Late June Wildflower Blooms ~ 2013

A lot of the late spring - early summer wildflowers are starting to fade (oxeye daisies, milkweed), but there are several more that should be in full bloom within the next month. :)

Here's a sampling of what's blooming now in my gardens and along the roadside...

Echinacea purpurea 'Purple Coneflower'

Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'
Not a native Coreopsis, but still a wonderful flower!

Larkspur? Not sure of the type or even if it's the right ID. This is one of the plants I picked up at the Master Gardener
plant exchange and I've lost the tag and forgot what it was! 

Asclepias tuberosa 'Butterfly Weed, Milkweed'
From my garden, but it's also growing wild along the roadsides and fields. The sad thing is that within the next month (about the time the Monarchs are at their peak), most of the fields will be mowed down or brush hogged. I've grown milkweed for the past ten years and last year (for the first time), I didn't have a single Monarch caterpillar. It saddens me that their numbers have declined so much...

Datura inoxia 'Angels Trumpet'
Native to Mexico and Central America. Not really a perennial in my gardens, but it reseeds easily. This plant is a member of the nightshade family and all parts are extremely toxic. Interesting though, my free range chickens seem to have some sort of innate ability to discern what is tasty and what could be poisonous. This plant is also a host to the tobacco hornworm moth.

Verbascum thapsus 'Common Mullien'
Common throughout Missouri, but originally one of the first plants introduced from Europe. Actually I thought this was a native Missouri wildflower for years and transplanted it from a field into my garden! 

Aristolochia tomentosa 'Dutchman's Pipe'
Vine native to Missouri, host plant to the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly.

Asclepias syriaca 'Common Milkweed'
Along the fence line down the road from my property. Host plant of the Monarch buterfly.

Campsis radicans 'Trumpet Vine, Trumpetcreeper'
Native to Missouri. The blooms are a favorite of hummingbirds and it's also thicket forming (which also attracts birds as a shelter - protection), This grows wild along my fence line and last season I transplanted some of this vine to a container/trellis outside my bedroom window. It's growing wild and crazy, but I don't think it will bloom until next year. Hopefully I'll get to enjoy watching the hummingbirds eat from a natural food source.

Packera aurea 'Golden Ragwort, Squaw weed)
Native to Missouri. Growing along the fence line...

May Dreams Gardens
clay and limestone

Pipevine--an interesting native vine and a gracious host..

I "accidentally" created my butterfly garden eight years ago by planting herbs next to my annual and perennial flowers.  I had no idea that I was providing the perfect environment-the food and nectar-for some of the swallowtail species.  Since then, my excitement or obsession with butterfly gardening has grown and I've tried to include in my garden as many of the host plants for the caterpillars/larvae of our native Missouri butterflies that I can.

  Three years ago at a native plant sale I bought two Pipevine plants (Aristolochia tomentosa), this is the food source or host plant of the Pipevine Swallowtail larva.  I have an arbor at the entrance of my butterfly garden and I thought this would be the perfect and permanent location for this perennial vine.  One thing I have learned about this vine is to be patient..It grew very slowly the first year and I was concerned it might not return the next.  There is an old saying about perennials:  The first year they sleep, the next they creep and the third year they leap!  This couldn't be more true about the Pipevine--it takes it's time. This summer was it's third year and the first time that it bloomed.  The flowers were small, insignificant, but interesting and they did resemble or were shaped like a "pipe."--I think the butterflies were waiting for a flower to help them identify the plant, because for three years I didn't even have a second glance from the swallowtails and this year--I had probably 100 larvae!

A monarch will lay one egg on one milkweed leaf--a Pipevine Swallowtail will lay a lot of eggs on one leaf... When the caterpillars emerged from the eggs, it was a sight to see--and they had a huge appetite.  In fact, if you stood close to the vine, you could literally hear the crunching!  I started thinking that perhaps this was a little much for my immature vine.  Would it survive having every leaf munched away?  I decided to donate 12 of the caterpillars to the local butterfly house,-- Dr. Bill Roston Native Butterfly House at the Botanical Center in Springfield, MO.

I was advised to thin out the larvae to keep from defoliating the vine and spare the plant.  I know this is pathetic, but I couldn't get myself to do this.. I figured, this is a native plant, this isn't anything new--if the vine couldn't tolerate being eaten on, it wouldn't be the host plant.

Thankfully, my hunch was right and the vine re-budded, the leaves returned, and another batch of caterpillars appeared!

For the average person, an insect eaten, leafless vine is probably not an attractive addition to the garden, but true avid butterfly-gardeners are of a different mindset and I was thrilled-proud-of my giving, rejuvenating, sustaining vine!

Even though not everyone would enjoy the viewing of-or listening to-an army of hungry worms, few would deny the beauty of the end product....The Pipevine Swallowtail!

To find more great plants, check out the link...  "How to Find Great Plants" at Appalachian Feet..