arielle.mcintyre@gmail.com, Author at The Placemakers Academy

How to Win Butterflies and Influence Birds

arielle.mcintyre@gmail.com — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 19:57:18 +0000

How to Win Butterflies and Influence Birds

By Arielle McIntyre | Part 2 of ‘Local Hero Brings Back Rare Butterfly Species in His Backyard’

Hello Placemakers!

If you were here for Part 1, than you know that it only takes a little bit of love from a home gardener to make a real impact.

If you haven’t heard about how San Francisco local Tim Wong helped repopulate a struggling butterfly species from his backyard, you can check it out here in Part 1: ‘Local Hero Brings Back Rare Butterfly Species in His Backyard’

So, how do you create an elegant and enchanting habitat for butterflies and birds right in your own backyard? 

Well, creating a sweet sanctuary for you and your outdoor friends is easier than you think!

It boils down to this- build it, and they will come.

Just like humans insects and birds need food and shelter. Each insect and bird has certain plants that it uses for food and shelter. Some of them, “generalists”, can get these needs met from a wide variety of native plants.

Then others, “specialists”, can only get these needs met from a couple specific native plants.

All you have to is provide a safe environment (free of insecticides/pesticides) with their favorite plants, and they will come.

It might take a season, it might take two, but they will come! Let’s use Tim Wong’s beloved pipevine swallowtail as our example.

Butterfly Etiquette: Inviting a Pipevine Swallowtail to Lunch

The first time I saw one of these azure wonders at my home in Cashiers, it felt like time stopped. They are one of my favorite butterflies. It was a crisp morning, and the dew was glistening along the road.

I saw a burst of iridescent blue along the gravel, and moved slowly closer. It was a Pipevine Swallowtail sleepily warming his wings in the emerging sunlight.

I reached out to see if it would climb onto my hand to warm up, and to my surprise it did. It climbed onto my arm and I sat frozen in awe. I think it could sense it was a bit of a celebrity in this corner of the world, and so it stayed for some time basking in the glow of my affection and the warmth of the sun.

If you’re like me and you want your yard filled with these magical butterflies, all you have to do is plant the things the need for food and shelter, their “host plants”. Pipevine swallowtails are specialists, which means they are picky, but it also means you know exactly what to put on the menu!

What native plants are sure to attract these beauties?

Pipevine swallowtail gets its name in part from the pipevine plant (Isotrema macrophyllum) that it depends on for food and shelter.

Some insects have such an important and long standing relationship with their host plants, the two are inseparable even in name.

If you want to attract the pipevine swallowtail, all you need to do is plant some pipevine (Isotrema macrophyllum).

Pipevine is toxic to all other insects, except for the pipevine swallowtail. The butterflies lay their eggs on the vine, and then the hungry baby caterpillars eat up all the pipevine leafy goodness.

This exclusive relationship has some interesting benefits for the swallowtail, as the high amounts of this pipevine toxin it ingests make it unpalatable to its main predator- birds!

Once a young butterfly emerges from their pipevine-side chrysalis, they can then use a wide variety of flowers for nectar. When nectaring they flutter their wings constantly, seldom remaining still for a good photograph.

The first time I was introduced to pipevine was by native plant nerd, Adam Bigelow on one of his wildflower walks. To learn more about the relationship between the Swallowtail and its beloved host plant, you can checkout his wonderful article here.

So where do you find Pipevine and how do you plant it?

You can order seeds online, or ask your local botanical garden or nature center for a cutting. The seeds can be sown directly outdoors in Fall, or cold stratified (kept moist in the fridge to mimic winter). We found this source for seeds in the US.

As its common name describes, the cute flowers that pop from the vines every Spring look like teeny-tiny Dutchman’s Pipes. As the name also suggests, it is a lovely vining plant.

Many Appalachians know this plant as “porch vine” as its broad leaves are great for summertime shade on the porch. If you’ve seen this plant in the wild, it will grow into giant vines way up into the tree tops! That takes quite some time though.

