Author: JESSIE KEITH

Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

Growing Succulents and Cacti from Cuttings

Got succulents and cacti? Then share them with your friends! These fleshy plants are some of the easiest to propagate from cuttings. So, if you have a special succulent house plant or garden succulent you want to propagate to swap or share, it’s easy to do.
Plants from deserts and other arid lands rarely experience reproduction from seed because water is not plentiful. One common arid plant adaptation is quick rooting of stems and leaves as a means of spreading and reproducing without the need for seeds. For this reason, many dryland plants root quickly from leaf, stem, or tip cuttings. Here are some easy methods for propagating different succulent and cactus types at home.

Leaf Cuttings

Common succulents with large leaves, such as aonium (Aeonium arboreum), jade plants (Crassula spp.), and kalanchoe (Kalanchoe spp.), are all easily propagated from single leaves. The process is simple, and the needed materials are few. Here is what you will need and what to do:

Materials

Succulent leaf cuttings
Sharp knife
Shallow pots with bottom saucers/tray
Perlite or porous growing mix
Grow lights or a bright window
Rooting hormone with an anti-fungal additive (optional)

Method

Succulents with large, fleshy leaves for leaf-cutting propagation — Succulents with large, fleshy leaves are perfect for leaf-cutting propagation.

Use a sharp knife to gently cut healthy leaves from the stem. Dip the bases of the leaves into rooting hormone; rooting hormone hastens the rooting process and reduces rot but is not necessary. Gently moisten the perlite or potting mix and nestle the bases of the leaves into the mix, making sure the bases are partially covered. Place the pots in a spot with bright, filtered light and keep the perlite or mix lightly moist to almost dry. Over a matter of weeks, the bases will root and small plantlets will appear. You can pot them up once they have several leaflets.

Pups

Many succulents with rosettes, like Agave, aloes (Aloe spp.), Dudleya, tender stonecrop (Echeveria spp.), Gasteria spp., Orostachys, and hens & chicks (Sempervivum spp.), reproduce by sending out stems of new rosettes, called “pups”. These are very easy to snip from the stem and root in fresh, porous mix. In this case, no rooting hormone is needed. Just a small pot of mix will do. Nestle the base of each pup in the mix, and keep the mix lightly moist to dry, and the pup will root in no time. [Click here to read an article about starting agave pups.]

Stem and Tip Cuttings

Cutting paddle stems of prickly pear — The cut paddle stems of prickly pear will quickly root into whole new plants.

Succulents with smaller leaves, like sedums, or no leaves, like cacti, are best propagated by tip or stem cuttings. Tip and stem cuttings require most of the same materials as leaf cuttings. With tip cuttings, you remove the very tip of a growing point. Simply cut or snip off the tip, remove several of the bottom leaves, dip in rooting hormone and nestle it in perlite or potting mix. Stem cuttings are comparable but you cut a larger stem for a larger, more robust start.
When taking cuttings from cacti, always wear thick gloves. Cut a candle, side stem, or pad from the cactus, dip the cut base in rooting hormone and nestle it in a pot of perlite, which is faster draining and better for cactus starts. In a matter of weeks it should root.

Potting Cacti and Succulent Starts

Colourful succulents — Once your cuttings have rooted, you can transplant them into their own pots of mix.

When your cuttings have set root and begun to grow, it’s time to plant them. Choose small pots that are the right size for each plant, and fill them with Black Gold Cactus Mix, or Fafard Professional Potting Mix amended with a 2:1 ratio of perlite. Both mixes are perfect for growing cactus and succulents. Cover the roots of your new starts, water them in, and keep them just moist to dry. During the winter months, water them very little to none to avoid root rot.
Once you learn how to propagate succulents, swap them with other succulent lovers to add new, exciting plants to your collection. These easy-to-grow house plants are always welcome to any plant lover.

