 |
| Monty Don, gardening expert. |
The Joe Pye Weeds have bloomed, hosting the butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. The plants have done their job, so I am using them for mulch as I cut them down - Little Joe Pye, too. Their enormous production of stems and leaves are ideal for adding more humus to the soil and feeding the small creatures above and below the surface.
I enjoy Monty Don on multiple gardening series. He advocates stuffing the garden full of plants and then thinning them. Many people poke tiny plants into the overturned soil and hope they will have a garden some day.
Last year I started milk weed plants, which thrived this year. I planted two honeysuckle rose vines, which moved someone to yell, "You paid for a weed? My vine was 20 feet long and growing!"
 |
| Cow squares - cows not included. |
Honeysuckle is a fan favorite in the South, with unforgettable fragrance and sweet berries - so I wanted support for the two little starts. Jimmy, the repairman, suggested cow squares (not to be confused with square cows). One tendril could not decide where to go, but the other quickly reached six feet.
The second plant went into the original Butterfly Garden, because I had hopes of it mingling with the fast growing plants around it. Some digging and accidents led to comfrey growing like crazy, mint planted to suffocate the comfrey, Russian sunflowers, two Joe Pyes, and some others growing but not identified. I check on the Honeysuckle Rose to see if it is reaching up on its own. They say, "Honeysuckle rose climbs from the darkness to reach the sun."
Plants commonly called weeds are robust and quick to find a place to thrive. A good way to decide whether it is a weed or not will come from muttering, "What have I done?"
Back to cow squares. Jimmy had plenty so we added the rest of them beyond the Little Joe Pye garden and around the corner.
I am pessimistic about rabbits chewing up edible candidates for the cow squares. Sugar snap peas and cucumbers come to mind. Warty gourds and small pumpkins could work out well, if the squirrels also mind their manners.
 |
| Clethra, also known as Sweet Spice and Cinnabon, attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds with its fragrance. I now have nine of them because plastic collars seemed to keep vegetarian predators away. |
