What is a Butterfly Garden?

By Bonnie Raymond

Introduction

Even though butterflies are insects, many of us want to encourage them to our landscapes.  We think of butterflies differently. Their brief visits to our gardens are a pleasure to witness. They silently flutter from flower to flower while sipping nectar. They are colorful, graceful, and harmless.

Beneficial Insects

Besides being a joy to watch, butterflies are beneficial insects. The dictionary’s definition of a beneficial insect is, “…insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control.” Butterflies pollinate flowers while they search for food. Pollen clings to the legs of the butterfly and then is deposited inside another flower causing fertilization. All pollinators are essential to our food supply. Without pollination, plants do not reproduce, and fruits do not develop.

At Risk

Scientists tell us that butterflies are in danger. Their numbers are shrinking, and they need our help. Experts believe butterfly habitats and food sources are becoming scarce. The cause of this may be because of the clearing of native plants. We can help butterflies by planting vegetation that butterflies prefer for food and housing.  Including these plants in our landscape is called a “butterfly garden.” We can play a role in helping these small creatures find the plants they need to survive and thrive.

Kinds of Plants

Butterflies need food for energy from “nectar-producing flowers.”  They also need plants to lay their eggs. Plants that butterflies prefer for laying eggs are called “host plants.” Host plants provide butterfly larvae (caterpillar) with food as well. Certain species of butterflies will seek certain species of plants as a host plant for laying eggs. For example, Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants exclusively.   The milkweed plant is essential for Monarch butterfly’s reproduction. Gulf Fritillary butterfly will lay its eggs on the passion vine plant solely. Some species of butterflies are not as particular and will feed and lay eggs on a variety of plants.

How Do Butterflies Find Flowers?

What exactly draws a butterfly to a preferred nectar-producing flower or host plant? Bright colored flowers attract butterflies, especially the colors red, yellow, orange, pink and purple. Butterflies can smell through their antennas and can identify flowers by scent. Butterflies can also detect a preferred plant by taste. Females can taste a leaf through her feet to recognize the plant she prefers to lay her eggs.

What Flower Species Attract Butterflies?

Some flower types attract butterflies more than others do. However, most butterflies will drink nectar from a variety of flowers. Flower features that butterflies favor are plants that have clusters of small blossoms, such as phlox, pincushion, yarrow, lantana, verbena, catmint, sea holly, blazing star, and salvia. Also, they prefer nectar-producing flowers with single, flat petals for landing and resting, such as daisy, coneflower, black-eyed Susan, coreopsis, zinnia, and aster.

Fennel, dill, hollyhock, sunflower, and parsley are all common butterfly host plants. After the egg hatches, the caterpillar will eat the leaves of their host plant. However, butterfly caterpillars do minimal damage compared to many moth larvae.

Native plants are ideal for beneficial insects. They have evolved together for thousands of years. Include native plants in your garden, if possible. Some native plants that butterflies prefer for nectar are globe mallow, yarrow, goldenrod, and sunflower. The following are a few native plants favored by butterflies for egg-laying: buckwheat, milkweed, chokecherry, willow, rabbitbrush and even nettles.

Location of Plants

Place flowers for attracting butterflies throughout your landscape or dedicate an area if you like. Groupings of flower species may be helpful in assisting butterflies to spot a feast, but this is not necessary. Planting a butterfly-preferred flower in a pot on a balcony or patio is great! Your plants should be in the afternoon sun when butterflies are most active. Some gardeners prefer planting nectar-producing flowers only. However, you will attract more butterflies with plants that sustain their complete life cycle. Because the growing caterpillar will eat the leaves and stems of host plants, you may want to place butterfly host plants in outlining areas.

Other Ways to Welcome Butterflies

Keep your garden free from pesticides. These chemicals are harmful to all insects including beneficial insects. Provide shelters such as shrubs and bushy plants for them to hide easily for protection from predators or the wind. Other ways to make your garden welcoming to butterflies is to provide shallow puddles for them to drink mineral-rich water, boulders for sunning, and fruit feeders for additional eating of sugars for energy.

Butterfly Garden Certifications

You can obtain a certificate to recognize your landscape as meeting butterfly garden requirements. The National Wildlife Federation and the North American Butterfly Association will certify your garden as promoting habitat and nourishment for butterflies.

