As I was touring the garden to get pictures for yesterday’s post, I realized just how many different Tickseed’s I’ve collected. And admittedly, all but two were bought this year! I do seem to have gone a little tickseed crazy
Also known as Coreopsis, they are a wonderful plant that starts blooming in early summer and goes right to the frost. You don’t have to deadhead them to keep them blooming, but I try to. You get more blooms that way and the plant looks tidier. They aren’t super tall, making them perfect for the front of a border where you want a big pop of colour. They do get nice and dense, and are really easy to split up – so you can spread them all around the garden or share them with friends!
There’s some debate weather those pink shades will make it through winter. Apparently they are newer hybrids and aren’t as winter hardy as the reds and yellows. I’ll give them a little extra mulch and keep my fingers crossed, because boy are they pretty!
I think September might be my favourite month in the garden. Especially in the catio
Everything has had all summer to grow, and it’s lush and thick and there’s still so much in bloom!
That big mass of purple you see in the middle are the Smooth Asters.
Next year I have to find a better spot for it because it’s just too big for the catio yard. It’s tall. If it was properly supported, it would easily reach six feet. I tried to get it stake up in the mid summer and I only half managed it. So now I have this wild, waterfall effect, with purple flowers flowing EVERYwhere!!!
Just amazing!
Out front is the New England Aster. It’s almost as tall, and the flowers are a little darker shade. I’m not sure if it will be quite as impressive with as many blooms, but it’s pretty none-the-less.
Both Asters are native plants, so that’s an extra bonus.
Outside the catio, the two mums that flank the gate are showing off.
Mums are amazing when they are in full bloom
My favourite one is inside the catio. It’s blooms are bigger, and they are a little slower to go crazy
But I just love the mauvey-pink shade!
I got new one as well…
A lovely rusty-red. It’s just hanging on the front porch for now, but I will find a permanent spot for it out from before too long.
The front porch boxes have been switch to fall as well.
The small mums did so well last year, I thought it was worth a repeat.
Elsewhere, the Susans are putting on a solid display.
I’ve got them in just about every part of the yard because I love them so much.
But also contributing to the show are the False Sunflowers.
I especcially love te way the ones out back mingle with the blanket flowers
And yellow is a common theme in the September garden
The sneeze weed is as cheerful as ever.
And these beautiful Crocosmia are shining bright above them.
But not all that glitters is gold…
The Toad Lilies are starting to bloom in all their speckled glory!!!
I’m looking forward to savouring every day of September this year!
I can’t remember if I ever told you how I first learned about butterfly bushes. It was back in about 2006… I was working as a cub reporter for a community newspaper, in a little southern Ontario town called Port Colborne. It was a quiet day at the paper office, and I’d finished all my writing. I decided to go for a walk with my camera and see if I could find anything to take pictures of for filler pieces.
I’d walked for a about an hour and was on my way back to the office when I came across this large, flowering shrub on someone’s front lawn. And it was absolutely covered in monarchs! There had to be at least 30. I was amazed. I snapped dozens of pictures (sadly, I don’t have any of them any more).
When I came back to the office, I was showing everyone (Everyone being the receptionist, the ad salesperson and my editor) and noted that I’d have to find out what kind of bush it was. That’s when the receptionist said “Oh that’s a butterfly bush”.
I thought she was kidding at first, but… she wasn’t. I vowed that I would plant one one day! And I did, though it wasn’t until about eight years later when we moved to the townhouse in Stoney Creek. And the butterflies came, though I’ve never seen as many as on that bush in Port Colborne.
And of course, when we moved here, I got more. Five in total so far!
They are clockwise from top left: Buzz Lavender, Black Knight, Royal Red, White Profusion and Queen of Hearts.
White Profusion is the largest by far. It’s just outside the catio, and is taller than the fence, which is something like seven-and-a-half feet tall. It’s probably five-six feet wide, though I’ve never actually measured it. And boy does it bring in the butterflies.
This beauty is a Painted Lady. It’s a mid-sized butterfly, and this is the first year I’ve seen them here.
This one is also new. It’s a Hackberry Emperor. It’s a fair bit smaller – more on par with a Cabbage White.
