Butterflies and Birds - The Third Week of August at Amberwood Garden

Since the Covid -19 quarantine started in March, like a lot of people, I've been working from home. All this time around the house has given me the opportunity to watch what happens around the garden during the hours I'm usually in a downtown high-rise. Although I didn't completely plan it this way, several of the plants I grew from seed in the spring have proven to be a magnet for small wildlife this year.

Just this week, I've noticed several different species of butterflies visiting the Zinnias and Black Eyed Susan. I'm no expert, but I've been lucky enough to spot a Monarch, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and Eastern Black Swallowtail. It's been long time since I've seen a Monarch so that was a special treat!

In the spring, not knowing if nurseries would be able to open, I placed a large seed order online and selected 2 varieties of Zinnias to try. I chose Cut and Come Again variety for the mix of pinks, reds, and purples. The fact that it's an heirloom variety was also a specific choice. This will enable me to select the very best and most beautiful of the bunch and collect seeds to sow again next spring... for free!

I also chose a hybrid selection, for it's very interesting look. Queen Red Lime Zinnia promised a combination of maroon-red petals with lime centers. Some of them have grown up to resemble that description and others seem to have much softer lime and pink color palette. Because they are hybrids, I am unlikely to save seeds from them. The chances of next year's plants looking totally different and reverting back to the parent profiles is too high for me.

Here are some jobs for this week in the garden:

1. Begin to cut back Black Eyed Susan flowers that are done blooming before they drop their seed and spread, spread, spread! Save some seeds for friends.

2. Re-seed grass in bare patches. Since we've had a lot of work done around here and trees removed, we have a lot of work to do on this. This week is prime grass sowing time and will give the grass time to get established before winter.

3. Order bare-root Hostas for fall planting. It's a lot cheaper to get a variety in root form and will be a spring surprise when they come up next year!