Need Help Building a Butterfly Education & Exploration Site

I'm blaming my Dad, trois. It's all his fault! He is the one who got me started taking photos, and he is the one who encouraged me to take photos of bugs. :-)

1. A different view of the dragonfly.

2. How about a side view sort of. I got to close and he flew to a different stem.

3. He was so photogenic. :-)

4. Here's the wasp! He's a mean looking bug. If you look on the bottom of the photo, you can see the GF cat.

5. GF cat on the Lady Margaret Passionflower.

That's all for now folks. Have a nice evening and sweet dreams of butterflies. :-)

WIB~
SW

Jules, great photos and congrats for the caterpillars! So cool to watch them growing and becoming butterflies! So exciting!

Adina

Check out all the buggies. There were at least a dozen on this one plant and others on all of my other milkweeds! I also have a batch hatching out in my butterfly enclosure. I'm so glad they finally got here.

They lay eggs in the cats, but apparently my cats just disappear, I have quite a few grass spiders that I have witnessed paralyzing my cats, I usually thump em when i can, but not sure abt the life cycles there

Great photos Dee!

Here is a pretty little gal that was born in my waystation this past Sunday...

Kitt... someone has been after my cats also... I haven't seen the culprit yet... but I believe it could be a spider as 2 of my cats under a net went mia...

Julie... you made a great point today on the Monarch article that Paul posted. Providing an alternative means of putting food on the table with tourism is not only viable but provides the added benefit of educating tourists who may not know much about the Monarch or the need to preserve their habitat and ensure their viability. Well done! Your photos are awesome! Keep sharing...

I purchased some seeds from Swallowtail this week for our landscape project at church ... I am hoping to get some pollinator plants in the ground this fall and seeding is an inexpensive way to get us there. I will also purchase some milkweed starts from Monarch Watch and interplant them as well to increase the habitat. I am working with a limited workforce and budget, but we do have enthusiasm going for us! It's a work in progress like your BEES project!

Have a lovely day in the garden all... Nancy

If you have anoles they love the cats too- sigh. The wasps and spiders I dont mind thumpin, the anoles and geckos just remain in my history as lucky to have. Black n blue salvia is a favorite here, I keep fern leaf dill coming back in its spot 2x a year. The swallowtails also have parsley plants but treat the dill like candy.Bronze fennel also gets their attention but I have avoided the rrue. Fire ants I ignore on my feet and fingers for a day, then lance the pocket, drain and slap aloe on and its gone 3rd day. there was a very lousy suntan lotion in Texas called bullfrog. it is made of citrus and aloe and the ants cannot stand it. Must burn them to get close to it. I rub it on my feet, chuckl, when I can find the original...

Thank you Adina, encouragement from good folks like you keep me going. :-)

Dee, I'm so happy for you, and proud of you. You did it girl! Ya hooo! :-)

kitt, I am wondering if you have hungry lizards or birds that might be eating your cats? I know that some cats don't taste good to birds, but I wonder about other small predators? Some of my cats have disappeared too. Not just the Monarchs which I hope are in cocoon, but some of the Gulf Frits I adore, too. I never thought of spiders though. Good thought Nancy! I'll have to go see if I have spiders out there, when I get home.

Nancy, I truly believe that we need to properly manage what we do to impact our environment. In the case of the Mexican Monarch Grove, I can only voice an option that would benefit both the local folks, and provide for long term stewardship for the survival of the butterflies. It's not like you have to figure it out from scratch. You can see that it has worked in other parts of the world. With some success, nothing is perfect, but there is already a model that could be tweaked to fit the Monarch Grove in Mexico. Sigh. Do I have much realistic hope that people will do anything? Not really. Not unless the people in Mexico take it to heart. Right now there are so many corrupt politicians, and officials not to mention the drug cartels that work around the area, that I don't foresee a good outcome.

It's one of the reasons that I think it's so important to create more butterfly friendly sites. I'm sure if the conditions were right more butterflies would overwinter in other areas. Like they do near you in Grover City.

