Herb and Flower Fest 2011 

Speakers and lots of plants for sale.
CCE of Oneida County
Saturday June 25, 2011
9:00am to 3:00pm

 

Historic Niagara Falls Garden Walk and Festival 

Main Street - Niagara Falls
Saturday July 16, 2011
10:00am - 5:00pm
Amanda's Garden will have a display and plants for sale at the Earl Brydges Public Library.

 

20th Annual Native American Dance & Music Festival 

July 23 & 24, 2011
10am - 6pm
Ganondagan State Historic Site, Victor, NY
Amanda's Garden will have a display and plants for sale.       

15th Annual Gathering of Gardeners Event

                                          Eisenhart Auditorium,   Rochester Museum & Science Center.  September 10th, 2011 8:00 to 4:00 Parking lot sale.

Amanda's Garden will be there with plants. Many early spring bloomers should be planted in the fall.  Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County        

Many people are looking for plants to attract butterflies. This is a good thing. There are many plants that will attract butterflies, but you need to plant host plants to keep them coming. A host plant is one on which butterflies can lay their eggs. The larvae will only feed on specific host plants. For example, Monarchs use plants in the genus Asclepia, the milkweeds.

Butterfly bush, Buddleia, while it does attract a lot of butterflies, has also become an invasive weed in some areas. My experience with it is it seeds itself profusely all over the garden.  Butterfly bush is not a very attractive plant; it is very gangly. When the flowers are spent, the plant is downright ugly and very time consuming to dead head. If you want to attract butterflies, plant native host plants. You get the same butterflies coming for nectar, but they lay their eggs and there are many really attractive plants.  Use Swamp Milk weed or Butterfly weed for monarchs. Golden Alexanders, Zizia aurea, is a host plant for the Black Swallowtail butterfly. Great Spangled Fritillary use violets as a host plant. New England Aster, Aster novae-angliae, is a host plant for the Pearl Crescent butterfly. Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense, is an alternate host for the Pipevine Swallowtail. A lot of butterflies use trees and shrubs as hosts, and there is a lot of information on the internet regarding this.

Joe Pye Weed, Goats Beard, Asters, Phlox, Milkweeds, Monarda and Black Cohosh are all excellent nectar sources, as are many other native plants. Remember what you plant does have an impact on the environment; planting natives can make that a positive impact.

   

As many of you know, you are welcome to come to our gardens to check out what is in bloom or to see what our growing conditions are like.
Frequently I get calls from people inviting me to see rare plants growing in private gardens or even in the wild on their property. This is so exciting for me to see native plants growing in their natural setting or to see how these plants have adapted to garden

Last spring I was invited to a property to see Fringed Polygala, Polygala paucifolia. The woman who invited me initially called me to come and identify the beautiful ground hugging plant with bright rose colored flowers. The stand of Fringed Polygala was awe inspiring.

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