Conclusion

These creatures of beauty are delightful to see. As beneficial insects, they are essential in maintaining food availability for us too. Designing our landscapes for butterflies contributes to their survival.  

Backyard Bouquets

I was inspired by the table decorations for my son's wedding last weekend. The bouquets on each table looked simple but beautiful to me. The flowers were from friends backyard gardens. So I came home and put together a bouquet from my backyard. There are a total of eleven different flowers in this vase.

Dazzling Dahlias

 

Most people are familiar with roses being an esteemed flower; there are formal rose displays and competitions. However, dahlias are also a beautiful and revered flower. There are hundreds of commercial dahlia growers throughout the United States.  There are also shows and displays of the blossoms in almost every county. The American Dahlia Society was founded in 1915. Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers.  I especially like them in bouquets because their blooms are long lasting.

Dahlias are Mexico’s national flower. Hundreds of years ago, the single flower type of dahlia grew wild on mountain sides of Mexico. Today, there is an incredible variety of colors, shapes and sizes of dahlia flowers due to the creation of many different cultivars or varieties by plant breeders. The dahlia flower can take on many different forms. This is because dahlias have a larger gene pool than most flowers. For example, some dahlia flowers are the size of a button while others are as large as a dinner plate.  Also, there are fourteen different classifications of dahlia petal shape characteristics.

Dwarf dahlias can be started from seed or purchased as starter plants. Larger types are often grown from tubers. Tubers differ from bulbs in that they have eyes; the “eye” on the tuber is actually a bud from where a new plant will grow. A potato is also a tuber.

Dahlias grow best in full sun. They like sandy soil for good drainage, as sitting in too much water can cause the tuber to rot. The soil should be at least 60 degrees.  A ‘rule of thumb’ for when to plant a dahlia tuber is to plant it the same time as tomato plants, or in our area, anytime after Mother’s Day.

To plant the tuber, dig a hole about eight inches deep and eight inches wide. Fill this planting hole with about four inches of native soil mixed with a handful of compost. At this time, sprinkle in some bone meal. Place the tuber horizontally and then cover it with about three inches of soil. Fill in with soil around the tuber as it grows. Insert a stake at planting time.  As the plant grows, you will tie the stem to the stake for support.  The tuber will sprout in about two to three weeks.

During my first year growing dahlias, I was excited to see the tuber sprouts appear above the soil only to find the next day most of the tender, new shoots were all but gone! Slugs and snails love to devour this young foliage. Now, I set out snail and slug bait at planting time. When the plant reaches a foot tall, this is less of a problem. Later, it is a good idea to remove the lowest leaf sets to reduce further insect damage.

Commercial dahlia growers will pinch off the center stem after the plant has grown about 18 inches tall; pinching off causes the plant to grow bushier with more side shoots, flowers, and stronger stems. Dahlias need lots of water. They may also benefit from a monthly application of fertilizer that is high in potash such as 5-10-10. However, a soil test will tell you if potassium (potash) is deficient in your soil.

Dahlias grow very fast.  In fact, the warmer the temperature, the faster they will grow. By July, you should have blossoms to cut for your indoor vases. Deadheading or cutting off the faded blooms will encourage more flowers. This will keep your dahlia producing flowers up until the first frost.

Dahlia tubers do not survive our cold winters. Digging up the tubers for winter storage is necessary. Plant the tubers again after the soil warms for another summer of blooms.

Dahlias are a flower adored by many because they are easy to grow, and they also provide a finale of color at the end of each growing season.

 

Blooming Zinnias

I started zinnia seeds indoors in the month of April. Their blooms are now bursting with color. I especially love the variety of hues reminding me of Spanish pottery. The deep reds, oranges, light and dark purples and white create a festive combination.  Being surrounded by the beauty of color is one of the main reasons I love flowers. Zinnias in bloom provide this experience wonderfully!

 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 

My garden is a constant work in progress. I have no plan other than to buy a flower, plant the flower and sometimes move the flower to a better location. Each year is different, in fact, my garden, as all gardens, changes weekly. The flowers are always changing. Throughout the growing season, there are early blooming flowers, mid-season flowers and late season flowers.  

