one of my favorite wildflowers

tenacre

9 years ago

.
This sprouted in the unmowed area of our front yard, and has been making a welcome return every year since.

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Comments (4)

Rhonda
9 years ago
Beautiful orange milkweed, aka butterfly weed......keep your eyes open for monarchs!
bogturtle
9 years ago
Found it very easy from seed, and now have it in several shades, but not all I want. Will try again. And a national campaign should exist, where interested gardeners will raise it and plant it as food for the Monarch, that has seen serious decline, lately. A single clump has grown and bloomed, untended, at the edge of my tiny rock garden for over ten years, while I fuss about the other plants there. It came by itself. While I don't appreciate insect damage, I would not bother the Monarch Caterpillar, and I even allowed a disgusting infestation, on one plant, of the Milkweed Bug, that has the most extreme brilliant orange and black coloring.
Many are unaware that the plant is a notorious one for showing up very late in Spring, and is extremely difficult to move, because of a sturdy tap root.
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So I am looking at my three Sagae crowns. The elongated crown has been shortened. I cut off what I considered rot. This is the rotted part. And this is what it looks like cut off: I did cut off a bit more because the bottom was a bit soft and there are no roots. But I am left with about a 2 inch long crown. You (Bruce) suggested cutting the majority of the crown off leaving some roots on the main crown. I can do that but I won't have as many roots as you have in your dividing thread. I am thinking I can cut about an inch and a half off of this crown. And with that piece I can cut it into two pieces for planting. It would be most interesting to see if these pieces grow. I imagine I would just cover it lightly with soil. The second crown looks like this: It's about one inch long. Ok---if I am going to think like Bruce---then I think he would say to cut a piece off and you have an extra plant! So if you cut the piece off, then the main crown will be stimulated to grow? The third crown is not looking that great. I was afraid to cut part of it off as I wouldn't have many roots left. The crown does seem firm though. Actually, when I really think about it, I don't think I have much choice but to remove part of the crown and roots. But I am going to do the bleach soak overnight and tackle the planting and this problem tomorrow! What's my goal here? To make this Sagae one of my top ten favorites. It was given to me by another hosta enthusiast. He shared his favorite hosta with me! I would love to be able to tell him that his hosta is one of my favorites too! His garden was the first hosta garden I ever visited. It holds a special place in my heart!
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aachenelf z5 Mpls
9 years ago
That is really a very beautiful photo. I love how the grass adds such a nice visual contrast to the plant itself. I'm so used to seeing butterfly weed in rather stark, dry environments. This is so lush.

Kevin
docmom_gw
9 years ago
Bogturtle,
There are multiple national campaigns to increase the number and varieties of milkweeds growing. If you google Monarch conservation or preservation, or pollinator conservation, you'll find lots of activities going on. We had a great project here on GardenWeb to connect new milkweed growers with veterans who could share seed and growing information. I think it was "Adopt a Milkweed Newbie" or something close. This year we're already encouraging established gardeners to begin collecting seed from host plants and nectar plants in preparation for another seed-sharing effort to help expand and create as many butterfly-friendly gardens as possible. We even had some media involvement in a large Monarch release that one member of GardenWeb staged. Monarch Watch is an organization based at the University of Kansas that grows and sells/distributes milkweed seedlings across the country. They accept donations of money or milkweed seeds, and grow milkweeds from seeds collected from specific geographic regions to redistribute back to those same areas.

Anyway, there's lots going on and we all try to do our part both in our gardens and in education those around us.

Martha

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one of my favorite wildflowers

Comments (4)

Rhonda

bogturtle

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aachenelf z5 Mpls

docmom_gw

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