* Having a butterfly land on my arm and crawl across my back
One of its wings was bent but it managed to fly away after I moved it to this columbine.
*Organizing a plant swap and spending the afternoon with wonderful gardeners
This is a great way to add to the garden as well as pass along all your seedlings.
*Scoring a new shade plant labeled "Native Wildflower"
It's striped wintergreen, a native that grows in dry shade.
*A pot full of wintersown annual linaria 'Fairy Bouquet'
These were the first seeds among my wintersown plants to sprout.
I have never had Linaria before, so pretty flowers!
ReplyDeleteDoing plant swaps are great, you can get plants you would never have thought of buying, and plants you perhaps haven’t even heard of. I am doing plant swaps too, right now I am preparing two parcels to go to people I am swapping with, none of them live locally so we have to use a courier company to do the actually swapping for us, but it’s cheap so the plant cost will not be much anyway.
Loved the butterfly, haven't seen any in my garden yet :-)
I grow the perennial linaria and was excited to try the annual. It sprouted early and seemed totally unbothered by our extra cold winter. It may not make it the whole summer, though. I do wonder if it's a cool season plant, only. Plant swaps are always fun and much more satisfying than composting seedlings.
DeleteI don't know what the wildflower is. I sure like the foliage though. What a fun day fun getting new plants.
ReplyDeleteIt's brand new to me, too. I had to Google it since the friend who passed it on to me often makes up her own names for plants. But I'll take any non-invasive native that likes dry shade. :o)
Delete'Lots of things that are right' at this time of year - the first call of the cuckoo, the first rose to open, the first time the hosepipe feels warm and bendy in your hands... we are in that time of year now, when you have to treasure every minute to keep you going through dreary November days !
ReplyDeleteEverything does feel so good. Winter seems like a blur right now. I just wish I had more time to stay on top of my grading as well as work in the garden as much as I want to. At this point in the school year, I'm just exhausted. 21 days to go...
DeleteThe linaria brought back memories. It was one of the first flowers I grew from seed as a child. I didn't know what they were called so I called them baby snapdragons.
ReplyDeleteI think baby snapdragons is a perfect name since that's exactly what they look like. :o)
DeleteYou were not only graced with an up close and personal visit with a butterfly but managed to get a picture of the event too! That plus a plant exchange with like-enthused people - what could be better?!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter happened to be on the patio with me when the butterfly landed on my arm so she ran inside and grabbed the camera. Lucky moment!
DeleteNice to see a butterfly friend! Plant swaps are fun. I had to miss our local plant swap this year. Somehow, some plants still find me from friends though.
ReplyDeleteGardeners can always be counted on to share the bounty. :o)
DeleteSounds like a great day! I'm looking forward to seeing the Swallowtails again. That one really liked you! :-)
ReplyDeleteSwallowtails are native to our area so we usually have a lot of them. While we had few monarchs last year, there were swallowtails everywhere. I'm hoping to see lots of both butterflies this year.
DeleteThat shot of the Swallowtail is amazing, even the one where you moved the butterfly to the columbine. That is a gorgeous color columbine btw. Your place looks beautiful. What great days we have now!
ReplyDeleteThanks! As wicked as our winter was, my garden seems to be better than ever. I had several plants die but I found pesticide-free replacements to fill in all the gaps. I actually have more seedlings than ever before!
DeleteYep! That is everything right indeed! How awesome that you organized a swap! I think that is just a wonderful way to meet other gardeners and pass on the good! And look at those beautiful butterflies friend! Wishing you a week full of outstanding garden time!!! The butterflies are singing your praises!!! Nicole xoxo
ReplyDeleteOrganizing the swap was super easy. Plants and snacks are always a popular combo and everyone leaves with something new. I've already seen a few butterflies in the garden, which feels like a good omen to me. Have a great week, too!
DeleteI enjoy plant exchanges. I volunteer at our local Plant Give and Take Day in March. It's a nice opportunity to try new plants. Your 'Fairy Bouquet' Linaria is certainly a pretty plant!
ReplyDeleteI bet the linaria would be a great winter annual for you. I bought the seeds from Botanical Interests and they grew so quickly. :o)
DeleteThe linaria is so pretty, so beautiful. I have never seen before.
ReplyDeleteBut your tropical climate allows you to grow so many plants that would die here. :o)
DeleteHi Tammy, the butterfly is incredible, I hope we attract such pretty wildlife as the garden develops. The plant swap sounded like a lot of fun and I've never heard of "linaria" before, I'll have to look it up. It looks so lovely, it would be something to have in the garden, but it does look like an annual, I'll have to check it out anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt's an annual, although there is also a perennial linaria that I also grow with similar foliage. Perennial linaria is super tough and does well in dry bright shade.
DeleteOoh ooh ooh a plant swap...wish I could have been there. We have plants at my swap and tea party too.
ReplyDeleteLove your new babies, I hope they do well in your garden.
Glad that the butterfly is okay.
I was able to hold the butterfly for a few moments when I was trying to move it out of the grass. It was so light and just sat in my hand. It was so incredible!
DeleteYes, the garden fun is finally beginning - looks like you have lots of new plants to provide hours of entertainment in the yard. That linaria is so pretty - and blooming already after being winter-sown? Amazing.
ReplyDeleteMy winter sown plants were very successful. I think sowing them straight into regular sized pots and then covering them with the plastic made a huge difference. The only plant that did poorly was my bronze fennel but I had backups under grow lights.
DeleteBeautiful - butterfly AND flowers! A plant swap is a great idea!
ReplyDeletePlants swaps are the best way to get tough plants for free. :o)
DeleteWhat a stunner of a butterfly! I glad it managed to fly with it's curly wing. I love it when butterflies land on me!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea the plant swop is, I must try and organize one around here. Lovely to see your seedling in full bloom.xxx
Give it a go! You might end up with a bunch of fabulous new plants! :o)
DeleteI love plant swaps. I used to organize a big one in town with the Master Gardeners. I have missed it ever since we moved here. However a new garden club has just been created in the next village and they will have a swap! I have quite a few plants potted for it and look very much forward to see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteHooray for you! I hope you have a wonderful time and end up with awesome plants. :o)
DeleteVery nice way to spend an afternoon. Interesting the butterfly landed on you.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
What a fantastic idea. Great way to meet other gardeners and find plants you've never heard of before. I'll bet you have a lovely afternoon hanging out and chatting plants together.
ReplyDelete