Holiday Decorating with Evergreens

Holiday Decorating with Evergreens Featured Image
Evergreens of all kinds are a sign of the season, whether used to decorate our landscapes, containers, holiday vases, or festive winter scenes. Needled branches and pine cones also fill the air with resinous fragrance associated with snowy days and glad tidings. Here are several jolly ways to use evergreens and evergreen branches to decorate your home this holiday season, indoors or out.

Outdoor Evergreen Decor

Live Evergreens

Nursery with many different potted dwarf evergreens — Quality nurseries offer many different potted dwarf evergreens!

Living dwarf evergreens make lovely potted plants that beautify the landscape all season, but during the holidays, a few lights and decorations make them extra pretty additions to front entryways. There are lots to choose from. Tiny Tower® dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca f. conica ‘MonRon’) has the perfect pyramidal shape for patio pots and grows very slowly, reaching a final height of 4-6 feet. Decorate it with lights, bright bows, and sprigs of holly.
Rounded dwarf evergreens also make nice potted specimens. Try the nana Hinoki false cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana’), which only grows to 2 feet and has dense, deep green, fanned foliage that takes well to strings of fairy lights. Mounding mugo pine (Pinus mugo ‘Slowmound’), which only matures to 3 feet, is another pincushion evergreen for festive low containers. Plant them in ornamental pots filled with Fafard Ultra Outdoor Planting Mix for best results.

Cut Evergreens

Lighted garlands for winter porch — Lighted garlands are easy to make and brighten winter porches.

Do more than dress up the front door with an evergreen wreath this year. Evergreen garlands are easily created by tying pine branch cuttings to a length of strong twine. And don’t leave those old flower pots empty. If you don’t want to grow live evergreens, convert your seasonal flower pots to evergreen showpieces using cut branches from the yard or tree farm (see final image below). Any evergreen branch will do, and the more textures and colors you add, the prettier the pots. We recommend pine, holly, and evergreen magnolia branches. Add a little glitter, pine cones, or other colorful elements, and you are good to go!

Indoor Evergreen Decor

Winter Scenes

Fir branches decorated with lotus heads, raffia balls and paper stars — The fir branches on this mantle are rustically decorated with lotus heads, raffia balls and paper stars.

Use greenery to turn a mantle, piano top, or credenza into a winter scene. These scenes can be as detailed or simple as your taste requires. Simply cut greenery and place branches in tied clusters that can be easily arranged together. This makes it quicker to add greenery where you want it. Then decorate the branches with pine cones and other natural elements. Small lights, paper stars, blue and white dreidels, village scenes or crèches might also be welcome additions.

Evergreen Arrangements

Simple arrangement of evergreen branches, red flowers, and succulents on a holiday table — This simple arrangement of evergreen branches, red flowers, and succulents looks elegant enough for any holiday table.

Gather greens from the yard or take trimmings from the bottom of your tree to place in vases. Embellish the greens with dried or living flowers, berried branches, and pine cones for a truly beautiful holiday table arrangement. It’s simple, inexpensive and always impressive.
Holiday decorating with greens does not have to be costly. Gather what you can from your garden, invest in permanent long-lived evergreen planters, add a few bows and lights, and your home will be the prettiest on the block!

Pots filled with evergreen branches, painted twigs, and pine cones lend a truly beautiful winter look. (Image taken at Newfields)

Rustic Harvest Décor from the Garden

After the leaves have fallen, the well-fortified garden is filled with a wealth of late-season branches, berries, hips, dried grasses and flower heads for rustic fall décor. Early fall is when they are at their brightest and most beautiful for indoor and outdoor decorating.
Spring and fall are the best times to plant ornamentals that remain pretty through winter. Crinkly dried hydrangea flowers, puffy grass seed heads, berried and hipped branches of hollies and roses, and colorful twigs and greens all look seasonal and appealing when arranged for display. Gather them for Thanksgiving or winter holiday table displays, or place them in pots outdoors to keep your home looking festive.
Here are some of our favorites to plant and enjoy for harvest décor.

Grass Heads

Simple containers of dried grasses and wildflowers look elegant and earthy indoors.

