Butterfly/Bees Garden to Please

Well I finally got around to planting that Monarch Way Station. However it kinda turned into a bee garden in the process. I am missing one crucial element to the Way Station and that is milk weed, lots of butterfly larvae like milk weed and I don't have any yet. But none the less it is mostly planted.

This is after the 1st rototilling and basic grass removal. There are still some clumps of grass but it is generally smooth. I have added 1 cubic yard of compost from our recycle center to give the soil a boost.


The smoothed in compost and 2nd rototilling now this baby is ready for planting.


Now here is all the plants in the wheel barrow ready to get in the ground. It doesn't look like much but I do have a butterfly bush that will get much bigger than the 1 gallon pot it is in now, I like to buy things at the end of the season on sale and really needing some better soil and some love. I have nursed most plants back to glorious health that way.




Now those are the plants in the pots, but I also transplanted 2 moss's and 1 russian sage. I have to move my 2nd russian sage but I am afraid like the first one it will get witthery and die. I was un-aware that russian sage's roots are very woody and extremely thick! Much like a small bush's would be. I am not sure what to do about the other one... regardless the sage is looking sagy and overall not happy with life right now. I am hoping all it's efforts are going to its roots, and I will HEAVILY mulch it this winter as to protect it, hopefully with that it will come back. If not it's off to the nursery I will go.



Here is the plants list:

2 Lavender -Lavandula 'Munstead'
1 'Bicolor' Butterfly Bush- Buddleia
3 Gaura 'Pink Cloud' - Gaura Lindheimeri ( a weedy like plant with pink flowers... wild flower like)
1 Purple Sage - Salvia
2 Heliopsis 'Sommersonne'
2 Salvia 'Schneehugel' Snow Hill
2 Garden Aster 1 "puff" and 1 "hazy" in color
1 Gallardia 'Tokajer'
1 Liatris 'Floristan White'
1 Joe-pye Weed - Eupatorium 'Chocolate'
1 Pincushion Flower - Scabiosa columbaria 'Pink Mist'
1 Purple Coneflower 'Echinacea'
1 White Coneflower 'Echinacea'

To be added:

30 *ish Tulips
15+ Crocus's
2 Milkweeds
1-2 russian sage (if it doesn't survive)
pathway from driveway to gate we are thinking of doing moss to have a living walkway, plus the bees like the little flowers on the moss's so thats a bonus.