The first couple of years in the Pipevine’s life cycle are marked by slow growth and seasons of total decimation by the Swallowtails! Do not fret however, these two species have been doing this for a long time, and the Pipevine will come back strong the year after the butterfly buffet!

Pipevine is a lovely addition to any arbor or trellis, and is especially lovely when combined with flowering vines like native coral honeysuckle (Which just so happens to be a great nectar plant for adult pipevine swallowtails!) It prefers full sun to part shade, moist and well-drained soil. Once established it is quite hardy and low maintenance.

On Adam Bigelow’s wildflower tour of the Highlands Bio Station, we saw a gorgeous mountain laurel trellis adorned with native Pipevine and Coral Honeysuckle.

Since then, I have recreated this gorgeous butterfly portal in some of our mountain landscape designs with Dargan Landscape Architects.

We hope this inspires you to create a sweet sanctuary for yourself and for the wonderful critters who share this beautiful planet. Whether it’s the pipevine swallowtail, or a different beloved bird or butterfly, just remember- build it, and they will come.

Curious about how to make the earth a little greener right from your backyard?

Early bird enrollment is still open for the 2024 Placemakers Garden Design Immersion | Save $100 through Monday, 1.22.24:

EXPLORE THE IMMERSION COURSE

Some Great Resources for Creating Backyard Butterfly & Bird Habitats:

Audubon’s Native Plant Guide– just type in your zipcode and let it tell you everything you need to know!
Adam Bigelow’s article on Pipevine
A Complete Guide to Gardening for Butterflies in WNC

Happy Placemaking!

The post How to Win Butterflies and Influence Birds appeared first on The Placemakers Academy.

Local Hero Saves San Fran Swallowtail Population

arielle.mcintyre@gmail.com — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 21:23:27 +0000

It’s Time for Some Good News:

Local Hero Brings Back Rare Butterfly Species in His Backyard

With everything going on in the world right now, it can feel impossible to make a difference. We face complex problems that we’ve never faced before as human beings, but we’re still trying our best just to live our lives. Sometimes it’s enough to make you feel like not trying!

While there is a lot that we can’t control, we forget sometimes that the small actions we take matter. Sometimes we forget that a little bit of love can go a long way.

Even though our little pocket of the world may be small, it is still a piece of the pie.

If you want a reminder of this truth, listen and we will tell you a tale, a Swallowtail… Have you have ever seen a gorgeous royal blue wisp on the wind? Well, it might have been a pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor).

If you love these Pipevine Swallowtails as much as we do, you should know that they had all but disappeared from San Francisco until local resident Tim Wong decided to do something about it.

“I became aware of the California Pipevine Swallowtail — which is native here to San Francisco — a couple years ago,” Wong said in an interview with the Weather Channel this past summer.

“I was looking into trying to create a pollinator habitat in my own backyard and I found that there were some native butterflies that needed a little extra help.”

Although the Pipevine Swallowtail was still common near the coast and in the Sierra foothills, they had all but disappeared from San Francisco. The species’ host plant, pipevine, was sparse and so the butterflies were unable to survive and thrive.

“What I learned is that a lot of our native butterflies have really tight relationships with native plants and some types of butterflies may only feed on one native plant.”

Fortunately, Wong was able to find the native pipevine plant in the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park and was permitted to take home a few clippings of the plant to propagate at home.

You can see its natural distribution map here:
(Photo credit: entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/pipevine_swallowtail.htm)

“[I built] a large screen enclosure to protect the butterflies and to allow them to mate under outdoor environmental conditions — natural sun, airflow, temp fluctuations.”

Once his butterfly habitat was complete, Wong traveled outside of the city to carefully source 20 Pipevine swallowtail caterpillars. After three to four weeks, the caterpillars began pupating and forming a chrysalis. Once they hatched, Wong continued caring for them as they laid eggs on the Pipevine plants and raised new caterpillars in the same habitat.

“From there,” Wong said, “the cycle continues.”

Tim loves all of the media coverage on his home habitat efforts, but he wants people to know he’s just a guy who wanted to make a difference.

