Some pics of our summer BF Garden...

((debnes_dfw_tx)) Tis true!

I've placed the website you mentioned, into my list of favorites, Judy. A body jes can't ever have 'too many' ID sites . . .

All .. are such beautiful blooms, T.

The few lawn 'gidgets' I have - I find myself changing and moving them around, constantly! I do NOT have a good 'eye', for placing them. Heck, what am I saying: I really don't have a 'good' eye; period! .. lol ..

- Magpye

Mags, I don't believe it about not having a good 'eye'! I have seen pics of your place and it's wonderful! Besides, you take great photographs and everyone knows that take really good eyes!

We are having a pretty good range of butterflies visiting now. Yesterday I counted eight swallowtails just in the sunny border when I picked up the mail.

The monarchs are still pretty rare here, but I hope Monarch traffic will pick up in the next couple of weeks. I don't quite understand why our monarch count is so light. I am going to e-mail the 'Ohio Lepidopterists' and ask about it...

Verbena bonarienses remains the top nectar plant. The most popular by far, and I don't know why that is, either.

I have zinnias, buddliea, rudbeckias, lantanas, verbena 'homestead' in the garden, among other well-known nectar plants and the bfs continually ignore those and go for the simple, weedy v. bonarienses. I wonder if it is because it is the tallest flower in the garden?....

A couple of days ago we had a zebra swallowtail visiting. I was surprised to see it, although we had a couple earlier in the summer, too.

Our woods has a number of paw-paws along the edge--I should check these for more ZST eggs...I wonder if I could raise these in a cage? That would be fun.

Glad you got out your Cannon so we could share your beautiful garden. Those are just fantastic shots!

Yes Judy, You surely can raise them in a cage. It would be great if you could document the cycles. The gladware would work great for you. If it were me, I would put 1 per container. Also with all the birds you get the cats would not make it to adulthood if you don't cage them.
Please keep a lookout. I check my plants with a big magnifying glass, it helps a lot.


:-D

I will get some of the gladware. And a nice magnifying glass. I would love to try to raise some--and with all of your instructions on the Forum, I have lots of good tips!

Lately my Tithonias (Mexican Sunflowers) have been attracting a lot of butterflies....

Watch out T, bf raising is addicting!!!

Tabasco,

Thanks for posting all the pictures. I will look at them a lot throughout the winter months to get ideas. I wish I had the space and time to care for as much as you have. Wow!!! It is breathtaking. And I am loving the Swallowtails too---great shots of those beauties. I guess you have garden tours in Cincinnati for others to enjoy.

I only clicked onto this Forum after I had taken a picture of a Swallowtail a few days ago. It seems to me those pictures should also be on the Photo Forum so more people could enjoy them and get ideas. So beautiful!!!

Now, I too am getting excited about planting a butterfly garden.

Tobasco,

I forgot to mention. Did you see the thread Dinu started entiltled, "Face to Face With a Butterfly"? It is an incredible shot of the butterfly's face. He posted it in the Photo Forum last June I think. Go to his member page and under the threads he has started---go to the third page and you will see that thread and click on that picture.

Hi, again, Betty---The Butterfly & Hummingbird Forum has lots of good "how to' info and wonderful photos, but from what I've seen of your lovely garden, you are pretty much 'good to go' on butterfly gardening already. Maybe some milkweed (annual and/or perennial) for the monarchs and some verbena bonarienses are all you may want to add for next summer and both are easy to start from seed.) Your little 'charges' will love all the butterflies and caterpillars to raise, too! And of course zinnias are always good.

If you have any specific questions about it, just post them on the Forum. There are some real experts here who are glad to give tips and share seeds, etc., and we need more butterfly gardeners on DG from our territory!

Thanks for your comments about my photos. Others on this forum have great gardens and take wonderful photos and should post more on the Photos Forum--I would post on the photos forum but I am just learning how to use the Digi Camera--and my garden's not that great--I did learn how to 'crop' out all the junk and weeds, etc., from the photos, though! (Important technique to learn! LOL)

Hi Judy,

Great shot right there. Thanks for all the information. You are one of the pros on DG. And your gardens are just so beautiful!!!! I do not want to be a bother but I would really love to have prints of a few of the pictures you posted with butterflies and and one of the pictures of the whole garden. I want to enlarge that one so I can get ideas for next spring. And I want to then make extra prints of the butterfly pictures for the girl's albums I have started. I just happened to click onto the Butterfly Forum a few days ago, after I snapped that picture of the Swallowtail and now a whole new hobby is opening up to me. The girls and I will raise butterflies. I did that once with older kids for a class project. The swallowtails are just so huge and so friendly and no, I was not wearing perfume.

Also I do not understand why the pictures you have posted are not being displayed over the whole computer screen like mine are ,as well as the others I have viewed.

In my dreams I have flower beds like that. Beautiful!

hi tabasco
Absolutely beautiful, makes mine look like kindergarten. But mine is a work in progress, and am looking forward to what the next year brings.
debi

Thanks for your comments -- by the way, the sunny border for butterflies is pretty new-- we put in the bed along the driveway using the Lasagna method last September and planted it with perennials that we divided from the yard and plants from the dollar clearance table at the nursery. Then I sowed some annuals seeds in the spring for late summer bloom...so you won't have long to wait if you put yours in just recently, either!

Now, I think someone asked me about the Lasagna Gardening and these are the two threads with all the tips that I followed--

The 'Before' thread (How to tips for Lasagna Gardening)

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/649906/

The 'After' thread http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/726914/

JUDY! Wowzers! Your gardens are lovely, what a haven for the butterflies! And your photography! Thanks for sharing.. I was enjoying Betty's pics on the annuals forum and she steered me over here. Just beautiful! (Just looked at the pics, I want to read they whole thread when I get more time.) Your hard work is certainly paying off.

what is the low growing plant in the foreground of your 1st pic?
I have a lot of medium and tall flowers and shrubs - but very little short ones.
thanks.

LOL Good ol' white impatiens! That's a space where I have planted about 20 siberian iris, some campanula, camassia bulbs, and peonies for a May blooming garden. In the summer I cover plant it with impatiens. This summer the impatiens got so big and blowsey they are out-competing the other plants...I was thinking of giving them the yank this week!

Impatiens do get leggy, don't they, Judy. Ours fried this year--my mom insists on putting them in full sun, even though I told her they're made for shade. Oh, well!

You could give them a trim, my mom does hers. Of course, she keeps hers going all winter, alive and blooming, then moves them to a container in spring... I tried sun patiens this year, they're in direct sun about 6-8 hrs a day and they are doing really well.