Your flower beds, what's up?

[flowerseverywhere]

So I put in a new hummingbird and butterfly garden. As I said over in frugal a, I tried to put in as many natives as I could grow or find. I am rewarded every day with three or four varieties of butterflies, but I think most of he hummingbirds went north. I did successfully raise eight monarchs. Now that my two varieties of native milkweeds are taking off I know I'll have more next year. So tell me about your beautiful flowers.

What do you grow from seed. What do you have wandering or flying through?

[flowerseverywhere]

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1494&stc=1Gulf Frittilary on my verbena.

[flowerseverywhere]

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1495&stc=1A bluebird stopped by.

[CathyA]

Beautiful pics, Flowerseverywhere! I think that's a gulf fritillary, right? (I cheated and looked in my book!)
And bluebirds are so sweet and peaceful!
More please! :)

[iris lilies]

Ooooo, pretty pictures!

This week is one wave of Asiatic lilies. Too bad our show is June 20, not this weekend.

I've got a killer group of Lankon lilies. These things are fabulous. They were introduced in 2011 and look like creatures from another planet to my eyes. Mine took off and seem to be liking their place in my garden that is full sun, not great soil. They are a hybrid species, a cross between Lankongense and longiflorum species. I'll see if I can post a photo, also they are all over the web for anyone who wants to Goggle them.

My new favorite lily, Night FLyer, is full out. It is nearly black and it's a strong grower, it's a downfacing Asiatic and it reminds me of a group of bats flying around.

[awakenedsoul]

Love those photos, flowerseverywhere. My hollyhocks, four o'clocks, and sunflowers have reseeded. Also, some amaranth. It looks like my lilies and irises will be blooming soon. I just fed them some compost tea. I've got begonias and trailing miniature petunias in hanging baskets and window boxes. My geraniums are in bloom, too.

The herb garden seems to attract a lot of bees and butterflies, as well. I have sage, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, horehound, and basil growing.

[Tussiemussies]

Wow, flowers everwhwere your pictures are striking and beautiful. I was wondering if you or anyone else had started perrinials and herbs from seed. I heard that these two are hard to do...is that true?

How did it go raising your monarchs? I used to have a neighbor that was really into it. It was so neat, he would put out a monarch flag at his house when the Monarchs were mature and also used to go around to schools to teach the young children about it...

What goes into raising monarchs??? Thanks, Christine

[CathyA]

Flowerseverywhere, Gardenweb (now part of Houzz) has a nice butterfly forum. Lots of those people raise monarchs.
I had tons of beautiful milkweed last year, but only saw about 2 monarchs!! I don't know if it was the harsh winter, or GMO crops, or what. I sure hope I see more this year.
Hahaha.......here's a pic of the milkweed I let grow in my garden last year. I just can't let it grow there this year. I think it took a lot of the nutrients out of the soil for my veggies. haha
It was really monster milkweed. It was like 8-9' tall!! So sad there weren't but one or two caterpillars on there. At least I still have lots of milkweed in the fields.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/IMG_0258_zpsf46c1297.jpg

[Gardenarian]

I planted milkweed and the deer ate it! I planted sunflowers and none are coming up! Same with coneflower.
Looks like a good year for zucchini, though.

[flowerseverywhere]

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1496&stc=1White peacock on my Jatropa

[flowerseverywhere]

Tussies, I grow lots of perennials from seeds, divisions or cuttings. When I lived up north, I grew coneflowers, sunflowers, black eyed Susan's and coreopsis from seed. I would divide or collect seed from them and after a few years I had huge beds full.i started them in pots inside so I could control the light and moisture then quickly put them outside in the pots until they were big enough to transplant. I also grew lots of herbs that way. I have parsley and dill from seed ( for the black swallowtails) and have basil from a neighbors cuttings.

How I raised monarchs. I planted native milkweeds and kept some of them in pots. The Monarchs are here early anxious to reproduce. Once I had caterpillars I took them inside on the potted milkweed to protect them from the birds, wasps, and chemicals my neighbors put on their lawns. Once in chrysalis just before hatching out they went. They usually hatch mid morning so I hung around to keep their natural predators away the first few hours when their wings were hardening. You can tell when the caterpillars are going to turn into Crysallisses and When they are ready to hatch. I found this info on the Internet.

