Hi!
Where can I find butterfly and hummer garden plans? i googled it but could not find anything.
thank you
anna
butterfly and hummers garden plans???
Here are a few ideas
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/butterflypages/garden.htm
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/butterflygarden.xml
Or click on this link for a list of plans and information.
http://butterflywebsite.com/articles/constructlist.cfm?type=butterflygardening
I didn't really use a plan and mine's a bit of a hodge podge right now, but I'm hoping some of the perennials I 'wintersowed' will start blooming soon.
What kind of butterflies are you hoping to attract?
Good luck!
Tabasco that border is gorgeous!!!
Thank you for the plans. I am hoping to attract butties from this area of Georgia. I am not sure of their names yet as I am new to the area. I have seen some and some dragonflies as well. I am ordering seeds from most of the plants in the list.
Are your wintersowing perennials flowering this year?
Very pretty Tobasco, is that Goldenrod in the back?
A few are: rudbeckia hirta 'prairie sun', daisies, etc., and I expect a few more will bloom a little bit before the summer is over. I have had good luck with my wintersown annuals, too--tassel flower, nicotania, cosmos, just to name a few. Wintersowing made for a fun garden this year, and if I had been better organized it would have been great.
Here is an article from the Kentucky extension about Butterfly Gardening with Native Plants that you might find interesting since you are just breaking ground.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for98/for98.htm
I think it's interesting that they say to plant 40 or 50 of one kind of plant to attract the butterflies. I did not do this but succumbed to the 'one (cute) plant of this or that with a hodge podge result (and not too many butterflies, either! At least right now.)
Don't forget you have to have Milkweeds to get the Monarchs. And other host plants for the swallowtails, frits, etc.
Good luck and we want to see pics! You'll have a lot of fun.
http://www.butterflyworld.com/region6.html
http://www.ajc.com/friday/content/epaper/editions/friday/home_garden_44194a9d3698208300f0.html
thank you for all the links Tabasco. i have lots of seedling and will be planting them as soon as the weather cools ddown, in September.
I will be taking pictures.
thank you for your help.
tabasco, I like the look of your 'hodgepodge'. you can always add a larger group of one kind of plant. can you tell me more about wintersowing? I haven't heard the term before. I was kind of aiming at having something in bloom all the time. All I really have in bloom now, though, is shasta daisies. There are a few blooms left on the weigelas and columbines, and the clematis is just starting. the rest are not blooming yet. Next thing to plant will be the host plants for the caterpillars. I just put in my butterfly garden last year and it is definitely a work in progress.
gram
I like purple liatris spicata/kobold with shasta daisies. FYI You can buy the liatris bulbs very cheaply at Home Depot in early spring and have summer bloom (and they will return year after year) and the butterflies love them. And then I put rudbeckia hirta 'prairie sun' with the combo (wintersown or readily available from garden centers). And my WS red cosmos. And WS coreopsis.
http://wintersown.org/
and
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/coldsow/all/
give lots of good information on Wintersowing.
It's easy to wintersow Milkweeds for the Monarchs. I tried the Pipevines for the swallowtails. And hops are easy, Wintersowing is great for host plants.
Basically, Wintersowing is an easy care way to sow seeds outdoors with protection from critters and the weather (especially for those of us with no green thumb and clumsy with indoor plant lights, watering, etc.)
I found it lots of fun but my project suffered because the plant labels faded away because I didn't use indelible (enough) markers so I got all mixed up and then later I think I pulled some of my seedlings thinking they were weeds in my garden. (I am not organized and a gardening klutz, but I am retraining myself!)
Because of wintersowing my plant purchase budget this spring is practically at zero dollars. I am thrilled.
Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress with some pics!
/wow, Tabasco, you are a well of information. Thank you very much!
Tabasco, thanks for all the info on wintersowing. DH is even interested. What have we got to lose? Spider, good luck and keep us posted on your progress
thank you Grampapa. I thought you were a boy! :o)
Tabasco, your pic is beautiful!! I did my own version of wintersowing (actually God's version) and just threw seeds out, everywhere. I got so frustrated trying to start seeds inside and figured if I put them outside in some type of planter that I'd just forget about them. Our "winter" can actually be too warm and they would get too hot and dry out.
More pics please.
for different varities of milkweed try butterflyfarms.com
tabasco, I really appreciate the nice assortment of flowers that look so happy together.
grampapa-forgive my ignorance but what is that water source running right through your front yard??? Is it a stream??
GreenLife, that's actually my back yard. We live in a small development on a manmade 'lake'. It was put in for flood control, but we love it. Attracts a lot of birds. We have great blue heron, loads of Canada geese, mallard ducks. We've had great egrets and ring-necked ducks passing thru. Here's a better shot of the lake looking out over a different flower bed that's planted with heathers and dwarf conifers (and a killdeer friend of ours)
That's pretty neat to have in your own backyard. I'd love to have all of those different birds come, and so close. That kind of water in my backyard would only bring me tons of mosquitoes!! Do you have a problem with them?
