Tag: Butterfly Gardening
An Uncommon Milkweed
Prairie or Sullivant’s Milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii) is worth considering as a garden alternative to Common Milkweed (A. syriaca). A key difference is that Prairie Milkweed is much less aggressive, in fact in my garden it has been fairly slow to establish.
A Tale Of Two Milkweeds
Right now there are two species of Milkweed blooming in our garden: Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and Butterflyweed (A. tuberosa). As you probably know, native Milkweed species are essential to the future of the Monarch Butterfly.
Not A Bowl of Cherries
So I thought I was doing a good thing when I planted a purple-leaved Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana ‘Schubert’) in the back garden, and another along the east side of the house. Chokecherry is a small North American tree with great wildlife value. I was looking forward to the flowers, the fruits (small and very sour, …
Kittens AND Butterflies
My recent life feels as if it can be divided into two periods, BC and AC (Before Chemo and After Chemo). Having been through the first round of six treatments, I have no desire to discuss chemotherapy. It’s enough to say that while many have experienced much worse than I, the modern improved version is …
2 Onions and 2 Critters
There are 2 species of summer-blooming Allium growing in our garden’s Left Bank and Lamppost Beds: the native Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) and the exotic hybrid ‘Millenium’.
Goat’s Beard or Bride’s Feathers?
How is it that the 2 leading common names of Aruncus dioicus are Goat’s Beard and Bride’s Feathers? Apparently plants can be a sort of Rorschach test, reflecting great variations in perception within the human psyche.
Thrown for a Lupine
Planting some Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) in our garden may be a pretty bad idea, but I really want to. They’re such beautiful blue flowers, and I love blue flowers. I’d like to plant them at the north end of the Driveway Border, where they would emerge out of the Hardy Geraniums and Nepetas. Wild …
How To Get Monarch Eggs On Your Milkweeds
If you grow Milkweeds to attract Monarch Butterflies, do you ever wonder why some plants get lots of Monarch eggs and caterpillars while others are ignored? This is the question, more or less, that some scientists tried to address with research published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
More Butterflies in the Garden
The garden’s butterfly population seems to be reaching its peak, especially with the migrating monarchs. I can’t leave or return home without wanting to grab the camera, or at the very least lose myself in watching these magical creatures. A couple of these photos have already been posted on Instagram so I’m sorry if this …
A New Butterfly in the Garden
I always get excited when a new butterfly makes its first appearance in the garden. This happened a few days ago. At first I thought it was a Black Swallowtail, but then realized it didn’t have a “tail” and that the color and markings were very different.
gardeninacity 