Broom Corn (Sorghum bicolor): As the name suggests, the canes from this annual ornamental grass are used for broom making, but their glossy, pendulous seed heads of burgundy brown are also very showy. Start broom corn in spring for fall harvest. Outdoor displays of these seed heads will also feed winter birds.
Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum): This is the common millet that’s grown for pet store birds, but its bold, upright heads of grain look equally attractive in the garden and arrangements. The warm-season annual grass must be planted in spring, after the threat of frost has passed. The eye-catching purple variety ‘Purple Baron’ looks especially pretty in the garden. If used in outdoor displays, expect birds to pick away at the seeds.
Perennial Grasses: There are many perennial grasses with seed heads that are slow to shatter in winter. Airier grass heads include switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and maidengrass (Miscanthus sinensis; this grass is invasive, so choose a non-to-low-seeding variety like ‘Hinjo’ or ‘Silberpfeil’ (aka. ‘Silver Arrow)). The foxtail stems of perennial fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) are also especially pretty when dry.

Flower Heads

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) and Celosia (Celosia spp.): These closely related plants bear everlasting flowers that hold their color and looks for a long time, especially when harvested in fall and hung to dry. Purple amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus), Cockscomb (Celosia argentea var. cristata), and spike celosia (Celosia spicata) are some of the best types for drying.
Hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.): By fall, hydrangea blooms are papery and ready to harvest. Clip the stems for any indoor or outdoor bouquet.
Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera): Stems of lotus seedheads are sold for top dollar at craft stores, but if you have a large, water-holding pot, you can grow them at home and collect and seed heads in fall for arranging. Start lotus in late spring; fill the bottom of your pot with a 1:2 mixture of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost and heavy topsoil to a depth of 4-6 inches. Nestle a lotus rhizome in the mix, and then add 12-15 inches of water to the pot. As the weather warms, your lotus will quickly grow and bloom. Add fresh water as needed, and divide the rhizomes at the end of the season, if they outgrow the pot.
Dried Wildflowers: Collect common roadside wildflower seed heads along public thoroughfares. Choice options include the heads of teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), goldenrod (Solidago spp.) and milkweed pods (Asclepias spp.). These look wild and wonderful gathered in rustic containers beside ornamental squash and greens.

Berries

Winterberry in vase — A simple vase of winterberry is all you need to brighten an indoor table.

Choose any bare-branched, bright berries or hips for fall and winter displays. Those wishing to grow their own should consider growing pretty berried trees, like rowan (Sorbus spp.) and hawthorn (Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’); winter birds will flock to their branches, too. Shrubs with lasting berries include winterberry (Ilex verticillata, read more about growing winterberry here), firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea), and shrub roses with bright hips (Rosa spp.).

Branches

Dried stems with pumpkins — Even the most rustic, impromptu arrangements of dried stems look appealing in fall.

Colorful and textural twigs add vertical interest to any bouquet or pot. The most brightest are red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea, click here to read more about growing red twig dogwood), which hold their color of red, orange, or yellow-green. Twisty branches, like curly willow and contorted filbert, are also texturally appealing alone or with berries and blooms. Evergreen branches of all kinds will add substance to your holiday displays.

Arranging

Outdoor pots with greens, broom corn, curly willow, and red twig dogwood — These outdoor pots filled with greens, broom corn, curly willow, and red twig dogwood are placed according to height, color, and texture. (Image by Jessie Keith; Newfields, Indianapolis, IN)

The key to a good mixed vase or potted arrangement is choosing a suite of plant materials with different colors, textures, and heights. Considering the piece’s overall form before starting (click here for a more detailed DIY outdoor holiday arrangement how-to). Or, your can take a more simplistic, modern approach and fill a container with a single grass, branch, or floral element. Design your containers to fit your personal style, and you will always be pleased with the result.

Small Native Shrubs with Big Fall Color

Some of the most brilliant fall shrubs come in small packages and have the added benefit of being native. This sets them apart from the many non-native, ecological troublemakers sold in most garden centers, which are seasonally beautiful but noxiously invasive. Landscape favorites like dwarf Burning bush (Euonymus alatus) and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), are among the worst weedy offenders.