No, it's not stagnant. The water moves out to a creek south of the development. The lake is actually much bigger than it looks in these pictures. This is just the view straight across from my back yard. There are a number of other homes as well. Here you can see some of the Canada geese with their babies sitting by that same heather bed. That's the east end of the lake and some of the homes there. Motorboats aren't allowed, but people have canoes and paddleboats.
Having a small lake bordering the garden would be so fun and interesting! No such luck here, but we do have a nice variety of wetland birds passing over and through our property on the way to the Ohio River (one mile south of us) and a little duck family that seems to be displaced who wake us up every morning with their quacking. So cute.
konkreteb., yes, I would think it's probably a little warm for wintersowing there. It seems like the Texas gardeners have better luck just setting up uncovered containers like you did and keeping them watered or else just sowing in rows in a 'nursery garden' and then setting out in the real garden when the seedings are big enough. We have trouble with birds eating our seeds---is that a problem for you?
My liatris just came into bloom this week. I have it planted with some cosmos, buddliea, and lantana with it.
Mostly only cabbage butterfly visitors so far, though...no action on the milkweeds and other host plants. Oh, well. I must be patient.
And my English lavenders and hardy geranium (which seem to be a nice treat for the BFs).
And the 'Zowie' zinnias planted this year. Supposedly the BFs like them, although I haven't noticed any visitors on them yet...A nice combination with daylilies and lantana, verbena bonarienses, and the liatris spicata.
Well, tabasco, while you're waiting for the butterflies to enjoy the flowers, I am surely enjoying them! Here's our duck family just waking up in the morning. They're getting pretty big now, but they are adorable when they are just new little balls of fluff. The mallards are having some breeding problems due to so many predators, so I'm always glad to see a new family.
The ducks are SO cute! I would just love to have them close to me. Well, I would but then I don't think I could keep my 7yr old out of the water.
One thing that I love about gardening, and a reason I'm teaching my son about it and butterflies, is that it teaches us that it's NOT all about us!
Tabasco, your plants are just gorgeous! So bright and healthy! You reminded me that I did have a Liatrus so I need to go dig it out from under a sedum that has become gigantic. Are those little purple flowers on the geranium?? Seeds? :)
I love the Zowie zinnias! Did you order them? I looked thru some catalogs and meant to do that. I remember going to Wal-Mart and Lowe's looking for them but totally forgot to order them. I might have to do that today. Zinnias are a must have in my bed because they reseed so well and bloom forever for my visitors!
I am trying to go to butterflyfarms.com but i think it goes to the wrong place. :o(
No "s" on the end. I reposted the link on another thread because of that. www.butterflyfarm.com
Wow...what a privilege to have a lake at arm's length, grampapa. Looks like you have a special view of all the wildlife that make use of the water. How nice it is to have canadian geese and ducks lounging by the lake right in your own yard. There must be plenty of photo opportunities.
Thank you Konkrete Blonde.
This is our dream house, built for our retirement, and we looked a long time to find a spot we liked. Of course, DH is retired and I am still working LOL. But, I love it here. And we are getting more kinds of birds all the time as we are getting more plants and trees in, and the neighbors are, too. Plenty of photo opportunities, but I need more practice with the camera. DH is the photographer in the family, but he is disabled and can't get out to take the photos he would like. So I'm learning.
We had quite a few hummers last year, but haven't seen any yet this year. There were goldfinches when we moved in because there were a lot of weeds in the vacant lots and they love the thistle. I put up a nyjer feeder and got my goldfinches back. Have 3 hummer feeders now, besides the garden with hummer friendly flowers, so I have my fingers crossed.
gram
Gram, it must be hard for your DH to not be able to take the pics himself but it's great that you are learning and he can enjoy them thru your pics. Your home seems very peaceful and like a beautiful place to retire and relax.
The goldfinches are beautiful! I sure wish I could attract something besides sparrows. Today I saw my first hummer tho!! I only had one last year for a short time so I am so happy to see one. My husband actually saw 3! Don't give up yet!
Thanks, konkreteblond. It is very peaceful here. Sometimes it amazes me how quiet it is.
Last year I went out for the mail and had a hummer buzz me right in the face. Surprised me for a second 'til I figured out what it was LOL (giant bee?) It was later in the summer last year when we started to see them, so I'll be patient and keep filling my feeders.
gram
I'm surprised at how remarkably quick goldfinches are in noticing nyjer feeders. All it takes is one goldfinch to find the feeder and within moments they seem to notify all of its relatives and friends. It's nice seeing them feasting together, albeit very messily.
I know what you mean, GreenLife. And they don't seem to mind sharing. They don't bicker and chase one another like some of the other birds. They really are a pleasure to watch.
I don't know if you peeps are aware of the fact that prayer mantis get and kill hummingbirds. I had not idea of this fact.
So it is very important to place feeders away from hedges or plants where they can wait for their victims to come for a feed.
There was even a film over the net showing it but i did not have the courage to watch it.