A Monarch Butterfly Visit

Yesterday we had the good fortune to witness a Monarch butterfly stopping by our 'Clara Curtis' mum for a fill-up.  Monarchs are on their way south now to find their winter homes and have to stop for nourishment along the way.  We usually see them a couple times a year passing through looking for places to lay their eggs or just stopping by for nectar from the flowers.  They love to use Aclepias purpurascens as a host plant for the larvae which is also known as purple milkweed.  It grows native near us but so far we don't have any in our garden.  We do have Asclepias tuberosa or Butterfly weed which is also another viable food source for Monarch caterpillars.

Is it a Male or Female Monarch?

If you look carefully in the above picture you will notice two black dots or splotches near the back of the Monarch butterfly's body.  Those spots mean that this is a male butterfly.  I learned that yesterday in a conversation on The Home Garden Facebook Page.  It's always great to get into interesting conversations!

The 'Clara Curtis' mums are a great last minute source of nectar for these butterflies.  Gulf fritillaries and skippers have been feasting on it's nectar for a couple weeks before the Monarch butterfly visit.  Bees of all kinds have been enjoying it too.  I think it has an advantage over other mums in that it is easier to reach the pollen due to the daisy-like flowers.  'Clara Curtis' also blooms fairly late in the growing season when many other plants have already gone to seed.

Have you seen Monarchs on their migration this fall?

More Mums and the $50 Lowe's Giveaway Ends Today!

Today I'll show you a few more pictures of the mums but I also wanted to remind you that today is the last day to enter the $50 Gift Card Contest to Lowe's!  The folks at Lowe's Creative Ideas are providing anyone who comments on the mums project posts this week an opportunity to win that $50 gift card.  All you have to do is comment on this post, or my wheelbarrow planter mum post, or my October 1st mum post!  Share an idea about using mums in the garden in the comments and you are entered to win!

Here's another look at the mums in the wheelbarrow planter.

Some red mums from the garden up close.  These are in the birdbath garden.

I actually like the daisy flowered mums more than regular mums.  Here's a lavender colored one:

This one is called Jessica Louise.  I don't know who Jessica Louse is but somebody must have liked her enough to name this mum after her!  The flowers are very large over 2 inches in diameter.

The last two mums were mail ordered in the spring.  I ordered several others but so far the flowers haven't emerged yet.  Rampaging rabbits nibbled the mums down too much right after planting.

I'm still waiting for the 'Sheffield Pink' and 'Clara Curtis' mums to flower - they will be breathtaking once they do!

Don't forget to comment!

Mums and a Mailbox Garden Meet a Wheelbarrow

Is there a flower more typical of fall than mums?  Probably not!  There are definitely some flowers worthy of autumnal appreciation but the mum is the most common one you'll find this time of year.  I put together a little project for Lowe's Creative Ideas that uses mums and reuses my dad's old wheelbarrow.  The project was easy and I'm very pleased with how it's turned out.

The wheelbarrow already had some drainage holes in it courtesy of some natural iron oxide action around the bolt holes. I filled the wheelbarrow with compost and some soil conditioner then I added several similarly tinted shades of mums together inside.  This time of year I'm very partial to the fiery fall colors.  The reds, reddish-browns, oranges, and yellows just scream fall to me.  So that's what I picked!

To blend the wheelbarrow with the rest of the mailbox garden I put a couple mums in the ground near the wheelbarrow along with a few small purple colors asters right next to the mailbox.  All these plants will do fine planted in the ground and come back next year.  In a few weeks I'll transplant the mums in the wheelbarrow into other areas of the garden and replace them with some nice winter tolerant plants.  Perhaps violas and pansies with a side order of ornamental kale or cabbage.  The wheelbarrow has a bit of height to it that I think will discourage the bunnies from making a meal of my mailbox garden!

Visit the first post about this project.

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Reusing an Old Wheelbarrow and a $50 Gift Card Giveaway to Lowe's!

A couple weeks ago I saw a picture posted on Facebook with a display of sedums all planted in an old wheelbarrow.  It was a pretty creative idea to re-use a wheelbarrow that may have just been discarded and turn it into something of interest.  This gave me an idea for my latest project for Lowe's Creative Ideas.  The theme is mums!  As I'm sure you're aware chrysanthemums are one of the most popular plant purchases this time of year.  The look great and offer a bushy burst of color which blends well with the Autumn season.  Today I'll show you a few of the items I'm using for the project.  The mum planting has all been completed but I'm waiting for a couple of the mums to break from their buds.

Before I show you what I'm using for this project here are a couple tips for buying mums:

• When buying mums buy them while still in bud (before flowering) so that you can enjoy the blooms longer.

• Perennial mums come back each year so don't throw them away, plant them in a holding area or in your garden for next year!

Here's the old wheelbarrow.  It was my dad's wheelbarrow for a long time until we bought him a wheelbarrow for father's day.  His old wheelbarrow was rusting out at the bolt holes and was just getting old from frequent use.  A good sturdy wheelbarrow is a necessity for any gardener.

I bought several different colors of mums from Lowe's but also wanted to add some asters.  Asters are another great fall blooming option if you don't want to go with the mums.

I'll show you how I put all these together soon in our mailbox garden for our fall mum display.  As soon as they are all in peek bloom I'll be out there with my camera!

If you would like a $50 gift card to Lowe's to do a similar project all you have to do is comment below on this post or my next post for Lowe's Creative Ideas before the end of Saturday October 6th, 2012 and tell me what is your favorite way to use mums in the garden?  We'll have a drawing this weekend and one lucky person will be shopping at Lowe's very soon!  Don't forget to follow The Home Garden on Facebook!