It is my hope that someday, the Monarchs will choose to overwinter on our farm. I am hopeful that other butterfly groves will appear in areas in the Continental US. It only takes good people with a common goal to make it happen.

Let me jump off of my soapbox here. :-)

It's encouraging that you were able to talk your Church into letting you plant for the Butterflies. Good job Nancy! :-D

Just remember that MW doesn't seem to like to be transplanted. I've decided that the ones I'll be transplanting will be started in a peat pot that I can either plant directly into the ground or if needed into a larger pot, without damaging the taproot. Do keep us posted on the Butterfly Garden for the Church. :-)

kitt, as you know I'm working on adding more host plants for all butterflies in my gardens. You said that you've had success in attracting butterflies to your dill, fennel and parsley. Black and blue sage is favored by what? Why did you avoid the rue?

I'm still trying to figure what seeds to buy this fall. I do know that I want to get some of the wildflowers I miss seeing. I used to see a lot more poppies, lupine, and the one I just found a seed source for is Owls' Clover. I don't know what happened to it, but it used to grow in between the rows of Christmas Trees. Pretty pink flowers in rows bounded by the pine trees.
It could just be that we've been in a drought for the last several years.

I think it's because DH has been scraping the ground to remove weeds for years. Hopefully the pine needle mulch will remove the need for that someday.

DH and I are at the beach. :-)

More on that later.

WIB~
SW

Clover grows abt 5yrs and then the ground cant support it because the clover enriched it, use something that needs the nitrogen left behind by the clover, or find a companion plant that keeps the nitrogen depleted. Everything is hungry where I live, and that goes from water dragons, lizards, wasps, birds, deer, and so forth and so on.

I avoided rue due to an invasive nature where i am and allergies but love it.

If I've told you this story . . . indulge me.
Not long ago a stranger walked into my garden and said "Are you Dee?" I said yes and she explained a neighbor had sent her over as she had admired my flower garden and wanted a closer look. I showed her my "nectar" garden, my "butterflyweed" garden, and pointed out the new "rescue duck" enclosure. Then she said to me "Oh I see, you're doing what people should be doing". At first I just felt like that was a nice compliment, but you know after some thought, it pleases me to have met someone who actually sees value in my passion. You see I don't garden to save to earth, I garden because I love the earth. I'm beginning to see the value of sharing my passion, you don't need to inspire others to save the earth, inspiring them to love it will get the job done.
Thank-you to all the other people who just love to garden, we are doing what we should be doing.

Dee.... well said! -:)

Lovely Dee, and I think I outright asked you to share the story. Yes loving the earth will get the job done too! Educating the young to love Mother Earth is necessary, for the rest of us gardeners, well we already love her. Kids need to be taught and adults educated. Some people need to have guidance. Okay, we all need guidance from time to time.

Dee your lovely gardens are wonderful to visit, and having seen your tortoise enclosure, I can't wait to see what you are doing for the turtles. :-)

Sharing your passion for the living things on this planet is a good thing, and just by taking on the projects that you do, you are being a good example to your kids and grandkids, Dee. Keep up the good work! :-)

I'm kind of sad, because by now, all them cats I found have probably turned into Butterflies, and I didn't get to see them. :-(

Good news is that they will probably start the cycle all over again. At least I'm hoping so. I'll be home next week, and looking for more cats. :-)

I've got a couple of things to do, but I wanted to post some photos I took last summer of the GF's. For some reason, I don't seem to be taking as many photos this year. Probably because I'm able to do more work now, and choose to work. I figure there will be time later to take photos, but right now, I really want to propagate plants while I can. Of course everything always happens at once, or at least seems to.

BBS~
WIB~
SW

I've already decided I need more milkweed for next year. Of coarse the ones from this year will be much larger next year. The swamp milkweed you gave me just died back early. Maybe it's not a good choice for our dry climate (although I watered it well), I'm going to leave it in and maybe it will come up next year stronger. I'm having great luck with "tennis balls" milkweed, and have decided that "hairy balls" needs full sun. But the best by far has been our native "narrow-leaf" milkweed. It is a slow grower but may be worth the time spent to get it larger. For fast growth and flower gardens the curassavica is the ticket and I have lots of it started. We'll see how they survive the cat onslaught, most are just sticks now. Well, I need to walk down and check the cats before the baby arrives, grandma duty today.