But, with so many small, tidy, vibrant North American options, there’s no need to grow weeds. Our favorite “Small” native shrubs grow no more than 4-feet high, with a comparable spread. All fit well in small-space gardens, along low borders, or in large containers. Many are cultivated varieties selected for their size and beauty, and each is adaptable and easy care.

Small Native Shrubs for Fall

When planting with fall in mind, choose from these standout beauties that nurture the environment. Many also have winter attractive berries that feed songbirds and other wildlife in the cold months.

Dwarf Black Chokeberry

Low Scape Mound™ leaves — The fall leaves of Low Scape Mound™ turn shades of crimson and orange. (Photo care of Proven Winners®)

Proven Winner’s Low Scape Mound™ black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa Low Scape Mound™, 1-2 feet, full to partial sun, Zones 3-9, eastern North America) is a truly small shrub that starts the season with medium-green leaves and clusters of pinkish-white May flowers that attract bees. Clusters of purple-black berries feed birds in summer, and bright crimson and orange leaves light up the fall landscape. These shrubs are best planted along border edges or in large pots. They will also tolerate moist soil conditions.

Bush Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle flowers — The summer flowers of bush honeysuckle are followed by yellow and red fall foliage. (Image by Rob Routledge, Sault College)

Don’t underestimate bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera, 3 feet, full to partial sun, Zones 3-7, eastern North America). The yellow and/or orange-red summer flowers of this underplanted native shrub are a favorite of bumblebees, and it’s crisp green foliage turns from yellow to red in fall. It will withstand partial sun and dry, rocky soils, though its fall leaf color is prettiest when specimens are planted in full sun.

Dwarf Fothergilla

There are many wonderful cultivated varieties of dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii, 2-4 feet, full sun to partial shade, Zones 5-8, southeastern United States) available. One of the best is ‘Blue Mist’, which grows to 3 feet and bears ivory bottlebrush blooms in early spring followed by blue-green summer foliage. In fall, the leaves turn riotous shades of orange, gold, and red.

Dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea

Standard oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia, full to partial sun, Zones 5-9, southeastern United States) are very large shrubs but lots of superb dwarf varieties have been bred. The 3- to 4-foot ‘Ruby Slippers’ bears lots of large, rosy flower panicles in late spring, and its green oak-shaped leaves turn, mahogany red in fall. Another colorful beauty is the gold-leaved ‘Little Honey’, which grows to 3-4 feet, bears white flower panicles in summer, and has deep red fall leaves.

Dwarf Virginia Sweetspire

Itea virginica Scentlandia® leaves — *Itea virginica* Scentlandia® turns shades of deep purple and glowing red with hints if orange and gold. (Image care of Proven Winners®)

Named for its drooping spires of fragrant, early summer flowers, Scentlandia® Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica Scentlandia^®, 2-3 feet, full sun to partial shade, Zones 5-9, southeastern United States) has the added bonus of spectacular fall foliage. A single plant may have a mix of purple, red, orange, and gold fall leaves at once. The soil-adaptable shrubs grow well in average to boggy ground.

Compact Fragrant Sumac

Fragrant sumac leaves — Fragrant sumac has colorful fall leaves of purple, red, orange and gold. (Image by Jessie Keith)

If you need a tough shrub with great fall looks, try compact fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica ‘Gro Low’, 2-3 feet, full to partial sun, Zones 3-9, mid-western and eastern North America). This low, spreading shrub grows well in rugged, dry roadside plantings as well as home landscapes, and its three-parted leaves turn hot hues in fall.

Dwarf Witherod Viburnum

Lil' Ditty flowers and red fall foliage (inset) — Lil’ Ditty witherod viburnum looks great in spring and has reliable red fall foliage (inset). (Image thanks to Proven Winners)

Proven Winner’s Lil’ Ditty witherod viburnum (Viburnum cassinoides Lil’ Ditty^®, 1-2 feet, full sun to partial shade, Zones 3-8, eastern North America) is truly a tuffet of a miniature shrub. From late spring to midsummer it bears rounded clusters of white flowers with a mild honey-like fragrance, which bees like. In fall, its glossy leaves turn various shades of red, from the leaf edges inward.

