Thursday, August 14, 2008

Winged Creatures

A Giant Swallowtail visits the zinnias.

A Monarch butterfly grabs a snack.

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail in the zinnias.

A Swallowtail enjoys the pentas.

It seems that the butterflies like my zinnias and pentas as much as I do. The two have not only beautified the garden but have also proved to be magnets for these winged beauties. Splashes of bright yellow constantly dart through the flowers. Perhaps, because we have had more rainfall this year; perhaps because of the color choices for my annuals (usually I choose a white color scheme; however, this year I went for bright) there appears to be many more butterflies in the landscape than in previous years. I made a point to plant lots of the same color flowers so the near sighted butterflies could not possibly miss my garden. Butterflies are drawn to bright flowers planted in masses. Choosing a tubular flower like the penta makes it easy for the butterflies to get their needed nectar; evidently zinnias are also a prime supplier of nectar also. The butterflies’ daily visits to the blossoms are a show that can’t be rivaled. Swallowtail butterflies hover over the profusion zinnias and the pentas flitting from one flower to another. A monarch butterfly has even been visiting. Both the zinnia and the penta are full sun plants, allowing the butterflies to absorb the sun’s warmth while they eat.

Pentas are sometimes referred to as Egyptian star clusters. They can have white, light purple, pink or red flowers. As I discovered last summer they do not like drought, wilting in the summer heat if they did not receive a daily watering in the big pots where they were planted. Pentas prefer good, well-drained soil, regular water, and regular doses of a water-soluble fertilizer such as Peters during the summer months. Don’t forget to deadhead the old flowers. Hummingbirds love the pentas as much as the butterflies do.

Profusion zinnias, although related to the common zinnias, are a hybrid zinnia and are not as susceptible to powdery mildew. They grow only about a foot tall and come in white, orange, or cherry red. Zinnias love the heat;  mine grown in pots are now requiring watering every day. My sister grows them every year but she uses them as bedding plants where she tells me they do not require as much water. When planted in the ground, too much water is their enemy, but in pots there does not ever seem to be enough water. (For those of you who have container plants, by this time of the growing season their roots have expanded as much as their size and they need lots of water.) 

When it comes to the combination of butterflies and flowers there are not enough words. And because a picture is worth a thousand words I have provided several. Enjoy them please;  I hope they inspire you to make your garden a haven for nature’s creatures. Whether butterfly or bird, they can bring so much joy.  For more information about attracting butterflies to your garden please refer to my earlier blog on that subject.