Bring On The Butterflies!
Plants for a Butterfly Garden
I think there is two things that all gardeners have in common, the love for plants and the love of the butterfly. There is nothing more beautiful than the graceful flutter of butterflies frolicking from one flower to another. Add more color to your garden with the beauty of the butterfly.
Are you saying “I have this beautiful garden full of colorful blooms but have not seen that many butterflies all season!” The problem might be that you do not have the right plants for a butterfly garden. Although it is not difficult to attract butterflies with plants, there are a few elements that you need. You will want flowers that will attract the butterfly through all stages in its life. You will need a place for it to lay its eggs, plants that the large can eat off, places for the caterpillars to spin their chrysalides and once the chrysalides hatch, flower sources for the butterflies to get nectar.
On days when I am working in the retail garden center at Garden Crossings, I will often get asked “What is your favorite perennial?”. To that my response is “Every week something different is flowering so it is hard to choose a favorite.’ But with that being said I do have one that reminds me of hope for each new season.
Do you ever find yourself saying “I love my garden, but I feel like I could do so much more? All the color is at the ground level, I need more height. But, I don’t want a big shrub or something that will take up so much room…” I know I have areas in my garden where this is my thought exactly, I want height but not width. Well let me introduce to you Clematis, Flowering vines. Clematis is an upright growing vine that can reach anywhere from 3 foot upwards to 20 plus foot and like to climb fences, trellis, ladders, and arbors. Give Clematis a fence and it may spread to around 5 foot, give it a trellis or arbor and the spread will be just as wide as you accent.
The dark evening sky, the mysterious happenings in the night, all of these things set you up for a touch of fear. Right? Well maybe not but it got your attention anyway. Today’s featured plant is ‘Midnight Marvel‘ Hibiscus. ‘Midnight Marvel’ is a new plant introduction for 2013. It is a cross between to other great Hardy hibiscus plants, those plants are ‘Summer Storm‘, known for its dark foliage and also ‘Cranberry Crush‘ known for its deep, rich, red flowers.