Deck Garden - August 2015

The deck garden has not gotten much attention this year so some of the pots have a few weeds…but I am still enjoying it both from the kitchen window and outdoors.

The sunflower seeds my sister gave me for Christmas have taken longer to develop than sunflowers elsewhere - maybe because the deck only gets sun for half the day….or maybe sunflowers need deeper soil than the pots provide.

The zinnias were started from seeds I had from previous years and some my sister gave me. The hummingbird stops buy periodically to feed at the flowers. I only had pink ones in previous years

So the red ones must be from my sister's seeds.

The gold finches love the developing seeds of the zinnias this time of year…and on into the fall as long as they last.

The poinsettia from last Christmas is a small bush at this point. I’m not sure what I will do with it. I may attempt putting it in a dark room to see if I can get some red foliage for this Christmas. It is more tolerant of getting a little dry than I thought it would be.

Last but not least - the purple pea vine is climbing all over the peacock pot sculpture. It has worked out well to have basil growing in the same pot; I like harvesting basil for a salad or cooking just before I need it. I’m likely to plant this combination again next year.

Spicebush Swallowtail

I planted a spicebush seedling at the edge of our forest last spring and discovered there were more growing under the trees nearby - big enough that their top branches are out of the reach of deer. In our forest even the plants normally unpalatable to deer get browsed in the winter. My little one has a protective fence around it and the sassafras seedling I planted at the same time.

It is a joy to see the spicebush butterflies finding the zinnia flowers on our deck. The caterpillars need spice bush but the adults need nectar from flowers so sustain them while they complete the life cycle…laying eggs on the spice bush for the next generation.

At first the butterflies seem drab compared to the tiger swallowtails or Monarchs…but I like the crescents on the underside edge of the wings (yellow or orange); they almost seem to glow.

Seen from the top - there are more crescents and a blue power….and the ‘swallowtail’ shape.