Sat
Apr 18 2015
11:14 am
A word before you rush out to buy those plants....
By: Mello

purpose
medium_twins.jpg
Please think beyond it's pretty and I like it when selecting your plants. The Pollinator Partnership offers an excellent guide to selecting plants with a purpose.



continued...

Find a local native plant nursery There are several close to Knoxville!

In Middle Tennessee there is GroWild Inc Their Native Plant Festival is being held April 24-25 It is open to the public.

And yes, plant non-native annuals too! Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia) and Zinnias grown without any chemical use are both very beneficial nectar sources for monarchs and pollinators.

Got Milkweed? No? Go get some!

Topics:
bizgrrl's picture

Planted some of Rikki's

Submitted by bizgrrl on Sat, 2015/04/18 - 1:09pm.

Planted some of Rikki's milkweed last year. Do I let everything grow and not try to clear out other stuff? I can't tell what is milkweed.

Mello's picture

photo?

Submitted by Mello on Sat, 2015/04/18 - 1:44pm.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

BG- if you can send me a pic I'll narrow down that a. tubersosa for you. Knowing what else you planted with it helps. Rikki's weed is one of the last of the milkweeds to come back in the spring but my a. tuberosa is now up. I'm moving a couple dozen of those same plants right now because I am trying to save them from the heavy equipment coming to install a new septic tank.

bizgrrl's picture

I didn't plant anything else

Submitted by bizgrrl on Sat, 2015/04/18 - 4:32pm.
(in reply to Mello)

I didn't plant anything else with the milkweed. I'm assuming the other plantsare weeds of a different kind. Nothing big enough for a picture at this time. Just don't want to pull up the milkweed while trying to clean out unwanted weeds.

Mello's picture

Weeds....................

Submitted by Mello on Sat, 2015/04/18 - 5:28pm.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

but, but, but.... if you have any henbit or deadnettle try to leave some of those in your beds. The leps and bees will love you for leaving it.

(link...)

trobinson's picture

getting Rikki's Milkweed

Submitted by trobinson on Mon, 2015/04/20 - 1:10pm.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

getting Rikki's Milkweed seeds got me to thinking about a milkweed garden which got me to thinking about a small meadow in the yard which got me to thinking about a big meadow... So now we have 2000 ft + in the yard that's planted with lots of meadow flowers and a few hundred milkweed plugs along with a bolder for a bench coming soon. Thank you Rikki.

We solarized a big patch with black plastic last fall so we would give the flowers a head start on the Johnson grass and not have to weed. Hopefully have a picture in a couple of months. Bonus: Don't have to cut the grass there any more!

Mello's picture

Got Monarchs?

Submitted by Mello on Mon, 2015/04/20 - 1:26pm.
(in reply to trobinson)

Couple of things for everyone paying attention- planting host milkweed ( really all flowers for leps) in clusters brings in more butterflies than scattered plantings. Think big blocks of color when you have limited space to plant.

Take a look at this map with current Monarch sightings reported. Tennessee plays a very large roll in the amount of monarchs our friends in the northeast will have.

Everyone of you who planted Rikki's Butterfly Weed seeds and those of us who did not get those seeds but planted milkweed anyways have created something really special. I'm always going to think of it as The Rikki Hall Memorial Flyway.

trobinson's picture

The Rikki Hall Memorial Flyway.

Submitted by trobinson on Mon, 2015/04/20 - 2:47pm.
(in reply to Mello)

I like it.

trobinson's picture

that's a cool map. thanks for

Submitted by trobinson on Tue, 2015/04/21 - 9:37am.
(in reply to Mello)

that's a cool map. thanks for that

Mello's picture

Journey North

Submitted by Mello on Tue, 2015/04/21 - 10:07am.
(in reply to trobinson)

It's Citizen Science at its best and not just for monarchs. I do report on their site and it is really cool to get emails from second graders asking all kinds of questions about monarchs. It's not just the kids but educators as well looking for local resources to start their own Monarch Waystations.

Here is an awesome site that we use to see who is flying where! Today those monarchs will catch a breeze north.
(link...)

And finally, check out Yardmap.org it is a great tool to map and identify your own property and create a more bird and lep friendly habitat. If you use E-bird to report your sightings your YardMap ties into that same system.

Mike Knapp's picture

Just keep on plantin' that native stuff!

Submitted by Mike Knapp on Sat, 2015/04/18 - 7:13pm.

I've found a spot for some threadleaf bluestar. Seriously thinking about bees next. Spent the last few seasons solidifying my clover patch around the cul de sac, got enough sourwood.

Mello's picture

got hyssop?

Submitted by Mello on Sun, 2015/04/19 - 9:29am.
(in reply to Mike Knapp)

purple giant hyssop is a bee favorite at my place. It however paled in comparison to the garden dill. Yes, I now know that dill is invasive.

Saturday, May 2 is the Cedars of Lebanon State Park Wildflower Festival. Some of the most incredible native plants in the state are only growing in the Cedar Glades and well worth the drive over to Lebanon.

Mike Knapp's picture

No hyssop

Submitted by Mike Knapp on Sun, 2015/04/19 - 4:38pm.
(in reply to Mello)

But it is on the list now! Thanks for the heads up. Will post wildflower event once I'm on a decent machine. Otherwise knock on wood but the rain/sun/rain sequence we've had over the last several weeks is doing wonders for our garden. Actually getting out the tomato cages today, earliest ever for those in our garden.

Tamara Shepherd's picture

Speaking of Rikki...

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Sun, 2015/04/19 - 11:04pm.

...just today I happened to read what appears to have been his last post to his blog, over two years ago in March 2013.

His thoughts had turned to gardening, ostensibly, so this thread seems the perfect spot to invite you to read his post--or maybe to reread it.

Beautiful Defiance

A couple weeks ago I pruned the saucer magnolia in the front yard. The pruned branches now bear defiant flowers. Life is powerful and spirited.

Though doomed, these branches retain water and even draw some in when humid air sits over these hills. Death can be sudden, but only after taking its time. We all get a fair allotment of life to use wisely. I can not keep the spirit down when I see a cut branch make a few final blossoms, laughing a pink punchline. What a wonderful world.

Mello's picture

This. This!

Submitted by Mello on Wed, 2015/04/22 - 10:28am.

Today I got word one of the monarchs I reared, tagged and released had her tag recovered at the El Rosario Butterfly Preserve in Michoacan, Mexico on March 3, 2015. This generally means she died there during the winter but in her little life she flew more than 1,700 miles from the house to Mexico!

Last year I reared and released about 175 monarchs. I transported at least three times that amount of eggs and caterpillars to schools, educational programs and nature centers. In the late fall I gathered about 150k of native grown swamp milkweed seeds and sent them all over from Nebraska to Maine. So, yeah, plant some milkweed folks. It's one hell of a Flyway......

Treehouse's picture

That's great

Submitted by Treehouse on Wed, 2015/04/22 - 10:58am.
(in reply to Mello)

Good work! Thanks.

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