Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

[terri32 3]

It looks awesome! I've become a real fan of this crazy weed!

I bought three "Gateway" varietals. Supposedly also a little smaller than regular, but they should still reach 6 feet! I needed one that could tolerate some midday shade, plus I wanted a natural wall at the property line, too. I may add more!

Painted lady butterflies like it as a host.

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

Painted lady butterflies like it as a host.

Oooh cool. I thought we had our first painted lady the other day but someone on the Massachusetts butterfly page said it was a Red Admiral. It’s the photo I posted earlier on the butterfly bush. The underside of the wings look a lot alike. I didn’t get a shot of them open but I will. It’s been hanging around the yard every afternoon.

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

I think the Joe Pye is one of the plants that many people do the Chelsea chop in early spring so that it branches out and gets bushier. A lot of people do that with the tall bee balm as well.

I didn’t do it this year with the bee balm as I wanted to see whet it would do it’s first season. I think next year I may chop just the outer branches to try to get a staggered and longer bloom. But I won’t chop them all because I like the height even though I had to tie it up to a stake after all the rain. Definitely going to chop the joe pye next year.

Need to research about pinching back or chopping the cardinal flower too. I had one stem where the pests had eaten the bud so I cut it back a bit and now that stem has multiple stems with buds forming. Too late to do it to the rest now. They’re starting to flower.

 

[terri32 3]

All these plants are new to me, too - as well as trying to figure out my new cold winters and who should get what.

I've read both that it's okay to chop the Joe Pye Weed down to 6-8", and also that it's okay to let it go and do it in late winter/early spring- as long as you get to it before it starts growing again. It blooms on new growth.

I just want my bee balm to make it through the summer and then decide how to winter it. Mine is still young and small.

I also read recently that Cardinal flower dies after a few years! It might self-sow. I never heard of that while I was first reading about it.

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

@terri I didn’t know that about it being short lived. I’ll probably have to move mine - I don’t want the area it’s in now to get out of control because it’s near our walkway. It was an impulse buy that I had planned to keep potted, not realizing how big they can get. It grew very quickly so I planted it. I’ll have to find a spot in the butterfly garden where it can do its thing. I spend just as much time fixing my mistakes as I do making them!

 

[terri32 3]

I spend just as much time fixing my mistakes as I do making them!

Ain't that the truth!

But - look at this! I think I have my first monarch!

Poor little thing was happily bobbing around the garden, trying to get away from the crazy lady.

Is this a monarch?

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

Yes!! Looks like a female but it can be hard to tell when the wings are closed. The males have a couple of dots on the wings that the females do not. If you have any milkweed nearby check for eggs!!

 

[terri32 3]

Okay, there's a kinda small (new planting) of a swamp milkweed directly across from these coneflowers. Also one further away over by the Joe Pye and the also-small/new bee balm.

I'll check both once this rain clears out.

How tiny are these eggs, if they're there? What to look for?
Edit: NM; found a great video with closeups and solid info. Did not know they only lay one egg per plant! And always on the leaf bottom.

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

Okay, there's a kinda small (new planting) of a swamp milkweed directly across from these coneflowers. Also one further away over by the Joe Pye and the also-small/new bee balm.

I'll check both once this rain clears out.

How tiny are these eggs, if they're there? What to look for?

They love to lay eggs on new tender milkweed plants! The eggs are small, white with sometimes a yellow tinge and will be on the underside of the leaves. Single eggs not in groups. I tilt the stalk back so I can see under all of the leaves at once. Will check to see if I have an egg photo but you can google I’m sure there’s pics out there.

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

Not a sharp photo but that is what to look for

 

[terri32 3]

That's amazing! Thank you!

I did watch a short video but he basically just said everything you did. You're good at this!

 

[terri32 3]

It quit raining long enough this morning to run out and check both my swamp milkweed plants for monarch eggs. My milkweed is only knee high this year so wasn't expecting much.

I got very excited when I took this picture outside - before major cropping showed this:

What I thought was an emerging caterpillar turned out to be a fly.

Better luck next time. It's been pouring outside most of the day and I haven't seen a single butterfly. Supposedly clearing out this evening.

 

[terri32 3]

And - another mystery solved! We knew we had one small tree growing into another one next to the deck. Only identified the larger one by its beautiful fall foliage and watching the birds tear into the berries last year. That one is a service berry tree.

Through the window, I spied these way up high today. These flowers seem to have popped into existence overnight, with all this rain!

Closer view:

I think my little "tree" is actually an out of control Rose of Sharon, judging by the leaves. Or maybe hibiscus, if they have similar leaves? It's at least 10 feet high and flopped into the service berry tree.

Anyone ever do a severe pruning on one of these? It's a single thin trunk until it finally branches out about 8 feet up.

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

@terri Definitely a rose of sharon. I have cut back a RoS to the ground and 3 years later it is 8’ high and 5’ wide. I don’t mind the height as it gives one of my bedroom windows some cover. The bees love it but the type we have spreads everywhere. When the yard was mostly grass it didn’t much matter as the seedlings would get mowed down all summer and fall so they never got a foothold. But now, with the various beds I’ve created in front and in the side butterfly garden, the seedlings are popping up all over. I’m thinking of cutting it down and digging out the stump. Will have to figure out the best way forward. The bees will miss it though. I have another in back that is a “sterile” cultivar and it’s pretty tame as far as spreading goes but it is definitely not as popular with the pollinators.

 

[SquarePeg36 6]

I don’t think I ever posted a pic of my Jackmanii clematis in full bloom. This was planted about 15 years ago. I had let it go a bit wild and it was getting very woody and tangled. Last fall I wanted to paint the railings so I cut it down to about 18”. It bounced all the way back this year and has twice as many blooms as last year. It’s happy in this spot because it gets full sun in early spring but then our pool shades it’s feet from late May through September