Robin, thanks, i will have to try this plant. It looks like something that would grow good here, and i do like the maintenance-free part! I don't have many yellows... this one would be good, and i can never get too many butterflies! :)
Butterfly Milkweed
Correction,I thought they smelled like chocolate,joeswife(DEbra),stopped by for a visit,and reminded me after she took a sniff,and said it was Vanilla not chocolate,she's right!!!!!Just got my flavors mixed up!LOL
Size on my plant,taller than me now!
Still growing,the plant not me,well maybe width wide!!!LOL
Those look really nice Tropicman. What type are those mw again? LOL about the widthwise. lol.
A. incarnata. Very nice, thank you.
I love milkweed, too. Just bought 5 more big A. incarnata 'Ice Ballet' at a garden center today. The nursery had had a 'butterfly show' in the springtime and their caterpillars ate off all the leaves. So the proprietor gave them to me for $5 each. What a steal! Plus, one of the plants had three tiny caterpillars on it! The leaves are already starting to come back. I watered them in and set them out into the garden with my other incarnatas.
I read on the Kentucky DNR site that Milkweeds are wonderful for the monarchs, of course, but also 39 other butterfly species use the flowers for nectaring. That's a lot of potential flutterbys to lure to your garden with the planting of a single kind of plant!
Right now our Great Spangled Frittilaries are visiting them like crazy.
A very nice price on them,all those milkweeds ,all the monarchs on there quest back to Mexico will have a full tummy to get home on!!!LOL
I'm currently more impressed with the honeybees on my milkweeds (tuberosas). With their decline I haven't had many honeybees in the past few years despite a million flowers that they like. But this year there is definitely a huge increase in honeybees. I just got home from work and took my walkabout around the yard and there are about 20 honeys on each of my 3 tuberosas.
Karen
Oooo-eee! That is one pretty sun garden, k.! And what are those pretty blue flowers (salvias?).
I haven't seen any honey bees at all. Mostly big bumble bees. We did have several monarchs today and about 5 fritillaries. Nectaring on the coneflowers (just opened yesterday), milkweeds, monarda, and dill (?).
Same here lots of big black and yellow bumble bees,but not very many honeys at all!
No Monarchs either,swishem my way please!!!!
Tabasco: thanks! I'll post a pic of the other side of that bed. The tall blue, pink, and purple flowers are larkspur. They're about my height and I'm 5'3".
Tropicman: I'm not swishing my bees anywhere. I'm so happy to see them back!
Karen
Tabasco:
I purchased from that place last year and everyone of the plants died, I called, e-mailed and they would never return my call or e-mail to either refund my money or send replacements like they say they will. The seeds never took either. I really like the more delicate leaf on this species than what I have. Mine are so heavy that they are now falling over and damaging other plants near them. I might have to end up pulling them out for this season so the other plants can make it.
Karen, beautiful garden you have there. What is the netting in the background for?
Janet
Didn't know the blanket flower got so tall,did you plant them from seed?
My stupid looking netting was an attempt to keep the deer from eating my tomato plants until I could get some repellent on them. Every day they were predicting rain so I waited to apply it. Last year the deer ate my 5 foot plants down to half their size. So far, so good. They deer ate my lilies, sedum, and 2 kinds of rudbeckia but have left the tomatoes alone.
Tropicman: Yes, the blanket flowers were started from seeds. I gave away several huge ones a few weeks ago, too. I start pretty much everything from seed by wintersowing. This year I started the tomatoes, red salvia, and a few others indoors, everything else I wintersow. The only thing I actually bought this year were a few annuals and one echinacea pink double delight.
Karen
meadowyck, where did you buy your plants and seeds? I bought my milkweed locally at 'Blooms & Berries'.
k., your larkspur are to die for! You can really grow some nice plants from seed!
And so too bad about those d--- deer eating your lilies and tomatoes, etc. They make me crazy too. I would think with your fenced yard you would have some protection, but I guess not enough.
I have been 'fencing around' here like crazy to try to save my few lilies and tomato plants. Do you think tomatoes would be edible after the anti-deer treatments??
I am trying to start more Aslepias incarnata and A. purpursens from seed today. But can't remember if they should be covered with soil or not. Or how deep the seeds should be planted. Any ideas?
I've read everywherer that milkweeds are easy to start from seed, but the only ones I've had luck with are the tropical kind.
t: Larkspur are the easiest plant I grow. Just throw out the seeds in fall (Sept or Oct around here), and they sprout in cool fall weather. They winter over as small seedlings, take below zero temps just fine. As weather warms in spring, they shoot up like rockets.
The 4 foot fence is no problem for deer. They go over that like it's a small step. I used Liquid Fence deer repellent. It's made from putrescent egges and stinks to high heaven. Pretty natural stuff. Smells to high heaven when applied, though I couldn't smell it the next day.
Karen
I dug up to small plants up at the location where our garden clubs holds their annual plant sale last year.
Tabasco: my husband makes frequent trips back home to Kentucky (I don't get home as much cause I won't put my collies in a boarding kennel) and will be going home after the 4th. If you want the larger leaf (and fast multiplying) like mine I have no problem sharing and maybe you and he could meet up for you to get it.
Let me know if ya want to. I put two plants in last year 1 in the front yard and 1 in the back and I have plenty to send a plant down.
One thing that has worked for me with the deer and you don't have to worry about the rain is dryer sheets (Bounce) I tie them on the plants that I want to protect and move the location every 6 six days. It takes only 7 days for deer to become accustomed to the new smell or item. The sad thing I waited to long to get started back with it this year and one again I won't be seeing my rudbeckia flower for a while.
I take the drier sheet and cut into strips and tie on the plants.
Janet
Thank you, Janet, for your kind offer, but I think I'll be pretty well set for milkweeds in a couple more weeks. I started some from seed (for next year), found some A. incarnata at a local nursery and my sister is giving me a few seedlings, too.
k. I will have to try larkspur this fall and see what happens. Thanks for the tip.
And thanks for all the tips on the deer. I will try the dryer sheet idea, too. Haven't hear of that one. I just went for a little walk around my garden this a.m. and saw that the deer ate off all the day lily buds from my expensive 'disigner' daylily and left all the buds on the NO-ID cheapie from walmart! So it will be another year until I see that one, too, for the first time.