Shirl, from Shirl's Gardenwatch has a fun but somewhat difficult challenge to help chase away the winter blahs. We are to select three plants that we would most like to take with us on a deserted island. I love plants that attract wildlife to my garden, so my choices were easy to narrow down, but it was very difficult to select only three.
My first choice would be echinacea. It attracts wildlife year round to the garden. The bees and butterflies love the flowers...
and the sweet little goldfinches eat the seeds during the fall and winter.
I guess my next choice would be lantana for the same reasons. When I lived in Alabama the mockingbirds would eat the berries of the lantana, here in Indiana it is and annual and dies before it produces too many berries. Surely the island would be a tropical paridise where these wonderful plants would be in perpetual bloom.
Lantana- definitely wouldn't want to be without it!
Another must have would be the Verbena Bonariensis. This plant is a butterfly magnet!
I just have to have zinnias, since the seeds are so small and don't take up much space, I think I'll pack them too.
OK, I'm all ready now for a long vacation to a deserted tropical island.
48 comments:
Great choices and great photos. You ARE an animal lover aren't you! Oh for sunny days with a garden full of blossoms.
Fantastic choices! I think the lantana and zinnia are perfect choices for any desert island or home garden!
I picked zinnias too. They just make me happy.
Stunning photos!!!
They take my breath away!
Linda
Hi there Robin, what a treat to see your butterfly and bee photos again. I thought you’d consider them with your choices :-D
Yes, I could see you quite easily surrounded by these plants and the butterflies. Excellent choices… the lantana… I’ll have to look out for that one. All this Island hopping has been wonderful. Great to see you on an Island too :-D
Hi Robin, what a delight are your photos and your choices. Verbena b. is a magnet to the butterflies and the lantana is just a beautiful flower. So glad you are bringing them to attract the flying flowers! :-) Hope you bring your camera, too!
Frances
Nice to see everyone considering insect life to keep our flowers happy.
I've gone down a more practical route!
I love your choices Robin. I wish I was computer savy enough to take all of these flowers and plants that people have chosen and put them into a picture of a garden. Wouldn't that be fun?? We would have all sorts of bees butterflies etc in the garden already.
Perfect choices for you! You will have tons and tons of butterflies that's for sure and lovely color.
Robin those photos of the butterflies are great! I especially like the closeup of the Verbena. I, too, love lantana. We have Miss Huff hardy here...though I like the reds or the pinks a little better.
Janet
Excellent choices, each and every one of them. You're the first one I've come across who thought of bringing lantana's. What a careless oversight from the rest of us. ;-)
BTW it's thanks to you and Kylee (Our Little Acre) that I tried my hand at Zinnias last year and what a joy they were. Not only to me but too many of the buzzing and fluttering garden friends that visited my garden for a much needed drink of nectar.
Beautiful. I loved seeing these photos again. Zinnias would be my favorite. I just may have to participate in this challenge myself. We have had back-to-back freezes and one very heavy frost (we woke up to a 23 yesterday) and there is heavy and extensive damage. It will be quite a while before anything colorful shows up on Pollywog Creek except from the archives.
Robin,
The bees and butterflies will definitely flourish in your desert island garden!
Cameron
Now that was a breathe of fresh summer air on a cold and blustery day.I don't know which I enjoyed most,the flowers or the butterflies.Thanks a bunch,Robin.
Blessings,Ruth
Robin, forget about taking plants to the island, Just remember your camera! Your beautiful pictures make me want for spring.
Actually, I do like your choices of plants. Rose and I have Verbena B seed to try this year and are so excited.
No fair, you cheated!! (just kidding,really:)
It was difficult for me to select just three, and I can see that it was impossible for you to do!!
Lantana always dies for me, too--the winters here are to cold for it too; but I'm thinking of potting it this year, that won't be so bad. When I put things in my garden and they die I just feel worse, for some reason.
Echinacea...I've got to get some. I tried it once but it never took off for me, so I never tried it again. But I'm getting braver these days...Same with zinnia's. I know I've planted seeds for them, but they didn't come up. My soil probably wasn't right or maybe they didn't get enough sun, I don't know. But I'll put them on my list to try again.
Now wait: zinnia's were your 4th choice right? hmm!! Anyway, to your 3rd choice, the verbena I also love and had the same problem with it as the lantana. I will have to put it in a pot this yr. No question. Thanks for all the inspiration. Of course your photos are outstanding...I remember seeing some of them before...they're unforgettable for sure.
