Starting a Butterfly Garden - zone5, questions

I want to start a butterfly garden in common areas of our subdivision, and I don't really know where to begin.

well, first i need volunteers -- that may be the hardest part.
second - i'll get a list of plants

I'd like some annuals and mostly perennials, so that I dont have to keep buying [or sowing] annuals every year.
- I do have a $200 budget.

any recommendations on plants I should start with?

as for seeds, i do have a lot [second chance Suzy swap in Feb] but many of the plants will still be quite small come June.

I have scarlet milkweed [thanks to Becky]
Butterfly Weed - blooms second year
NY Aster seeds
about 5 varieties of Gaillardia [fanfare, burgandy, goblin - i know of for sure]
Black Eyed Susan, the hirta variety -- supposed to bloom first year

thats all i can think of off the top of my head.
and in one particular area, i'd like to keep the plants at 3' or under.

any others I should consider?

TIA,

Terese

OH -- i forgot to add.... arid conditions.
we can have very dry or drought-ish summers -- and I dont see anyone running out with a watering can to water plants.

Terese - A lot of what you listed will get big and bloom the first year ... especially the annuals. And the annuals will produce seeds that you can grow next year! Many of the perennials will too. They start off small, but with some slow-release fertilizer should really take off. Just give them a little time. Porterweed, Lantana, and Cosmos are some good drought tolerant plants that hummers and butterflies love!

I would add common magnus (purple coneflowers). I saw more butterflies with them than any other flower in my garden. You can start them from seed and they will bloom the first year. Don't spend you money on the newer strains, stick with the originals. I probably have five or six different coneflowers, but magnus was the only one that I saw butterflies flocking to.

I also noticed alot of interest in liatris, which also blooms the first year from the bulbs. I had purple and white liatris, but they seemed to like both of them. I read somewhere that the butterflies prefer taller plants.

I was thinking I'd buy some Coneflowers this year. I can't find any seeds, i must have sown them all last year ... so i do have a few plants for my own garden.

Becky --- i completely forgot about Cosmos [as i was typing my list] I have TONS of seeds and various colors [well, lots of orange and some reds and yellows

I'm wondering if I can get cypress vine to climb a chain link fence
OH and all the 4-O'Clocks i have... i can get them to run the fence line... i'll have to think about that one as i'd have to dig the grass out.

thanks Becky and penne

I would grow Cypress Vine and Moonflower vines together on the fence. The Moonflower vine attracts Hummingbird Moths at night! Ya gotta have those moths, too! :-)

You can usually find Coneflower seeds at your local Wal-Mart, Home Depot, or Lowes. I don't have any left unfortunately, otherwise I would share some with you. Do you have Moonflower seeds? BTW - Hummers love just about any Morning Glory vine blooms, not just Cypress vine.

I have Datura, not the Vine. that would look very pretty, the red and white intertwined.

and for the ConeFlowers... i was hoping to have blooms this year, and since it's a second year bloomer.

our HOA has budgeted $200 every year, and we've never used it .... then somehow, which i haven't figured out how it happened, i was made head of the landscape committee.

I do have lots of morning glories, but the rabbits seem to eat them all [i lost 75% of my plants last year.] but I do have lots of grampa ott i can spare.

I did see coneflower "roots" for sale at WalMart a few weeks ago. Maybe they are stocking them at your local store (if you have a Wally World nearby).

OH -- that's interesting.
Thanks.

Here's a budget stretcher idea--- just wait on the coneflowers--someone will have plants or seedlings to send you or go to the RU in your area and do a little trading! Or Bluestone perennials has them and have a discount going until March 15.

Coneflowers, Verbena bonarienses, milkweed, buddleia. Those are the standard butterfly nectar plants for our region, I believe. Then fill in with some of the other pretty nectar flowers. Of course buddliea isn't native and neither is verbena bonarienses, and you may want to check to see if they are invasive in your area. But they certainly are popular with our Midwestern butterflies. I believe coneflowers, verbena bonarienses, and milkweeds all can accommodate arid conditions. Not so sure about buddliea.