I also joined an orchid club, a native plant club and a butterfly gardening club. See what clubs are around you. You can often get seeds or cuttings, sometimes they share or have plant sales. It is fun and informative to be around people in your "tribe". I have seen fabulous guest speakers, and have received or bought lots of stuff. Your county extension could be a huge help. Right plant in the right place is a huge help to having a successful garden. Not sure what to say about the deer. I live close to a huge wetlands area so seem to have lots of natural predators for the bugs and the alligators leave the plants alone. I am always on the lookout for snakes. Have only seen harmless ones so far but I keep my distance.

[flowerseverywhere]

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1498&stc=1Although not native to this area, I could not resist some hibiscus.

[flowerseverywhere]

CathyA, the Monarchs are in deep trouble for many reasons. Between the pesticides, loss of natural habitat and lost of wintering grounds they are struggling. One of my birdwatching friends who hikes all over saw only one monarch in upstate NY last year.

I know all over the country many clubs and organizations are trying to help them by establishing natural garden areas. Did you know that many modern hybrids are bred for color, size, bloom time etc., and in the process have lost a lot of their nectar producing properties. If you can, find out what has the highest nectar in your area. What I did was go to some big garden centers and stand and watch where the bees and butterflies went. They clustered around certain plants. I checked to make sure they were not invasive species from elsewhere and that turned into the basis for my garden.

Also, for years there was a buffer between farmland and the road in the large farming areas of Minnesota and Iowa for example. In those weed beds there was lots of bee and butterfly activity. Now that crops are able to be planted to the roadside much of that habitat has been lost. Ladybird Johnson had it right when she tried to introduce native beds throughout Texas many years ago. Now sides of highways for example are starting to be turned into wildflower (aka weeds) beds specifically to help the butterflies and bees.

you can also get Crysallisses shipped to you. Occasionally I get an email through a garden club from someone who has more caterpillars than food. Twice they were monarch and once black swallowtail but I was too late to get some. People are really into this. I'll have to check out garden web. Thanks.

[flowerseverywhere]

In my area I was able to get high nectar seeds from some native and butterfly gardeners. State fair zinnias, non hybrid marigolds and native coreopsis and sunflowers have high nectar and were easy to grow. But they may not be right for your area, so talk to other gardeners or your extension to find what is right for you.

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1499&stc=1This was one patch where we turned off the sprinklers and planted cactus. We went for a month with no rain and they survived. The desert rose suffered in the frost but came back nicely the other cactus was in a six inch pot and now is a foot or so tall. This was an experiment in a small area bordered by a driveway on one side, a walkway on two sides and the house on the fourth. Really hot area. Instead of fighting decided to try some cactus. So far so good.

[CathyA]

What seems to draw the butterflies the most here is some Joe Pye Weed that I bought. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to show up in the fields. They also seem to really like purple coneflower.
It makes me really sad that mankind seems to be trying to destroy everything that isn't human. :(
In all my years here at this property, I've only seen 1 chrysalis and that was a long time ago. I've heard of people saying that when they try to grow milkweed in their yards, the neighborhood association tells them they must remove it, since it's a weed. :(

I live in the middle of farmland, but I guess I'm sort of fortunate in that my closest neighbor farmer (borders our property), is trying to be "organic"......but I think he uses that term rather loosely........but it's still better than most of the other farmers around here.

[CathyA]

Here ya go Flowerseverywhere......
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/butterfly
There's a lot of knowledgeable people on there........especially "MissSherry".

[Tussiemussies]

So beautiful...

[Gardnr]

How do you make your compost tea please?

[KayLR]

I wanted to share this video I shot the other night: (I hope this works)

https://youtu.be/T0BMkE5pqco

[iris lilies]

This is funny, or at least it struck me as funny:yesterday I came home to find one single daylily stalk stuck in the ground in my lily bed that's full out right now. One lone daylily, and it was a daylily I don't have.

Clearly someone, a friend or flower lover had come into our yard to do a tour of my lily garden and that person left a calling card in an amusing way.

[flowerseverywhere]

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1502&stc=1Sideways maypop passion vine, host plant for zebra longwings butterfly.

[iris lilies]

I love passion flowers!!!!!! They look exotic yet they seem to be so hardy! We've got one at our community garden which no one really cares for, and each year it blooms.

i am so embarrassed to say that I ordered a Passion flower vine this year, put it in the ground, and then promptly forgot it was there. I sprayed I with Roundup because it looked like a weird weed. Ugh. My head is with lilies and iris, and apparently I can't be a flower mom to anything else.