“Improving habitat for native fauna is something anyone can do,” Wong said. “Conservation and stewardship can start in your very own backyard.”

Want to make your backyard into a native butterfly and bird sanctuary?

You actually don’t need a butterfly enclosure, you just need to give Mother Nature a little hand.

So what can you do in your own backyard to make a difference? Well, let’s hear from Tim!

“My advice: Figure out what might already be living in your area and target those species by planting regionally appropriate native plants, forgo the use of insecticides/pesticides, and remember that even small urban spaces can still support our pollinators! If you don’t have space for a garden, consider volunteering at a garden project, community garden, or other green spaces.

Disclaimer- No one can do anything alone and titles don’t often give enough credit to the mentors, friends, horticulturists, volunteers, entomologists, and local gardeners that have worked collectively to support our butterflies. Remember that anyone can make a difference, even in your own backyard.”

Curious about how to make the earth a little greener right from your backyard?

If you’re someone that wants more mentorship and community to help you along your journey, look no further than our annual small-group garden design course, the 2024 Placemakers Garden Design Immersion. You can learn more here:

EXPLORE THE IMMERSION COURSE

If you want to know how more about how to elegantly invite the Pipevine Swallowtail and other butterflies into your own home garden,

Stay tuned for Part 2… ‘How to Win Butterflies and Influence Birds’

We all need a little help sometimes, and Mother Nature does too.

Happy Placemaking!

The post Local Hero Saves San Fran Swallowtail Population appeared first on The Placemakers Academy.

Winter, the Season of Form

arielle.mcintyre@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 01:08:42 +0000

All landscapes are beautiful works of art, already in progress. We, as part of nature, can lend our intention, creativity and artistic expression to this beautiful work already in progress.

“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” – Claude Monet

You can create a garden that is not only eco-friendly and functional, but also visually stunning! You don’t have to trade function for beauty, they are both part of a great design.

You’re an artist creating living art that you can walk around in and enjoy. When you approach your garden like a painter, garden magic happens. The limitless beauty of nature becomes both medium and sanctuary.

So how do you start seeing your garden like a visual artist and hone your design eye? How do you work garden magic like the pros?

SEE LIKE AN ARTIST- APPLYING CLASSICAL ART ELEMENTS TO YOUR LANDSCAPE:

At the Placemakers Academy we teach our students to apply the classical art elements of line, color, form, and texture to their home landscape. They learn to apply the artistic fundamentals of timeless design.

To empower you toward your own creative design potential and your New Year garden dreams, we want to share an exercise to develop your designer’s eye.

So let’s start with form.

Winter is the perfect time to see form in the landscape. Much of the complexity of color and texture of other seasons is no longer at play, and so the other art elements of line and form are highlighted.

Next time it snows, notice what interesting lines and forms the snow highlights in your landscape.

APPLYING THE ELEMENT OF FORM: WINTER WONDERLAND EXERCISE

1. What major lines do you see in your landscape?

What about in the view beyond?

Design Pro Tip: You can echo or balance the line of a mountain range or horizon line in the distance with the line of a garden bed border.

2. What types of tree and shrub forms do you see?

Are there any repeated forms?

Design Pro Tip: Repeating forms along a line creates a visual rhythm in the landscape that captures and guides the eye across the whole visual composition.

“Summer is the season of motion, winter is the season of form.

In summer everything moves save the fixed and inert. Down the hill flows the west wind, making wavelets in the shorter grass and great billows in the standing hay; the tree in full leaf sways its heavy boughs below and tosses its leaves above; the weed by the gate bends and turns when the wind blows down the road.

It is the shadow of moving things that we usually see, and the shadows are themselves in motion. The shadow of a branch, speckled through with light, wavers across the lawn, the sprawling shadow of the weed moves and sways across the dust.”

― Henry Beston, The Northern Farm: A Glorious Year on a Small Maine Farm

3. What evergreen trees or shrubs create visual anchors in your garden?

Design Pro Tip: These same evergreens will provide the anchors for the form of your garden in all of the other seasons too. Where could your landscape use some more evergreen anchors to bring visual structure to your garden?

