By late August, your flower garden may look a little tired. Turtlehead not only flourishes at this time of year, it also attracts bumblebees and butterflies.
Send your questions about nature in New Hampshire to somethingwild@nhpr.org.
Hi! I'm Iain MacLeod from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, bringing you Something Wild.
As summer is winding down, our gardens start to look a little tired. Most of our flowers have already bloomed and the foliage is a little worse for wear.
But there are some wildflowers that are in bloom right now, and one of the most beautiful is turtlehead.
These large plants got their name because their unusual shape resembles a turtle head poking out from its shell. The flower is pink or white, or sometimes white with a pink tinge. The plant can grow to four feet high and the best places to find it are near streams or ponds, as turtlehead prefers to have wet feet.
Like other members of its family, this plant has evolved so it can be pollinated only by bumblebees. They have to work pretty hard to get to the base of the flower. In fact, one writer said the flower looks like it is chewing something when a bee is in it, it moves around so much. After the bee opens things up, smaller insects such as honeybees, ants, and earwigs can get in there also.
Another species that depends on turtlehead is the Baltimore Checkerspot, a beautiful black, white, and orange butterfly. In this case, it's the caterpillar that needs turtlehead, but if you let them chew a bit on the leaves, chances are good you'll have this striking butterfly in your garden.
Although it's a native species, horticulturally grown varieties of turtlehead are available for sale by many specialty nurseries. It's a great example of adding a native species to your garden that will benefit bumblebees and butterflies, which can really use the help. And it benefits you, too. Be sure to buy your plant from a reliable source, as wild-collected plants will not do as well in your garden.
If you have a natural history question that you would like answered on Something Wild, email us at somethingwild@ nhpr.org.
Something Wild is a joint production of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Radio, and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. For Something Wild, I'm Iain MacLeod.
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