Jules, all your photos are wonderful. Flowers are beautiful!! I thought I was getting out in the yard more to play in the dirt, but I got side tracked again. If the weather would cool down and stay that way I might feel more like working out there. Have to get on son again about getting rid of more junk. He has slowed down. Still haven't gotten over to Lowe's to get some potting soil. I have seeds here I want to plant and see if they will grow for me. Have some seeds I don't know what they are, so I'm going to be surprised,.

Now I understand why I found a cat on a dill plant. Thanks Kitt.
Jules, you get me started to make a butterfly garden too!

I seed my fern leaf dill like grass, they eat it to nothin twice a year. We are where all the migrations start getting heavy, so we grab flowers for bees, butterflys, and hummingbirds. The zinnias hsve ended up 9' tall and the bf are drawn to them, and the gold of the lantanas. The bees are fond of basils and salvias, but some salvias and the coral vine belong to the hummers.

Feels good to be at the house, but some things arent yet ready to dig...others havebeen getting cleaned and pulled

Trumpet vine in the pine tree a hummer likes to watch over its feeder. Turks cap doing well, amaryllis still not died back since it hasnt gotten cool yet. Mexican mint marigolds, basils, petunias, asparagus, onion chives in that bed...

Nice photos Kitt... thanks for sharing.

Julie... what do the GF's favor in the garden?

Gf like passifloras

Hey all~

I won't be able to post photos right now, but I have to share something that I just saw. I have been doing research, and came across this useful information.

To attract more butterflies, you should have a ratio of 80% host plants and 20% nectar plants.

I'm going to be planting more host plants this year. Dee, once again we are in tune. I need to check my plants when I get home to see what is doing best. I don't think I'll ever get the swamp mw to be happy. I still plan on trying again. :-)

Kitt, I enjoyed seeing your photos. I'm getting lots of ideas from you. I really liked your tree climbing trumpet vine. I like your arbor that supports your Coral Vine. I'm debating whether or not to include it in the BEES garden. I love the plant, and currently have it confined to the greenhouse. It seems to like it there and has lots of seedlings spring up. I've heard it is considered invasive, but the gunners and the swallowtails sure do like it. I am going to experiment with one in a pot outside of the greenhouse and see how it does.

Nancy the gf's really do love passiflora, like kitt said. There are many kinds. My best results have been with the Lady Margaret Passiflora. Mostly because they came from the nursery with the cats on them. I would also like to recommend the Maypops passiflora too. I enjoy the nice little blue flowers.

Adina, that would be so cool! Just think of showing the grandbabies the life cycles of the butterfly! I never met a little kid who wasn't fascinated by bugs, even girls like butterflies. :-) They may not like spiders, but girls like butterflies, dragonflies and ladybugs. What fun!

Just a note of frustration here, and that has to do with the dearth of information on the west coast Monarchs. I for one want to know why they don't go to Mexico with the other Monarchs? I guess I have a lot more research to do. Thank you Creator for the internet. :-)

Thanks for checking in Samigal. We'll get you back in the garden soon. :-)

DH is pestering me to go do something, so til next time.

WIB~
SW

It can, but the trees keep it dry chuckl, and we keep it from the trees.( Coral vine that is. ) Trumpet vine is also invasive, it is killing that pine, and gets mowed everywhere else. This is the base of the pine and the trumpet vine is bigger than my arm...this is dwarf gomphrena- the monarda chose to die this time, more of the gold lantana and Mexican heather

Ummmm, not sure if 'native es' fits, but they were here before me!

Ooops, try again.

