I have native milkweeds also. Honestly they get on any milkweed I grow. If it's true the monarchs are in trouble what's the difference how we help? I won't grow a field of native milkweed, that's difficult and takes years to accomplish. But I will grow 50 tropical milkweed for a trendy little butterfly garden. Besides the later will inspire more people to grow milkweed. Now the flower garden, I am growing more drought tolerant flowering plants. But you know my butterflies so love the lantana and it blooms all year, another plus. I don't know what they would eat in winter without the lantana, although I do have masses of non-native invasive oxalis. They feed on that too, in a pinch. You can't be a gardener and a strict ecologist, there are just too many wonderful plants to experience.
CLOSED: 2014 Fall Round Robin On the Wing
Maybe I shouldnt be mildly amused, but how do you tag a butterfly? Do they make really tiny tags? :o)
Only like them around here , I get a few unusual Butterflies , A couple Hummingbirds , . I remember several that are now extinct , Particularly A large Swallowtail and several grass type Butterflies ,
Pesticides on their food was probably the cause ,,
Lots of Toads and Frogs here also , I get about five toad Species , and a Giant Red Eared Tree Frog The size of my hand one night is the rarest I have seen ,
It is interesting what the Gardening of the flowers or area cover plants bring and do when you have time to watch ,,
Tags have to applied carefully is all I know , I raised three or four Monarchs last season , I am not an all in motivated about it , A rough count was about 60 or so last year after only 7 the year before . This past year was the first in several that I had even seen any Monarch Larvae .
I keep trying , but it seems I keep going back to Novice , it happens ,, lol
Well, if you're a novice, what am I!? I am a super-beginner novice then!!!?!
How about this :
""Student Naturalist at Gardening """ the sign says ,, lol
Thing is with that ,, most always stay that ,, never changes ,,,
Valal - I know it sounds crazy. I haven't joined the tagging program but I have considered doing so. They are learning about the migration patterns this way. Check out this page that shows you how to tag a monarch:
http://monarchalert.calpoly.edu/pdf/MonarchAlertTaggingInstructions.pdf
I didn't make a count of the cocoons but I had over 60 tropical milkweeds and a few other misc. milkweeds completely defoliated by monarchs by the end of last Fall.
I had cocoons hanging on everything, the fences, the shade structures, the plants, even the watering can. I had to learn how to move them to keep them safe.
Dome,
I was half-heartedly kidding. I know there is serious scientific work in progress tracking the Monarchs, it just amused me to think of tagging butterflies as they are so small. I am in awe of all of you who are helping feed/protect the species and the gorgeous gardens you all have.......definitely something for me to aspire to! I am planting 2 types of milkweed in my new garden this year. They are gorgeous butterflies. I hope to attract them and other butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds to my garden. :-) Sounds like you had ALOT of cocoons!
Thank god you don't have to try to put something on their little leg, LOL.
Update on seeding this year..so far I have 99 of 125 pots that have now germinated...including 5 varieties of Asclepias.....YEAH! (Just waiting for the varigated one to germinate).
So how is everyone else doing with their seeding projects?
I'm doing pretty good. My greatest success was psoralea pinnata (fountain bush) which needs smoke to germinate. I also have Cephalaria gigantea, Scabiosa stellata, several kinds of bee balm, false indigo, lots of hollyhocks, epiphyllum guatamalense, pink dandelions, and a few others I can't remember. I started really early and still have more trays on the mat. Weather is getting warm enough to put in the first run of Zinnias and a few other annuals. The weeds are certainly germinating well enough.
Out of the robin I took some Passiflora seed that looks like P. mongolia. However I have been unable to find that online. The name on the pkg looks like Sguanion. Does any one know who this is or what Passiflora this might be?
Cold be passiflora sanguinolenta. Didn't see that in there or I'd have taken that one!
will check that out to see what it looks like.
Oh...that's a pretty pink one!
The picture is really pretty. Year before last I got a pink Passiflora on sale after Mother's Day. It was labelled P. incarnata and looked like one except it was pink. Unfortunately, it did not survive the first winter (even though it was in the greenhouse(??). But the pic of P. sanguinolenta looks different, but pretty as pink. I am going to try. wish me luck with these seed.
Good luck, I bought a really nice red passiflora from Annie's Annuals and it died over winter and I'm in zone 9, I was heart sick, it was a real beauty. I'm wondering if I just don't get enough heat for passifloras. I live in a canyon and my full sun is probably more like part sun. I have a more common one that is surviving but hasn't really taken off like I expected.
