Gardening Ideas & Tips

Native plants are a wonderful choice for your landscaping project regardless of whether you have a tenth of an acre, or twenty acres in the country, because they seem to have a resonance that is lacking in the less natural landscaping projects.
Growing native means increasing environmental awareness, having a desire to connect with your garden and planting on a far more personal level, learning about your climate and environment, and another added bonus, it takes less time that you will need to devote to the garden and landscaping project, because they tend to take better care of themselves.

If these are reasons enough to turn to a more natural landscape to inspire your garden project, then take a closer look at the landscape around you, in the wild and really see the beauty that is there. The incredible prairie plants, the everglades, the savannahs and the always changing wetlands are among the most beautiful sights and scents in the world.

Recreating one of these, in your own small garden, is certainly incentive to grow native plants.

There are other benefits that are associated with a well planned and diverse native plant landscape. Too often we simplify things by planting just a limited number of flowers, making them non native and trying to make them grow, which takes far more energy and concoctions than would be necessary if we simply choose to grow native. This takes more effort and chemicals than we might need if we chose native plants. Additionally, growing native means that native species such as birds and butterflies will select our small area to eat and drink from, and to rest in, giving us the opportunity to interact with more than just native plants.

Growing Native also doesn't mean growing big, or not being able to use your containers if you're a container gardener.

Container-grown native plants put in gardens with no weed competition and adequate water usually put on astounding growth the first year and will be fully mature by the third year.

Most native trees, shrubs and vines planted from containers also establish quickly. However, native plants from seed take longer to get going. Wildflowers and grasses planted from seed spend the first year, and sometimes three years, sinking their extensive root systems into the soil. For this reason, you might not see a lot of top growth right away. In this case, with a bit of patience you're going to be well rewarded. These large root systems are what sustain the plants through drought and harsh winters.

Here is a list of plants which will react will to various types of lighting, are native to many areas of the United States and may be native to your area:

LONG LIST FOLLOWS

Thistles are native to nearly every state in the US

Full Sun List

Annuals

Bur-Marigold (Bidens polylepis)
Partridge Pea (Cassia fasciculata)
Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)
American basket flower (Centaurea americana)
Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
Lemon Horsemint (Monarda citriodora)
Devil's Claw (Proboscidea louisianica)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Ferns

Narrow-leaved Glade Fern (Diplazium pyncocarpum)

Grasses/Sedges

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi)
Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
Tussock Sedge (Carex stricta)

For Full Listing ~ http://lilliputgardens.com/growing-native-plants/

A butterfly garden is not necessarily a big endeavor, nor does it take a vast amount of space.
You can have a small nook in the back of a larger garden, or can take a small yard and use the whole thing to lure in the butterflies to your yard.
Certain types of plants will make an attractive lure for certain types of butterflies and if you plant those the butterflies won't be able to resist, regardless of whether you have a large area, or a small one.

Butterflies will come by the hordes to your garden to sit and sip on the sweet nectar of the plants that you've placed there.

Using this kind of thinking, a butterfly garden can be incorporated into nearly any landscape, climate or a design in your yard that is currently in place.

Butterflies will flock to your garden with the right plants
The most important part of your garden, won't be the landscaping itself, but rather, the kinds of plants that you place to attract the butterflies, things that will serve as a food source.

Along the way you're going to be helping to save the environment, because much of what attracts butterflies has been phased out or is in fact in danger because of the urbanization of most areas, where the wild blooms and flowers are being removed to make way for home landscaping.

As factories and homes are on the rise, natural habitats for butterflies, which can be as attractive as they are useful, have been primarily removed, or become much scarcer.

It is easy to raise the number and types of butterflies that you see in your garden or yard simply by planting the plants that they like to feed on and plants on which they like to lay eggs.
Caterpillar friendly plants are also an important aspect of butterfly gardens..

YOu are going to need various plants that will cycle with the seasons, some that work well when placed together to make sure that the garden will be blooming from the early part of spring, to as late in the fall as your climate permits.

A butterfly garden can be any size at all, even down to a window box on your sill, or as great as an entire field of untended wildflowers left to grow at will on your property.
WHen you begin to plan your garden try to stay within the realm of plants that occur in nature in your area..
Things such as milkweed will be great draws to nearly any type of butterfly, however another tip might be, to learn what butterflies are most common in your area. What will naturally be drawn to your area is what you might like to plant for when choosing plants to incorporate into your garden.

Butterflies don't need anything fancy or expensive. Just an open, sun-filled area; some flowers, for adults; some food sources, for caterpillars; shelter; puddles; and rocks. You might consider planting an herb garden if you enjoy herbs - many butterfly species do too.

Reserving a section of your yard for native flowering plants and for weeds like dandelion, nettle, and milkweed should also help guarantee a good variety of butterflies. It's best to avoid using any pesticides at all.

