Butterfly garden

Here is a picture of our new butterfly and humming bird garden.  I wish the pictures showed it off a little better.  Pics just never do a garden justice!

  

It looks like a simple enough project but it was actually HORRIBLE!  The bed is really large and under the first layer of sand and weeds was a 4" deep layer of rocks.  It took me about 10 hours over the weekend to shovel them out and hall them away.  Under the rocks was all sand so I had to remove another 5" deep layer of sand and fill it back up with compost soil.  I also dug holes 2X the size of my plants root system and added compost to the holes.  After all the plants were put in I put down weed liner then topped it off with pine bark.  The fountain only needed a little work to get it running.  We had an old pump and added the spray attachment, and with a quick wire fix and drain attachment it was ready to go. 

Before:

I found the rocks to line the bed buried throughout our property.  Score!  That however was another miserable task!  A few were toward the surface which is how I figured out they were there but the majority of them were buried pretty deep and had roots growing over the top of them.  They were also in a straight line down the opposite side of the property so I had to carry them over as I dug them up.  It was still a lot less painful than having to pay for them however!

I chose plants that attract Humming Birds and Butterflys that I've grown in the past and know from experience have long blooming seasons and grow into attractive plants in our area.  Each side mirrors the other with my favorite antique rose the Louis Philippe in the center.  This rose blooms almost all year in our area and is so beautiful and dainty.  The topiary trees are Tibouchina Standard or "Glory Tree".  They have beautiful sage green velvet leaves and rich purple flowers that bloom in our area most of the year as well.  They will also get bushy on top and add a little shade for the Hydrangea.  The Hydrangea won't attract butteflys but will give nice cut flowers for the house.  The rest consists of Agapanthas, Buddleia or Butterfly Bush in white, Purple Salvia, Red Porterweed, Stokes Aster, Gaura or "Pink Cloud" and Parsley to attract the caterpillars and for making tabbouleh. 

Glory in tree form

I hung a hummingbird feeder for extra nourishment for our friendly little birds.  They are so fun to watch with the kids! 

We also added a little southern charm "ferns" to our porch which is were I'm headed to rest!  What happened to the days when you woke up after a hard days work in the yard and felt sore but good?  I can barely move and there is nothing good going on with this body right now! Yikes!  Do you know what I'm talking about???

Next project: Make that fence in the background look a little nicer;)