The roadsides of Lee County can be places of incredible botanical diversity. Without much help, mother nature shows off what is hiding in plain sight throughout the summer season. That sea of green “weeds” as you drive by is actually a complex matrix of species that serve so many functions: from holding the soil in place, to providing habitat, to eventually putting on a horticultural show that instills a sense of wonder as one drives down the road.
Why “No Mow Late Summer”?We’ve heard of the “No Mow May” campaign from the Xerces Society to protect flowers and materials for pollinators as they emerge in the spring (though really this should be “No Mow March” for us in Lee County). If we care about them as pollinators emerge, then we also have to consider how critical late summer and early fall flowers are for them as well.
Some species are trying to get ready for winter, while others that are about to die are working to prepare their offspring for the following year. This window is very narrow for some species and this last push of flowers is their last chance to prepare.
What do late-flowering plants provide to pollinators?We humans see beautiful plants that brighten our day as we drive by them, but insects and other animals see the last source of food for the year, and shelter from the coming winter and housing for their young in the spring. Maybe, they too see hope for their future progeny.
Without this last breath of flowers in late summer and early fall, our pollinators would not be nearly as numerous in the following year.
Many overwintering insects, like butterflies and bees, rely on the nectar and pollen from their last-season foraging to help them last through our North Carolina winters or to help them migrate to warmer climes. Insects that die after the frost comes probably left their overwintering babies a loaf of “bee bread” that will be waiting for them when they “wake up” in the spring.
Finally, the stems of last season’s flowers and brush will be the shelter for numerous species of insects after they emerge the following spring. Without these stems some species have nowhere to lay their eggs safely and will not be able to efficiently reproduce.
How can you help?The main way you can help pollinators with roadside flowers is to not mow your roadsides (and wild areas) after about the middle of August. Most plants can recover from being mowed before then and still have enough time and energy to put on another flush of growth for flowers. Mowing into September could compromise tender flower stems that are hard to see before their flowers open.
Ideally, if you are mowing at the right time and frequency you can encourage many native wildflowers on your roadside and property.
What you might be seeing on the roadside
(September and October 2024)
• Bidens aristosa- Tickseed sunflower
• Solidago ssp.- Goldenrod (NOT ragweed)
• Pityopsis graminifolia- Narrowleaf Silkgrass Aster
• Conoclinium coelestinum- Bluemist flower
• Liatris ssp.- Gayfeather or blazing star
• Symphyotrichum spp.- Fall-flowering asters- Plant these as a native alternative to non-native Chrysanthemums
• Sorghastrum nutans- Indiangrass
• Andropogon ssp.- Little bluestem grass
Mario Bautista