We hope this exercise brings you a fresh perspective and empowers you to approach your garden like an artist. If you’re ready to unleash your artistic garden vision, we still have a few spots left in the 2023 immersion starting January 19th.

“Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us.” — Mary Oliver, Devotions

Cheers to bringing out more of your inner artist in 2023!

The post Winter, the Season of Form appeared first on The Placemakers Academy.

What I Learned Part II: My Ten New Favorite Mountain Landscape Plants

arielle.mcintyre@gmail.com — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 13:59:52 +0000

Hello garden lovers! Arielle McIntyre here, co-creator of the Placemakers Academy of Garden Design and part of the design team at Dargan Landscape Architects. This growing season was my first opportunity to help manage installations, and do more hands-on planting design for clients.

Outside of our installations, I was able to attend a series of plant walks hosted by local plant nerd and story teller extraordinaire Adam Bigelow. If you live in or visit WNC we highly recommend treating yourself to one of his walks. You will love it! You can check out Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions here.

With all of this juicy knowledge from this last season, I had to share some of what I learned with all of you. So here we go with:

What I Learned: Part II
My New Favorite Plants for Mountain Landscapes

(If you missed “Part I: Field Notes”, you can find it here)

#1
Dwarf crested iris
Iris cristata

Dwarf crested iris
Iris cristata

If you’re looking for a lovely ground cover, look no further than dwarf crested iris. These gorgeous purple blooms parade in springtime, and then leave behind a gorgeous tapis vert, a green tapestry.

Designers often use grass to create a tapis vert, but there are other plants you can use to create the same design effect that have a role to play in supporting your local ecosystem (Which as we all know, can use all the help it can get!).

#2
Blazing star liatris
Liatris spicata

Blazing star liatris
Liatris spicata

When I first found out this plant was native, I couldn’t believe it! It’s just very showy and over the top, with tall brilliant purple stalks of flowers. I was visiting with a client after an installation of the pocket garden shown, we were looking down from her deck at the new garden, and humming around the newly planted liatris was the sweetest hummingbird- just loving it!

She said that was the first time she had ever seen one there, so it felt like a blessing of the garden from the sweet hummingbird. If you want to see your garden a buzz with bees, native butterflies, and hummingbirds, plant some liatris this spring!

#3
Joe Pye Weed
Eupatorium purpureum

Joe Pye Weed
Eupatorium purpureum

Many of you know Joe Pye weed from its towering stalks in the summer time along roadsides. It’s also called queen of the meadow, as it sits with its royal purple crown higher than all the other wildflowers. Sometimes on a misty mountain morning, the stalks are so beautiful the purples and greens look almost iridescent. Native pollinators love this plant too, and it is low maintenance to the max.

For the full size plants, you can plant them along the bottom of a wall, where they can peak up, or at the back of a planting design like your tall friend in the back of a photograph.

#4
Little Bluestem “The Blues”
Schizachyrium scoparium

Little Bluestem “The Blues”
Schizachyrium scoparium

These elegant grasses have a kaleidoscope of changing blue, green, and purple stalks throughout the summer, and in the fall- reds, copper, and orange hues. It’s texture is a nice contrast to other landscape plants, so it brings a lot of textural dimension.

You can plant it in the drier, sunnier spots of your garden like along roadsides and verges- it is highly drought tolerant. Plus, it is a lovely nesting and food source for native wildlife and pollinators.

#5
Coral honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens

Coral honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens

I am obsessed with this plant. Your hummingbird feeders that you have to clean out and replace with sugar water- well you never have to do any of that ever again and you can have the greatest hummingbird feeder money can buy- Coral honeysuckle.

This is a native honeysuckle, unlike the Japanese honeysuckles, and will play an important part in your local ecosystem. This plant vining grows even in poor soil, and will establish without much fuss. It is the perfect plant for vining up a trellis, along a deck railing, or along a locust fence for the most charming hummingbird buffet you can imagine.

