Page, 23
MONROE OUTDOORS by ferry W. Johnson
Chinese forget-me-not is an o
f you peruse a list of of this colorful plant when and I treat it as an
annual.
flowers that are both my wife planted it in one Since it produces an abun-
beautiful and produce of our backyard gardens dance of seed, in garden
nectar for butterflies and a large container. Upon settings it will reseed
itself.
and other nectar feeders, seeing the plant’s petite blue The Chinese
forget—me—
you will find the familiar flowers and the butterflies not grows to a
height of
names of mar- it attracts, I am 12 to 24 inches. It does
quee favorites now a fond well in both partial shade
such as Zinnia, admirer of a and full sun. Like many
butterfly bush, plant that is usu- other garden favorites, it
and lantana. De— ally considered prefers to sink its roots in
pending on the simply a ground moist, well-drained, fertile
length of the cover or filler. soil; however, it will grow
list, it might The Chinese in other soil types. Fortu-
also include the , forget—me-not nately for Monroe County
names of plants is native to gardeners, the plant prefers
that are pleasing TERRY w_ JOHNSON Asia. Botanists slightly acidic soils.
to the eye and do not consider Locally, this forget-me-
bear nectar but it a true forget- not can be planted from
me-not, in spite of the fact
it looks much like many
genuine forget-me-nots.
Although it is a biennial,
like most gardeners in this
neck of the woods my wife
early spring into sum-
mer. Some gardeners will
follow up their initial plant—
ing with a second planting
some four to six weeks
later. This is done to pro-
long the time the flowers
will adorn their gardens.
If you deadhead spent
flowers before they go to
seed, a single plant will
produce blooms for up to
six weeks.
My wife has been plant-
ing Chinese forget-me-nots
in a garden beside our deck
for the past few years. This
year she experimented with
are not widely recognized
for these desirable attri‘
butes. One such plant is
the Chinese forget-me-not
(Cynoglossum amabile).
I made the acquaintance
A c ‘12?
Forsyt 's 0 A
radio station
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August 15, 2018
ften forgotten butterfly magnet
A fiery skipper nectars at a Chinese torget-me-not bloom. (Photo/Terry
Johnson)
planting them in a contain—
er. This beautiful plant has
done well in both locations.
Initially she placed the
pot containing forget~me-,
nots on our deck up against
the house. Although the
plants did well in this spot,
they did not attract many
butterflies. However, when
she moved the container to
a flower stand beside the
deck rail, it did not take
long for a bevy of but-
ltegular Meeting
Monroe County Commissioners
will be holding their regular
Aug. 21 meeting
at Juliette United Methodist Church
69 McCrackin Street
at 6 p.m. on Aug. 21
The public is welcome to attend.
We Care Abouf
terflies to descend on the
plants’ blooms. It was obvi~
ous that, as is the case with
real estate, when it comes
to spots where butterflies
prefer to nectar one of the
most important consider-
ations is location! location!
location!
One of the first species
of butterflies to arrive was
the fiery skipper. The fiery
skipper is one of our most
common summer butter-
flies. As it feeds, you cannot
help but notice its bright
orange-yellow underwings
appear covered with black
freckles.
Soon the ubiquitous fiery
skippers had to compete
for nectar with the likes of
larger species of butterflies
such as the silver-spotted
skippers, pearl crescents,
long-tailed skippers, check—
ered skippers, and com-
mon buckeyes.
One thing you will quick-
ly learn when you begin
gardening with butterflies
in mind is that if you want
to keep butterflies flying
'jur County's Well Being
about your yard as long as
possible, you need to plant
a variety of nectar plants,
such as Chinese forget—
me-nots alongside phlox,
coneflower and others. As
one flower stops producing
nectar—bearing flowers, you
need to have others to take
its place.
In the case of the Chinese
forget-me-not, although it
is not a star like lantana or
Zinnia, its supporting role
in our gardens makes it an
important member of our
floral cast. In fact, after en-
joying its beauty and seeing
how often butterflies visit
it, we cannot imagine ever
forgetting to reserve a place
in our garden for Chinese
forget-me-not.
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan-
gered Wildli e Program. He
has written the informative
column ‘Monroe Outdoors’
for the Reporter for many
years. Email him at tjwood-
duck@bellsouth. net.
Local Health Professionals specializing in keeping the MIND 8t BODY in the
best shape possible.
SPOTLIGHT ON HEAlTH CARE
CMDWELL ‘
VETERINARY HOSPITAL, LLc
BUTLER CALDWELL, DVM
QSl Hwy All South - Forsyth, GA 3l029
ButlerCaldwell@bellsouth.net
CaldwellVet.cOm
Call (473) 9948228
