Summer Gardening for the Butterflies

There are many different reasons that different people decide to plant summer gardens. One common reason that is becoming more popular these days as people to seek to entertain their children through little things done closer to home is to attract butterflies. This is much easier done than one might think if you live in the right environment for these lovely insects to thrive and flourish.

Michaelmas Daisies attract a lot of butterflies and bees.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Butterflies are beautiful creatures with very short life spans, and maybe it's for this reason that they seem to be attracted to beautiful things during their short lives. Brightly colored flowers attract butterflies in droves. This means that flowers such as aster, marigold, black-eyed Susan, and butterfly weed are all known to attract butterflies.

Another thing you may wish to consider when selecting flowers for the purpose of attracting these delightful winged creatures to your summer garden is the nectar. This is the essential food for butterflies so a garden that is filled with more nectar-producing flowers is likely to garner more than its fair share of attention from the butterflies nearby. The greater the selection of nectar-producing flowers the greater the number of butterflies your garden is likely to attract so be sure to plant plenty and prune them in a manner that produces maximum flowers for maximum impact.

In addition to the flowers in your summer garden there are other methods that may be used to attract butterflies to the delight of young and old alike. One of those methods is by placing a several pieces of ripe fruit in your garden. This is another treat for butterflies to enjoy and will attract many that may be in the area.

One thing to remember when planting to attract butterflies is that they do adore worshipping the sun. This means that shady types of gardens aren't best suited for attracting them and won't keep them around for long even if a few happen by. Plant your butterfly garden in an area that benefits from the full force of the sun most of the day in order to entertain the most possible butterflies, and keep in mind that different butterflies are attracted to different plants both as caterpillars and as butterflies. A little further study may produce the best results when seeking the most suitable plants for your butterfly garden depending on the type of butterflies you most hope to attract.

 Monarch butterfly(Danaus plexippus) on a Zinnia Flower - Zinnias are favored by butterflies, many gardeners add zinnias specifically to attract them. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You should also avoid using pesticides in a flower garden built to attract butterflies. It wouldn't make sense to attract butterflies to your garden only to harm them through exposing them to chemicals while paying your summer garden a visit. Employ organic gardening methods in your butterfly garden for the best results.

You should also make sure there is a source of water nearby in order to keep the butterflies well hydrated. They need water just like any other animal. Many gardens these days add water features that keep the water moving (best for avoiding mosquito infestations) while having it freely available for the animals that we are hoping to attract such as birds and butterflies.

Our summer gardens are an investment of both time and attention. It is great when we can accomplish more than one beautiful result from our hard work and effort. A summer garden designed to attract butterflies is a great way to achieve just that.

Resources on Butterfly Gardening: 
   

Video: Plant Propagation from Cuttings

This helpful video describes and demonstrates what you need to do know for successful propagation via plant cuttings. This can be a great way to add new and interesting plants to your garden. See a plant you love in someone else's garden? Ask if you can take a cutting! You can quickly and easily add new plants to your garden without having to wait for them to grow from seeds.

In this video he demonstrates how to do a plant cutting with a couple of different herbs - rosemary and thyme. He waters with a kelp mixture to stimulate root production naturally and organically. Kelp can be found in most garden centers, as well as online.

Check it out, and get cutting!

 

Kelp Fertilizers for Cuttings and Organic Gardening:
   

Advanced Garden Tip: Propagating Plants from Cuttings

One of the most cost effective ways of getting plants for your garden is from cuttings off of other plants.

Many people avoid trying to grow plants from cuttings assuming it is too difficult, but if you know what to do it isn't quite as hard as many people believe.

When you take a cutting off the plant that you want to grow, make sure it is approximately the length of a pencil.

Image via Flickr

You will then need to remove all but the top two leaves on the cutting. If the cutting is from a large-leaf plant you should also consider removing another leaf from the top to ensure there isn't too much leaf for the cutting.

You will find where to cut the plant by looking at the stem. Where there is swelling on the stem, these are called nodes and this is where the growth of the plant occurs. You should always cut below a node when taking your cutting.

Once you have a good cutting you should treat it with a suitable natural hormone formulation. There are different types of hormone formulations specifically for the various types of plants and you will need to match the correct hormone with the plant cuttings you are growing. Your garden center can help with this.

