Two Julys ago I came across this narrow strip in Bush Terminal Park planted with Narrowleaf Mountain Mint/Pycnanthemum tenuifolium. And it was massively alive with insects: bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, etc. Especially wasps: I recorded 22 different species of wasp here over two summer seasons. A few were species I’d not seen much or at all elsewhere in NYC. (Here are a few.)
This year, well, they clear cut it sometime in the last week of June. I’d noted the Mountain Mints blooming elsewhere, so I came specifically to see how these were doing. The expense and effort was erased off the map. The habitat was gone.
Different ends of a stupid bureaucracy not talking to each other, I suppose.
The swath on the right was richly thick with Common Milkweed a couple of years back, but this was cut down in another act of idiot management. Now it’s mostly Mugwort.
Oof! And this weekend I walked past the Litchfield Villa, HQ of Prospect Park, and found this hell-scape terrace where a nice little pollinator habitat had existed in previous years. It’s junk roses and potted nonsense now. The wild front area of the building beyond the drive-way was also clear-cut, but at least that was for a renovation project.
Backyard and Beyond 
Leave a comment