It reminds me a little of the one on my recent cross stitch project.
It’s been a great year for new butterflies. This one is a Great Spangled Fritillary
We’ve had the smaller Fritillaries here, but never one this big – almost the size of a Monarch.
The Red Admirals have been incredibly abundant this year.
I always thought they were an early season butterfly. They were always one of the first butterflies to arrive, along with the Cabbage White. But I rarely saw them past June. But not this year. I went out the other day and there were no less than SEVEN on White Profusion. And that doesn’t include the other ones that were flitting about elsewhere in the yard. I’ve recently learned that there host plants are nettles, and there are certainly lots of them around here, so I’m guessing that’s why there are so many. I’m certainly glad for it. I’ve found that Admirals are among the “friendliest” butterfly, more likely to land on me than the other butterflies.
This little guy is an Eastern Comma.
If you look very closely, you’ll see a little white “C” on his side – that’s where he gets his name. The other side of his wings are orange, but sadly, I didn’t get that view.
Last year we had dozens of Skippers, but this year they are a far rarer sight.
The one on the left, I think is a Dusted Skipper, while the one on the right is a Silver Spotted Skippers are generally very small – the Silver Spotted is the largest I’ve seen, and it’s about half the size of a Cabbage White.
And even though I haven’t had them in the numbers I saw in Port Colborne, the Monarch make a respectable showing
It’s not unusual to see three or four in the yard at a time
The Red-Spotted Purples are another common site in this garden.
Oddly enough though, the Red-Spotted Purples tend to prefer the Black Knight bush.
Same with the Eastern Swallowtails.
So needless to say… if you want butterflies to come to you yard, I can’t recommend a butterfly bush enough.
Just maybe plant it away from the paws of any ferocious felines…
It might be hard to see, but he pulled a monarch right off that branch and ran away with it. I’ve since chopped all the branches growing through the fence to help curb the carnage. But he is a determined hunter…
Like most of you, we are suffering under a hot, gross wave of humid weather. It started on the long weekend, so other than waiting for the monarch to hatch Saturday morning, and mowing the lawn Sunday evening, I spent it all indoors.
I mostly spent time working on a secret project (sorry, can’t share anything at this time), but I did carve out an hour or two to make two more blocks for my red and cream quilt.
I absolutely adore these blocks and this fabric line. It’s part of the Moda “French General” line. They put out new prints in similar colours each year. The quilt underneath the blocks is also made with French General fabrics from several years back. This one will be much bigger though. When I finish all the blocks that is.
I’ve got 10 done, with 16 total planned. So there are six left to make. There’s no rush to finish this one, but I would like to have it done by the end of the year.
There wasn’t much stitching left to do on my chicken… just a couple of words that tie it all up with a little bow…
Yup… Guess What??? CHICKEN BUTT!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Makes me laugh every time I look at it!
Of course, after I took the picture, the fact that it’s not centred was really starting to bug me. I was not going to rip it all out…. so I decided on a little fix…
A happy little sunshine to shine down on that cute chicken bum. It’s still not centred and nothing short of redoing it all will change that, but I can live with it now.
And now… I’ve got to find something new to stitch…
Yesterday, I showed you the pictures from the day before of the monarch chrysalis… with one VERY close to hatching. I thought it might hatch the day I took the pics, but it didn’t.
I wanted to sleep in Sunday morning, but I had read that monarchs tend to emerge mid-morning. So when I woke up after 8 am, I pulled myself out of bed and went down and outside to check on things.
It was definitely the day!!!
I hung around outside, taking pictures of the gardens, other butterflies, birds, bees and whatever else caught my fancy – checking for movement every twenty minutes or so.
But then… I guess I got distracted and took a little longer than twenty minutes because when I came back…
The monarch as out and his wings were almost completely unfurled! (They come out all crumpled up and have to pump blood through their wings to shape them)
Isn’t it neat how they hang off their chrysalis? Normally, they would hang from their chrysalis for a few hours until ready to fly. But this guy was low, and too close to a certain ginger feline. I didn’t want him to start flexing his wings, and start attracting the attention of the Mighty Monarch Murderer. (His body count is five so far… that I know of!)
