Butterfly gardening not just leisurely

Hey Dave, I was wondering if the Butterfly forum could be listed somewhere besides the "Home Talk/ Leisurely Pursuits". My garden beds are filled purposely with plants that provide nectar for butterflies (and hummers) and plants that are "host plants" to specific butterflies in my area. It takes a lot of research, dedication and hard work to plant and maintain beds like this. Because I am also trying to attract butterflies to lay eggs on the host plants, I must garden organically to insure their safety. I have to supply nectar plants for those few and inbetween flutterby's during the colder months too. While I do LOVE my beds and every ounce of work is enjoyed, watching them and being able to get some beautiful pictures is the only "leisurely" part and it's not as often as the work. Think about it? :) Not that it's a big deal, but it might get overlooked because it's not considered a "leisure" to some. The forum on GW is very active and I'd love for some of them to come over here.

Thanks for just being willing to ideas Dave! Whatever you decide is fine. Gotta throw in that I just love it here!

Paige

Hi, konkrete--

I too was surprised to find the 'Butterfly and Hummingbird Forum' under 'Leisurely'. (And it took me a while to find it, too.) Like you, my first thought was that it should be listed with the other 'Garden Talk' forums.

But, now I just post my BF and HB questions and interesting posts around on the various plant forums--perennials, annuals, containers, regional, vines, etc., and I have found some new DGers interested in Butterfly gardening and lots of different perspectives from those who rarely looked at the Official BF/HB Forum before.

Perhaps some of these DGers will become more interested in gardening for the Monarchs or HBs and plant a few milkweeds or other attractants? That would be a fun result of the (mis-) labeling of our Forum!

So, I suppose there is something of a silver lining to the cloud...

I enjoy your lively posts and photos here on DG. The Forum at GW is quite active and the posters are very knowledgeable about plants, too, and it would be nice to continue to foster that here, one way or the other.

Good luck. t.

Ahh, thanks T! But see, posting in so many different forums makes it hard to find info and I barely have time for my 2 main forums now. (of course I could if I didn't do other things!) I stay in the butterfly forum because my post will usually involve a butterfly or a plant associated with them. I rarely go to the perennial forum because my question or comment is usually specific, plus there are too many posts that distract me and my brain just can't keep up. lol Maybe you can just pass along good info to me? ;)

How about a butterfly gardening forum? Would anybody like to see that? Then it would be a separate forum and found somewhere under the Garden Talk section! YEA!

Yes, of course I know what you mean, kkb! :-)

It is a bit strange the way DG has it set up.

I just hopped over to GW to see what was going on there and of course you know they have quite a nicely organized set-up (except I much prefer the way we can post pics right along with our comments) including a lot of excellent information from their posters.

Ah, well....

You know, I was thinking about all the hard work I've done to put together a butterfly garden including raising many plants from seed and building raised beds. Nothing leisurely about that!

I whole-heartedly aggree with you guys! Gardening for hummers and butterflies is my PASSION! Its much more than a "liesurely pursuit."

John

I think (because I think I was probably the culprit that got Butterflies & Hummers in "Leisurely Pursuits") that we were thinking it was about the insects and birds, not gardening FOR butterflies and hummers. (Shows you how much time I spend in that forum, I'm afraid.)

Dave can most likely move it back to the Garden Talk tab, under general gardening forums.

tabasco, I found your comparison interesting - out of all the comments and feedback I've heard regarding the new "Home Talk" and "Garden Talk" tabs, I don't think anyone has (negatively) compared it to GW.

If anything, I would think the new format is similar to GW's (and I still kind of miss having a single "forums" thread in reverse-chronological order - even though it'd be a mightly long list o' forums these days ;o)

Linda, I never thought about the title of the forum, just knew it said "butterflies" and I go there. I do think that GW's forum says "Butterfly Gardening". BUT the difference here on Dave's is that we can post pics with our posts, so we don't need a separate forum for just pics and one to talk about the gardening aspect of it. I don't think we should separate them because then some would miss out on the pics and/or the information. Maybe Dave just needs to add "Gardening" to the end of the title? btw, do I know you from GW?

T, I started out on GW and learned so much from those wonderful butterfly gardeners. They are very well informed and full of information to share. I have become more fond of Dave's tho because of the picture ability and being able to watch my threads, otherwise I lose them.

John, so glad you are PASSIONATE about it! :) Me too!

Well Terry, you'll have to just pop in there more often and we'll be happy to tell you how hard we've all worked on our "Butterfly and hummer gardens"! ;)

LOL-- Terry, forgive me, I didn't mean the overall GW site was better organized, I meant the little GW Butterfly Gardening section was well organized and the GW posters are very knowledgeable....(and I noticed KKB posts over there! :-) I love the way we can easily post pics with our comments. Keeps things interesting and moving along.

Have a good weekend. t.

Yes, do pop in over there, Terry. It would give us an opportunity talk gardening.

Thanks for the invite! I may just have to do that - especially later this summer when my plants are attracting the butterflies and hummers ;o)

Now is the time to plan for that. t and I have threads to get us thinking about that. Check it out. ;-)

Butterflies and Hummers are definately Garden persuits and I have found much joy and No leisure to them.
Particularily photographing them is an acrobatic feat on many occassions.
This forum still is limited to subscribers only, so I'm hoping it will return to the garden.
I have new host plants for flutters I can't even remember the names of.
(Plants or Bfs.
I will also be brewing bait this week.
Sidney

So glad I came across this thread I just joined and I was looking for a b&h forum in Gardem Talk. Now I know just where to look.

Great! Rosy! So glad you found the Butterflies and Hummers Forum!

http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/bbb/all/

Be sure to let us know what kinds of butterflies and hummers your garden attracts! Or any new ideas you have.

And Welcome to DG!

Don't forget to 'announce' yourself on the Welcome Mat forum, too.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/welcome/all/

In case you're wondering where Butterflies & Hummers went, I moved it to the Garden Talk tab, in the General Gardening section. I also renamed it to "Gardening for Butterflies and Hummers"

Thanks Terry,
seemed like a kick in

Thanks Terry! :)

Hey sugarweed, what does it mean to "brew bait"?
Tabasco, I've only seen ruby throats since I'm in Carolina and I don't know how to id butterflies yet. I just love to watch them around the wildflower zinnias I have been putting in the past 2 years Last year I decided to put in more flowers that attract them so I got lantana, scabiosa and salvia. I also put a shallow dish of water out for them. Now I need to incease the attracters and put in some hosts.Oh, and last year I had a moonflower vine in that bed and discovered something that I think is "hummingbird moths"?! That was exciting!

Rosykay-- have a look at the Butterfly/Hummingbird forum-- there is a nice thread with all kinds of bait recipes going. So feel free to jump right in on that. (The 'bait' idea is fairly new to many people so we are all wondering how well it will work in the different parts of the country.)

Sounds like you are well on your way to having a wonderful butterfly garden. I don't know what kinds of butterflies are around North Carolina, but I'm sure somebody will help you ID them. I'm planting Zinnias for the first time this year. Also Pipevine for the Swallowtails (larval plant).

See you over on the Butterfly Forum. Add it to your Forum Favorites. t.