butterfly garden plants, as requested

[jen]

Okay Guys, here it is.....
My butterfly garden consists of the following plants- all are perennials but the zinnias, and Mexican Sunflower, both must have's. I've also included their bloom times, i took color and blooms times into consideration, for an ever changing color show. Also, I have listed then according to sections of my garden, which is separated my gravel paths ( butterflies like gravel and a few big rocks to sun themselves on and help heat up their wings for flight).

Section one ( gets full sun all day)
Tall JoPye weed ( Aug, Sept, Oct)
Paprika yarrow(July and aug)
gayfeather(liatris) (july and august)
Zinnias ( in the bare patches, blooms ALL summer till frost)
Tall garden phlox(july)
New England aster (september and october)
Orange butterfly weed (all summer)
Hollyhock ( July) Supposed to be a "host "plant , but I have never seen any cats on it
silver lace vine ( grows on an arbor over my bench) (september)

Section 2
Some morning shade
Beebalm ( red and purple, all summer till frost) ( hummingbirds visit my garden at leat four times a day for this flowers's nectar)
"shades of orange" agastache, also called licorice mint hyssop, blooms all summer till frost, another hummingbird favorite
meadow phlox (may, early june)
royal knight butterfly bush
large patch of common milkweed(june,july)
turtlehead(september, oct)
goldenrod (aug, sept)

Section 3 ( late afternoon sun)
Mexican sunflower , an absolute MUST, by Frost time, it is about five feet high, a magnet for late season monarchs and hummingbirds, mine grows rather slow, because I direct sow in late may and it takes a good month to emerge.
autumn joy sedum (sept, oct, nov)
dill
verbena, homestead purple (all summer)
purple coneflower,
shasta daisy
black eyed susan( all bloom most of the summer with continual deadheading)
terra cotta yarrow
monnshine yellow yarrow
Goldflame honeysuckle vine ( hummingbird heaven, blooms all summer, grows on another arbor over the garden gate)

I also planted some Verbena bonariensis seed in april, they are tall, slender and airy plants with purple clusters on top, don't take up much planting space b/cause they are so tall and wiry) They are sprinkled all over the garden, which is approx. 24 Feet by 20, just to the left of my low back deck. I bought those as seeds at K-mart in the spring, at the same time I bought the dill, mexican sunflower and zinnia seeds, yeah! Martha Stewart!!!! I see many butterflies daily, tiger swallows, black swallows, anise swallows, cabbage white, sulphurs, fritillaries, baltimore checkerspot,painted ladies, skippers, and of course, MONARCHS! I also have a ever creeping shrub that started out 3 years ago as 3 plants, called "blue mist" shrub, planted on the right side of my deck. It blooms late August, September, October till frost, and the late season monarchs love it, gives them that all important last meal before heading off to Mexico! It does spread like crazy though, i spend a few hours each spring "weeding" some of it out of my other beds.!!!
My garden is "mommy's playpen" and gives me great joy.I hope that my kids are learning to appreciate the wonders of nature and the beauty that comes from studying it. I hope this info helps you all plan a butterfly garden, and Gwynne, most of these will do great in pots, except maybe some of the taller plants, will be too heavy. (Joe pye weed, butterfly bush, mexican sunflower , milkweeds need a long taproot, i'm not sure how they would do it pots. Zinnias do great in pots, autumn joy sedum will come back like a champ every year in a pot, agastache, new england asters, verbena honestead purple (clump verbena) all will do well in pots...Good luck Butterfly Buds!),
Jen
Very Happy Cheesy Grin Cheesy Grin Cool

[Farfalla]

Thanks Jen!

I am going to have to investiagte that Blue Mist Shrub and the Goldflame Honeysuckle!
I too am a big fan of the Mexican Sunflower.....We have a stand planted outside the classroom window...And after the Monarchs and Hummers are done and the plant goes to seed.. The seed heads become magnets for our states official bird.. the Goldfinch.


Can we plant Lantana here in NJ? I was recently at the Butterfly Exhibit at the Bronx Zoo.. And There were so many butterflies on that plant !

Right now I have hummingbirds and butterflies visiting all of my butterfly bushes. Black Knight is the best color.. but my white bush seems to produce the most blooms .I have one in pink and yellow ,too. And the swallowtails enjoy the Rose of Sharon.

I seem to have a lull in my garden right before the butterfly bushes bloom.....Which of your plants (besides the Milkweed of course) do you recommend for June-July?

[Gwynne]

This is great, I will have to print your list out. But I have to questions. What month do you start planting or is it different for every plant? If I need soil, is it safe to buy from a nursery or home depot? I read the horrible posts about plants that might have been grown in soil that was treated with miracle grow, but is a package of soil itself chemical free?

[jen]

I had a lantana bush last year I purchased at a local nursery, but I planted it out of the "Playpen" ( my garden is surrounded on four sides by a neighbors privacy fence, and 3 picket sides) and my husbang accidentally cut it down with a weed wacker! It never grew back. I do have a orange and pink lantana growing in a terra cotta pot on my deck this year, and yes, the butterflies love it! ( Gwynne, another good potted plant, but not sure it will come back) I am going to bring it into my shed before it gets tto cold, we'll see if it comes back in the spring. I have never heard of lantana coming back as a perennial in this zone, winters just too cold. Hope the pot thing works.
My garden doesn't really get in full swing until early July, but a few bloom in late May through June. They are, meadow phlox ( pale purple, blues, taller and more slender than garden phlox), the honeysuckle vine ( bright yellow and orange), the scarlet bee balm is just starting to open, as is the purple coneflower. The agastache iss also blooming in late June. I got a bunch of these plants from a catalog called High Country Gardens. They are just beautiful, and bloom all summer long. I haven't seen too many butterflies on them ( I have a few varieties on the other side of my deck) but the hummers go NUTS! By the way, does any one else jump up and down and clap their hands when they see a hummingbird in their gardens? My kids think I'm nuts, too. Where is your school? I teach also,, which brings me to another question. Can I bring my cats/ pupae/ monarchs into my classroom ( I am an art teacher ) without a window in my room? I would like my students to study them as an art/ science unit, but my room unfortuneately has no windows. I heard that cats/ monarchs need natural light . Have you heard this, too. If Necessary, I could leave them outside the back hall door, and bring them in for each class, but I really don't want to move them that much. Any ideas.....???
Jen

[Farfalla]

Hi Linda!

TY for all of your info. I have read on this forum that Monarchs will not migrate without natural light. But I have raised summer Monarchs here...and I live in a semi rural area..my house is very shaded,and we have very low light. Much, much lower than what you would have in an institution.And they seemed to do just fine!

They are raising Monarchs now at school with very little natural light with no problems. But I do need to look into the natural light/migration connection before we raise any late season monarchs!

Jim! Are you there? What's the official Monarch Watch Word?

We are a College Campus based pre-school .Here is out Butterfly Project website.Make sure you click on children's work.. then "Hear us singing songs of butterflies" They wrote and sang some really great tunes.

http://www.misshope.com/butterflyproject

[Lindabird]

Isn't it funny? It seems that there are quite a few teachers here. I teach preschool also. We must all be kids at heart.

Jen, I too hope that my children will grow up to appreciate nature. I get so excited when I see a butterfly, hummingbird, or finch. I've noticed that all three like the zinnia's. I've also observed the finches and hummingbirds chasing the butterflies off of the zinnia's. I don't know if they are playing or just being territorial.

My kids just don't get it now, but then again, I didn't get my parent's excitement in nature stuff twenty years ago either. One day, down the road, a butterfly will fly by them and something will click.

Linda