Wild Things, Milkweed Caterpillars and Teddy Bear Sunflowers

One of the native plants I bought from Wild Things Nursery this year has grown over six-feet tall and blooms these beautiful blue flowers every morning. They close up in the afternoon.

Maybe Marilyn Stewart from Wild Things will see the photo and let us know what the name of this plant. A friend picked up my plants for me this year and I didn't get a list of what I bought.

After my great butterfly caterpillar give away in Muskogee on Earth Day, I bought butterfly weed or Asclepsis or milk weed seeds and planted the small plants in several places in the hope of attracting butterfly caterpillars.

This photo isn't of the best quality but you can see that the mama butterflies found the plants, laid eggs and the eggs hatched.

The day after this photo, the caterpillar had attached itself to a black plastic flower pot. That's what the spicebush butterfly caterpillar did, too. I would have chosen something more elegant but they seem to prefer those pots I have littered around the flower beds.

This is the second year for planting seeds of Teddy Bear Sunflowers. They are shorter this year because of that bizarre weather we had late spring but they are so sweet everywhere they are blooming. These are the things we enjoy while doing the work part in the gardens.

At the Muskogee Garden Club's sale this year I bought a huge plastic plant saucer that someone had donated.

Yesterday, I put in a stack of flat stones, three papyrus plants in pots and then filled it with water for butterflies.

I read this week that dragonflies will drown in a pool trying to get a drink of water and that we should put a stick or papyrus plant in the water for the dragonflies to hang on.

Oh, and if you set up a water source for your butterflies, it needs to be in the sun.