Butterfly Garden Beginnings

The picture's a little blurry, but you're looking at the start of at least 30 new plants for my butterfly garden, if all of them survive the transplanting process this spring.  I'm focusing on native perennials and easy-care plants for the butterfly garden.  The entire tray of seeds erupted last night in a riotous, joyous celebration of spring. It's like the magical seeds from Jack in the Beanstalk; I've got dozens of new plants greeting the day.  There are yellow Oenethera (Missouri Primrose or Sun Drops) from Swallow Tail Garden Seeds.  I purchased the seeds last year, grew half, and lost them all to heat and drought once they transplanted. Never mind. Swallow Tail Seeds are amazing - despite an open, almost two year old seed package, they all germinated.

Columbine and lots of Poppies are also sprouting, alongside parsley. Why parsley? I'm adding parsley and several herbs to my butterfly garden this year as food for the caterpillar larvae.  I'll snip whatever I want to eat, but the rest will be to nurture along the baby butterflies.

Not up yet but hopefully soon is another tray of Echinacea and Gaillardia "Arizona Sun."   I bought a book this week called Native Perennials for the Southeast and am happy to report that all of the plants I noted in the sunny flower beds that thrive are indeed natives, so my choices this year were spot on!  I've added not one but two different Monardas (Bee Balm or Oswego Tea) to the seed trays too, along with Penstemmon seeds. 

I just hope I don't run out of room in the butterfly garden, but there's plenty of room along the back border, and two spots we need to clear free of weeds this year to add to the garden.

This week we have plenty of showers and warm 50-60 degree temps in the forecast, so I also need to get some cool weather vegetables planted - radish, lettuce, and my broccoli rabe, which I love.

It feels so good to 'get my hands dirty' and garden again.  Spring is in the air.  The flocks of migrating robins were once again visiting the yard, and every day I see new flowers peeking up in the garden....a few pink blossoms on the phlox, another inch of growth gained on the tulips, and new shoots of Siberian iris and crocus joining the celebrations.

Soon, I hope my garden looks like the image, below....but if not, I'll celebrate what I find.