Busy Butterfly

By SKEETER




My Georgia Gardens are weed free (for the time being) and the house should be completely dust free by the time family arrives this afternoon! I have been moving like this BUSY BUTTERFLY, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Mexican Butterfly Weed vs Butterfly Weed

From In the Garden

The first monarch of the season!! It arrived Friday, 9 July 2010. And isn't it only fitting I should find it on the butterfly weed? Not just any butterfly weed, but the easy Mexican butterfly weed, aka Asclepias curassavica. I had purchased six plants of 'Butterfly Weed' from Lowes late last fall. I paid a mere $1 per one gallon plant so I could not pass up such a good deal on butterfly weed. I thought the 'butterfly weed' was our native butterfly weed, aka Asclepias tuberosa but it is not. I do already grow Asclepias tuberosa but it does not spread around much and is very slow to get established. Not so with the new Mexican butterfly weed. Within weeks of planting these pots in October I had six beautiful tall and in full bloom orange and yellow butterfly weed plants blooming. Just look at November's Bloom Day if you'd like to see this new butterfly weed in full bloom. I was thrilled! I was also a bit confused, let me explain.

I had no idea there was such a thing as Mexican butterfly weed when this spring I was reading one of the many gardening publications I read, and I came across a mention of Mexican butterfly weed. Huh? It got me to thinking that perhaps my butterfly weed might be Mexican butterfly weed instead of our native butterfly weed like I had assumed. I suspected something was wrong with my butterfly weed due to a few reasons. Let me explain.

I was confused because first of all our native butterfly weed does not normally bloom in October and in my experience its bloom period is rather short, not so with the Mexican butterfly weed. Additionally, it is most difficult to buy our native butterfly weed in large pots due to the tuberous root that makes it difficult to transplant the tuberous butterfly weed. Hmmmm. One last clue that made me think I had a different kind of butterfly weed was the fact that none of the original six plants returned for me this year. My two native butterfly weed plants return without fail each year, even though they are always late to emerge I know where they are and patiently await their greenery popping up from the ground. I was quite sad these new butterfly weed plants did not return and was not happy at all. Neither were my friends who had also purchased these butterfly weeds on my recommendation. But, life goes on and sometimes these things happen in the garden. I didn't give it another thought and chocked up the loss to late planting.

By mid June or so I began noticing seedlings in the vicinity of the original six plants-lots of seedlings. I would estimate that where there were six butterfly weed last fall I now have about three dozen of these little lovelies. I knew they were not weeds as they were not the typical looking weed and I amazingly did not pull them out. I let them grow knowing that once they bloomed I'd know exactly what they were. Enter the reference to Mexican butterfly weed and there you have it! There are all sorts of strings on the forums about this butterfly weed. It is true it seeds itself around, it is true the aphids love it (probably because the foliage is most succulent with very little to no care), and, as I've only recently found out-it is a real butterfly attractant! I've never had monarch females lay eggs on my native milkweed, though the swallowtails sometimes eat it-but I am hoping this monarch or more that are sure to come will stick around and gift my garden with some baby monarchs. I am SO excited! Can you tell?

I really like this butterfly weed and actually much prefer it to the native butterfly weed. My little colony is growing in part shade (like all my plants) and poor soil that is located under some oak trees. These seedlings get no help from me yet they look good! And, the monarchs like them. I hope the Mexican butterfly weed does spread around some more but if it gets out of control I will simply hand pull them as that is not difficult....

in the garden....enjoying the butterflies and hoping for some small cats soon.


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Butterfly Island

I have always wanted to attract Butterflies and Hummingbirds into my yard. One dilemma led me to create a Butterfly Island for the Flying Flowers.

We had an island in the middle of the side yard that consisted of 4 Sweet Gum trees. They were hovering above Power Lines and dropped limbs constantly. Georgia Power would not cut them because they were not touching the lines. However, they would gladly come out and cut trees and reattach my power lines if and when the trees cause damage. I guess they do not believe in preventative medicine! Well, I do believe in preventative medicine so the trees had to come down!