So I got the new baby to hook onto my fingers, and took him to a safer spot…
I put him on the new butterfly bush – it’s in a fairly sheltered spot, and would give him easy food when he was ready.
After that, I tried to check on him every hour or so. But after 1 pm, I got caught up in my sewing. When I came out again, around 4:30, he was gone .
I’m sure I’ll see him around the garden in the weeks to come!
And there’s still the second chrysalis…
So I have another chance to witness a monarch birth! I’ll definitely be keeping a close watch on this one!
Well my friends… the most wonderful thing has happened. I was noodling around in the yard and by complete chance, came across….
A Monarch chrysalis!!! Don’t ask me how I saw it, because it’s tucked away, under the siding, and behind the corner trim, outside the catio on the corner of the house. Very well hidden. (Thank goodness it’s OUTSIDE the catio – Lemmy has been an absolute monster to the butterflies!!!)
And if that wasn’t enough… I looked a little lower…. and on the very last row siding…
A SECOND chrysalis!!!
I couldn’t believe my luck. And aren’t they just so pretty? Like little pods of jade with just a touch of gold leaf – nature is amazing. And if you look close, they are somewhat translucent, so you can just make out the shape of a creature inside.
I found them on August 25. Monarchs take 10-14 days to emerge, and since I’m not sure when these guys made their chrysalis, I’ve been checking them everyday.
Yesterday, I noticed the lower one is just starting to change colour.
So that means today or tomorrow, we should be able to witness the birth of a monarch!!!!
I have to say… this whole veg gardening experiment has far exceeded my expectations.
The peas are pretty much done now, but it was non-stop snacking for Dave almost all summer. Same with the tender beans – we even got enough to cook up at dinner a few times. There’s been a regular supply of cucumbers since mid-July that has only just slowed down. We even had enough to trade with the neighbour for a couple of his red cabbages
This particular cabbage got turned into a Cabbage Roll Casserole for Dave. I prefer my cabbage steamed, or in coleslaw, so that’s what I’ll do with the second one.
The tomato plant continues to grow ever larger, and get more tomatoes
I finally picked the first red one, and there are more “colouring up”. We are going to be overrun with the darn things soon enough!
It was super exciting to harvest my first carrot last week! Just look at how nice, big and ORANGE it is. I’ve never grown carrots at all, so I’m extra thrilled with this. I have to wait a little longer to harvest more – this one was from my first sowing, and most of those died. My second sowing should be ready in a couple of weeks.
And speaking of long….
Have you ever seen beans like these??? They are a Chinese long bean…. and I’m not going to lie, when I bought the seeds, I really had no idea what they were. I was just looking for long, skinny beans. And I got them!
That said, I won’t plant them again. Dave doesn’t mind them raw (I’m not a fan of raw beans regardless), but neither of us were a fan of them cooked. They didn’t have a lot of taste. I’ll stick with my “bush” beans from now on.
But I’m happy to report, that while they took their time getting started, both the catnip and the chives have made a respectable showing. I know next year, they will be just spectacular!
The raspberry patch is still new, and quite small, but I’m finally getting some ripe fruit. I’ve got a traditional red, everbearing raspberry, and then a fun, golden raspberry, which was a gift from my neighbour. I’m hoping to expand, and add some blackberries next year.
And as delighted as I am with that….
This makes me absolutely giddy with anticipation! These are my acorn squash… just two so far, but there are lots more blooms with the promise of fruit! I can almost taste these guys… but I still have several weeks to wait!
One last thing before I go… I can’t believe I keep forgetting to share this bit of awesomeness with you…
You may recall, several months back, I was making an attempt at rooting a pineapple plant from the top. Well the experiment was a complete failure… mine just rotted.
But at the start of the summer, Dave and I were in Walmart and you wouldn’t believe what they had!….
Yes!!! That is a potted pineapple plant… complete with actual pineapple.!!!!
It’s not very big, and honestly doesn’t seem to have grown much in the few months I’ve had it.
I have no idea when I’m supposed to pick it. But for now, I’m just tending to it… amazed that I’m actually growing a pineapple!!!
Wandering Cat Studio 