Friday, September 17, 2010

Great Bidens Experiment of 2010


Although I took the summer off from blogging, I have been gardening as much as I can.

The Great Bidens Experiment of 2010 did not have ideal results, due to some long dry spells, but there will still be a lot of flowers.

The idea was to have a wide swath from the top of the hill to the bottom, next to the woods and next to the ditch, but they were not able to come up in the most inhospitable places. It would seem counterintuitive that this would be at the bottom of the hill, but the dirt (and it's dirt) was compacted when the house was moved and is still packed.

I mowed this area high with the tractor back in May and then left it. If it looked awful I was going to mow it again, but there was a lovely swath of Meadow Beauty (a species with fine leaves and pale pink flowers, and another species with darker pink flowers) all summer. The Bidens are coming into their peak now.


A view of the lack of Bidens at the bottom of the hill, with a new bed made with extra compost at the edge of the lawn this spring. The bed is full of transplanted Bidens and Texas sunflowers, which the goldfinches love.


The wildflower ribbon extends along the edge of the woods
around the paddock and back of the stalls to the driveway.



This rough edge has drawn the woodland edge birds up closer to the house. Summer tanagers, blue grosbeaks, and indigo buntings often bathe in the puddle left when the horses' water trough is emptied every morning, and we keep flushing a pair of bobwhite quail from the garden. One afternoon we watched them pick their way from the new bed in front of the lawn to the rough edge. They are so cute.

These Tiger Swallowtails were sunning themselves on a cool morning earlier this week.


This has been an amazing year for butterflies. There is no way for me to capture
the wonder and grace of 20+ Swallowtails on a Butterfly Bush. I didn't even try.



There are also American Ladies, Buckeyes, Skippers, Sulfurs, Viceroys, and Monarchs galore. From sunrise until sunset, everywhere you look, there are butterflies fluttering and a pair of Swallowtails bickering, rising and then falling again, their battle looking like a dance.


20 comments:

  1. Wonderful pictures!! We have had lots of butterflies, too. I like the watch and photograph them! Next year I must plant more of the things they like.

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  2. Great photos! Yes, it has been an absolutely amazing summer for butterflies...and I've seen all that you mentioned except the 'Viceroy'. I have so many photos of plants covered with 20+ butterflies it's hard to decide which ones to use...so I haven't used any with more than a 'few'. But wow, have they been prolific! Hope you had a great summer:-)

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  3. Sweetbay, love your swath of Bidens and sunflowers. I hope you had some good reflective time away from blogging. This continues to be the time of year that we have so much to do, especially with harvesting the vegetable garden.

    The butterflies are wonderful as are you captures. Have a great weekend.

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  4. Dear Sweetbay, so nice to see your dreamy garden again! You have been busy. Of course, the butterflies have found your secret garden.

    I hope you had a wonderful summer. :)

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  5. Oh, how I have missed your posts...so glad that you are back! Carla

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  6. Beautiful swathes of yellow.

    I agree about capturing the beauty of so many butterflies in one shot. Difficult, all tha airy movement.

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  7. Hi, Sweet Bay, It's nice to hear from you again. I love your sweep of wildflowers! I, too, enjoy seeing birds in the garden. And I know what you mean about the beauty of so many butterflies filling the bushes. It is incredible to watch them, but there is no way I could capture that with a camera! :) Thanks for your post. :)

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  8. So glad to see you back. Have missed your wonderful gardens, views and butterflies. Your photos are as fantastic as ever.

    FlowerLady

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  9. Sweetbay,
    I stopped in here last night thinking about you! Now you are back! We are 7 inches behind on rain here, boohoo.. The best bidens I usually see are in damp places especially during a drought year. BTW when was it we didn't have a drought year???

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  10. I can certainly understand the need to take a blogging break, but I am glad you are posting again.

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  11. It's good to have you back, Sweet Bay! Maybe I should follow your lead next year and take a break from blogging and work in the garden more instead--all your hard work has paid off! It has indeed been a great year for butterflies. I've seen so many more varieties and in large numbers than I've seen in years. I think I'll miss them as much as the flowers when winter arrives.

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  12. I just noticed the first Bidens blooming on my daily route this week and naturally thought of you:)

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  13. How I missed your garden, photos and Butterflies. As beautiful as ever your shots :)

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  14. I missed you and almost missed this post! I love the bidens in your garden...I wish I could get it to grow here, but it's way too dry. It has been a great year for butterflies~and I've enjoyed them a great deal...Can't wait to hear more about your garden. gail

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  15. Beautiful Bidens Sweet Bay! You have been missed this summer. I hope it has been a good one for you. What stunning shots of the Swallowtails! Your description sure has me wishing I could be there... to see all those butterflies and birds, along with your gardens. I hope we all get some good rain soon! ;>)

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  16. It was am amazing year for butterflies in my gardens too. I think planting natives and host plants for the butterflies has been the best change my gardens have ever undergone.
    Gorgeous Tigers. Happy Autumn!
    Sherry

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  17. Hi Sweet Bay! I was so thrilled to see all your thoughtful comments on my blog today. I had to pop over and see if you're back! It's so good to see your beautiful, expansive garden again. Sorry about the heat and lack of rain. We haven't had any moisture in a long time either. Probably will make up for it in snow this winter but I know that doesn't happen often there.

    It's unbelievable to think of butterflies in the numbers you are talking about! I can only dream of such a thing. We've had more here but only one or two at a time. Love the pictures.
    Hope you're back for a while ~ I missed you!

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  18. P.S. I've missed all your bird photos too. Hope you can get one of the Bobwhite Quail ~ they would be such a treat to see. You have such an abundance of native wildlife ~ it makes your garden an extra special treasure.

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  19. The butterflies are gorgeous. Your garden looks perfect to me.

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  20. Hi there

    Thanks for writing this blog, loved reading it

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