gardening – Andrea's Gardening Blog

Oct 16: garden status

October 16, 2022Posted in FallTagged butterfly gardening, gardening, statusLeave a comment

Sep 16: chrysalises galore (and swallowtail caterpillars)

September 17, 2022September 17, 2022Posted in summerTagged butterfly gardening, caterpillars, chrysalis, gardening, photographyLeave a comment

I counted at least six monarch chrysalises in the garden today and about a dozen swallowtail caterpillars on the rue.

Monarch chrysalises in Russian sage and nepeta

Aug 6: flowers and butterflies in the garden

August 6, 2022Posted in summerTagged butterfly gardening, flowers, gardening, photography, swallowtail1 Comment

Jul 9: garden status

July 10, 2022Posted in summerTagged butterfly gardening, gardening, statusLeave a comment

Basil is starting to fill out in the raised bed. Time for pesto!

Brown eyed Susans, coneflowers, and Russian sage are blooming

I dead-headed the roses this week so a new flush of buds could bloom

I like the rearrangement of the back bed, but it’s going to need another year at least for everything to fill in after me moving stuff around.

Jun 27: garden status

June 27, 2022July 10, 2022Posted in summerTagged butterfly garden, gardening, statusLeave a comment

It’s that time of year where everything is growing and lush and pretty, and I stop logging it and just enjoy it. Every once in a while I take my camera out when I walk the garden. Here’s some stuff blooming in the end of July.

June 12: garden status

June 12, 2022Posted in springTagged butterfly gardening, gardening, photography, statusLeave a comment

I’m still waiting for the beds to fill in — I delayed a lot of growth by moving everything around over the winter. I hope it didn’t permanently damage stuff, and I hope I have the patience this coming winter to leave everything alone so it can re-establish. Maybe things will fill in more by July and August. We’ll see. That’s one reason for posting these status updates with pictures, so I’ll have a comparison next year.

I took my coffee out and sat in my garden chair this morning; the morning was cool, and the colors inspired me to get my camera out.

Out back

My new Mexican feather grasses; they’re my favorite

Out front

June 6: garden status

June 6, 2022June 12, 2022Posted in springTagged butterfly gardening, gardening, statusLeave a comment

The garden survived our trip to Iceland, thankfully.

May 23: first caterpillar of the season

May 23, 2022Posted in springTagged butterfly gardening, caterpillars, garden, gardeningLeave a comment

I’ve been checking the rue for swallowtail caterpillars, and I saw my first one of 2022 this morning.

I’ve been checking the swamp milkweeds to see if they’d come back. I was getting nervous because they seemed to take longer this year than in previous years. Three of the five have finally re-emerged; I’ll need to replace the other two so the monarch caterpillars don’t run out of food.

The fescue and scabiosa are blooming, and as is the norm these days, I saw a bunny in the bed, nibbling away at the goldenrod.

May 8: garden status

May 8, 2022Posted in springTagged gardening, statusLeave a comment

Everything’s a lot greener than it was a month ago. The trees have leaves, and the perennials are starting to fill in.

Back hill, raised bed, and trees with leaves

Front lobe still filling in, but the dogwood and gum trees have leaves

The roses are filling in with leaves, and the lilac, nepeta, and salvia are blooming

The salvia by the mailbox is in its glory

May 6: new plantings – annuals and herbs

May 6, 2022Posted in Planting, springTagged gardening, photography, raised bed1 Comment

The forecast called for thunderstorms today, but lucky for me, since I took a day off, the rain didn’t come until late in the day. I took the chance to put some annuals in the ground (and some herbs in the raised bed) so they can get watered in naturally.