One note for dedicated gardeners who may be appalled at the idea of actually inviting caterpillars in for lunch: very few butterfly species cause harm to garden plants. If they do become a nuisance - for instance, if cabbage whites are decimating your nasturtiums - picking the larvae off by hand is a simple task.

Not just plants to eat, but also to lay eggs on are necessary
About puddles. Butterflies can't drink from birdbaths or other open water. But give them a damp spot of wet sand or dirt and they'll often flock around it. In some species, young bachelor butterflies most commonly exhibit this "puddling" behavior - perhaps the equivalent of visiting the local pub after work.

If you want to be more specific, here are a few plants, and the kinds of butterflies they will attract.

Alfalfa-Eastern black swallowtail, orange sulphur, dogface, large wood nymph

Aster- Checkered white, common & orange sulphur, question mark, painted ladies, red admiral, buckeye

Black-eyed Susan-Great spangled fritillary, pearly crescentspot

Butterfly Bush- Swallowtails, mourning cloak, comma anglewing, painted ladies, red admiral

Daisy- Pearly crescentspot, red admiral, queen

Dandelion-Cabbage shite, common sulphur, comma anglewing, red admiral

Dogbane- Spicebush swallowtail, checkered white, common & orange sulphur, gray hairstreak, spring azure, pearly crescentspot, mourning cloak, American painted lady, buckeye

Goldenrod-Common & orange sulphur, gray hairstreak, American painted lady, red admiral, viceroy Lantana Swallowtails, cabbage white, Gulf fritillary

Lupine- Common blue

Marigold-Milbert's tortoiseshell, American painted lady

Milkweed-Swallowtails, checkered & cabbage white, common & orange sulphur, gray hairstreak, spring azure, pearly crescentspot, common blue, great spangled fritillary, question mark, mourning cloak, painted ladies, red admiral, viceroy, monarch, queen

Mint- Swallowtails, cabbage whie, gray hairstreak, painted ladies, red admiral, monarch, large wood nymph

Privet- Spring azure, painted ladies, red-spotted purple

Purple Coneflower-Silvery blue, great spangled fritillary

Queen Anne's Lace-Eastern black swallowtail, gray hairstreak

Red Clover-Cabbage white, great spangled fritillary, painted ladies, red admiral

Scabiosa-Painted ladies

Sweet Pea-Gray hairstreak

Thistle-Swallowtails, dogface, Gulf fritillary, pearly crescentspot, Milbert's tortoiseshell, American painted lady, red admiral, viceroy, monarch

Verbena-Great spangled fritillary

Winter Cress-Checkered white, gray hairstreak, spring azure, pearly crecentspot

You can order many of these plants from one of my favorite suppliers of native plants, High Country Gardens.

The adult butterflies will stay for longer periods of time if they find plants on which they feel at ease laying eggs as well as nectar plants for food.
If possible, and it won't make you too crazed, try to permit your lawn to grow dandelions and some clover which are both plants that butterflies are drawn to.

Minimize the use of pesticided and herbicides, both of which can harm not only the ground and the plants but also the butterflies themselves.
Flowers which are provided in sunny places such as around a rock wall or a fenced area will attract more as they will want to sit and bask in the sun as they eat, while also having some bush and shrub areas to provide shade in the heat of the day and to protect them from wind and rain.

As you watch you will see the elaborate routines that butterflies have. Males will drive others away, while females choose so carefully where to lay their eggs.

All it all it is well worth your time and an extra dandelion in the yard isn't it?
If you want more information on Butterfly gardening, pay a visit to the Butterfly Garden Site

If you are interested in Free Milkweed Seeds, they are available to you from LiveMonarch.org which is a not for profit foundation attempting to see milkweed and native plants put back to increase butterfly habitat.

The seeds will be sent to you if you send a SASE to
Live Monarch Foundation - Seeds
3003-C8 Yamato Road #1015
Boca Raton, Florida 33434

Your donations to Live Monarch are welcomed and are tax deductible.

Remember when terrariums were popular?

Mid seventies and everyone had one. Those who didn't have one, wanted one. Those same terrariums which were popular back them, have not only made a comeback but a strong one. They are easy to build, easy to maintain, look striking in a living room or on a patio and now, more than ever you can find some of the most intriguing containers to use for housing your mini ecosystem.

Terrariums are not just plastic or dull looking anymore. Terrariums come in all shapes and sizes, all styles and materials, from plastic to brass to stained glass, and can help to set up a small ecosystem all their own, from desert to rainforest, depending on your care and your desire for your indoor garden setup.

I've personally done some tiny ecosystems inside my terrarium that have lasted for several years. Bonsai, or at least some types of it will react well to this environment, as will a miniature rock garden done in alpine plants. To accomplish this the moisture levels must be arranged to be suitable for the plants you're adding to the terrarium.

To see some truly incredible terrariums and how to make your own, or order somethign special as the housing for it, visit the Terrarium Museum which will give you some great ideas to make your own mini garden, requiring minimal care.