Hi Suzy~

How do you like your new environment? Did you get all of Danny's habitats set up? All the critters happy? :) Brrr...must be a big change being from the nice warm climate to the cooler one...but coming from Germany, it must not be too drastic, right? :)

We've had weird weather in SoCal this year...practically no rain then FREEZING weather and today it is supposed to get up in the 90s! I swear, it is so odd. I just looked in the pop-up and saw a Pipevine Swallowtail eclosed this morning! He/She (didn't see it opened up yet) will be released before I leave for my doctor's appointment later this morning...

I released two Monarchs this weekend-one boy and one girl. I've got fourteen Monarch cats a-munching away right now-rescues from the park. I am SO looking forward to this spring.

Did you need any A. curassavica seeds? I have some A. syriaca seeds, too. I also have some Rue (Ruta graveolens). Let me know, sweetie! :)

Hey Sherry,
so good to talk to someone familiar.. I tried to email u before, but it came back to me.. :(
Yeah it is a change but a good one..The kids are so happy up here, built them a huge sandbox a few days ago ..The Nights are still chilly but at daytime it warms up to around 70..
Since I have a huge workshop there are boxes everywhere in there and also a box with some of my seeds..
If you can spare a few that would be so nice..I really don't wanna buy some hostplants and then the caterpillars will die b/c of insecticides..
I miss y'all very much and try to take pictures soon..
Love
Suzie

Susanne(SUE)

Sue, you can join the zone 7'rs here now that suffer through butterfly withdrawals during winter! Although, as we've been talking about in other threads, you will probably see some that overwinter on the warmer, sunny days of winter if you put out some fruit bait.

Haven't seen any cabbage whites yet, just the Mourning Cloaks and Goatweed Leafwings.

Was it nice to see the seasonal changes again?

You can probably start to winter sow your A. curassavica this month, using recycled greenhouses, like soda bottles, outside, as well as some of your other cool season annuals, like dill or fennel. This way you don't take up precious indoor space, or maybe you have some. I don't, which is why I winter sow.

Do you have a lot of trees on your new property? Tell us what you ordered from Natives Nursery. I'm always interested to see what other people plant. I'm sure you're planning on pawpaws, since you will see zebra swallowtails. So far, they are only present in eastern Oklahoma, and I'm in central. However, I went ahead and planted a tree from seed so that one day I may see them in central Oklahoma. They are also attractive to moths.

Welcome back to the forums, Sue!

Susan

Hey Susan,
right now I am starting to settle in a lil and also start to kinda develop plans for my new garden..
It is funny but it was easier to make a garden in Florida where I hada certain amount of room..
Now everything is open and grassland,and I have enough room for a supernice Butterfly-Garden.
I ordered $ 186 from Amy including trees, shrubs, vines etc..
I am gonna mention a few and please tell me that these work here..lol
Blue Star, Wood Aster,Joe Pye Weed,Chapman's Liatris,Patridge Berry,Golden Ragwort,Pipevine,Climbing Aster,Prumpet Vine,Alabama Crimson,Passion Vine,Bottlebrush Buckeye,Devil's Walkingstick,Flowering Dogwood,Yellow Anise,Spicebush,Sweetbay Magnolia,Hoptree,Sassafras...
So I know I will be quite busy when those all get here..
The area here is awesome , like in Bavaria,Germany,the Forsythia is blowing, so are Cherrytrees, etc..just wonderful driving around and seeing Mother Nature come back alive...
The few seeds I found already from moving and unpacking I started to sow in those small greenhouses in my spare-bathroom, now I gotta wait and see..
Also brought one Fennel up here and started a few more seeds from that type..
Oh well, please let me know and thank for that nice *welcome back * here..
Greetings from Alabama
Susanne(SUE)

It's so good to hear from you again, Sue!
North Alabama is beautiful, and I know you'll be enjoying it!
MissSherry

Welcome back, Sue. So good to hear from you. Glad that you are getting into the gardening mood. Do send us pics of your wonderful new home and garden area.

Everything you ordered sounds purrrrfect (for cats!). The Aster carolinius grows like a house-a-fire! My neighbor bought his form Plant Delights in a tiny pot, and it reached the top of his fenceline by fall. It blooms in fall, too, and is just covered. Very nice vine.

I just bought regular old liatris spicata purple flowering tubers at Wal-mart. I would love to have some of the other native species, but was afraid that they'd be grown in small pots and would take awhile to get going. Do you think that's true? I could get 25 tubers for $4 at Wal-mart, so thought I'd have a pretty nice stand of it.

I also bought a couple of the Blue Stars (Amsonia) from them, and a couple from Woodlanders, too. I like to see the variation in what nursery's provide. I did a comparison between PD and Heronswood on my thalictrum flavum 'Illuminator', and the Heronswood plant was much nicer.

I also bought a honeysuckle (L. sempervirens 'Leo') which has the red-orange blooms on it. I have a yellow-blooming one that is very old, and grows like a tree up a post in the front yard, that is connected to a V-shaped lath extending out from the porch. The trunk is a good 8" on it, and there are lots of tangled dead wood that the birds just love to nest and play around in. This is the plant that I get the hummingbird clearwing cats from. But, I'm also trying to attract hummingbirds, too, so I thought maybe the brighter color would help. I'm going to grow it in partial shade, but from what I've read, it should do fine there.

Also got an anise shrub, too, but not the yellow and purchased the bottlebrush buckeye as well. Had to replace the spicebushes I got last year because they apparently have died. I broke off part of the limbs on them and the cambium layer was deader than a doornail. I just couldn't keep them watered enough last year in our 100+ temps we had for 2 months. So, I am going to grow them in pots this year in front. I pay more attention to them that way. I also got the Sweetbay Magnolia, too.

I hope we have good luck with our plants. In Alabama, you are probably in zone 7b, aren't you? I'm in 7a in OKC.

Happy planting and glad you're getting settled in now.

Susan

Sue, nice to hear from you. I hope any injuries you suffered in the accident have healed.

You'll certainly have fun learning about your new climate. Hopefully you'll see some new species of butterflies that you didn't get in Florida.

I'm sure you'll be better off waiting to plant some of the more tender items. My brother, who lives in Athens, gets really early spring weather (as compared to us up here) but can still get some really cold snaps.

When I worked in the nursery, the bigggest problem was trying to hold people back when they were ready to plant. One warm 60 degree day in March and they wanted impatiens and tomato plants. I had to say, the tomato plant seeds haven't even germinated yet...Please try back after Mother's Day.

Maryann - you must have worked for a very ethical nursery, then. Most nurseries don't tell people not to plant yet. They discussed that on our local Oklahoma Gardening show last week. The host was advising people that altho there are lots of plants in the nurseries, they should wait to plant them until at least April.

Susan

Yep Susan, I was pretty adamant about recommended planting times. After all, if someone invests a lot of money on your plants, you certainly want to see them survive, and the people be happy with their purchases. We had many regular and repeat customers. Much like the restaurant where I work now. I want them to be happy and come back!

My plants were my babies...if you don't want to treat them properly, don't bother buying them. You'll only come back and complain to me later about how my plants didn't do well through that freak April snowstorm!!!