Compact Cranberry Viburnum

Dwarf cranberry viburnum fall fruit — The fall fruits of dwarf cranberry viburnum are brilliant red and feed wildlife.

In fall, the brilliant red fruits of the American cranberry viburnum (Viburnum opulus var. americanum, full sun to partial shade, Zones 2-7, northern North America) glisten among its bright red and gold leaves. There are several compact varieties of this super hardy shrub from which to choose. The smallest is the soon-to-be-released ‘Jewell’ or ‘Jewell Box‘, which reaches a maximum of 2 feet and has reliable burgundy red fall color. The larger ‘Compactum’ grows to a height of 4-6 feet and bears copious red fruits that remain into winter until they are consumed by birds.

Planting Shrubs in Fall

Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost Blend pack

Thankfully all of the shrubs on this list are quite hardy, making them good candidates for fall planting. Before planting any shrub, be sure you have a smart planting plan and consider your plant’s needs with respect to light, soil, and elevation.
When planting a shrub, dig a hole that’s roughly twice the diameter of its root ball. Dig the hole deep enough so the top of the root ball is level with the surrounding soil. Before planting, gently loosen your shrub’s roots if they are densely intertwined (root bound). Then enrich the excavated soil with Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost. When planting, pack the soil around the root ball to remove any air pockets and cover all roots. Finally, lightly mulch around the shrub and water it well.
If fall weather remains dry, continue to provide supplementary water to encourage good establishment. Come spring, your new shrubs should shine through the season!

Tall Sedums for Fall Gardens

Tall sedums (Sedum spectabile hybrids) provide mounds of lush, blue-green foliage through summer, but late summer and fall are when they really shine. Their sturdy stems support rosy-pink blooms that glow in the late-season sun. New varieties make growing and designing with these tried-and-true perennials even more gratifying and fun.

Bold Tall Sedums & Planting Combos

New tall sedums have broken the mold of the old-fashioned, dusky pink ‘Autumn Joy’ of grandmother’s garden. Extra bright flowers and unique foliage colors, like bronze, purple and near-black, mark some of the newer varieties. Some are extra tall while others are very compact and more densely flowered.

Sedum ‘Thunderhead’

Take the ‘Thunderhead’ introduction by Terra Nova Nurseries, its giant, bright, rose-red flower heads stand on strong, 18-inch stems above bronzy green foliage. For a great combo, plant it in swaths alongside soft, mounding, blue-green ‘Blue Zinger’ sedge and bright yellow-flowered Helianthus ‘Low Down’, which only grows to 2 feet high.

Sedum ‘Dark Magic’

'Dark Magic' blooms — The deepest rose-purple blooms of ‘Dark Magic’ are emboldened by the orange-red flowers of *Coreopsis* ‘Ladybird’. (Image thanks to Terra Nova Nurseries)

One for outstanding foliage as well as flowers is the 2015 introduction ‘Dark Magic’, which has deepest burgundy foliage all season and large heads of burgundy pink flowers in late summer and fall. The compact plants only reach 12-inches high, making this a great plant for border edges. Its upright habit complements lower, mounded grasses and perennials like evergreen, lavender-flowered germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) or tidy thyme (Thymus spp.) plants.

Sedum ‘Crystal Pink’

'Crystal Pink' flowers — ‘Crystal Pink’ has sparkling pale pink flowers on low, mounding plants. (Image thanks to Terra Nova Nurseries)

For a lighter more silver-pink flower try the compact ‘Crystal Pink’, which becomes completely covered with clouds of palest green and pink flowers in late summer or fall. Plants reach no more than 12-inches, and their light flowers complement taller, darker-colored annuals and perennials.