The Saint and I, with the assistance of a neighbor had them on the ground in no time at all one Saturday morning. Yep, all 4 one right after the other on the same day! The neighbor helps us get trees to the ground, we do the rest ourselves. What a job it was to get the mess of 4 trees cut, chopped and hauled to another area of our yard. We hired a nice gentleman to grind up the stumps for us at $10.00 each! I had him go all over the yard grinding up stumps at that price!

We ended up with this nice oval island. Only down side was, now I could see the huge boat shed from the patio as well as the office window. The shed serves it purpose to keep the boat dry and clean but I think it is such an eye catcher in the yard.

The first thing I did was run to the bird store and purchase a nice pole and humming bird feeders to place in the center of the island. The little flying jewels found them in no time at all.

I relocated 4 small butterfly bushes from another area to attract butterflies. The island needed something more so my imagination went to work. I decided on a walkway to the feeder. I had some free bricks from a construction sight and thought they would make a great border.

I staked off a pathway and laid the bricks on the ground where I wanted them. Thank goodness no Georgia Clay was in this area!

I had the bricks dug into the ground in no time at all and was happy with the results.
Next step was adding pea-gravel to the walkway. A few bags later and that job was completed and I was happy.
You know from a previous posting on Pine Straw, that would be my choice of coverings for a finished look. You will also see a small circular rock border in this picture. That is a Cypress sapling that popped up in my dad's yard in TN. He gave the Cypress tree to the Saint and we planted it in the island. It will probably outgrow this area but we will just add on to the island in the future if need be.

We had a swing frame in place from the previous homeowners so we decided it was time to purchase a swing. I added an additional Butterfly bush to the island when it got into my way from another project. I also planted Periwinkle (Vinca Minor) around the walkway for additional color.
We now had a nice little island for Butterflies and Hummingbirds to stop by and visit.

In time the butterfly bushes grew like weeds and were hiding that ugly boat shed from my view as I sit on the swing and enjoyed my fluttering visitors!

The Periwinkle practically took over the walkway! I did not like my legs touching the flowers as I walked into the island to refill the bird feeders. I feared a snake could be hiding under them and if I stepped just right, or wrong, my ankles would be bitten!

The Periwinkle was beautiful and attracted a ton of buzzing activity but that was the only year I planted it. I let a couple of self seeders stay the following year but we removed all the old pine straw this spring and I took out all the oddly placed seedlings before replacing the fresh pine straw. I miss the Vinca this year and will plant it again next year but it will be planted further away from the walkway! Live and Learn...
I have shown you all these past pictures to let you see how quickly the island developed in one season. I started the pathway project in March 2006 and the above pictures were taken from then until Sept 2006. Yes, it all grew that wonderfully in just 6 months time!

Below is the island today! This is the view from my office window. I don't even notice that ugly boat shed as my eyes are always turned towards the island!

I prune the bushes back to about 2 feet tall each spring to keep them from growing into the power lines. Just look at them now! I am shocked as to how quickly they grow and bloom each year. And look at that Cypress Tree after only a few years! I have a posting in the works for that in the future.

I found the butterfly bushes at a very popular big box store for $2.50 each! I found them the previous Fall. Dave over at The Home Garden is always looking for bargains. I would have to say this is my best bargain to date Dave! I have 3 more butterfly bushes that are not doing as well because they are in a shaded area and have too much water from spring rainfalls. I need to relocate them to another area at some point but this island is full.

The Butterfly Bush Buddleja is a great bush for me as it meets my criteria in the garden. Drought tolerant, blooms from late spring to fall, attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.

I have 3 different colors of butterfly bush but not sure exactly which ones they are. Coming from a big box store (that sells groceries, hint) does have its disadvantages such as no proper tags!

This pretty soft purple could be a 'Peacock' or a 'Claret Purple'. Humm, I can only wonder which...

This pretty purple bloom could be called a 'Black Knight' or a 'Purple Emperor'. Humm, any guesses? See the bee?
One thing is for sure, this pretty white bloom belongs to the 'White Bouquet' butterfly bush! I have documented many different types of butterflies in my little Butterfly Island. Stop back by tomorrow to see them!

My mom gave us a really nice wind chime with church bell chimes. I hung it on the swing frame and enjoy listening to the bells as I observe the activity. Thanks Mom!

As you can see this was not a difficult nor expensive creation for me. In return this little Butterfly Island gives me tons of enjoyment while sitting on my swing while In the Garden.