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Butterflies and Your Garden
July 17, 2008, 8:24 pm
Filed under: Earth Friendly Campaigns and Products, gardening | Tags: ,

Butterflies touch the hearts of the young and old alike.  If one lands on you, somehow you feel honored, as if you are singled out as an especially trustworthy companion.  If you are lucky enough to have a butterfly house and garden, here are some easy ways to care for our gentle winged friends.

Things you’ll need:  a small or large garden area, a butterfly house (looks much like a bird house with slits instead of entry holes), variety of flowering plants, bushes and trees, resources for learning about your local butterflies and host plants.
 
Paint your butterfly house-butterflies are highly attracted to vivid colors so paint your house with bright non-toxic paint.  Be sure one of the inside walls has tree bark tacked to it so the butterflies entering your house looking for shelter can cling to it.
 
Choose the location-the butterfly house should be mounted about 4 feet off the ground and placed in a sheltered shady area close to flowering plants.  Also consider ventilation because butterflies need air at every stage in their life cycle.
 
Plant the area-butterfly gardens can range from a few containers placed in a sunny spot to several acres.  Pick colorful flowering plants that give off a strong scent.  Butterflies drink the sweet energy-rich nectar of these plants.
 
Host plants-generally  butterfly attracting plants include azalea, black-eyed susan, butterfly weed, french marigolds, asters, milkweed, coneflowers and zinnias.

Select plants that are native to your area.  They are naturally adapted to the region in which you live and require minimal attention and it is these plants that attract your local butterflies.  
 
Study up on the butterflies common to your area and the plants that they prefer.  Butterflies lay their eggs on host plants and the emerging caterpillars will eat them.  Visit other butterfly gardens, botanical gardens and  nurseries because the more you know the more successful your butterfly house will be.
 
Depending on your climate butterflies may use your house for migratory rests or non-migrating butterflies may shelter there for the winter.  It’s a good idea to clean the house once a year with clear water but don’t if you suspect your house has guests.
 
No chemical pesticides-pesticides kill fragile butterflies, caterpillars and other useful insects. It is extremely important that you do not use pesticides or herbicides in your habitat around your butterfly house.  It is also a good idea to wash your hands before you handle any host plants.  Caterpillars are especially sensitive to bacteria, nicotine, household cleansers and other residues on your skin. Plant marigolds, petunias and mint instead which naturally repel pests.
Now sit back and enjoy the show!!
 
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Give Your Soil a Lift by Composting
July 17, 2008, 1:02 am
Filed under: gardening | Tags: , ,

Most gardeners complain about their soil, but you can give your garden a real lift and reduce your trash by starting a compost pile.  Composting is the process of collecting green food scraps, paper and yard trimmings in a bin or an area in your yard.  By keeping it moist and turning it frequently it will decompose and make a nice rich soil additive.  For more ideas and tips on composting visit compostguide.

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Lilacs
July 17, 2008, 12:59 am
Filed under: gardening | Tags: , ,

 Today’s lilac varieties offer huge flowers and a big selection of color and scent. For the absolutely perfectly shaped lilac-bush you need to prune them each year.  There are right ways and wrong ways to prune and also right an wrong seasons to do it in.  Pruning is an important part of growing and caring for Lilacs and they should be pruned and maintained year for a beautiful healthy plant. If you have inherited a couple old, overgrown lilacs-they can be completely restored in several years with some good pruning techniques. 

 - Prune lilacs right after they flower.  Next spring’s flowering buds are produced in late June or July so to avoid cutting them off you need to prune in late spring after the bush has bloomed. This will encourage the plant to produce flower buds for next year and not seeds.
 
-  Clip old dead flowers at the base, also cut off suckers and shoots at or near ground level or where it comes out of the main trunk with your pruning shears.   Leave a few strong and healthy new stalks each year, expecially if you are planning to trim back old wood from the plants.
 
-  At this time, after you have cut off all spent flowers, you should also cut out a quarter of the oldest branches and take out any branches that are crossing over each other.  You will most likely need a sharp saw for this if your bush is several years old.  Old branches can be pretty woody and tough.
- Depending on weather conditions, lilacs can produce heavy blooms one year and few the next. Spring bloom are also influenced by the previous season’s weather.  The best bloom follow cool, sunny summers.  Buy your shrubs from a local nursery because they will specialize in plants that are zone hardy for your area. 

  -  New plants can be kept up with light pruning but overgrown old shrubs may need to be cut back pretty severely. It takes young shrubs several years to begin to flower and old shrubs will flower poorly if they aren’t cut back.

- Do not be shy with this clearing of old branches because over the next couple years the old stems will be replaced by new growth.  You can do this in late spring after blooming and also in even in late fall or early winter.
 
- Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers (such as lawn fertilizer), which encourages leafy growth at the expense of flowers. 
 
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A Watermelon! Really?
June 15, 2008, 8:04 pm
Filed under: food, gardening | Tags: , ,

What’s square and green and fits into a small refrigerator perfectly? 

 A watermelon!!

If a fat round melon poses a problem for you in your motorhome or tiny apartment refrigerator than do what Japanese farmers did for their consumers. 

Grow a square watermelon or other stuff with a few sheets of polycarbonate and some gate hinges.  Resourceful farmers found a clever but pricey solution by inserting the melons into square boxes while they were still growing on the vine.  Many Japanese consumers love watermelon but have limited refrigerator space.

This designer fruit hasn’t made it’s way into U.S. grocery stores yet, but if you have a garden and a green thumb you can always give it a try.  Think how much fun a summer party would be when a cubed shaped watermelon shows up. 

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