Butterfly Garden - We're Back!

By: Samra Matin & Jiten Patel (class of 2011)

Due to overwhelming response from our first blog post, the witty and insightful piece about Fox Glove Beardtongue, we’re back to write another one. Yes, readers, the ME Butterfly Garden blog is quickly making its way up the most trafficked website list. Soon, it will reach the status of MySpace circa 2005. It won’t, most likely. But can FaceBook provide you with gentle commentary and unbiased reporting of butterfly gardens? I didn’t think so.

The three plants in the spotlight today are the Golden Alexander, Meadow Anemone, and Nodding Onion. Though Meadow Anemone and Golden Alexander are currently in bloom, Nodding onion is not.

The Golden Alexander can grow up to 2.5 feet and has hairless, shiny stems. The blooming period occurs from late spring to early summer, and lasts about 1 month. It grows best in full to partial sun, although light shade under trees is tolerated. The soil should be moist and loamy, and can contain some rocky material.

This plant is easy to grow and maintain. The golden-yellow flowers attract short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, and beetles. It’s a good, low-maintenance plant that can add color to your garden. At the Maine East butterfly garden, we have plenty of this plant. Ms. Childress wouldn’t mind if readers contacted her in order to dig some out and take home to plant.

The second plant, Meadow Anemone, is a short plant, growing only 12-18 inches. It has small white flowers that bloom in masses. It will grow well both sun and woodland shade but it grows and blooms faster in the sun. It can be considered invasive, as it takes over the ground rapidly. The plant is great as a ground cover and can be used to fill in bare spots between plants. We’d love it if readers wanted to dig up some of this plant and take it home, as well. All you need is a big space with partial sun. Planting it under a tree where you need lots of ground cover would be ideal.

In addition to being completely aggressive, the meadow anemone has quite a history. It was used medically by North American Indigenous peoples as an astringent and as a styptic for wounds, sores, nosebleeds, and as an eyewash. Also the root was respected by Plains tribes and used for many ailments.

And lastly, the Nodding Onion, is native to New York and grows up to 1.5 feet. The flowers are white, pink, and purple. The nodding onion is a late summer bloomer and blooms from July to August. The stem bends so the flower nods towards the ground-giving the flower its name. The nodding protects the nectar from being leached away in the rain. The plant also likes full to partial sun, and moist conditions. It doesn’t do well in hot, dry summer.

The nodding onion was used widely by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. Its juice was given to children to treat sore throats and hives. It was also applied externally for infections, sores, and swellings. The leaves of the plant, which have a strong onion flavor, can be put in salads. Additionally, the juice, applied to exposed skin, repels mosquitoes and other biting insects.

Butterfly Garden - Penstemon Digitalis (Not a pokemon)

By: Samra Matin & Jiten Patel (class of 2011)

No, this post isn’t about the Native American chief named Fox glove Beard Tongue. We actually don’t know if there ever was a chief named Foxglove Beard Tongue. It sounds plausible, but confirming it would require more research, and we’re second semester seniors. Fun fact: It took us a whole class period to come up with that witty intro.

Instead, we’re here to talk about penstemon digitalis, otherwise known as the Foxglove Beard Tongue, a gentle flower naturally occurring in meadows and prairies. It’s a very low maintenance plant that grows well during the spring months and needs a plentiful amount of sun exposure. The Foxglove plant is also self-seeding so under the right conditions, it’ll germinate in the fall and sprout back every spring. Foxglove Beard Tongue has spikes of white tubular flowers that bloom through May to July on 2 to 4 feet stems. The flowers have purple stripes to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, who visit the flowers for nectar.

The bad news? All parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested. Maybe that’s why Plants for a Future, a site that reports on medicinal uses of specific plants, has no entry for penstemon digitalis. However, the plant is pretty easy to work with and the white flowers are quite picturesque. It’s easy to grow in average, dry to medium –wet, well drained soil and is considered to be a low maintenance plant that is drought tolerant. There aren’t many serious insect or disease problems, but the foxglove beard tongue doesn’t do well in heavy clay or wet, poorly drained soil.