A butterfly garden- from seed, from transplant

Continuing with Seeds….

January 21, 2012

Winter is a great time to plan out your garden. While things are bare, you can really get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. Continuing with the theme of seeds, because it’s seed buying and seed starting time (nearly so), I give you a simple nativizing Butterfly garden bed.

It features annuals that can be grown from seed and re-seed themselves, perennials that (if not native exactly) will become very comfortable in your KS garden and a few shrubs for structure and year-round interest. 

-Full Sun

-Garden Soil

-Low Maintenance (no fancy pruning required)

-Xeric or simple water requirements (would like regular water until established, please!)

 -Butterfly gardens need a place for butterflies to get water. This could be a rock that holds water but some sources say that a shallow bowl, filled with moist soil works better for the insects.

-They also need protection from wind, so place the whole bed in a protected place (or plant butterfly bush around one edge to form a wind block).

Plant List

Shrubs to ground the bed:

Buddleia- a white variety

Buddleia, ‘Black Knight’ (wonderful dark purple butterfly bush- 5-6’H) (from plant)

Rhus typhina (Sumac), ‘Tigers Eye’ (from plant)

Perennial Flowers from plant:

Achillea (Yarrow), ‘Paprika’ (plant)  

Coreopsis gradniflora, ‘Zegreb’, ‘Early Sunrise’ (plant)

Echinacea purpurea, ‘Magnus’ (seed or plant)

Lavendula, ‘Hidcote’ (plant)

 Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed) (plant) food source

Monarda (Bee Balm), ‘Raspberry Wine’ (plant)

Sedum, ‘Vera Jameson’ (shorter and less likely to topple over) (plant)

  

Monarda, Yarrow in the background

From Seed:

Bronze Fennel (direct sow) - food source

Echinacea purpurea, ‘Magnus’ (direct sow or plant)

Larkspur (direct sow) - nectar

Liatris (Gayfeather) (plant, from seed) – nectar

Winter Weather Reminder:

-It’s always a good time to prune out dead and broken limbs (from trees and shrubs). These can affect the future growth of the tree and promote infection (later on when it’s time to come out of dormancy).

-Water your new trees and shrubs. Remember, deep infrequent waterings save the day. Your plant is using much much less water in the cold weather. But still, a watering every month will help new trees and plants stay alive in bitter cold weather. 

 
 Frank says: water at every major holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day). I like to throw in a watering in January. Right now, wait until one of our 40 degree days and water in the afternoon. Don’t water the leaves and try to minimize water on the bark!