Sigh, Skeeters make me miserable, but I am loading ul on my pix for winter weather to come. African blue basil, garlic chives, onion chives, sweet aussie basil, yummmm, and a salvia

Wow, it sure has been a long time since I have had the time to write a post. So much has been going on too.
Briefly, I met up with a wonderful DG member back at the beginning of October. She gifted me several Monarch Cats. :-) All of them but one have hatched out and flown away. I was kind of hoping that they'd make more cats, but I think I needed to have them leaving their cocoons on the same day so they'd have someone to mate with. Not that I can tell the Male Monarchs from the females, but it only makes sense. The ones that did hatch out, hung around. :-)
I'll try again next spring.
October was an incredibly busy month. The Pumpkin Patch did pretty good, but we do need more pumpkins out for sell next year.
The Farmer's Market is starting out kind of slow, but I'm sure it will acquire more Farmer's in the spring. It has been well received so far.
We've been getting ready for the opening of the tree farm for the Christmas Season tomorrow. It's going to be really intense for the next month. This will be the first year in a long time that I am feeling well enough to work out there for the season. :-)
Okay, for my big news. I broke ground on the BEES gardens. I am working on two flower beds. Right now I mostly have nectar plants planted in the ground. I do have lots of host plant seeds that have either been donated to me, collected or paid for by me that I will be including in the spring time, after they sprout.
I laid out some rocks as a start of a border, here at the entrance to the BEES. Then I dug a hole. This is what you'll see in the first photo. As you can see from the second photo the dirt is primarily sandy/dg in composition. It has never been farmed, and is alluvial in nature, meaning it's washed down and collected in this oxbow where our dry creek is. So I took my shovel and started digging, photo number three. I was pleasantly surprised that it was easy digging, and that the soil still appeared damp under the surface of the ground. The next photo shows how easy it was to dig the holes, because before I knew it I had several dug. I actually dug a total of 10 holes to plant Butterfly bushes in, which is the last photo for this post.
For some reason, I felt driven to get this garden started. I did something very unusual for me. I took some of the money I've been saving, found a local nursery that sells plants for a lot less than the Big Box stores or most nurseries do for that matter. It was a bit of a drive, but DH was really nice and drove me out to pick up that first batch of plants. Now I have an arrangement with the manager that he will deliver to me if he is in the area on another delivery. It really helps to keep down costs.
I purchased the 10 Butterfly Bushes, a dozen red salvia, and 30 Lantana to go into the gardens. I figured I would split the plants up and put equal numbers in both of the garden spaces. I know it's hard to see them when they are mostly still in my head, but that was my plan. I wasn't able to plant right away, and when I was able to get back to them a few days later, I was really sad to find I had been shorted 8 Lantana. I called and talked to the Nursery Manager, and because I didn't get angry with him, for what I felt was an honest mistake, he said he'd deliver the missed plants in a couple of days when he had a delivery already scheduled in my area. It normally costs $60.00 for delivery, and I'd much rather buy plants with that money. I was pretty happy. I actually decided to get some more Lantana, Butterfly Bushes, and just because I like them, I got some Hibiscus too. I know they aren't really a Butterfly Plant, but I am justifying them because I've seen their large blossoms used as feeders for Butterflies. I have to have fresh flower feeders on site don't I?
I need to post some more photos, so I am on to the next post.
WIB~
SW

Okay, as I was saying, the Nursery Manager decided he'd deliver the plants himself. Which gave me an opportunity to show him what I'm doing. I think he really likes our farm, and he did approve not only of the location, but the spacing of the plants, and how I was intermixing them. I did chide him for not having any host plants available for sale. I hope he will try to get some in the spring.
So, back to the photos.
After digging them 10 holes, I was tired. So I went and collected my Eldest Child, and he helped me place the pots and dig the remainder of the holes. See the first photo. You'll probably notice lines drawn in the dirt. Well you know when designing the garden the first thing that I thought about was providing pathways that are handicapped accessible. We had to become ADA compliant during October, but that's a whole 'nother story. With my own mobility questionable at times, it's important to me that my gardens are wheelchair accessible. So you will see the lines I drew marking out where I want the walkways to be. Especially in the 2nd photo. In the 3rd photo, you can the the Main entrance to the oxbow. It's to the far right of the photo. You can see the back of a sign that reads Fun Zone. Things are a changing though.
In the next two photos, you can see all the plants setting out where I'll be planting them.
Sure looks like something in the works doesn't it?
Okay, I have more photos, so on to the next post.
WIB~
SW