Dip approximately 1/2 inch of the bottom of the stem into the correct hormone and then insert the stem into a suitable rooting medium. This rooting medium can be a mixture of pumice and sand for good results. Compact the mix lightly around the stem to hold it in place.

If you cut the top off a clear plastic 2-liter drink bottle it will act as a mini hot house once turned upside down and placed over the plant.

This will help raise the temperature inside and stimulate growth. After about a month your cutting will have roots and you will be able to remove it and pot it as you would any other plant.

Questions? Need clarification? Check back Thursday for a video demonstration of this process.

Dealing With Leaf Scorch

If you start to notice yellowing or browning on the leaves of your plants then it's quite possible you have leaf scorch. It generally begins on the edges or the tips of the leaves and eventually will cover the whole of the leaf. Sometimes the leaves will even fall off.

Leaf scorch is usually caused by winds and particularly those winds that are hot and dry. It will also happen with salt laden winds that can occur if you are living close to the sea.

Image via Flickr

Often you will only notice this condition on one side of the plant and that will be the side that is exposed most to the winds. Creating shelter will help to reduce the damage that the wind will cause. You might also need to consider moving the plant to a better position that is less exposed.

However, another reason why you might get leaf scorch could be the application of excessive amounts of fertilizer.

There is no treatment for the leaves that have already been damaged other than to remove them from the plant and try to solve the problem before the rest of the plant suffers.

Other than providing a windbreak, you should ensure that the plant gets sufficient water, particularly in the dry season and always follow the instructions on the fertilizer packets to ensure you aren't giving your plants too much fertilizer.

Yellow or golden leaved plants are usually more susceptible to leaf scorch than other plants and you might find that the plant you have chosen might not be suitable for the climate you are trying to grow it in.

If this is so, then the only alternative will be to replace that plant with something that is a little hardier. If you live on a coastal property you need to consider the affect that the salt wind will have on plants and choose accordingly.

Choosing Healthy Plants for Your Garden

Whether you are buying or receiving plants from someone there are a few things that you need to look at before deciding to plant them in your garden.

You will generally get a better quality plant from a garden center and it will be less likely to have disease or other problems that could spread to other plants in your garden. But there is still the possibility that the garden center plant might not be the healthy specimen that you might expect so you should still check it out before parting with your money.

Image via Flickr

The first thing you need to do is look at the plant and see whether it looks healthy. This might seem very obvious but we often assume that buying from a garden center will assure us of a healthy plant when in actual fact even garden centers can have problem plants and you don't want to be the new owner of their problems.

Plants are very good at showing any signs of distress so if a plant doesn't look healthy, it generally isn't.

Check the conditions of the leaves, stems and roots of the plant where possible. You should also look at the condition of the soil that it has been growing in, as this will have had an effect on its health.

If you are buying flowering plants it is always best to buy the ones that have yet to flower, as they will withstand the trauma of transport and transplanting better than those that already have flowers. If there is no alternative but to buy or receive plants that already have flowers then many people suggest that you should remove all the flowers to give the plant a better chance of survival.

While you might be reluctant to do so, you will probably have a better plant that will be stronger and healthier and produce more flowers in the future.

If there is anything on the plant that concerns you, seek advice or decide against having that plant in your garden.

Video: How To Plant A Hanging Basket

This short how-to video will show you how to plant a hanging basket with flowers such as petunias. He also gives several tips for feeding, watering, and caring for your hanging basket to keep it beautiful and blooming throughout the summer. For some helpful supplies for planting your hanging basket, see resources listed below the video.

How to Plant a Hanging Basket - Armstrong Garden Centers
Learn how to make the most out of your hanging baskets by learning...
 

Things You'll Need to Plant a Hanging Basket:
   

Container Gardening: Growing In Baskets

Gardening in baskets can be a lovely way to have a small container garden. Flowers look especially beautiful in baskets, and if you have a small garden space, you can make use of vertical space by hanging the baskets at different levels. Not only will this maximize your available space, but it also gives a lovely multi-layered look to your garden!

