Ooh I have to try that! Here's a pic from the other day.
I can't believe it!
ooo, that looks nice, not at all messy!
Thanks I just moved everything around to fix the heights for the butterflies. So the tallest are in the back and shortest in front. I planted some Arborvites last year to create a windbreak. That will take quite some time to grow in though. I still have a lot of annual seedlings and small perennial seedlings in there too. This is the area that the neighbors probably think is gaudy. They are almost all lawn lovers. : )
Looks like heaven to me! Your J. maple looks awesome there.
What's the tall silvery stuff?
Thanks! That's Agastache rupestris. I'm not sure which common name to call it. Hummingbird MInt... It's the one that smells like Root Beer. Plus the Hummer's like it.
Ooo, nice. Love the root beer touch! I added three Agastaches this year. A. cana, A. "Desert Sunrise" and A. cana "Sinning"
Do you get the hummies all summer? I don't. I'm on a mission though.
Great pics! Your garden looks so organized and under control. Not gaudy. At least not by my standards. I know what you mean about the neighbors, though. Same thing here. All lawn lovers, but also beautiful shrubs and trees. No flowers except ours (which are kind of messy right now.)
I pulled out some of my giant borage today to plant peppers. Haven't seen any butterflies on it. Tried to serve it in a salad last night but no takers on it! Now, about the 'rue'! Do you have a good recipe for that one??!
Thanks for the tip on the Agastach rupestris. I'll have to try that one for the hummmers. The one I have doesn't seem to be very attractive.
Nope, no recipes for Rue, but I thought I saw that over on the herb thread. I just leave it in the garden and let it look pretty. Was hoping that the Giant Tiger Swallowtails would lay some eggs, but no luck.
I wonder if sometimes people don't plant flowers because they just don't know what to do with them, or they want no work. When I moved here, there was NOTHING planted here. One small vegetable garden and some old day lily remnants! Of course, that was a blank palette for me. I sure hope the next owners enjoy landscaping! LOL.
Thanks guys! Tab I would make sure you look up that Rue real well. I've read it can be slightly toxic to ingest?
Yes, I googled 'Rue' and it can do nasty stuff to the digestive system. Also saw that it's used in Witchcraft. Oh, dear.
Well, I planted it for the Giant Swallowtails, too, but my plants appear smaller than that butterfly, so I'm not sure I have the right 'rue'. Oh, well.
How long ago did you plant it? I have a ton and the Black Swallowtails use mine as a host. I don't have Giants here. I wish I did. : ( I do have at least 4 BST cats out there noe though. They are tiny little guys. : )
I had BSTs host on it at a different house, but now that I have so much dill, they are preferring that.
Here's my sloppy rue. In this zone it dies back almost to the ground every year (depends on snow cover). It doesn't get as big as my Autumn Joy sedum. Although maybe if I staked it!!!
What a pretty mix of plants! Looks great. I don't have any current pics of my Rue. It takes up about a 4' x 3' area. So you can imagine I have a lot. : ) I have two types of Zizia that I've seen some cats on. I also have parsley that they like but I was hoping that one would be for me. It seems to be their fave though. They seem to be happy with the hosts I do have so I don't think I'll add Dill... it's huge isn't it? I did start more Zizia aptera seeds.I really like these, they will make a great edger for my butterfly garden once I get enough of them going. I only have one plant I purchased from a nursery for a trial plant.
Here's a pic from 5/29 I actually found a pic of the Rue when I went looking for that. : )
Here's one of my two patches of Zizia aurea, these are much taller than the Z. aptera so are better near the back. I actually moved them back a bit about two weeks before this pic.
oops, that was the wrong pix, but thanks! LOL. duhhhhh
Well at least you can see in the first pix where it is planted.
I dont' even know what zizia is. I'll have to look it up.
Yah, dill is pretty big and it is a heavy reseeder. I love it on cucumbers though, so I let it reseed away and then pull it from areas in which I don't want it. I love it when I mow and it smells like dill. I also planted extra parsley for the late ones.
I moved a few lanceleaf plantains into the garden for the buckeyes. Would be awesome if some showed up to lay eggs, but probably I'll have to go cat hunting for those.
This is my butterfly/HB garden as of 6/13. Everything is really growing now. My Zowie zinnias are about to bloom. Can't wait! I have a good mix of butterfly/hummingbird plants on the both sides of the fence too.
Looks really good. When I was trying to pick which host plants to use I tried finding things they would use that were native to my area. The only parsley family member native to NH is Zizia aurea. The funny thing is that one seems to be their least fave. : )
Ha. Well you know you just can't tell about those guys (what they like). I hear people all the time say they only eat the curly leaf parsley, or the flat leaf, or this or that. I found a late instar last year on some wild parsley. It was parasitized though.
Same thing with Monarchs I guess. I had some on each of my two kinds of milkweeds last year. Both did not make it. Saw tons on the common milkweed at a friends farm, but didn't want to try and raise them after my past losses! I'll try to be more brave this year.
I don't try to raise them myself. I always feel bad when I find a parasitized one, but I figure I am still helping them out a lot by planting as much host and nectar plantrs as I can for them. I have two young dd's and two kittys. Between them, working, gardening and keeping the house presentable (sometimes) I don't have the time for propercare of them. I would hate to be the reason they didn't survive, at leats when it happens out side I can take some comfort in the fact that that's what mother nature intended. I think it's great that others do raise them though. Maybe when my children are grown and gone I will get into raising them.
Yah, I think that's the way it should be sometimes too. But then I find it interesting, so I brought some in.
And by the way. I have no kids, two dogs and a cat. and I don't keep my house presentable at the least! LOL.
Well I did try once, I brought in all the M0narch cats I could find, then I saw the rapid pace they eat and poop and they went right back outside!! Lol I am glad you have the time to raise them, More to migrate my way-lol. : )
hee.
haaa.
You got me thinking about host plants and I just realized this new volunteer in my backyard looks to be a type of Angelica which is another Parsley family member. There are native types. I'm not sure what this one is. But it is very fragrant, in a good way.
very pretty. the flowers almost look milkweed-like.
I posted this over on the daily butterflies… I was taking a picture of a blue on the oak leaf hydrangea, when I saw it ovipositing! I've looked through the list of blues and it appears to be a summer azure. However, it does not list that plant as being a host. I looked for eggs, but my eyes couldn't detect.
Maybe there is something nearby? Sometimes they do that. I saw a BST laying eggs on plants near the parsley. It was Oxe eye daisies.The little tiny things appear to have found the parsley. It is amazing how they know what to do.
hmm, i'll read up. not much near but holly.