#6
Cinnamon fern
Osmunda cinnamomea

Cinnamon fern
Osmunda cinnamomea

I’m a fern fanatic. I love planting them in little pockets in rock terraces, using evergreen varieties for winter interest, and using showy varieties as powerful design forms in a rhythm. One of those showy varieties is the Cinnamon fern.

They open up to 3’-4’ tall frond fireworks in spring, and can even get as tall as 5’ with ideal growing conditions. They get their name from their fuzzy cinnamon stick like centerpiece. This centerpiece just adds to the drama of this fabulous fern.

#7
Mountain laurel
Kalmia latifolia

Mountain laurel, “Sarah”, “Olympic Fire”, “Pink Charm”
Kalmia latifolia

Just like ferns establish such a strong sense of place in a design, so does our beloved mountain laurel. This plant used to be called and is still called Ivy by many mountain folks- hence names like Big Ivy. We love planting full size mountain laurels along the edges of the wood line with some sun where they can be large and in charge.

In garden beds however, we like to use dwarf varieties of mountain laurels in a variety of colors to give a showy display of color in the summer without overtaking more petite garden beds and spaces.

#8
Ninebark “Tiny Wine” & “Ginger Wine”
Physocarpus opulifolius

Ninebark “Tiny Wine” & “Ginger Wine”
Physocarpus opulifolius

I love nine bark for its rich wine colored foliage, and its pretty light pink and white blooms are an extra treat. It adds so dimension and richness to a planting design.

“Tiny Wine” is a nice dwarf variety, and “Ginger Wine” has a deep pinot noir purple. The full size plants can get huge, 8-10’ tall, and the dwarf varieties are more like 3-5’ tall.

#9
Virginia willow
Itea virginica

Virginia willow
Itea virginica

This plant has sweet fragrant white flowers in the spring, but my favorite part is the rich red tones of its foliage in fall. In Fall, its gorgeous red leaves play off of the red tones in redbuds and maples.

#10
Redbud “Rising Sun” & “Flame Thrower”
Cercis canadensis

Redbud “Rising Sun” & “Flame Thrower”
Cercis canadensis

Just like dwarf mountain laurel, these are staples of our design vocabulary. Redbuds are such romantic trees, with their sweet pink spring buds and their delicate heart shaped leaves that dance in the wind.

Their foliage comes in so many striking colors, from chartreuse and golden yellows, to rich oranges and reds, these trees are strong in form and in color. They make a great rhythmic anchor for a planting design.

I hope you’ve enjoyed some of these morsels from what I learned this last season, and I wish you and your garden all of the best in the new year!

The post What I Learned Part II: My Ten New Favorite Mountain Landscape Plants appeared first on The Placemakers Academy.

What I Learned: A Rookie Designer’s Field Notes

arielle.mcintyre@gmail.com — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 17:20:49 +0000

What I Learned: A Rookie Designer’s Field Notes

“Green” Designer Arielle McIntyre Reflects on This Design Year

Hello garden lovers! Arielle McIntyre here, co-creator of the Placemakers Academy of Garden Design and part of the design team at Dargan Landscape Architects. It’s been the adventure of a lifetime getting to apprentice with Mary Palmer and the team as a garden designer.

I have learned so much in my three years working with Mary Palmer. This growing season was my first opportunity to help manage installations, and do more hands on planting design for clients. It was incredible to see the artistry and talent of our design team and our installation teams of Miller Landscapes and Black Bear Landscapes in action.

Outside of our installations, I was able to attend a series of plant walks hosted by local plant nerd and story teller extraordinaire Adam Bigelow.

Mary Palmer and Hugh Dargan have attended many of his walks in the past, and I was hungry for some new native plant knowledge! Adam is done for the season, but if you live in or visit WNC we highly recommend treating yourself to one of his walks. You will love it! You can check out Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions here.

With all of this juicy knowledge from this last season, I had to share some of what I learned with all of you.

I’m excited to share some things I learned about design in action, and also share my new favorite native plants for mountain gardens.
So let’s start with some tips and tricks I learned.

