Picture a constant supply of beautiful cut flowers for your home, or fresh cut flowers for friends, and special occasions. Beautiful flowers at your disposal are possible by planting a well-stocked flower garden.
To begin your flower garden, select a sunny area, as a flower garden usually requires 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight each day. The raised flowerbed is then accessible from all sides.
Fall Bulb Planting
In order to have a constant supply of flowers available, consider when each flower blooms. For instance, plant Daffodils and Tulip bulbs in the fall for the earliest spring flower. A couple of other early spring flowers to consider for fall planting are: Giant flowering onion, grows 3-4 feet tall, with large purple flowers, and blooms early spring to mid-summer, and Crocus's bloom in early spring, though there are varieties that bloom through autumn.
Spring Planting
Gladiolus bulbs can be planted in early spring for beautiful blooms from early summer through the first frost. Continue to plant the gladiolus bulbs every two weeks and you will have cut flowers until the first frost.
Annuals such as snapdragons, cosmos, zinnias, etc., are also planted in early spring after the last frost. With a little bit of planning and a little bit of work, your home can have beautiful cut flowers all summer long.
Butterfly House in the Flower Garden
Whenever you decide to look for a butterfly house for your flower garden, you first have to determine what it is you actually want. A search for butterfly houses will yield two different types. There is the type of butterfly house that contains butterflies and their nectar plants. These type of butterfly houses are actually structures created for the specific reason of providing a safe and enclosed space in which to study the butterflies.
It can vary from a playpen-size for individual study to a medium-sized net-drapped area to large green house-like structure for scientists' study. If you find this a delightful prospect to walk in a large "cage" with hundreds of butterflies surrounding you, consult your local museums and zoos for information. As part of your children's, or your own, education, you may wish to raise some butterflies from caterpillar in a small butterfly house. Live butterfly kits are readily available and come with all you need to raise the caterpillar to a butterfly, usually a Painted Lady. You may also wish to create your own butterfly house of this type in your own flower garden. This can be done by means of mosquito netting drapped over an easily portable structure such as a light weight greenhouse structure or some type of tall stakes. Just surround whatever flowers are providing the nectar source at the present time. Don't forget the small puddles as water sources for the butterflies, too.
The second type of butterfly house is actually a hibernation box. The front of the box has half inch slots through which the butterflies can enter the house. This allows the butterflies a good gripping surface.
Place the box near some host plants for the type of butterflies in your area. This will provide incentive for the butterflies to lay eggs on the host plants in your flower garden in the spring.
The top of the butterfly house may be opened so you may observe the hibernating butterflies and record the numbers and types of your hibernating guests. If you are very lucky, on a warm winter's day, one of your guest may actually step out of the butterfly house. If this occurs, sugar water or home-grown flowers may keep it occupied until the day starts to cool.
To begin your flower garden, select a sunny area, as a flower garden usually requires 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight each day. The raised flowerbed is then accessible from all sides.
Fall Bulb Planting
In order to have a constant supply of flowers available, consider when each flower blooms. For instance, plant Daffodils and Tulip bulbs in the fall for the earliest spring flower. A couple of other early spring flowers to consider for fall planting are: Giant flowering onion, grows 3-4 feet tall, with large purple flowers, and blooms early spring to mid-summer, and Crocus's bloom in early spring, though there are varieties that bloom through autumn.
Spring Planting
Gladiolus bulbs can be planted in early spring for beautiful blooms from early summer through the first frost. Continue to plant the gladiolus bulbs every two weeks and you will have cut flowers until the first frost.
Annuals such as snapdragons, cosmos, zinnias, etc., are also planted in early spring after the last frost. With a little bit of planning and a little bit of work, your home can have beautiful cut flowers all summer long.
Butterfly House in the Flower Garden
Whenever you decide to look for a butterfly house for your flower garden, you first have to determine what it is you actually want. A search for butterfly houses will yield two different types. There is the type of butterfly house that contains butterflies and their nectar plants. These type of butterfly houses are actually structures created for the specific reason of providing a safe and enclosed space in which to study the butterflies.
It can vary from a playpen-size for individual study to a medium-sized net-drapped area to large green house-like structure for scientists' study. If you find this a delightful prospect to walk in a large "cage" with hundreds of butterflies surrounding you, consult your local museums and zoos for information. As part of your children's, or your own, education, you may wish to raise some butterflies from caterpillar in a small butterfly house. Live butterfly kits are readily available and come with all you need to raise the caterpillar to a butterfly, usually a Painted Lady. You may also wish to create your own butterfly house of this type in your own flower garden. This can be done by means of mosquito netting drapped over an easily portable structure such as a light weight greenhouse structure or some type of tall stakes. Just surround whatever flowers are providing the nectar source at the present time. Don't forget the small puddles as water sources for the butterflies, too.
The second type of butterfly house is actually a hibernation box. The front of the box has half inch slots through which the butterflies can enter the house. This allows the butterflies a good gripping surface.
Place the box near some host plants for the type of butterflies in your area. This will provide incentive for the butterflies to lay eggs on the host plants in your flower garden in the spring.
The top of the butterfly house may be opened so you may observe the hibernating butterflies and record the numbers and types of your hibernating guests. If you are very lucky, on a warm winter's day, one of your guest may actually step out of the butterfly house. If this occurs, sugar water or home-grown flowers may keep it occupied until the day starts to cool.
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