Here are my two favorite roses currently blooming. The yellow rose is a hybrid and named, Henry Fonda. The blossoms have been numerous and constant. The red rose is a floribunda and named, Oh My. I planted this rose bush just this spring; already there are several deep, red blooms.

My tickseed perennial is doing well. At the beginning of the season, it was infested with brown and white striped beetles that were happily munching the plant to the ground. I sprayed it with insecticide about a month ago, and now it is doing very well. The color combination of the deep yellow flowers next to the deep red rose is gorgeous.

I have three pots that I planted with pink petunia waves. They are now growing profusely. Eventually the blooms will spill over the pots.  Wave petunias are very dependable. They take the full sun and heat well.

I planted my dahlia plants a bit late this year, but they are doing well and are growing at least an inch or more a day. They get morning and early afternoon sun but are in the shade during the most intense heat of the day. I can’t wait for their blooms later in the summer.

 

Tell me about your favorite flowers currently blooming in your garden.

 

Lovely Lavender

 

 

The Blue Mountain Lavender Farm sits in the Walla Walla Valley. Beautiful rows of lavender grow on hilly fields. Lavender blooms are just emerging from the plants. It is the time of year when early varieties are budding out.

I spent a recent morning wandering the lavender farm grounds. Besides rows of many different lavender cultivars, you can purchase lavender starter plants. Also, there are classes on making a lavender wand.

The cutting station provides you with a colorful bucket, clippers, plastic ties, and your choice of ribbon color for the final touch to your self-cut bouquet.

There are also free samples of lavender lemonade and a gift shop that hits you with the familiar fragrance as soon as you enter.

Lavender is a herb native to the Mediterranean. There are two types of Lavender; English and French. English lavender is considered hardier than the French lavender since they can thrive in colder regions. These two types have different flower and stem characteristics as well.

All lavenders need at least six hours of sun and well-draining soil. They are easy to grow since established plants can grow in hot, dry conditions. Also, they do not require an abundance of amendments to the soil.  Lavenders do best when pruned back at the end of the growing season or early spring. Lavender growers recommend pruning back to about 2” of the green portion of the plant. Lavender plants have a woody, gray portion above the base. If pruning takes place in this area, the plant may not return to bloom.

Dried lavender flowers fill fragrance sachets of all shapes and sizes. The herb has been used medicinally for centuries. Today, lavender is recommended to help remedy headaches, insomnia, and tension.

The young girl in the picture was cutting lavender with her mother and brother. They told me their trip to this lavender farm was an annual event for their family. The mother said that this event had replaced visiting Santa Claus. How nice for these children to be creating unique childhood memories.  

Have you visited a Lavender Farm?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Facts You May Not Know About Rhododendrons

 

During a recent trip to the west side of the mountains in Washington State, I was treated with many sightings of blooming rhododendrons.  These giant of flowers are very impressive when in full bloom! I live on the east side of the mountains where there are few growing because the conditions are not optimal.

Here are a few little-known facts.

Fibrous Root Ball

Rhododendrons have shallow, fibrous or hair-like roots. They cannot tolerate dry, hot conditions. Because of this, they grow more successfully on the cooler, wetter west side of Washington State where I was visiting. During the first year after planting, they need plenty of water. It takes longer for the small root hairs to grow out of the original root ball. Because of the shallow roots, cultivating is not recommended. A thick layer of mulch provides lots of root protection.  

Invasive

Some varieties of Rhododendrons are invasive in certain parts of the world.  An invasive plant is any plant that is, “not native and has negative effects on the economy, the environment, or health. “ This is true for a cultivar of rhododendrons that is commonly found throughout the British Isles and other parts of the world. Rhododendrons thrive in mild, moist climates with slightly acidic soils. In these areas, rhododendron plants have been found to destroy habitats of other plants and animals because of their aggressive growing habits. 

Fragrance

Most people are unaware that there are a few varieties of rhododendrons that have fragrance. Plant breeders have managed to develop other cultivars that have fragrance too. The flowers of these aromatic blooms tend to be lighter in color; for example, white, light pink or light yellow. The strength of the perfume of any flower is made stronger with warmer temperatures.   

Have you grown rhododendrons successfully in your area?