tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, March 31, 2016
Nursery Notes: we now have the 2 gal. goji berries for $24.99.
Blueberries in stock. Muscadine and champanel grapes for
$24.99. Thai limes: $49.99. Multi-graft apple, pear and plum
trees $74.99. Roses - knock-outs, Belinda's dream, Julia Child
and more in stock. Last shipment of tomatoes for the season has
arrived. Watermelons, eggplant, squash and cucumbers are all
available. Moringa trees, $4.99. Please drop by for a visit! 🌿
Zilker Garden Festival this weekend! Hundreds of garden
vendors, a flower show, a beer garden, food, and local authors
Pam Penick, Lucinda Hutson, Trisha Shirey and Judy Barrett on
hand to sign books. Look for Chris and his helpers in their usual
spot by the front gates of the gardens this Saturday and Sunday
from 10 - 5 p.m. $10 adults, $4 kids. Details here: Z.G.F.🌿
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Hot peppers and hot sauce good for you: last year research
revealed that capsaicin, the heat-and-spice ingredient found in
peppers, is beneficial for our health. The paper looked at ' half a
million Chinese adults [and] found that
those who ate spicy foods
three or more times a week had a 14 percent
reduced risk of death.'
The hotter the pepper, the better for your health. (By the way, we
Tulip trees at sea: it seems that nothing will stand in the way of
Georgia billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's love of trees. Last week
he uprooted a 100 year old tulip tree, and transported it by boat
to a new park that he's creating. Reaction has been mixed. One
Tbilisi activist said she was 'mad, sad and at the same time still
laughing,' while watching the tree sail to its new owner. BBC🌿
(original report by Rustavi 2 channel)
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Central Texas Gardener: learn about alternatives to invasives
ligustrum, nandina and honeysuckle. Plant of the week: pidgeon-
berry, a native, shade-loving groundcover. Daphne analyzes an
Arizona ash and explains why it should be removed. Saturday at
4 p.m Sunday at 9 a.m. or watch it on-line here: KLRU 🌿
Milkweed for the Monarchs!
by Chris Winslow
There's good news to report about our beloved monarch butterflies
from the World Wildlife Fund. A survey in December indicated
migratory monarch butterfly populations grew in 2015, 'occupying
almost 10 acres of forest in their hibernation sites in Mexico.'
Though this shows a boost from the previous two years, the num-
bers are considerably lower compared to 20 years ago, and as
gardeners, and stewards, I believe we should all put aside some
part of our gardens to be good hosts to our magical visitors on
their epic 2,800 mile journeys back and forth between Mexico
and Canada.
To do this we just have to choose the right plants to support the
butterflies during their larva (caterpillar) stage.
This tropical milkweed grows to a height of 2 to 4 feet, and has
striking orange and red flowers.
Besides being a host plant, milkweed also has an abundance of
nectar. Nectar plants act as fueling stations or pit stops for many
different species.
Other great nectar plants commonly found in our central Texas
gardens are lantanas, butterfly bushes (Buddlea), pentas, mist-
flowers (Eupatoriums), mealy sages, Turk’s caps, and wild ber-
gamot.
There are other types of butterflies that we can attract to our yard
through careful choice of plants.
For black swallowtail butterflies, I offer my triple curled parsley,
which will reach a height of two and a half feet in May, and will
have hundreds of beautiful blooms. The caterpillars will then get
busy eating the foliage. (Other hosts for black swallowtails are
dill, fennel, and rue.)
The list of host and nectar plants is lengthy and includes many nat-
ive and adaptive species that thrive in our region with little care.
Gulf fritillaries and zebra longwings have a passion for passionvine,
for example. Red admirals like pellitory, and for tiger swallowtails,
it's Texas ash.
Many of these plants add beauty to our landscapes and are tolerant
of drought. For more detailed information, a visit the Austin Butter-
fly Forum website (austinbutterflies.org) would be a good idea.
Why not add a few of these drought-hardy species to your garden
and be a good Lepidopteral host to these marvels of nature . . . and
if we can all provide more milkweed for the monarchs, we should
be able to continue to support and increase the number taking part
in these epic migrations. Happy butterfly gardening everyone! 🌿
(We have milkweed in stock for $7.99, pentas for $3.59 and lan-
tana for $2.59 - $7.99)
🌲 🌿 🌵 Please contact newsletter editor Darrel Mayers
with any ideas for articles or interesting links:
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: Its About Thyme facebook
Visit the nursery: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748
