May 27 2011 Blue Skies, Nothing But Blue Skies.....

The sun is here again!!  Yesterday after work, I was able to plant the cherry tree cutting that grew roots and take up the crabapple trees.  I got a general fertilizer from our local Nitron Industries store as well as the paramagnetic rock.  I used these when planting the cherry tree and in replanting one of the crabapples. The other crabapple snapped in the winds earlier this week. I'll probably end up using it for mulch.

I planted the two passionflower vines finally. I don't have the trellis built yet, but I know what I want to do. The caterpillar disappeared.

I'm still working on that online landscape design class through our local library. This is what I wrote for one of our assignments which included drawing up a plan:

"Before I bought the house, I'd had the full acre surveyed.  I used this professional survey as the background for tracing paper. Using this method, I mapped out all the existing trees. I had several "free" Arbor Day trees I wanted to put in, so I read up on how large they are expected to get. I evaluated the available spaces, keeping in mind areas we wanted open for company to be able to park and just open yard space to enjoy.  I was able to find a few areas to plant my trees. I thought about the colors the trees would offer and what times of the year those might change. This allowed me to plan where to plant a witchazel, a cherry, a redbud, and a crabapple. I also found spots for lavender to spread. I thought about what kind of trellising to use for my passionflower vine and put in on the plan. The trellis is pretty much longer than it is wide, sort of a short, shallow fence that parallels the driveway.

Before I started planting trees, I also called the 811 number our state has for finding the utility lines and was able to include those in the plan so I could avoid planting trees on or too near them.  It's been an interesting but fun experience."

Technically, David helped me quite a bit with this.  And the 811 number did NOT help me much but I figured out where the utility lines were anyway (the sunken earth lines gave it away).

May 21-May 22 2011 March of the Caterpillar

My butterfly garden sees its first caterpillar! This little guy or gal had the munchies for my passionflower vine (passiflora incarnata). I haven't even planted it yet, but this caterpillar has already found it suitable. My first thought was that it was a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) caterpillar. After a little research, I think it's actually the Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia).  I used these two great websites to help in identification:

• Butterflies and Moths of North America
• North American Butterfly Association

I planted the two free crabapples this weekend. They're mere twigs right now. They were part of my ten free trees for joining Arbor Day. Basically, you get 10 free trees for the $10 member fee. Then, as a member you can buy other trees for discounted prices. You don't have to get your 10 free trees though, you can select to have them planted in National Forests instead. A few of the forests they're replanting for 2011 are in Oregon. Other National Forests included in 2011 replanting are located in Wisconsin, Montana, Colorado, Hawaii, and Minnesota. I think most of them had fire damage and that's why they need replanting help.

May 17-May 18 2011 We like it wet

Oh we had two wonderful days of sunshine.  Now it's chilly again and we are expecting it to rain this evening through the weekend. It's only Wednesday! Apparently we like our springs wet down here.

The hazelnut twigs came in from the Hazelnut Project through Arbor Day. I planted them by the fence in a no-shrub zone. Most of the fence is covered with shrubs, except a few areas (thus the no-shrub zone).

So far everything I've planted looks like it's doing okay. I took a walk out with the dogs and checked on the little plants.

Yesterday we had some excitement.  When we got home, there was a baby bunny on the porch. I took a picture of it, but other than that, we left it alone. Figured it would go back to its mommy once we did.  Sure enough, we saw it hippety-hopping in the front yard with its mom about 45 minutes later.  It was so cute.  I didn't know rabbits were that affectionate either.

April 28, 2011 Butterfly Gardening

This evening I went to a class on Butterfly Gardening offered by the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. It was interesting, informative, the photos were beautiful and the folks were friendly. Overall, it was a lovely class. Dr. Rita Littrell presented her computer slideshow on butterflies.  Most of the pictures were from her own garden. Dr. Littrell is not an entymologist or horticulurist or even a gardener by trade.  Rather, she is self-taught. Her interest in butterflies stemmed from being a mother. She wanted to show her son the transitions a caterpillar made to become a butterfly. She is now known to some locally as "the butterfly lady." She knows and shares so much about these beautiful creatures. I was impressed by the lengths she went to protect them in their various states. Truly a butterfly passion! I have no doubt she has inspired others as she has myself.

We didn't get any rain today (hurray!) and the sun shone all day. Temperatures this evening are warmer than yesterday. There were some winds today but nothing severe. All my plants are at least surviving.

Oooh... also, some of my trees from the Arbor Day Foundation came. Their little bare roots are sitting in water in my kitchen sink.

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks member plant sale is tomorrow. I need to figure out some plants I want before I go so I don't wander around saying to myself, "I want that. I want that. I want that." It's important to know if you have the right conditions to support the plant and if it's mature growth will fit what you really want. Also, I have been keeping an eye on allergies.  The book Allergy-Free Gardening by Thomas Leo Ogren is a great book and I am working on adding plants the author claims are at least 5 or below on his scale. I love this book so much, I ordered it online. According to the Ogren Plant-Allergy Scale (OPALS), butterfly weed or milkweed is only a 3, so I should definately look at it tomorrow.  On the other hand, Joe-Pye Weed is a 7.  Too bad.  Moonflowers which Sphinx moths (not a butterfly) love, is a 3 on the OPALS. These moths also host on this plant. Dutchman's Pipevine is also a 3 and they help support the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. Perhaps I overlooked it, but I couldn't find Garden Phlox in his book. It's supposed to be a great nectar plant. The spicebush, which Spicebush Swallowtails love, is an OPALS 3. The Black Swallowtail loves parsley, dill (3), and fennel (5). I couldn't find garden parsley listed in Ogren's book. Toadflax (1) and snapdragon (1) are favorites of the Buckeye Butterfly. Persimmon trees, which is one of the host plants for Luna Moths, is a 3.

Milkweed, depending on the type, will grow anywhere from 18"to 40." It needs full sun. Monarchs love it along with other butterfly types and hummingbirds.