I'm in East Texas and want to do a small butterfly, hummers, but don't want to put anything there that won't do well
Does anyone have one that could tell me about it? Never done one before
What can I put in butterfly garden here.
LorraineR ~ It is my intention to plant more of these types of plants also. I don't have a specific butterfly and hummer garden but last spring & summer the butterflies loved the coneflowers. Mine is the common variety Echinacea.
Later in summer here they were drawn to the Salvia coccinea ~ Lady in Red. I do have seeds for both if you would care to start them from seed.
I was also given seeds for two types of Penstemon this past winter and the butterflies are attracted to them too. I have extra to share of these also. If you would like, please Dmail me. pod
You can not go wrong with East Texas Mist Flower, Conoclinium coelestinum
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COCO13
West Texas Mist flower, Conoclinium greggii
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COGR10
Turks Cap, Malvaviscus drummondii
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MAARD
Flame Acanthus, Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ANQUW
Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ECPU
They are all hardy perennials, and you will get Butterflies and Hummers too.
Josephine.
Thanks!!! I love the coneflowers and have a few. I noticed a lot of butterfly's last year, but it didn't snap that it was certain plants that were bringing them
I'm glad to find The Texas forum. It's hard for most people to understand this Texas weather!!!
Lantana is a butterfly and hummer favorite (and the Mockingbirds love the berries). Blue Mist Flower and Butterfly Bushes are also favorites. What fun!
Carla
Josephine, hi. I have a question about coneflowers. I have been wondering if all the varieties they have come up with are as hardy and also as good at attracting butterflies as the species type is. I was also surprised to read on the link that they can be aggressive. I used to have some, but they never reseeded.
I love lantana and just ordered a bunch of plugs, so I'll have those!!!
Getting excited now. Someone said Morning glories are good too, is that true, cause you know, there's about a million around here
I planted morning glories once and wish I hadn't. Those vines climb all over everything and make it look terrible. They swallow my spirea every year. I've decided to spray them (the morning glories) with Round Up this year when they come up. Actually what I'm going to do is soak a sponge with RU and then "bath" the morning glories with the RU. Hopefully that way I can keep the RU off of everything else.
Mary Lee,I think the native species are the best, they may not be as fancy looking but they butterflies like them the best. I have never had coneflowers reseed much at all I wish they would, I love having lots of them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carla I am glad you mentioned the Lantana, I was in a hurry and forgot to mention it, but no butterfly garden is complete without it.
It is so reliable, I love it too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loraine, the morning glories will be great for the hummers as well.
Josephine.
Silverfluter - - - I have the same problem with a morning glory I inherited when I bought this house. It works well to cut it back to the ground, then use an eye dropper to drop the Round Up right on it. I think this may work better than the sponge since there is a cut surface for it to enter the plant and it won't get onto other plants.
Ya'll should be ashamed, murdering those sweet little darlin's. Here's people begging for them; and people down here killing them. LOL
Now I'm scared, better go get mine out of the ground. My DIL has them and she cuts them all the way back, but she has a lattice thing in the middle of her veg. garden so she can control it, but it is so pretty. Maybe that's the secret, keep it in jail
Oh, my goodness. I can't believe y'all don't have coneflowers reseed. I planted two about 10 years ago. Now I have hundreds. They are the most successful plant I've ever grown. (Well, besides mint, LOL.) They've completely taken over the bed, which runs the whole length of my driveway. The only thinning I've ever done was to share a couple of dozen last October. That's because they put on just a gorgeous show in May & June. And they are covered with swallowtails.
I tried a couple of years ago to add a couple of Razzle Dazzles to the same bed. They were tiny little plugs from TNN that arrived in July. They didn't make it. Can't say if it was because they weren't as hardy. They may have just been too little, or it was too hot in July, or maybe they just got choked out by all the others. But, whatever it was, I haven't tried any more of the new hybrids.
These guys really need to be thinned, but I hate to throw away baby plants. If anyone wants some, I can share lots.
This message was edited Mar 14, 2008 6:24 PM
Is it possible the hated morning glories are the wild ones that will take over? I planted a short fence of sword bean vines to hide the garbage containers. I was amazed to see those rogue MGs take over and cover the whole fence panel!
I'm with you Pbtxlady ~ I love the coneflowers but they have gracefully taken up a long bed. I can't imagine not having them but finally last year began to harvest the seed.
Pbtx, If you're going to the CS RU, I'd really like to have some baby coneflowers. I can probably plant as many as you can dig up. Well, maybe not that many, but I'm sure I can plant atleast 6. What can I bring for you?
Mary Lee, you're already bring tons of stuff for me to CS. :) I'm not sure without checking, but I may already have you on the list for cones. If not, I will sure add you.
Hey, Pod, I have the wild MGs too. Don't know where they came from. But between those and the cypress vines (which I do confess to planting a few years ago), my whole perennial bed got swallowed up last year.
I pulled, but I'm sure I'll have more to pull this year. At least they're pretty! I want to keep some of the cypress vine, so I guess I'll just have to keep pulling.
The ruellia... on the other hand... is going to Sylvia's house. Well, just one. That's because I'd like her to still be my friend 2 years from now. LOL!
LOL ~ it will be Sylvias' jungle before long. She is collecting invasives and may have to cut her way out by August. She was "begging" for bamboo from Mibus. Now Ruellias. Hmmm, what do I have that she might need.... LOL
The purple cone flowers are great for butterflies and do very well for me. They return from roots and reseed freely. I also have tons if needed. I tried some of the newer ones but not much luck. They are pretty but so are easier things to grow. The white one grows fine but not like the purple.
No one mentioned passion vine-May Pop. The BF will come and eat many of the leaves and lay their eggs there. These too will/can become invasive with little new plants popping up all around. Love the flower and the BF they attract. Have little ones if someone needs them.
Lantana is also a must for this type garden. I have it in several colors but think BF prefer the orange color. They arrive a little later but noticed them showing green now.
Which MG are you guys talking about being so bad. I have the perennial Heavenly Blue, I think, that returns from the roots. It makes a great screen with pretty flowers but can take over if you are not careful. Have seen the hummers on them as well as BF. I also grow many JMG that are nice.
Guess at my place, I sometimes welcome thugs. I just move them to other areas. I like things that need little care.
Here's a photo of the wild mg that has popped up. In this photo it's fighting it out with the cypress vine.
Hummers and butterflies love pentas too. Mine have some freeze damage in the winter, but come right back. I've also had them seed themselves. I have one growing between the bricks on my patio and I can tell ya that I didn't plant it there!
Those are really pretty, I've never grown them. My "want list" is getting longer. Guess I'll have to start a new flower bed. I'll have butterflies waiting in line. lol