A Story - "The Butterflies" - Bird Drama , Plants for Windy Spots (Coreopsis, Bachelor Buttons, Agastache, Dwarf Balloon Flower)

 A Story

"The Butterflies

Inheriting a house should be a good thing, but Shawna just felt sad and lonely as she looked at her parents' old home. She noticed, as she hadn't when her mother was still alive, that the house looked shabby.  The roof shingles were starting to peel and the siding was dull. The living room furniture was stained, the result of her mother spilling her tea and food. The kitchen counter had a round burn mark where a hot pot had been left to sit.

The garden had been neglected but some hardy perennials still showed their faces. Shawna pulled out a few weeds around the purple coneflower.  A monarch butterfly floated in, landed on the flower head and began sipping nectar out of the tiny florets. Keeping very still, Shawna gazed at the striking pattern on the butterfly's wings and smiled at its polka-dotted face. After a moment, the monarch took flight and bounced through the air to its next destination. So delicate and yet it seemed purposeful in its travels.

A Giant swallowtail flapped in and fluttered on the coneflower, its large black wings marked with creamy white outlines. She could see its flexible proboscis probe into the little flowers. The amount of nectar was so small and yet the large butterfly persisted, one tiny sip at a time. 

Shawna thought about the butterflies and their delicate, complicated lives. The monarchs migrated all the way to Mexico which seemed like an impossible journey, and yet they did it. The swallowtail found sustenance bit by bit.

 The loss of her parents had left her feeling uprooted and floundering, but maybe like the butterflies she needed to find some sources of nourishing sweetness, rise on gentle updrafts, and, then hopefully, ultimately, she would rest in a firmer, happier place."

Click on the bird photos to get full pictures.

The stare down.

"I won. My turn in the bath."

"Can I have a  bath?"

"No, I'm not finished!  Go away!"

"Finally, it's my turn. It's a hot day. It sure feels good to get wet."

I like having some taller flowers in the garden but I really don't like plants that flop if they get a lot of wind.  We have some very windy days here and I have been really pleased with the coreopsis that just keeps standing up straight and tall.  It has smooth, wiry stems with most of the leaves at the base so the wind can easily blow through the planting.

Bachelor Buttons also have strong wiry stems that just sway and bend in the wind and spring right back. They are a very easy to grow annual that blooms quickly from a sowing after the last frost. They do best with just a little fertilizer and not too much water. The blooms keep coming until the fall frost.

This pink agastache, although it is leafier than the other two plants, is doing just fine after wind and rain storms.  Again the stems are tough and wiry.  I have grown taller purple agastache (hyssop) in the past and it also stayed nice and straight.

This is a dwarf balloon flower that I bought this spring. It is only about 8" tall (12" across) so it isn't bothered by inclement weather. Balloon flowers are hardy perennials even down to zone 4. Usually the taller varieties are the ones available. They can grow to 2-3' tall and will get pushed around by wind and start to lean, but this little gem is snug near the ground.

It was blooming when I bought it in May. When the blooms started to peter out at the end of June, I thought it was done for the season but it never stopped blooming. Even now in August, it is just covered in buds . I am very pleased with its performance. Balloon flowers hardly ever get any insect damage or suffer disease. Once established, they can handle dry weather but the first year they should get regular watering. Slow release fertilizer applications a couple of times throughout the season will keep the plant growing well.