[rodeosweetheart]

Flowers, the photos are wonderful, thank you!
We are blessed right now with a family of bluebirds nesting in our yard. You can hear the tiny ones chirping if you incline your ear, but I try to stay out of their way, and keep the dog out of their way, as they are right there in the garden.
They are lovely company.

[awakenedsoul]

Sounds beautiful rodeosweetheart! Gardens seems to attract birds. I have orioles who visit mine regularly. Their colors are gorgeous! I planted sunflowers for the finches. Yellow seems to attract yellow birds.

[Tussiemussies]

Sounds so nice rodeo and awakened...flowers I have seen the Passion flower in catalogues...it is very unique looking. I think it comes in a few different colors?

One year I looked out at my bird feeder where there was also a birdbath there, and there were six bluejays there feeding, it was such a pretty sight although those birds are so territorial. We have a few different types of birds here, I hear them all chirp in the morning when they wake up. So very nice to hear them...

[iris lilies]

This is my garden at home. It doesn't get a lot of sun, but it gets enough to grow decent oriental-trumpet lilies. And white bulldogs, haha.

Sorry, I haven't been able to figure out why some of the photos I post are sideways. Maybe someone has a trick to share to fix this.

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1503&stc=1

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1504&stc=1

[Mary B.]

Lovely! That's a particularly spectacular collection of hosts lounging next to the retaining wall. And the bulldog is first rate!

[iris lilies]

Yep, I've been selecting hostas for the past few years and now my collection is complete. I buy them from the local Hosta society and also make a few mail orders from specialty nurseries.

I never really liked hostas until recently when I had to use them because our garden is growing more shady as the trees grow bigger. But three trees nay come down into the next year, leaving us with more sunshine. It will be good for growing lilies and iris, but bad fir the hostas.

[rodeosweetheart]

It's funny what we like more as we grow older--I used to dislike daylilies and now I am excitedly growing them from seed.

That is a gorgeous bulldog, and a gorgeous lily--lovely, lovely photo.

[iris lilies]

It's funny what we like more as we grow older--I used to dislike daylilies and now I am excitedly growing them from seed.

That is a gorgeous bulldog, and a gorgeous lily--lovely, lovely photo.

so, are younhybridizing daylilies, then? Growing your own varieties?

I haven't grown lilies from seed but want to try it.

[Tussiemussies]

So beautiful...I love your gardens and the rock walls brings a great touch to it!

[Tussiemussies]

I would also like to know how to grow lilies from seed...

[iris lilies]

I would also like to know how to grow lilies from seed...i plan to get DH to help me. I don't have a record of patience with staring seed, but he is the king of that. The North American lily Society has a seed exchange where hybridiErs donate seed for members to grow.

[ToomuchStuff]

I would also like to know how to grow lilies from seed...

:confused:??????????????????????????????
I thought all Iris came from pods?

[iris lilies]

:confused:??????????????????????????????
I thought all Iris came from pods?
Only the original hybridizerer grew the iris variety from seed. After it became a mature plant, it was propagated by rhizome growth. All of the iris growing in neighbors yards were propagated by rhizome growth. Once in a while a seed will form and fall to the ground, producing a flower 4 years later, but that's uncommon. And the plant is not a clone of the original plant and may not be any good.

lilies are more fun to propagate because they have several parts that create new plants --exact clones of the mother plant-- when broken from the mother plant. Those parts are bulbils, bulblets, and scales.

[flowerseverywhere]

Love the touch of hostas, very nice contrast. Just don't count on them dying when you cut trees down. Mine thrived in the sun when my tree came down. Go figure.

[catherine]

Great photos, flowerseverywhere and everyone!

Here are a few of my perennials: Coneflower, gooseneck loosestrife, and I don't know the names of the other two! Does anyone? I love the purple ones--my son gave it to me for Mother's Day one year

1505150615071508

[iris lilies]

Great photos, flowerseverywhere and everyone!

Here are a few of my perennials: Coneflower, gooseneck loosestrife, and I don't know the names of the other two! Does anyone? I love the purple ones--my son gave it to me for Mother's Day one year

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1505&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1506&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1507&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1508&stc=1

oh pretty!

the blue/purple flower is balloon flower, the yellow is rudbeckia.

[catherine]

Thanks, IL!