Sedum ‘Frosty Morn’ and ‘Autumn Delight’

Another cheerful sedum is the cool ‘Frosty Morn’. This variegated counterpart to ‘Autumn Joy’ is surprisingly vigorous. Its bright mounds of foliage complement darker-leaved plants and are best planted in clumps of five to seven plants to show off the effect of the ivory-edged leaves. Late in the season, they become topped with subtle, dusty pink flowers. A bolder variegated sedum is ‘Autumn Delight’, which sports chartreuse and blue-green variegated leaves and bright rose flowers.

'Autumn Delight' flowers — The deep rose flowers of ‘Autumn Delight’ look lovely against its variegated leaves.

Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’

Gardeners looking for classic tall sedum looks but more exciting flowers might consider ‘Autumn Fire’. Their flattened clusters of rose-pink flowers are rich rosy pink, and the plants themselves have a significant presence in the landscape with their dense stems that reach 2 to 3 feet high.

Growing Tall Sedums

Bees on sedum flowers — Bees and butterflies are attracted to tall sedum flowers.

Growing Tall Sedums

Tall sedums prefer drier feet, but they aren’t as drought tolerant as some of the short, spreading Sedum species able to withstand really high heat and drought. Plant tall sedums in porous, mineral-rich soil with added organic matter, such as Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost, for perfect rooting.

All sedums attract bees and butterflies, making them perfect for pollinator gardens. After fall flowering, the seedheads should be left until they are no longer ornamental. In early winter, they hold up moderately well before being flattened by snow. Cut them back on a dry midwinter’s day, and wait until the soils warm in spring and their rosettes of fleshy leaves begin to grow again.

Top 10 Tough Fast-Growing Shade Trees

Red maple trees — Red maples are very fast growing and spectacular in fall.

What makes a fast-growing shade tree exceptional? First, it must be strong-wooded and long lived. Second, it must be attractive, providing desirable seasonal characteristics to make your yard look great. Those that are native, disease resistant, and well-adapted to a given region are also optimal. Finally, they should have minimal messy fruits to reduce the hassle of seasonal clean up. Continue reading “Top 10 Tough Fast-Growing Shade Trees”

Rose Rosette Disease Solutions

Rose Rosette Disease Challenges and Solutions Featured Image — Rose rosette symptoms on an old-fashioned climbing rose.

Few rose diseases are more dreaded than rose rosette disease. This disfiguring, deadly pathogen can take a perfectly lovely rose from glory to ruin in just a season or two. It’s very easy to identify, but trickier to manage. Thankfully, there are solutions for ardent rose growers.
Continue reading “Rose Rosette Disease Solutions”

The Prettiest Garden Lavenders

Hedge lavender in a patio garden — Sweeps of hedge lavender add color and fragrance to a patio garden.

Wands of fragrant purple blooms dance in the wind, feeding bees, and shining cheerfully on even the hottest summer days. These are the flowers of lavender, a plant beloved for its aroma and ability to grow well in tough Mediterranean climates. This aromatic evergreen perennial has been used in perfumes, poultices and potpourris for centuries, giving it high value in the herb garden. And, many diverse varieties exist, so there’s lavender to satisfy almost every gardener.
Continue reading “The Prettiest Garden Lavenders”

Favorite Garden Poppies

Pink poppies — Poppies are some of the most beautiful garden flowers! (Image by Jessie Keith)

Nothing is prettier than a field of red, windblown poppies. The delicate blooms rise from slender stems, and their colorful petals resemble crushed tissue paper—giving these classic garden flowers lasting appeal. Poppies are diverse, and can be grown in practically any garden. Some are long-lived perennials while others are fleeting annuals the bloom spectacularly for a short time before setting seed. Continue reading “Favorite Garden Poppies”

Two Butterfly Garden Designs

Monarch butterfly feeding on swamp milkweed — A monarch butterfly feeds on swamp milkweed.

