According to the local news, Southwest Florida is experiencing its greatest drought in 8 years!
It was such a welcome sound to hear the rain coming down this morning, kissing the garden. It did not come down long, but it was an awesome downpour. With the overcast sky, the ground hopefully will stay wet for a while, giving the roots time to soak up the much needed moisture.
Here’s just a few of the butterfly nectar plants.
ZinniaPentaStarry rosinweedFire bush
The orange-barred sulphur caterpillars were also active on my cassia tree. There are tons yet again munching away.
The most frequent visitor of the garden are the sulphur butterflies. It’s truly stunning to see so many bright yellow butterflies fluttering about the garden all at once.
Here’s an orange-barred sulphur on a stunning zinnia.
I’ve been working pretty much nonstop on the garden for three days. I have to admit, I am in love with what has transpired so far.
I think of my garden in two phases, the first which is closer to my front door and the second which expands the length of my house to the right of my front door.
The first phase looks completely different from what it did when I first planted everything, as I worked from a clean slate. It was only yard at one point.
The only thing that remains is the wishing well my husband built, which now has bromeliads – the only plants that have survived in the space. Believe me, I tried multiple different butterfly plants.
The space around it now has a complete pathway that you can enter from three different points. I have three trees in the space- a bahama cassia and two giant milkweed that are much taller than I. They are pretty impressive. I have sprinkled in many other host plants and nectar plants in this section of the garden. I dug up and replanted many other plants to new spaces, or in pots my daughter has painted over the years.
Although I have experimented with many plants, native is definitely the way to go. And, well, not all plants do well in the direct sunlight.
The second phase is underway this week. I will be trimming plants, replanting, and hopefully add new plants to the space. Also, a new pathway, this one rocks, different from the bricks in the first phase, so we can stroll through this section of the garden.
My favorite part is adding the mulch, as it cleans up the space and definitely adds the finishing touches.
Here’s a zinnia, an all time favorite. A great addition this Earth Day, a butterfly attractor.
A while ago I purchased zinnia seeds from the Dollar Tree and was pleasantly surprised on how easy they were to grow and how many butterflies the flower attracted. After reading up on the zinnia, I found out that there are certain types you should plant in your butterfly garden. That type has yellow disk florets in the center, as the butterfly can sip nectar from this area.
I found a great website, Joyful Butterfly, that sells both plants and seeds. This is where I purchased my last batch of zinnias, zinnia elegans seeds, and they continue to reseed themselves quite a few times, and not in the same spot. They are now volunteering in other areas of the garden. It is definitely a plant that keeps giving.
It’s best if they grow in full sun, and really in any type of soil, as long as it is well drained. I have some in pots, and some in the ground. The one’s in the ground do much better.
The polydamas swallowtail resting on a zinnia stem. It wasn’t until this year I began planting zinnia flowers by seed. I am so glad I did. This flower is a butterfly magnet and incredibly easy to grow. I have many guest-starters all over the garden from where the seeds flew.