My EC, didn't really want me to take his photo, but I did it anyway. :-) That's my boy in the first two photos. It's just amazing how quickly they grow up.
Photo number three is right after we got the plants in the ground. You can see him walking away. My wonderful fids, Spirit and Mia, are hanging out with me, there too. A couple more photos showing slightly different views. The last photo is of the second garden space. It's looking pretty sparse without the missing Lantana plants.
Still lots more photos, and since a lot of them are kind of the same area, I'm going to post the best on the next post.
WIB~
SW

As I said in the previous post, these photos are a series of photos of the whole area two garden plots, and the background. You'll notice that I still haven't gotten all the dead brush cleared out yet.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, that since I planted on a slope, I built partial plant wells around each plant. Then as you see, I watered the plants thoroughly. The drip irrigation has to wait until DH can change the faucet fitting for me. :-(
It's okay, though, I like seeing how each plant is doing, and hand watering gives me that opportunity. :-)
WIB~
SW

This 1st photo is of one of the Butterfly Bush blooms.
The 2nd is of the view from the lower pathway.
The 3rd is of the lower pathway looking back towards the entrance.
The 4th is from the upper middle pathway, looking towards the creek. It's going to be really pretty once I get that dead brush in the background out of the way.
The 5th photo is from the upper middle pathway looking towards the entrance.
Looks like a promising start. :0)
As I said, I plan on intermixing the host plants. I really wanted to give these plants a chance to get settled in, before winter comes. That's why I chose to go ahead and plant them now. I was just betting that it would rain before now. This is why I have a hose though. You do know that gardeners are gamblers right? We also hedge our bets. LoL at the pun. :-)
WIB~
SW

I've been wondering what to do about this set of Lodge Poles (Tipi Poles) in the first photo. I decided that with some bird netting attached to the poles, it would make a good support for the Maypops Passionflower. Which as you probably know is the host plant for the Gulf Frit. Which I admit is one of my favorite butterflies. I think I will make the outline of the flower bed using the free border edging of the rocks. I was thinking of all kinds of materials to use for the borders, but in the end, my native rock wins. It's free, and I can pick most of it up by myself. Although, DH said he'd bring me in some big rocks to put around the garden beds, or even in them. Remember the photos with lines. A couple of them were of circles? Well I have been thinking about Garden Art, and I put the circles there for something, not plants, that would enhance the Garden experience. You got to have some contrast after all.
The old Lodge Poles will give us some height in the garden too. I will have to do something about these Buffalo Gourds though (photo #2). :-|
I kind of like them, but maybe not there. They grow in several places on the farm, so I don't think there would be any harm in removing that particular plant from the BEES.
Please ignore the scratch on my camera lens. Sometimes it gets into the photos if the light is right. I've got to get that fixed.
Sadly it's really visible in photo #3. Which I'm including because in the background you can see my favorite Elderberry. The drought has not been kind to it. The one by my youngest kid's place is still green. This one fruited, and then died back. It had black fruit too. The one up by the kid's place never has black colored fruit. Just little green berries that kind of taste like grapes. Hmmm. I digress.
I thought you might recognize the background in this photo. It is the area I originally thought I'd use for the BEES. I still intend on using the space. I've just claimed the whole oxbox area now. For a while we'd thought of using part of the area for a kids play area. I've found a better place for that where we can include some picnic tables too. So I have more room for my BEES. I also want to create a space that we can use for weddings. Seldom a week has gone by that someone has not approached me about either having a wedding or renewing vows, or having a Quincinera (I'm not sure of the spelling on that last one), here. I figure I can also use the area for fieldtrips.
Take a look a photo #3. This is the area I propose to use for that wedding site. I like seeing Grandmother Oak in the background. Once I get some arbors up and planted, along with some kind of flooring, I think it'll be a gorgeous wedding venue.
Photo #4 shows the 2nd garden bed, the Star Oak behind the creek, and in the foreground, my sweet Mia.
What do you think of putting a pile of nice big rocks in the circle in photo #5 here?
Still have more to share.
WIB~
SW

