Thursday, May 31, 2012

Butterfly Garden - Red/Swamp Milkweed

Guest Blogger:  Jay Garcia, class of 2012!

No, it’s not Spanish you’re reading. It’s the scientific name for the Red Milkweed. Wonder why it’s called the Red Milkweed? Well, let’s see. It looks red (no brainer) and it’s part of the milkweed family. Hence, Red Milkweed! Yeah, scientists aren’t that creative when naming such an awesome plant like this!     

The Red Milkweed is naturally found in low lying areas, like swamps and ponds. But, we found this plant here in our butterfly garden! Score one for the Maine East!
These plants would like damp soils in full sun to partial shade, which can best describe the Butterfly Garden! One fun fact: The Red Milkweed can be found along ditches. Now that’s cool. This plant produces rich colors from deep rose to deep purple. So, not really red…ish. But, beautiful right?    

This plant is also great food for the Monarch larvae to come! They can just eat the leaves and as time goes on, the larvae turn into beautiful Monarch Butterflies! These butterflies love Milkweed.

Ever wonder how they get made? Well, since this is a blog post, I assume we all know about the birds and the bees. But, the mommy lays her eggs on Milkweed plants, then after about 4 days, the eggs hatch and turn into caterpillars, they eat the leaves off for food before they go into the pupa stage. After the pupa stage, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo! The caterpillar turns into a beautiful Cinderell…erm, Monarch Butterfly.            

The bad news? The plant is poisonous if it’s ingested. So, I guess we can’t eat it…but the Monarch Butterfly can! Maybe that’s why they’re also poisonous. Perhaps, the butterfly possesses a unique ability that can have them eat the milkweed without dying off. As a result, all that ingestion made the butterfly poison. Maybe I’ll ask Childress. (“IT’S RIHA!”)

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Mother's Day Native Plant Sale

We'll be at it again Mother's Day weekend to raise money for our Oak Savannah restoration project (see previous posts for details).  Art & Linda's Wildflowers will be providing over 50 species of native prairie and woodland flowers, grasses, and ferns.  They will sell for $4 each.  UPDATED plant list:

Ferns: Ostrich Fern, Interrupted Fern

Grasses/Sedges:  Little BluestemVirginia Wild Rye(tolerates shade), Northern Sea Oats(tolerates shade), Gray's Sedge(wet soil, tolerates shade), Woodland Brome Grass(prefers light shade), Beak Grass(prefers light shade), Canada Wild Rye(tolerates shade), Prairie Brome Grass(full or partial sun), Prairie Dropseed


Prairie/Full Sun Flowers:
Spring Blooming - Prairie Smoke, Shooting Star(full or partial sun), Marsh Marigold(full or partial sun, wet soil)
Summer Blooming - Foxglove beardtongue, Black-eyed Susan, Purple Coneflower, Yellow Coneflower, Rattlesnake Master, Prairie Blazing Star, Dwarf Blazing StarButterfly Milkweed,  Ohio Spiderwort, Purple Prairie Clover, Culver's Root, Prairie Coreopsis, Sand Coreopsis, Wild Bergamot(or partial sun), Compass PlantWild Quinine, Lead Plant, Prairie CinquefoilKankakee Mallow(or partial sun)

Late Summer/Fall Blooming - New England Aster, Smooth Blue Aster(or partial sun), Obedient PlantPrairie Cinquefoil, Round-headed Bush Clover, Common Boneset(or partial sun)

Woodland/Partial Sun or Shade Flowers:
Spring BloomingMeadow Anemone, Celandine Poppy, Bishop's CapBlue Flag Iris(wet soil), Jacob's Ladder
Summer Blooming -   Wild Columbine, Nodding Wild OnionWild Petunia(full or partial sun), Purple Meadowrue(wet soil, sun or light shade), Early Meadowrue (wet soil, sun or light shade), Anise Hyssop (or partial sun)
Late Summer/Early FallCardinal Flower(wet soil), Blue Lobelia(wet soil), Zigzag GoldenrodShort's Aster, Sweet Joe Pyeweed (prefers light shade/partial sun)