Has anyone grow]n one from seed? Will it bloom first year? Im near Boston so I guess if I want it to survive over winter Im going to have to bring it inside
I have grown the Passiflora incarnata from seed, but not the passiflora sanguinolenta. I have seed for the p. incarnata, which is hardy here in zone 6b, if anyone would like to try it.
WARNING FYI, this plant ,albiet beautiful,has a very vigorous root system and can be considered invasive. Make sure you plant it either in a container above or underground, unless you don't mind where it pops up. It can take over a flower bed if you aren't careful. If you have an ugly fence or a problem bank you want to cover in full/part sun this would be a great plant to try. The pics below are from my own garden. The vine is a 2nd year picture, but it did bloom the first year.
Oh Nanny,
I would LOVE to try some seed. Can I send you a SASE?
And/ or are you looking for anything in particular also?
Val
Here's a pix of my Passiflora incarnata, z5., (roots only). I've had it overwinter in my z5 before but usually forget to mulch it for winter... But they are available locally from a nursery for less than $4 for well rooted cuttings. Think I planted 2 new ones in the backyard last season.. Also this one has edible fruit.
In zone 5 it will die back to the ground, so mulch the roots before winter and in a warm area of the garden, ie, south or west side of the house.
This message was edited Feb 8, 2015 11:14 AM
That's the one I had that tried to eat my garden. They were coming up everywhere from runners. I still occasionally get one that pops up years later.
Yep - I grow the P. incarnata too - funny how it spreads. Hee hee.
I also have the P. lutea - a tiny yellow flower native here and several particular pollinators love the flowers. Birds love the small fruits. Hard to collect seed when you compete with birdies. I may have some seed somewhere from last season.
Thanks for the chatter on the Monarch issue - good news is that there is a lot of debate and educating folks is the way to go. It's interesting to me that the milkweeds that are native to my region are typically bloomed out and leaves dropping by the time the fall migration occurs. Therefore there would be no egg laying during the typical fall migration if I did not have the non-native tropicals (A. physocarpa and A. currasavica) growing in my yard.
There are particular bacteria and illnesses reported to be associated with the additional generations of Monarch bred on the southern migration - all food for thought.
With climate change, there's no telling what may happen so I agree that you can't be a strict ecologist if you are a gardener. Still, I do my best to feed the critters that live here year round. My yard is such a mess - time to start spring cleanup I think. It was almost 70 degrees here on Sunday. I love these random warm February days. :)
Nanny, how long would it take for P. incarnata to bloom from seed? 2-3 years?
Does anyone else grow other Passion flowers that are not as hardy (I am in zone 6). Would I be able to take it in the basement and overwinter, or would I have to keep it going all winter in a sunny room?
When you bring plants from containers outside, do you "treat" them/soil with anything to prevent bugs hatching in the house?
Val, the only one that I know that's hardy in Z5 is the incarnata, roots only.
Amanda, this year am doing seeds of A. incarnata white and pink, Soul Mate, tuberosa, syriacus and variegata (this is the only one yet to germinate).
I've been a busy bee. LOL, Of the 125 pots started s far 107 have germinated. Many, many, goodies thanks to this trade (this year and previous). Such fun!
Am trying to germinate my Crambe cordifolia (from my garden), just to see if it will, no sprouting yet. Book says no special treatment needed. Anyone done these before?
Maybe someone has cuttings, I've never had one even volunteer from seed, but the cuttings do well.
I do put the granulated insect killer in my potted plants before I bring them in. I move a lot of plants out in Spring and in, in Winter. The first pot you bring in that has ants in it will get you using insecticide. I don't use insecticide for any other purpose, but I really don't want ants and sow bugs in the house.
I want to add a word of warning to the others about P. incarnata. It will poop up yards away from the original plant. So beautiful, but definitely invasive even though it's native. In the SE it's a common weed in corn fields and herbicide is used to control it. notice I said control. Only years of spraying will eliminate it.
Yeah, gotta love that Maypop. :D
Dee, cuttings from what? Sorry, lol, are you referring to the Crambe? If so I usually sever the roots for extra babies. They develop new plants when cut and left in place, just have to dig them up when developed. Then Ill get more babies from any of the root left in the ground. Need to get into the garden now the snow has melted and do another slice of the roots for more babies to trade or move into other sections of the garden. If referring to the Passiflora, I've lost my plants from the past, usually from forgetting to mulch, but can be bought (the incarnata) locally for less than $3.50. I planted 2 last fall but didn't get them mulched...darn! Was busy planting and we got hit with 5" of snow and below zero temps earlier than normal last season (early November got down to -14*)...so I might have to replace them.