Liatris spicata are popular in our garden. You can buy bulbs (I ordered mine from Brent & Becky this year or they are cheaper at HD but not so fine and fat) to plant. Just be sure you have taken care of the mole/vole/chipmunk issues. Last year something ate up all 50 of my liatris bulbs. This year I'm starting them in peat pots until they get big enough. Maybe that will thwart the critters (but I kind of doubt it!) Generally Liatris like dry-ish conditions too.

Fun project. We will need to see pictures, of course!! ( -:

Thanks T.

I do really need to go to the RU this year. It is held in Madison again, which is less than an hour from my RV park, where i spend most of the summer. and bigcityAl will be there, and he's like a perennial king.... I should see what he's bringing this year.

Yes, I was wondering where Itasca was. And where do you go in the summer? I spent many summers on Lake Delavan and also at Geneva. My DH's family had a summer home up there.

we are up in Lake Delton, which is basically Wisconsin Dells.
Lake Geneva is nice ... the ultra rich play ground.... well, that's how it all started.

Dells is 2.5 hrs for us... nice get away.

Itasca, if you've googled it, is just west of Ohare.

Yes, I've been on benefit house and garden tours on Lake Geneva--some very very lovely old mansions there. Some nice Frank Lloyd Wright houses on Lake Delavan, too.

Had some fun visits to the beautiful Wisconsin Dells area too. Rode the Ducks!

I'm not too sure what will grow that far north, but I have to say I have tons of success with the "Goblin" blanket flowers. Butterflies love them, and they bloom non-stop in full Florida sun. As for stretching the budget...do any of your neighbors have plants you would like to include? Maybe you could take cuttings or gather seeds, and that might help them feel more involved, too.

Melanie

thanks Melanie... and yes, Gaillardia does very well here. I have various seeds, and lots of them.

Last night i printed off a few sites that listed B&B garden plants, and i do have seeds for about 40% of what is on the lists.

just do i WS or direct sow ....

I direct sow most everything, but I'm pretty lazy. Mostly, I suck at transplanting.

I love this thread--what a great project you've taken on--and good discussion, too.

Here's what I do to start seeds for the buttefly garden:

Wintersow if I have the milk jugs, potting mix, and the time. And if the seeds are the sort that like wintersowing. Buddliea, verbena bonarienses, milkweeds, and coneflower love to be wintersown.

Tender annuals (like zinnias and some cosmos) are a bit sensitive to cold so I hold off WS those for a few weeks (two weeks before last frost). (Or just direct sow when the soil and atmosphere warm up appropriately.)

I'm interested in your discussion on Gaillardia since I have tried to grow nursery grown gaillardia in the past with no luck (soil too moist and not sandy enough, I think) and most sites say they are hardy to zone 6, maybe 5. If I don't lose them before, they definately konk out with rot during the winter for me.

I looked up the info on gaillardia seed germination and for most varieties germination seems rather touchy. One site said the germination rate improves with smoke treatment. Another site mentioned using gibberellic (?) acid treatment on the seed. (This is for planting seed under lights a few weeks before the soil warms up.)

There was a thread on Garden Web with lots of comments about Wintersown gaillardia and most said they had very limited success. It seems like those who set out their seed later in winter (a shorter time in the potting mix so that the seed didn't rot) did better than earlier seed sowing.

I am interested in what method you use to grow gaillardia, tcs, since they are such pretty sunny plants and I would love to have some success with them...?!

regarding Gaillardia.... The ones i had came in a wildflower mix. I sprinkled the seeds and hoped for the best.

so - knowing you did not have much luck WS'ing them... I will try both ways... I know direct sowing works, and I do [think] I already have some in containers... but i'll have to double check. ah yes.... i have 2 Burgundy containers and 1 of Sundance Bi-Color.

they did very well for me over the summer and bloomed until the first hard frost. the plants out there right now do not look good ... but i will watch for any growth and keep you posted.

When I first grew my galliardia "Goblin" seed I wintersowed and then transplanted in mid or late February, which is pretty much the end of winter here in FL. I think Feb 25 is our last frost date. Ever since then I just scatter the seed around. Now, it self sows so I have a pretty constant supply of them. Oh, I also direct sowed "Red Plume" and "Yellow Plume" and they came up fine. There were more red, but the yellow seems to have lived longer. And I have mine in pure Florida sand in 100% full sun.

Melanie