faulker042

It's not a secret. I'm not embarrassed by it. I have an orange section in the deer resistant garden—seldom mentioned on the blog because it's so darn difficult to photograph the plantings together as one unified design. When one bloom looks great, another is declining. Orientation: To the left of the plants in the photo below, is the red and white garden seen here . The yellow St John's Wort divides the two color themed gardens. Not because I planned it that way, but because I didn't want to move this glorious shrub. Bees literally bathe in the pollen of the St John's blooms. It self-sows minimally and I'm always scouting for seedlings to use in other sections of the deer resistant garden. The orange garden is on the east side of the house, receiving full sun until very late in the evening during the summer. This garden is watered only when I'm establishing new plants. All plants are drought tolerant. The plants are shown in order of bloom. The orange ga...

Purple milkweed ( asclepias purpurascens ) attracts bees and other pollinators. A Monarch Butterfly host plant. May 2012 The first milkweed to bloom in my garden is ascelpias purpurascens , a native wildflower. Blooming and returning reliably this purple milkweed was purchased and planted four years ago. To date, there are only two seedlings that have volunteered nearby. Unlike common milkweed ( ascelpias syriaca ), this one isn't an agressive self-sowing perennial and I'd actually like to see more of this asclepias variety. Being deer and rabbit resistant, the only issue I've had has been with the orange and black milkweed bugs eating the blooms. I pick those bugs off the flowers and send them packing. The large globe blooms attract pollinators and the leaves are food for the caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly—though they seem to like the thin-leaved swamp milkweed ( asclepias incarnata ) when choosing plants in my garden for egg-laying. There have been times when I...

Hemaris thysbe (clearwing hummingbird moth) visits the Liatris ligulistyli s (Rocky Mountain blazing star). June 17, 2011. (If this photo is too large for your browser, click on it to view in a separate window.) There's a Hemaris thysbe on the Liatris ligulistylis . I can't say that three times unless I've had three cups of coffee. It also helps to be wide awake so I can tell the difference between a hummingbird and a hummingbird moth. Hemaris thysbe is better known as a clearwing hummingbird moth. Liatris ligulistylis is better known as Rocky Mountain or meadow blazing star. Both are natives, though the blazing star is typically found west of Missouri. Host plants for the moth include honeysuckle ( lonicera ), hawthorn, cherry and plum ( prunus ) trees. The moth enjoys the nectar of blazing star and other garden favorites such as bee balm and phlox. Just like a butterfly, this moth starts as a caterpillar and undergoes metamorphosis. Blazing star grows 4-6 feet in cult...

Just mention "weed" to a gardener, and you're likely to hear moaning and groaning. It's too bad that a few good perennials have a common name that includes that infamous word.  I've created a garden section dedicated to three good weeds—Joe Pye Weed 'Little Joe', Swamp Milk weed 'Cinderella' and Iron weed . Although the top sections of my deer resistant garden are for drought-tolerant plants and lean soil, the bottom section is moist when it rains. Plants for the lower section are suited to rich soil and wet winters, but can survive drought with drip irrigation. This color-coordinated combination works well with blooms from pink to purple. All three grow to a similar size and bloom times overlap, from middle to late summer. But, I didn't plant these just for a good design. These perennials are bee and butterfly magnets! A new addition to my garden this year, Joe Pye Weed (eupatorium dubium) 'Little Joe' is standing trial in the deer r...