Ten Things I Learned This Design Season

A Rookie Designer’s Field Notes

#1

Never underestimate the power of a beautiful, and well placed pot.

A set of gorgeous planters that accentuate the colors and textures of your home, can bring a space together.

So what’s the best way to prep your pots for plants? Fill the planter about halfway full of hardwood bark mulch. Then, top off the rest with organic potting soil. Make sure there are adequate holes in the bottom of your plants for drainage, and if not, drill some! This combo of mulch and soil will allow great drainage and make happy plants.

We also love adorning the edge of a planter with some kind of trailing or vining plant to drip over the edge. It is just so charming. It’s also often economical to buy hanging baskets of annuals, and then to separate them by hand for your new planter

#2

While we’re on the subject of pots, let’s talk one of our favorite design patterns- the patio herb pot collection. If you love to cook, you will love having a small collection of herbs close to the kitchen.

We love getting an assortment of pots and then planting some herbs that will overwinter and come back next year like rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, and mint. Then we usually do an extra pot for some annual basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, or mint. If you have a good sunny window spot for them, you can bring some in for the colder months and have fresh herbs all year long.

#3

Mary Palmer really thinks of each site as its own living nursery.

Just because a plant isn’t in the best place doesn’t mean you have to get rid of it! Consider it part of your nursery of plants for your design. Transplant, transplant, transplant. It’s amazing what you can do with just a few thoughtful relocations of trees and shrubs.

Plus, these plants are already adapted to the unique soil microbiome of your site and to its microclimate. Do you have an awkwardly placed shrub or tree? Are there other plants of this type somewhere else you could plant it with create a stronger visual rhythm?

#4

It’s worth eradicating invasive plants like ivy to revegetate with native plants.

It can be a tough job, but you will be doing your garden and native ecosystem a huge favor, and giving yourself a much better space to work with. Consider using alternative clearing methods like goats! You can rent goats to eat up low growing vegetation, like ivy, very quickly and effectively. You just decide the area you want them to graze and the company takes care of the rest.

#5

Some thoughts on planting design:

Always start by placing your largest trees and shrubs, then fill in. Create a visual rhythm with the larger plants that you can echo and play with in your smaller plants.

We rarely plant plants of the same type in a straight line, unless we are trying to make a very strong visual statement or focal point. You can play with planting plants of the same type in sweeps, clumps, or separated in visually rhythmic patterns.

It is always lovely having a special row of cascading or trailing plants along the top edge of a wall or garden bed. If you have stone walls, you can also plant shallow rooted plants like geraniums, sedums, and ferns in the cracks.

#6

If you want to save money on plants, just buy the smaller versions of each plant,

and exercise a little more patience in letting them fill in. If you are planting native rhododendrons, they actually prefer being transplanted young. They will be more resilient plants. So don’t be afraid to purchase more affordable smaller trees and shrubs and let them fill in.

#7

In our design work, we always gain a better and clearer understanding of a place by mapping it ourselves or by improving previous site maps. You will be surprised by the new revelations this process brings.

Mapping a site gives you new clarity and understanding of it.

In our design school, the Placemakers Academy, we teach students how to map a site. Even if your map isn’t perfect, this process brings a deeper knowledge of a place and its potentials.

#8

We often get asked questions about moss gardening and I have some exciting news to share. WNC native Annie Martin, is an expert in moss gardens.

She has an incredible book that anyone with a love for moss gardens needs on their holiday wish list! You can find “The Magical World of Moss Gardening” by Annie Martin here.

#9

Random tidbit for our fellow Western North Carolina folks, if you would like an incredible mountain arbor, pergola or locust railing like these shown at fernwood, we highly recommend Tommy M (828)-200-2209

#10

Plant walks are a great way to learn about native plants and to discover new plants for your garden. Learn more about Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions, and get excited for next season’s plant walks! I’ll see you there.

CHECK OUT PART II:
MY 10 FAVORITE NEW NATIVE MOUNTAIN PLANTS

I hope you all enjoy these reflections from the field. Check out part two, where I get into my new favorite native landscape plants.