I'm not sure what to do about this cactus pictured in the first photo. I think I'll remove the dead stuff, and put some kind of fence around it. I'd hate for someone to fall on it and get hurt. It's not a bad cactus, but I'm not fond of cactus spines at all.
This wild nicotiana was a pleasant surprise to find growing. (2nd photo)
Looking at the second flower bed. Seeing a good view of Christmas Trees and Grandmother Oak in the background of photo #3.
In photo #4 you can see my rake in the background. That is because I was raking the small sticks out of my pathways. The plants seem to be settling in well. I still haven't planted the missing 8 lantana plants on this side.
Photo #5 shows the first bed about a week after I planted it. So far so good. Every one is looking pretty good. :0)
WIB~
SW

The following photos were taken a day following the ones in the previous post.
1. I added something. I've been waiting for a long time to have a good place to put this. :-)
2. A close up.
3. A little story goes with this photo. I was out in one of the fields, looking for rocks to add to the garden borders. While I was out there, I came across an abandoned plant that was in a pot that was crumbling at the edges. So I decided to give it a new home in the Butterfly garden. Poor unloved bush. I'm not exactly sure what kind of plant it is, but it was free, and I think it'll look nice there.
4. The first bed is looking a little better, except, I'm finding some broken branches. :-(
5. Look at what I got a photo of! The gardens are already attracting visitors. :-D
More to come!
WIB~
SW

Some pretties.
1. Butterfly on the Butterfly Bush.
2. Same B.fly, same bush, different view.
3. And another. :-)
4. And another. :-)
5. Last one for this post. :-)
WIB~
SW

More photos coming at you.
1. The last of the series from the previous post.
2. You see these stems? When I was gifted the Monarch Cats back in October, they came with these two MW cuttings. After I transferred the cats to living plants, I kind of got busy and forgot about the cup with the cuttings in it. So they've been sitting out on the front patio table for a while now. I noticed that they had attracted those weird colored aphids that I only see on MW plants. I'm planning on spraying with water to remove them.
3. When I pulled the cuttings out of the cup, I discovered roots. Now I have another reason to thank my friend. These plants will have the aphids removed and then I will transplant them directly into my new beds out at the BEES. So THANKS ANNIE! :-D
4. My front walk, Spirit, and the flowerbed that is temporarily hosting potted plants that will be going out to be planted in the BEES beds.
5. A very sad sight met my eyes out at the BEES today. I found that the native Hibiscus was all chewed down. So I potted them back up, and changed them out with a different kind of Hibiscus. I think given time in the Greenhouse, that they will recover. I can't feel too bad because the Blue Hibiscus were found down at Lowe's on sale for $1.00 each. I do like them though. :-(
More soon.
WIB~
SW

Looks like the butterfly garden is coming along. Love the new planting.
Makes me anxious to start geminating those butterfly bush seeds I bought.
We're still feeding the last of the monarch cats here. Still finding new cocoons daily.
You'll probably have more cats than you know what to do with next year, that's what happened with me, the first year there were so few and now this year it's "wormy" land. We actually drive slower on the driveway in case there are cats crossing the road, LOL. I really love having the monarch butterflies floating around the garden.
It's been a busy day, Thanksgiving always is. It was just our immediate family, but that means 8 for dinner. Hope you had a great holiday.
I plan on playing in the garden tomarrow, to hell with Black Friday.