If you are growing plants in baskets there are a few things that you will need to take care of if the plants are to survive. Obviously you will need to start with the best and healthiest seeds or plants. It is important that you choose good quality container mix too. There are proprietary hanging basket mixes that you really should use as they have been developed to provide the best growing conditions in these unique situations - when the soil is often hotter and dries out more quickly.

A hanging flower basket in Victoria, British Columbia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For aesthetics you will probably want to get the basket looking as 'full' as possible so you will be cramming the plants in. It is best to put the larger plants in the middle of the basket with smaller plants trailing out to the edges and the sides.

The larger the basket the better chance your plants will have to survive and they will also require less maintenance. To prevent the plants from drying out in the sun and the wind, aim to get maximum foliage coverage over any exposed soil.

As with all plants no matter where they are growing, water will be essential, and with baskets more care is required than normal. You can place a water trough between the plants and the liner to maintain a place to hold water that would normally seep through the liner.

In warmer weather you will need to water the plants more often and this is best handled with a long watering wand, which makes reaching the plants easier.

Occasionally, where you have baskets that are easily moved, you can soak the entire basket in a tub of water. If the basket has been quite dry you will need to soak it until the bubbles stop rising.

Always use quality organic liquid plant feed to ensure your plants are getting all the nutrients that they require. You can also add compost to the potting mix when planting your baskets.

If you take the time to give your basket plants the additional care that they need, you will be rewarded with a pleasant addition to any living area - either indoors or outdoors.

Nutrient Deficiency In the Garden

There are many different symptoms that can show where there has been a nutrient deficiency in a plant. Because all plants respond differently to a lack of nutrients it is not always easy to determine whether it is a deficiency or something else that is causing the changes to the plant.

Chlorotic blueberry plant due to soil pH being too high, and therefore plant not being about to uptake iron. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Where you see abnormal leaf coloring, where the leaf has turned a pale yellow or changed to a paler color than normal, and the veins of the leaf are green, then this can be a sign of nutrient deficiency.

If the leaves are smaller than normal, or any part of the plant is showing signs of stunted growth, then this is a sure sign of a nutrient deficiency.

There are other signs such as brown blotches on the leaves, but this can also be leaf scorch so you need to consider the conditions that the plant is growing in to help analyze blotchy leaves. If the leaves are showing tones of blue or purple that can be another sign to look out for.

To assist the plant, you should apply a soluble fertilizer, as this will have the fastest effect on its possible recovery.

You will need to check the pH of the soil to see that it is correct and take the appropriate action to remedy the situation if it is out of balance.

The nutrients might be in the soil but without the correct pH balance the plant won't be able to make use of them. Testing can be done with a simple and inexpensive test kit that you can buy from garden stores.

Make sure that the plants you are growing are compatible with the soil that you are growing them in and adjust the type of soil accordingly if you don't want to replace them with plants that can flourish in those conditions.

Feeding Your Plants

Just like people, plants have their own particular requirements and it is not the best policy to assume they all need the same feeding. Some plants need a lot of attention whereas others require very little. You can actually harm the growth of your plants by feeding them too much.

Nitrogen Cycle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once again there needs to be balance in the garden. If you feed your plants too much fertilizer that is high in nitrogen you might get a lot more foliage but a reduction in the fruit or flowers that the plant will produce. This is because the plants will be using that nitrogen as energy to grow faster rather than produce more fruit or flowers.

Plants are always giving us signs of their food requirements or if they have been stressed. They will wilt, or they might change color, or their leaves might curl up and drop off. If there is something wrong with a plant's nutrition it can often be seen quite easily. It is just a matter of reading these signs and knowing what is going on.

If the leaves of your plants are wilting they might be suffering from a shortage of water. If they're turning yellow there may be an overabundance of water if they are in containers or soil with poor drainage. There might be signs of mold in the soil, which could suggest too much water, and the roots of your plants might be rotting.

As all plants are different, to fully understand the requirements of the particular plants or trees that you are growing you need to get information specific to those plants.

If you find signs of stress in your plants you should take samples to the local nurseries of the leaves and any abnormalities that you might notice in the soil.

The three most important elements in the soil of plants are nitrogen, for the promotion of leaf and stem growth; phosphorus, for the root growth; and potassium, which helps in the growth of flowers and fruits.

If you find there are any deficiencies in these areas then additional nutrients will need to be added to the soil.