollinators?
Connie Schmotzer:The cultivars can be a complicated topic. It's when someone asks us about cultivars we often give an answer. Well, it really depends. That's what I always say.
Connie Schmotzer:As native plants become more popular, the horticultural industry has been manipulating them for certain characteristics. Often bigger blooms, more complex blooms, will sell more plants. It might mean a change of color, maybe the height of the plant and, depending on what the change is, it may affect, and probably will affect, the production of nectar and pollen. In the trials that we did for these bugs and blooms at the Southeast Research Station with the Master Gardeners, we found out that maybe half of the cultivars were supporting pollinators pretty well and half of them weren't. We can draw some general conclusions.
Connie Schmotzer:Plants that are hybrids or crosses between two different species generally do not support pollinators nearly as well because the nectar and pollen are really really changed. Cultivars whose flowers have been altered to be larger more shall we maybe double they also do not serve pollinators well. So as a general rule of thumb, if you can stay with the straight species, the unchanged plant, native plant, that's the best option. If you do want to use a cultivar, we suggest you do a little bit of research. Mount Cuba Center has been doing trials of cultivars for quite a few years, so we often go to their website first because they will tell you what those cultivars are that they looked at and just how they stack up for supporting pollinators.
Pam:That's good to know.
Lisa:Yeah, Mount Cuba Center's trials are a great resource. I was just reading about there. They just recently released this year's results from the Amsonia trials and that was actually great news, because just about all the cultivars are fantastic.
Pam:So that was yeah, that's really good news for pollinators.
Lisa:That was good. You know, from our experience of working with the public, one of the least well understood issues that we have is the importance of nesting an overwintering habitat for pollinators. People don't realize how many pollinators of all kinds need to make their homes in our gardens all year long, not just in the summertime, and to do that they really need an abundance of native trees and shrubs, don't they?
Connie Schmotzer:That's correct. I think the general public thinks of honey bees when they hear the word pollinator and of course honey bees were brought to North America around 1600. And everyone knows that they are kept in large hives and they're tended by beekeepers. So they may not think of pollinators as having other needs. But a wide variety of insect pollinators were responsible for the pollination of our ecosystem long before the arrival of honey bees and these pollinators have real specific nesting and overwintering requirements. A lot of folks don't realize that we have over 400 species of bees here in Pennsylvania, many different kinds of flies, beetles, wasps, moths and butterflies, and each one of these pollinators has a different life cycle, different ways of nesting. So that's one of the things that we would like to have folks that are certifying a garden really realize. For instance, 70% of our native bees nest in the ground. 30% nest in some sort of cavity in wood or in stems. The ground nesters can't make a nest in thick turf or in mulch, so having some bare ground in the habitat is really important there For the cavity nesters.
Connie Schmotzer:As you said, trees and shrubs are terribly important and don't be afraid to leave some dead wood, a log, a tree snag here at our gardens. We just had some limbs taken off of a tree the other day and my husband is busy taking those logs and putting them in our landscape. As they decay they'll become really, really good habitat for those cavity nesters and perennials we're all growing some perennials grow some with hollow or pithy stems and make sure to let them stand through the winter, because there are going to be pollinators nesting over wintering in those stems. What that means is delaying our garden cleanup until sometime in April. I know that can be hard. This last snow that we had here in York kind of flattened a lot of our stems and I can say the yard doesn't look quite as good as it did a few weeks ago. So I'm going to have to kind of hold my breath a little bit here for another month and a half until spring is fully here and I can start to cut down those stems and then pile them up and give the pollinators a chance to come out.
Connie Schmotzer:And, as you mentioned, the trees and shrubs for so many pollinators a bed of leaves is so important and most butterflies in moths will overwinter as an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis or an adult, and in our area these butterflies use leaf litter for winter cover. Some even lay their eggs on fallen leaves, which become the first food that caterpillars have when they finally emerge. Firefly larvae like to live under the leaf litter. So we really do encourage people to leave the leaves and garden beds and under trees and shrubs. You know, don't disturb them. It will also help to protect your plants during the winter or even plant native ground cover plants under trees.
Lisa:Yeah, we always tell people, when in doubt, plant a tree. You can't go wrong. A native tree of course.
Pam:So we know that many people are put off by botanical names. I actually think they sound like Harry Potter spells if you say them with flair. That's how I teach it to children. I say it like a Harry Potter, like Asclepias tuberosa. They remember it. But these names are so important to help identify the plant and make sure you're getting the right one. So, for example, geranium Because I live in a wooded area. We have geranium maculatum which is native, perennial. It does well under trees, but it's not the same geranium you see in a nursery and I know you've had experience with that. You want to speak to the difference between geranium maculatum and the other species.
Connie Schmotzer:Sure, and I, by the way, I really like your Harry Potter.
Pam:Every word you say, it works.
Connie Schmotzer:The botanical names are very lyrical, yes, and then the case of geranium. You were very, very right, and this is one that, on many of our applications, will have the geranium maculatum. Checked on the application and when we see the picture, it's an entirely different plant, and it's because they've taken the word geranium to the nursery with them but hadn't taken the whole name In the case of botanical names. In the case of geranium maculodum, geranium is the genus name and then the second name is the species name in this case maculodum and it's the two of those together that distinguish the plant that you are getting. It's a lot like us we have a first and last name as well, and geranium maculatum is the one that supports our native specialist species at the exact right time of year.