Everyone loves butterflies, and the threat to monarch populations has spurred increased interest in butterfly gardening. When planning a smart butterfly garden, you want to include plants that feed both adult butterflies and their caterpillars. This is essential because butterfly caterpillars are species specific, meaning they only feed on specific plants.
Color, design, and site conditions are important when creating butterfly gardens. To make the job easy for new pollinator gardeners, we created two designs that are colorful and appeal to black swallowtail and monarch butterflies. Most butterfly plants are sun-loving, so these gardens are all adapted to sunny garden spaces.

Black Swallowtail Garden Plants

Black swallowtail caterpillar feeding on bronze fennel — A black swallowtail caterpillar feeds on bronze fennel. (Image by Jessie Keith)

The caterpillars of black swallowtail butterflies feed on many plants in the carrot family, Apiaceae. These eastern North American butterflies have many native host plants, but none are attractive enough for ornamental gardening. Thankfully, quite a few cultivated flowers also feed them. These include bronze fennel, Queen Anne’s lace, lace flower, and dill. When mixed with colorful, compact Magellan zinnias and Sonata coreopsis, which feed adult butterflies, a wild, lacy flower garden is created.
Black Swallowtail Garden Design: This simple design shows a traditional rectangular flower border, but it can be adapted to fit any garden shape. Just be sure to keep the taller plants towards the center or back of the border. Most of these flowers are annuals, meaning they need to be planted year after year.

Monarch Garden Plants

Monarch caterpillars feeding on milkweed plants — Monarch caterpillars only feed on milkweed plants.

All milkweed species (Asclepias spp.) feed monarchs. These colorful perennials contain protective chemicals that the caterpillars feed on, which render both the caterpillars and adult butterflies unpalatable to birds. The prettiest of all milkweeds include the orange-flowered butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa (USDA Hardiness Zones 4-9)), pink-flowered swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata (USDA Hardiness Zones 3-9), and orange-red flowered Mexican milkweed (Asclepias curassavica (USDA Hardiness Zones 8-10)), which self sows yearly. Monarch adults feed on all manner of butterfly flowers. The best are fall-flowering species that support the butterflies as they head to Mexico late in the season, like goldenrod and asters. [Click here to read more about growing milkweeds for monarchs.]
Monarch Garden Design: This border design includes three showy milkweed species and dwarf late-season asters (such as Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ‘Lady-in-Blue’ (12-inches tall) or ‘Nesthäkchen’ (18-inches tall) and dwarf goldenrod (such as Solidago ‘Golden Baby’ (18-inches tall) or ‘Little Lemon’ (18-inches tall)) to feed migrating monarchs.

Planting your Butterfly Garden

These gardens are all designed for full-sun exposures. When planting them, feed the soil with Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost to ensure the plants get a good start. You might also consider feeding them with a good flower fertilizer approved for organic gardening. Another important note is to avoid using insecticides, which will damage or kill visiting butterflies.
These simple gardens are pretty and sure to lure lots of beautiful butterflies to your yard. To learn more about pollinator conservation and gardening, visit the Xerces Society’s Pollinator Conservation page.

Articles

Leaf Cuttings

Materials

Method

Pups

Stem and Tip Cuttings

Potting Cacti and Succulent Starts

Outdoor Evergreen Decor

Live Evergreens

Cut Evergreens

Indoor Evergreen Decor

Winter Scenes

Evergreen Arrangements

Grass Heads

Flower Heads

Berries

Branches

Arranging

Small Native Shrubs for Fall

Dwarf Black Chokeberry

Bush Honeysuckle

Dwarf Fothergilla

Dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea

Dwarf Virginia Sweetspire

Compact Fragrant Sumac

Dwarf Witherod Viburnum

Compact Cranberry Viburnum

Planting Shrubs in Fall

Bold Tall Sedums & Planting Combos

Sedum ‘Thunderhead’

Sedum ‘Dark Magic’

Sedum ‘Crystal Pink’

Sedum ‘Frosty Morn’ and ‘Autumn Delight’

Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’

Growing Tall Sedums

Growing Tall Sedums

Black Swallowtail Garden Plants

Monarch Garden Plants