Archive for the ‘Butterflies’ Category

Chanticleer Garden – A Garden For Ideas

                Chanticleer Garden is an estate and botanical gardens, that bills itself as a “pleasure garden”. Chanticleer is “a garden for ideas”. The property is located at 786 Church Road in Wayne Pennsylvania, approximately 30 minutes of Philadelphia. Chanticleer celebrated its 100 year centennial in 2013 as the […]

Long-Blooming Tennessee Coneflower

  Native to a two-county area of mid-Tennessee, Tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennessiensis) is a popular favorite among gardeners across the U.S. because of its long blooming season. It has also spawned a few hybrid selections. The pale pink, flat-topped flowers with green and burgundy centers (cones) follow the tract of the sun across the sky. From July […]

Spider Flowers Excel In Summer’s Heat And Humidity

Spider flowers (Cleome x hybrida) are top performing summer flowering annuals. Each year plant breeders introduce compact varieties to beautify flower beds and container gardens. Select among vegetative and seed produced types. Spider flowers ask for weekly watering and full day sunlight (best)  to achieve maximum blooming potential. They will grow in a partially shaded beds but bloom less and the plants tend to […]

Do Not Call Them “Weeds” Any Longer

            Some plants deserve more respect. Over the years several U.S. native species have been tamed or domesticated. Yet, they retain their common name “weed”. Four popular former “weeds” are: butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) ironweed (Vernonia lettermannii ‘Iron Butterfly’), sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), and Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium spp.). Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) […]

Comparing Oriental Lilies To Asiatic Lilies

Both Asiatic and Oriental lilies (Lilium spp.) are popular lilies in U.S. gardens. Hybrid cultivars share traits of both species. Lilies grow in a wide variety of soil types and are not pH sensitive. They flower in full to part partial sun (5 hours minimum of sunlight).  Both prefer a well-drained soil and mulch to keep roots […]

Yarrows Come In Many Size And Colors

              Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a rhizomatous spreading perennial (USDA hardiness zones 3 to 9). The species originates from Europe and Asia and was introduced to America in colonial times. Today, yarrow is frequently seen naturalized along roadsides, fields, and gardens throughout the U. S. Yarrow has fern-like, aromatic, foliage. […]

Butterfly Weed – Long-lived Flowering Perennial That Nourish Monarchs

Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), aka butterfly weed, is a tuberous rooted perennial native in the Eastern and southern U.S. (USDA hardiness zones 3 to 9). It grows in dry/rocky open woodlands, prairies, farm fields, and along roadsides. Individual plants typically grow as a clump to 1- 3 feet high and 1 ½ feet wide. Unlike many of […]

Celebrate National Pollinator Week

            June 20 – 26 is National Pollinator Week. National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them. Nine years ago the U.S. Senate unanimous approved and designated a week in June as “National Pollinator Week”. National Pollinator Week is […]

Buttonbush Offers Year-round Interest

              Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), aka Button-willow or Honey Bells, is a medium to large native shrub with many fine landscape attributes. This unique flowering shrub is a favorite in attracting beneficial wildlife. It populates bogs, swamps and pond areas, as well as dry limestone bluffs in the eastern U.S. […]

Japanese Snowbells Worth A Try

  Japanese snowbells (Styrax japonicus) is a graceful, slow growing, low branched spring flowering tree. At present snowbells are not popular with U.S. gardeners , mostly because of unavailabliity (USDA hardiness zones 5-8). Snowbells  are lovely understory trees, similar to our native dogwoods (Cornus florida). Small, pendulous, slightly fragrant, bell-shaped white flowers appear in May. Small white […]