Connie Schmotzer:If you just ask for geranium, you could end up with an annual red geranium, like my grandmother grew, which isn't going to be what you need, or you might be getting any one of 50 different geraniums that come from Europe or Eurasia. A lot of them are hybrids, some come from the Himalayas and they're not the right one to help our native bees. So you're very right about that. Taking the botanical name with you is really a must when you're shopping.
Lisa:Right. So if you're listeners, if you feel intimidated by botanical names, just adopt Pam's method. It'll make you feel a lot better about it.
Pam:It's easy to remember too.
Lisa:It is. It really is actually. I always hear you in my head saying it. That's scary. So that's one. Another obstacle for people Seems to be the negative language that can come up around native plantings like overgrown or messy, and people might be worried that their neighbors or even their HOA might get upset. Do you have any tips for ways that we can incorporate these types of plantings in a more traditional looking setting so that we can support pollinators without upsetting our neighbors?
Connie Schmotzer:Sure, I like to tell folks that native plants can really fit into just about any kind of landscaping that that you're doing. If you're a super traditional gardener, you can just substitute a native plant for anyone that's that's in your yard. There will be one that will fit those conditions and, as I mentioned earlier, tucking them tightly into areas where you have space that's covered with mulch, that's easy to do, it still looks nice and neat and you will add so many blossoms for pollinators. It will be, it'll be really, really wonderful. We also let folks know that planting groups of the same species you know like instead of planting one.
Connie Schmotzer:Let's give you an example instead of one blazing star, plant five blazing stars, and when you get that grouping of plants, the eye tends to kind of rest on that grouping and gives you a much more formal look. Also, have something in bloom all the time in your beds. That people love color and if they see color in a garden, even in a more naturalistic garden, they will recognize it, as you know, as a garden with purpose rather than just that you've left something grow. And anyone who is anywhere near Mount Cuba or wants to do a road trip, I really do recommend taking a trip down there. It's just over the Delaware line, not too far from Longwood Gardens, and they have a wonderful formal garden with native plants that you can get some great ideas from.
Lisa:Yeah, I love that garden.
Pam:It is beautiful. Of course, once your neighbors see what you're doing and how great it can look and lush and diverse, not messy you can inspire them to do the same thing.
Connie Schmotzer:And we always say talk to your neighbors. You know, when you're out gardening that's a really good time to meet people. Let them know what you're doing. Explain to them. It might not be their thing and not what they want to do, but if they understand what it is that you're doing, they're more likely to be supportive. And if you're in an HOA, we realize that there's a lot of regulations involving that and you may feel a little constrained. Talk to some like-minded residents and see if maybe as a group you can present your ideas to the organization and a change happens. Sometimes it happens in small increments, but that's how we affect things to really change.
Lisa:Yeah, that's a great point. Talk to your neighbors. How about that for a concept?
Pam:We should all do a little more of that Instead of just texting with them, right, yeah?
Lisa:Or posting snide comments on the neighborhood Facebook page. You know, I recently heard about a recent academic study that found that 58% of gardeners purchased native plants in 2021. So even if you don't see it in your neighborhood at this minute, it is a movement and it's gaining traction.
Pam:And a big question we get is where do you find those native plants? We're so lucky in Pennsylvania because we have plenty of good local plant sales in the spring. The Central Pennsylvania Native Plant Festival and sale is coming up May 4th and you can even pre-order on their website to make sure you get the plant you are looking for, and there are several Master Gardener plant sales around the state. Center County is May 18th and the Snetsinger Butterfly Garden will be offering a Pop-up Pollinator Garden starter kit with a selection of native perennials that provide blooms in every season, and you can also ask your nurseries for them. The more they're requested, the more likely that nurseries will be interested in stalking them. Do you have any other suggestions, connie?
Connie Schmotzer:Just a reminder that you might be doing business with a nursery for a long time and you're not seeing the natives there. But ask them. They may be able to order them for you. They may be glad that you're telling them and they won't know that you want them unless there are requests. There's also a lot of opportunities to buy native plants online. Now you can buy plugs which are small and very economical.
Connie Schmotzer:The only thing I would say is, if you're going to buy them online, try to search for a nursery, a seller that is selling more local to your area. If you're buying a plant from California or from Texas, they're not going to be nearly as well suited. Also, a lot of folks don't realize that when we say native, we're looking at plants native to the mid-Atlantic area. We often get plants on our applications that are native to Arizona or native to Washington state. Those are a whole different ecosystem, a whole different group of pollinators. While they're going to be pretty, they're not going to benefit our pollinators here. So try to kind of shop areas more close to home, Right.
Lisa:That's a great tip. Well, thank you so much, connie, for being here and speaking with us today. We appreciate the time and, hopefully, listeners. You're now all fired up and ready to go and you can start by going to pollinators. psu. edu/landscaping-for-pollinators/pollinator-habitat-certification and downloading the worksheet, and if you need some help with planning, you can visit our website snetsingerbutterflygarden. org for plant lists and sample garden plans. That can help you get started, and you will find links to the certification program with the transcript of this show, as well as link to our website, which is currently under construction. We're doing a major revamp, so look for that at the end of this month, and thank you all for listening in and be sure to join us next time for more Pollinator Confidential. https://pollinators. psu. edu/landscaping-for-pollinators/pollinator-habitat-certification