If i were able to get some seed, how long would it take to get those beautiful flowers? [2-3 yrs possibly?]
I just love them - and i just got an email from 'Wayside' showing all the 'drought resistant' plants, which include the butterfly flower.
I have an area where i'd love to do a butterfly garden but since it isn't my property, i dont want to spend a lot of cash buying plants.
thanks -- Terese
Butterfly Flower by seed
Terese - If you talking about throwing all kinds of seeds that butterflies like out into an area and lightly sowing them .... anything that is an annual would flower and bloom the same year. Usually within a few months. Perennials can grow and bloom the first year too, but usually take longer to get big and established. Since you are in a IL, it might possibly be too late to try it this year, but then again I could very well be wrong since I don't live in your zone. But you could winter sow some sseds in the Fall that might come up in the Spring/Summer of 2008!
Becky... that is what i was thinking too.
up in Wisc, about 30 min north of where we are, there is tons of Butterfly Flower (weed) growing along the road side... i keep forgetting to bring a small shovel and bucket with us when we head that way.... but then i still have to get it home in one piece to plant them here. [up north, i only have shade, where here, in IL, i have mostly sun]
Thing with the Email notices i get... ya'd hate to spend $7-8 per plant when you can do it by seeds - though you dont get that instant gratification.
I've been watching my Scarlet MW. and i think i did see the MW bug you mentioned... it scattered when i picked up the plant [it's still in a pot] but now i got my eye out for it. i do believe i have "regular" MW growing back in the field... so maybe that is where the bug came from... but all the lil yellow [gold aphids] seem to be gone, for now.
Terese - Come Fall here on DG you can get lots and lots of different seeds in the Seed Trading Forum. Many folks will give you seeds for postage. And I can tell ya that I get more and better quality seeds here on DG than I have ever gotten in a store or mailorder! And it's cheaper!
Now, when I send seeds out, I like to send several varieties because postage for the bubble envies went up. I want to make it worthwhile for anyone wanting my seeds. For $1.13 in postage, I can send 4 or more different seed packets which would cost at least $4+ in the store. And I have decided to just provide the bubble envies that way anyone wanting seeds just has to spend $.41 (to send the postage to me) + $1.13 (return postage for a BE) = $1.54 for several usually generous seed packs! I usually only trade or send seeds that I have harvested from my own garden. :-)
Terese - I don't know if you have seen my thread yet, but I did seed beds this year and they turned out great!!!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/732433/
Becky -- your yard look fabulous.
since you have such a much longer growing season, i'd never get it to fill in that fast... but i have found that mine does OK when i direct sow opposed to WS'ing then planting.... my seedlings took a real beating this year (rabbits, birds and drought) .. but i'm not giving up.
I'm in the process of making a list of plants that are drought resistant and will attract birds & butterflies
[so far it's a mental list.. i need to start writing stuff down]
thanks for the tip on the Seed trading forum... i'll have to take a peek that a bit later.
Perhaps you can plant perennials that will come back every year and then just Spring sow with annual seeds to fill in the bare spots? That's what I am doing.
If you do make a list of drought tolerant plants, would you mind sharing it with everyone else in a post on this thread?
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/745182/
Many of us also live in areas that are prone to drought conditions. I plan to post a link to that thread on the forum sticky. :-)
Thanks so much!
~Becky~
Will do Becky -- I've been researching Xeriscaping for ideas.
Thanks for the compliment on my seed beds. They are still a work in progress! If I find a bare spot that previous seeds didn't germinate, then I sow some other seeds there. So I constantly have new plants coming up! It's evolving. But it's great cause I am growing plants that I've never seen locally. Seeds were from all over the USA and England! :-) And all were from DGers here in the Seed Trading Forum and this forum. :-) A heck of a lot cheaper than buying plants, that's for sure! LOL! It's been so rewarding and fun!