--And yes, I'll have MY camera there on the island, too...BUT, I'm going to be asking for YOUR help a lot of the time:)
Glad you're bringing the lantana and V.b...I thought about both of those and hoped someone else would have them. You and I also agree wholeheartedly on the echinaceas...I can't imagine a garden without them either.
Lovely photos as usual. I can imagine one (or all) of them as a huge poster on my wall! All the details, and colours.... Just lovely!
I like Echinaceas too, I buy more every year...
/Helen
So glad I stopped by. Those lovely shots are a pure tonic.
I can't believe I missed this beautiful post. I love your choices. I think lantana is grown as an annual here, but I have the coneflowers and verbena and just love them both.
Perfect choices for you Robin. I thought about Lantana too. It deserves to go with you tho so I'm glad I left it. I'm packed and ready to go now too!! When do we leave?!
Good choices, Robin. I esp. liked the lantana, something I forgot about.
Jan
Always Growing
Tell you what, I will join you on the deserted tropical island. It sounds like fun to me! Just tell me when and where.
Wow, Robin. Your photos are just amazing. I'll need to go search now to see what equipment you're using and how you learned to be such a good photographer.
Robin Wedewer, Examiner
and at bumblebeeblog.com
Robin,
These photos are gorgeous! Makes me wish it was spring time already.
Nice blog!
Robin, thanks for your recent visit to my blog and for your comment. It has really warmed me up looking at your choices. I have never tried the lantana, have failed with echinceas (too moist in my garden) but I do grow and love the verbena. The island is going to be afloat with birds, butterflies and bees with your pick :)
I'm glad I'm not the only person who couldn't resist a fourth plant ;)
Robin, I was late and missed the first boat, but when I found another ride... I chose two of the same plants you did:) The coneflowers are my favorite, too, and I was able to get several photos of bees and butterflies on them this summer. But your photos are awesome! The close-up with the bee is truly amazing. Zinnias and lantana are two other favorites. I don't have the verbena, but that will be remedied this spring thanks to Tina who gave me some seed.
I'm in total agreement with you--flowers that attract the hummers and the flutterers are the ones I prefer in my garden.
Your photos made me dizzy for spring!!!
I can't list three.
Butterfly bush
Hibiscus
Lavender
Lantana
Verbena
All for the hummers, bees, and butterflies. Right?
Mary
Oh good! I was hoping someone would bring Verbena bonariensis! This past summer was the first for it in my garden and I just loved it. So did the butterflies!
I love your photos!! I love gardening and God's creatures so I really enjoyed visiting your blog!
Very good choices Robin and the photos are outstanding. They make me smile and feel as if I am standing in your garden. Gail
Gorgeous Pics. I just love your blog. It is like stepping out into the sunshine.
Debbie
Great pictures!! -- so beautiful and colorful.
YES to all those wonderful choices! I have all of them in my own garden and they attract so much wildlife each season. Your island will be filled with beautiful flowers and beautiful wildlife as well!
I really like the echinacea flower also. I usually plug them in all of my landscape jobs when possible.
Great pictures of the butterflies.
brian
lawnandhome.blogspot.com
OMG, Robin. Can I camp by you on the island? GORGEOUS photos and EXCELLENT choices!
Your pictures are wonderful!
Debbie - Garden Thyme with the Creative Gardener
The photos are all stunning but the monarch is my favorite! :)
This is a very pretty pot, Robin. I really felt the heat of the summer. I think you are right about the lantana. It was EVERYWHERE I went when I lived in AZ those two years. And this post reminds me of how much I love zinnias and will make a special effort to grow more this year. Thanks.
Robin these images of blossoms butterflies and bees is so wonderful to view this time of year! Truly fills me with hope! As I move forward there is the promise that Summer will bring back these wonderful visitors!You have filled my heart w/ JoY this morning and I thank you for posting these glorious images and for just being such a wonderful caring compassionate friend..for being there for me these past few difficult weeks. with gratitude aNNa xo
You love color!
And seeing it brightens any day!
What fabulous photos! I love all those plants, too, though for some reason I can't seem to grow echinacea to save my life...
Robin, These are some of the prettiest pictures on the web. They look better than real on my web screen. I too love butterfly magnets.
Robin,
Love the pics. Funny I was just commenting on another blog about how much I like hummingbird moths and I'm treated to another one in the next blog.
Thanks for sharing your pics, they're awesome as always.
WOW! I am so in AWE of these shots!
Awesome photos!! Must get in some zinnias this year!
In awe of your stunning photos, Robin ~ don't forget your camera when packing :)
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