The passiflora has gotten shaded out on my fencing and so is moving across the yard towards more sun and into other beds. Pity the fool that moves into this house after me! ha ahhahahaha.
I was talking about the passaflora. I was trying to say they are easier to grow from cuttings than seeds. And you're right they can found at most big nurseries, my local hardware store had a couple in last week.
I'm actually putting out seedlings from the first batches of seeds I germinated this winter. Put in a bunch of "False blue indigo" and potted some "Eyeball plant" today. I also have some beebalm that will be going in soon.
Ah, ok , I gave too much info..lol. OOOPs. I don't see them grown around here much, actually can't think I've ever seen them in anyone else garden, just where I buy them. Hmmmm.
Moving plants outside to plant already, wow. I know, it's warmer where you are, but come on it's not nice to tease us that have months of snow and cold yet! LOL.
We get our coldest weather in January and from there it usually gets warmer. We have had a light freeze in February before but the weather has been really warm this week. I took all the potted plants out of my greenhouse yesterday, they were roasting in there. We've put some tomato seeds in trays and are waiting to see if they will come up this early. I have only lived in places with a cold winter for a couple of years, I'm a real California girl. I must admit though that places like Colorado and Montana really appeal to me. Mostly due to population here. The area I'm in has grown so much in the last 30 years. The area consisted of a large town with smaller coastal towns to the north and south when I moved here in the late seventies. There was a thriving cattle industry and farms. Now there are mostly vineyards and people retire here from Los Angeles 200 miles south so the population has just boomed.
Well USPS says the Robin has landed back home, but I am waiting for Amanda to confirm that. Their info is not always reliable. I found some good seed in there. Thanks to everyone who contributed to my addiction! lol
@Crystal - I'm LOL at the maypop pooping (elementary humor to be sure). When Spring comes, anyone who wants a cutting can dmail me - mine is all dormant now - but it came back with vigor last year, and yet it erupts at odd places from the roots. However, to my great joy, the gulf frits found mine this year, and laid eggs till it looked much the worse for wear - so it will welcomed.
I am trying to curb my impatience that hits like a vengeance this time of year. I've got a few little seedlings in my WSing containers but not many - enough to tease. I'm going to start the tender annuals next month, and just be patient on the many WS variety, except that I have tiny seedlings of my pea vine inside.
Hey kids!
Yes, thank you Nanny, the Robin has landed. I had a hard week last week with full time work AND debilitating car trouble. I think it arrived Thurs or Friday (?) but I didn't get to look thru it till weekend. Anyway - I too was amazed at the amount of seed and also pulled some lovely species from the box. Thank you Kathy for the scabiosa. :)
Someone sent a side trade for Mitsy - I'll forward that on to her directly.
Susie - I said I had something for you but now I forget if I put it in the box for you or not - can you refresh my memory?
I forgot (!!!) what it was like sort of to be looking forward to starting seed for spring - what with last season's expectation that I would probably be leaving this house last year. Still here in the house, garden still standing, maybe I will start some seed after all.
I will close this thread now, but feel free to continue to post if you have questions, comments, etc about the seed we pulled from the fall Robin.
Thanks for playing!
I will be posting a Spring 2015 thread in the Group Trades forum and will post that link here when it's live.
Think warm thoughts.
xo
A.
Thanks Amanda for stopping in and for being the wonderful hostess that you always are. Sorry you had car trouble, that really stinks! I hope you have a better week ahead. I am trying to think warm thoughts but it is really difficult when I look outside! Snow, snow ,snow, everywhere. Right now we are at 7" and it is falling at a rate of 2' per hour. Could get up to 15" by tonight. And later this week -12* with wind chills down to -40 possible. Just heard that little tidbit on the news...I could have done without that newsflash! Darn that is COLD!
INTEREST THREAD FOR 2015 SPRING ROUND ROBIN HERE:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1386836/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1386836/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1386836/
Image courtesy:
http://www.artinnaturephotography.com/photo/american-robin-singing-in-spring/
Thank You Amanda for hosting again! Got more than 158 pots of seedlings and most are up already (about 125-30 pots ). Thank you to everyone who contributed!!!!!!
Pix of this year's seedlings., Brugs cuttings that Susie shared last fall, and some freebies from a local nursery (Cyclamen).
Hope everyone has a wonderful gardening season this year and every year after as their babies develop and grow into mature plants!!!
Thanks Amanda for all the work, see ya next Fall Robin!
Just wanted to let you all know there's a great article on seed sowing in Today's article.....
"What to do with 10,000 Spring Sprouts in Your Winter Sowing Containers" (good read!!!!!!!)