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This page includes an overview of the gardens in my yard. Other things of interest are also included.
Most of these photos were taken in early May 2011. In 2011 I created maps using CoreDRAW® of the some of the gardens in order to remember where I planted hardy milkweed and in order to plan where I could plant more milkweed. The maps will change over time as I find out which plants have made it through the winter.Note that the maps are not to scale, but are merely a reference.
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Fence Garden: Currently the milkweed in this bed includes swamp, purple, butterfly, common, redring and tropical. The wire baskets are protecting 2 milkweed plants so that my husband does not mow them and roaming dogs do not step on them. We added a spicebush (not shown on the map, but it is to the left of the popular tree and sorta visible in the 2nd photo) in 2010 for the spicebush swallowtails to lay eggs on and they found it!
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Milkweed Garden: This bed was added in 2010 and it added over 200 milkweed plants to the yard. Varieties include: whorled, tall green, Hall’s, desert, Indian, purple, goose, poke, prairie, Davis, narrowleaf, spider and tropical. As of May 6, 2011, we are still waiting for the desert and Hall’s to sprout. If they did not make it through the winter, I have other milkweed plants that will be put there. The border has parsley for the black swallowtails. The rock dish has water and sea salt added to it for the male butterflies to puddle in.
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Rose Garden: This flower bed gets the most sun. There used to be a dozen roses growing in this bed, but now I am down to 2. Common, Hall’s, showy, Davis, swamp, tropical and butterfly milkweeds are in this garden. The black swallowtails found the parsley that I planted for them.
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House Garden: Maybe later I will map the north and south sides of the house. The north has swamp and butterfly weed. The south has poke, swan, rush and tropical. This garden winds around the whole house and includes the chimney garden (documented separately due to the amount of milkweed in it). |
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Mailbox Garden: The darker yellow flowers are Stella d'Oro daylilies. I have swamp and butterfly milkweed growing in this garden. I tried tropical milkweed last year, but it was a bit too shady and dry for it to do well. |
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Steet Garden: This garden boasts a Scalet Meidiland® hedge (the Mailbox Garden also has a few bushes), which is only supposed to grow 3-4 foot high, but grows 6-8 foot high in my yard. I get many compliments on the roses from the neighbors. Milkweeds include common, butterfly, swamp, tropical and poke. The 2nd photo was taken in June 2010.
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Patio Garden: Most of our azaleas surround our patio. Milkweeds include butterfly, swamp, and tropical. Our greenhouse is to the left of the photo. The small pot in the photo has parsley for the black swallowtails. In the background you can see our compost pile.
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Shed Garden: By the end of the summer morning glories will be growing on the trellis. Milkweeds include butterfly, showy, tropical, and swamp.
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Chimney Garden: Milkweeds include eastern purple, narrowleaf, spider, desert, Davis, tropical and a mystery milkweed which appears to be prairie.
Valerie’s Suet Recipe: take a 1.75 cup round disposable container (the kind you can get at the grocery store for food storage) and fill it with bird seed, nuts, raisens, etc. Everytime you eat bacon, drain the grease into the container. If need be, you can microwave it for a few seconds to settle everything. Store it in the frig. When the container is full, put it in the freezer. When you are ready to use it, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes, and then you will be able to pop it out of the container. With a little effort, the suet cake can then pressed into one of the square wire baskets made for suet. Use it to feed your feathery guests (and squirrels) during the cold months of the year.