Entertaining Royalty in My Garden

No, not the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I wouldn't begin to know what to serve them. I do know what pleases this visitor, however:

Monarch butterfly caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) enjoying a milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca) in my front yard garden. (As always, click for a more detailed view.)

I've been allowing common milkweed volunteers to grow in my garden for eight years, hoping to encourage Monarchs to reproduce here. This is first year they've ever produced flowers, and the first year I've seen a caterpillar, even though we do get a fair number of Monarch butterflies.

Front Garden. The tall plants in the rear, just to the left of the hanging basket, are the Milkweeds. The orange flowers in front are Asclepias tuberosa, (butterfly weed) which also attracts Monarchs.

Closer view of Asclepias tuberosa, Gaillardia, and Rudbeckia hirta

Here are some other pictures from my front yard gardens this summer:

The two-year old bed at the foot of the right side of our driveway really came into its own this year. The gray plants are Artemesia stelleriana 'Silver Brocade,' the purple spikes are Salvia nemorosa 'East Friesland' and Salvia x sylvestris "May Night."

This is the more mature garden to the left of the driveway at the sidewalk, filled with Salvia, Sedum, Sempervivum, Gaillardia and Juniperus, not to mention the Clematis-covered trellises.

Hemerocallis NoId (I thought it might be 'Chicago Fire' or 'Chicago Apache', but it doesn't quite match the pictures of either of those that I can find online.)

Echinacea 'Sundown'

The new backyard garden I planted last year has really taken off, and I will be featuring it in an upcoming post.

Late Bloomers

Well, I totally let this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day (September 15) get by me. But in in the spirit of "better late than never" I'd like to share what's in flower, indoors and out, anyway.

I'm surprised that my Asclepias tuberosa is still blooming intermittently; last year it was done in mid-August, if I recall correctly.

Asclepias seed pods with a pair of Oncopeltus fasciatus, Large Milkweed Bug.

I was able to rejuvenate one of my Rudbeckia hirta plants by cutting off the spent blossoms, causing a bit of late-season back budding. In the background are some weedy wild Asters. I allow several these to stay in my garden because they make nice filler plants in the fall.

Clematis ternifolia or Sweet Autumn Clematis. Believe it or not, there is actually a trellis under that mound of flowers and foliage. I planted both Clematis 'Jackmanii' and the C. ternifolia at the base of my trellises, so I get two season of bloom, with the former flowering in June, and the latter in late August through September.

View with both trellises. The C. ternifolia vines actually trail across the Buddleia planted between them.

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, (aka Aster novae-angliae or New England Aster). This beautiful plant came up out of nowhere in my garden last year. I have never planted a New England Aster, as I almost never see them for sale around here. So I have no idea where it came from. The nurseries usually carry numerous cultivars of Symphyotrichum novi-belgii (New York Aster.)

Same plant, closer....

And closer still.

I'm still getting a few flowers on my Hibiscus moscheutos

It's life among the weeds in my backyard. This volunteer morning glory (Ipomoea species) came up a few feet from the planter box where I had grown morning glories last year.

Pelargonium behind my Sansevieria hallii. The new Sans leaf that emerged this spring (second from the right) is now the largest on the plant.

Crassula caput minima

Sansevieria ballyii, the only plant actually blooming inside right now

I will try to remember next month's Bloom Day, which coincides with the average first frost day around here, and hope that I will have something still blooming to share.

All in the Family: Asclepiads

Actually, that should be "All in the Sub-family: Asclepiadoideae." The old family name, Asclepiadaceae, is supposedly obsolete. These plants are now included in the family Apocynaceae, which contains so many different plants that the point I'm trying to make would be lost.

The point? Yes, I was actually going to make one before I got sidetracked into taxonomy. Recently, I was struck by just how much the bloom and bloom habit of the common milkweed, (Asclepias syriaca) resemble those of my Hoya Carnosa.

Pictures of Asclepias syriaca taken, in a park in Skokie, IL. This native plant pops up as a volunteer "weed" in my garden. I let a few of them grow, to encourage Monarch butterflies, but it never blooms for me.

A flower from my Hoya carnosa 'Krimson Queen'

Though I'm not a Hoya collector, (no, really, just because I have nine of them doesn't make me a collector, honest) I'd always wanted a Hoya multiflora because the blooms were so different.

Two views of my Hoya multiflora, sometimes called the Shooting Star Hoya

But then, on a visit to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, I realized that the blooms are similar to those of Asclepias curassavica, and not dissimilar to those of Asclepias tuberosa and Asclepias incarnata.

Asclepias curassavica at the CBG. A. curassavica and its varieties are only hardy to zone 8b, but are sometimes grown as "annuals" around here. I keep meaning to try some, since I think they are lovely.

Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Gold' and some little visitors.

Asclepias tuberosa, or butterfly weed. This is my second favorite of the flowers that I grow in my garden. This is the oldest of five I have planted, and I have three more in pots waiting for me to decide where to put them. This too is a native plant that grows wild in the area, as well as being cultivated as a garden plant.

Another view showing the shape of the flowers better

Asclepias incarnata, or Swamp milkweed, another native plant. These pictures are from the CBG. I just planted a pair of these plants in my garden, but they are unlikely to bloom there this year.

Okay, so maybe there really wasn't much of a point after all. I just wanted to share some pictures of what is fast becoming one of my favorite plant (sub)families, indoors and out. When my small Stapelia hirsuta and Huernia zebrina (also members of Asclepiadoideae) become mature enough to bloom, I'm sure I'll have yet another perspective on this group.