July 2025 E-Magazine
- Jane Shellenberger
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Editor’s Letter
After spending much of the weekend irrigating my pasture and trees in the heat and into the night I’m pretty beat. When the ditch water comes I make the most of it. Due to a stink about water rights when our neighborhood was developed in the mid 70’s, ten of us share the water on a strict and limited schedule. It’s a big chore but completely worth it knowing that at least part of our few acres get an occasional deep drink.
The big old honey locust and ash trees provide invaluable shade and habitat so I’ve taken good care of them over the years.
That shade, along with insulation, nights that cool off, and a simple cooling system that includes a whole house attic exhaust fan and a basement means we’ve never had to have air conditioning even on the hottest days.
It’s a banner year for cherries, apples, and pears, but no plums or apricots. The veggie garden is looking good, though crowded with potatoes, garlic, and cilantro turning to coriander.
I pulled a lot of weeds this spring, made easier by the May moisture. In June I went on a couple of fun garden tours and to the well attended annual Plant Select conference at Denver Botanic Gardens. The Conservation Fair at Northern Water in Berthoud was held last weekend after a several year hiatus due to the pandemic. Their impressive and greatly expanded xeriscape gardens along with the large-scale rock model of the northern Colorado watershed and irrigation systems are worth a visit anytime.
Idelle Fisher, our web designer, recently attended the Front Range Wild Ones Denver Native Plant Swap at Cherry Creek State Park. She reports:
“It was a perfect way to spend summer solstice! What a generous group – so many interesting people sharing their knowledge and encouragement to anyone who wants to support wildlife by using more natives in yards and landscapes.
Shared plants included hard-to-find native Pasqueflowers (Pulsatilla patens), and edibles like wild American plums (Prunus Americana), Serviceberries (Amelanchier), and lots of native grasses. BBQ tongs were used but instead of hotdogs and burgers, Chollas and Prickly Pears were served up.
Before the swap, Don Hijar of Pawnee Butte Seeds led a delightful morning solstice plant ID walk; we all learned a lot in just a short walk.
The Wild Ones also helped organize other free native plant swaps in Boulder, Northglenn, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins. The group is working with members across the Front Range to host more swap locations to spread the love, so if you’re interested in volunteering or know of a good venue to host future native plant swaps in spring or seed swaps in autumn, reach out to them at: frontrange.wildones.org/volunteer-opportunities “
Natural science writer Gary Raham has written a piece for us this month on “ZomBees” detailing an adaptation by parasitic flies that changes honeybee behavior. Keith Funk answers readers’ questions about combining flowers and vegetables, bolting veggies, clematis bloom times, and mahonia repens.
Happy Summer,
Jane Shellenberger
Night of the Living ZomBees
By R. Gary Raham
I’m old enough to remember the original Alien movie. An arthropod-style alien attacks crew member, Dallas, by latching onto his face. Dallas seems like a goner for sure until the alien releases its grip and dies (I think). Dallas recovers, seemingly no worse for the wear. But wait. While eating a meal, Dallas gets sick and falls dead onto the table. An alien creature then pops out of his chest and scurries away.
Yuck. But I remember thinking at the time (being a biologist), Wow, that’s a lot like what wasps do to caterpillars. Mother wasps lay their eggs on the larvae of an unsuspecting moth and the wasp larvae eat their prey from the inside and eventually emerge as young wasps. Mother Nature can be cruel playing the survival game. Turns out she can also be devious. A variety of parasites from arthropods to fungi to worms and viruses can not only parasitize other creatures but zombify them as well. They change the behavior of their host to maximize the chances for their own progeny.
One example is a bee parasite called Apocephalus borealis, who can turn both native bees and now honeybees into ZomBees. A. borealis used to just attack native yellow jacket wasps and bumblebees. At some point in the early 2000s it adapted to attack honeybees—as if they didn’t have enough problems already.
July Gardening Q&A
By Keith Funk
Q: I love mahonia repens for its durability in Colorado. I spread the seeds to increase growth to new areas. I have one seedling that is doing very well which appears varnished. In contrast to all others, it is very shiny. Are there any cultivars of this plant exhibiting glossiness, or do I have something special?
A: It could be just genetic variation when growing plants from seed but I would inspect the new growth and under the leaves more closely looking for aphids. They produce a liquid that coats the leaves with a clear, sugary, shiny, sticky sap. You may also notice ants and wasps favor that plant as it’s a food source for them. Ants are known to carry aphids from one plant to another to establish herds which they “milk” for the sweet liquid. If you find aphids, try using a strong steam of water to dislodge them and rinse off the shiny coating. If they persist, a very mild insecticide like Safer or diluted Dr Bronner’s liquid soap will typically do the trick.
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