mother's day gift ideas | Got milkweed? | the social networks of plants

tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, May 11, 2017

Nursery notes: 20% off all avocados this week: Hass, fantastic

and lula (reg $50). Knockouts are here! A big shipment of double

red and pink, and single pink $26 for 3 gal. Bougainvillea hanging

baskets $20. Hibiscus in 3 gal pots: $19.99. A good selection of

summer-hardy, heat-loving hanging baskets for $16 including

vinca, purslane (a superfood) and million bells. ❦

Three Gift Ideas for Gardening Moms

Mixed plantings of culinary herbs. This simple project makes a

wonderful gift for any gardener who likes fresh herbs for the kitch-

en. Just pick a beautiful ceramic pot or hanging basket. Fill it with

good potting soil, and then plant four 4” potted herbs. Pick some

that will cascade from the top of the pot. Creeping herbs like thyme,

oregano and rosemary can also be mixed with popular, upright herbs

like parsley, sage and chives. Tie a bow around the top of the pot,

add a card, and you will have made a unique and thoughtful gift.

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European basket. Start with a nice woven basket with a handle.

Then place potted flowering herbs and tropical plants inside. Add

some packets of flower seed, a hand trowel, and some colorful (and

useful) gardening gloves, some ribbon, and a card. Another beaut-

iful home-made gift.

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A living rose bush. There are some magnificent roses available

that bloom all year and require little attention. Look for the knock-

out series, and home run. They will add beauty to the landscape all

year. ❦

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Social networks of plants: As gardeners we must remember that

plants are social creatures, said Thomas Rainer in a recent interview.

'In the wild, every square inch of soil is covered with a mosaic of

interlocking plants, but in our gardens, we arrange plants as individ-

ual objects in a sea of mulch. We place them in solitary confinement.'

From a fascinating piece by Margaret Roach: New York Times❦

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Central Texas Gardener: For pests out of control, Wizzie Brown

shows how to identify damage and steps to take. See how Drs. Bill

Nemeth & Suzanne Novak now serve fresh vegetables, flowers and

even fruit from their orchard. Daphne examines failing desert willow

trees. Sat. 4 p.m. Sun. 9 a.m KLRU ❦

Got Milkweed? How to be an

Effective Butterfly Host

by Chris Winslow

Though the fortunes of the monarchs rise and fall from year to year,

when you look beyond the latest statistics and look back to the num-

bers recorded 20 years ago, then you realize how steep the overall

decline has been.

As gardeners, and as stewards of our lands, 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

Michoacan in Mexico and Canada. (Photo above from the Patzcuaro

area in Mexico.)

To do this we just have to choose the right plants to support the butt-

erflies during their larva (caterpillar) stage.

For monarchs, try planting butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberose). 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 nec-

tar. Nectar plants act as fueling stations or pit stops for many differ-

ent species.

Other great nectar plants commonly found in our central Texas gar-

dens are lantanas, butterfly bushes (Buddlea), pentas, mistflowers

(Eupatoriums), mealy sages, Turk’s caps, and wild bergamot.

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!