Back with more photos.
1. Of the four Blue Hibiscus, this is the only one that still has branches with leaves. The other three look to have emerging leaves budding out, but most of the growth has been chewed off. Well I can't deal with that. I must do something. I suspect rodents of causing the damage.
2. Flower bed 1, with the new Hibiscus planted. I've been adding more rocks to the flower bed edges too.
3. Remember seeing the back of the Kid Zone sign? Well, we removed it for the Christmas Season. I got to be looking at the two 4x4 posts and decided to decorate them. The girl in the background likes to help me decorate the farm for the Holidays.
4. This is the last photo for now. I took some silk flowers that also have butterflies in the garland and after wrapping a piece of pvc pipe that I found out front on the road with with white ribbon, I wrapped the garland around the pipe too. Then I suspended it between the two posts using a couple of nails on top of the 4x4 posts to hold the pipe in place. The posts were wrapped in white ribbon too, and when I can get into the store, I'll spray the posts with some fake snow, to make them blend in together. It's amazing how many shades of white there are.

I have more that I will share when I have time. I haven't shared the monarch photos at all. I tend to take a lot of photos as I go, and I know that I will have a chance to post them during the cold, wet days when I can't get out to the garden.

A shout out to our friend Sheila. I saw a sulphur butterfly in my garden yesterday! :-D More to share on that one later.

Please take a moment and let me know what you are thinking about the garden and this first phase of it's development. Suggestions, advise, comments are all welcomed. :-)

Tonight, I'm very happy. The family had a nice Thanksgiving Dinner together. DH got his chores done, and he still got to watch his football games. Even better, I finally got the time, and still had enough energy to update this thread. It's been a very Blessed day.

WIB~
SW

Dee,
Thanks for your comments. I have been worried about the Monarchs. When do you think they will start showing up in the spring? I may have to hit you up for some. LOL!
Those Monarch Cats really do seem to like to travel around. I can't blame you for driving slowly. I've found myself moving them from walkways, and putting them back on their host plant. They seem heyoka (contrary) because they won't stay where you put them. All in all they are great fun and I can't wait for next spring.
I still plan on starting the Butterfly Bush seeds I have, because I don't think you can have too many. You never know if some critter is going to eat it, or if it's going to freeze. I am betting that since we are going to have a mild El Nino this year, that it won't really freeze hard here.
I just didn't want to wait to see some kind of results. ANd the price was right. So far I've spent about $400 on the plants. Some of the plants went over to the planters in front of the Farmer's Market though.
Sounds like our family, only mine is smaller. I keep telling my boys to bring me home a daughter. Well someday I'll have a full table again. :-) I'm glad you had a good Thanksgiving.
Black Friday. Sigh.
Did you know that while DH was setting up and clearing up out front today, that people actually showed up to buy a Christmas Tree. We sold several trees last weekend too. Mostly they were reserve trees, but some people took them home already. One guy dug his tree up, and took it home, roots and all.
People never cease to amaze me.
I want to play in my garden too, but I have to deal with Christmas Trees. We got the first load of Fir trees in on Tuesday, so except for making the wreaths we are ready to go. I'll get on wreath making tomorrow.
Well Dee, I'm envious of your gardening time tomorrow. Don't forget to batten down the hatches, because RAIN is forecast for Monday! Yippee! It's been so dry, and we really need the rain.
I think I'll wait until after that rain to plant the MW that started. The other MW in pots are like Mama plants and still giving me seed. :-) Once I get the drip in I'll plant them out, or if it starts raining more often.
Happy Gardening Dee.
WIB~
SW

Jules, it was so good to see your Butterfly garden starting, moreover Spirit and Mia! Congratulations and good luck with it!
I'm envious to both of you and Dee gardening! It's been raining here all last month, more or less, but yesterday it started to snow, then rain again today, yuck! No sun here since October.
Thank you for your sunny photos!

Adina

Don't be too envious Adina. It snowed today! I have some photos of the Butterfly Garden to post. Boy am I glad that I forced myself to go out and mulch the gardens with pine needles before it snowed.

1. The entrance to the BEES gardens.
2. This is as you enter the area on the right.
3. My little sign was covered with snow. I had to clear it off.
4. My favorite little elderberry tree looks kind of pretty with the snow on it.
5. I wonder if these Hibiscus will be okay? They have plenty of pine mulch.

More soon.

WIB~
SW

Jules, unbelievable! I hope your plants will be OK!