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jean_hidden

WANTED: Plant donations for new school butterfly garden

Jean Hidden
16 years ago

Hi all!

I volunteered to be the chair of the PTA beautification commitee for our new elementary school, North Forest Pines in Wake Forest, and also volunteered to create a butterfly garden for the kids! The school is brand new, and the PTA started with zero dollars this year, so I am looking for donations of your extra plants! :-)

(nothing precious, pricey or special - common is fine)

Pick up for any donations would be easy at the Fall or Spring Raleigh plant swap

Looking for:

plants, shrubs, small flowering or unusual trees, seeds, bulbs, cuttings

mints (except chocolate and spearmint), homestead purple verbena, English Bluebells, blueberry, lavenders (any kind), beebalm (esp red), lamb's ear, sunflowers, variagated monkey grass, coneflower, salvias, butterfly bush, daisys, black-eyed susan, dianthus, rudbeckia, mums (single flwr mums would work great), walking stick verbena (I have a couple, but if someone has a surplus a few more would be so much better), tall phlox, creeping phlox, carolina jasmine, elephant ears, iris, daylilies (any, even orange ditch lily), daffodils or other bulbs for sun, thornless berry plants (other than blackberry), trumpet vine, other vines?

* Dicliptera suberecta (Hummingbird Plant)

* would LOVE corkscrew willow (cuttings is fine or rooted cuttings even better)

Flowering butterfly or hummingbird plants I haven't thought of...

something low-growing for around stepping stones (lemon thyme, or anything similar) - need suggestions on this...

plants or seeds for kid-fun plants: peppers, moon flower, sunflwrs, gourds, daisy seeds, others? seeds for annuals (marigolds, petunias, vinca)?

If you have suggestions for great plants, I would love to hear them! Please, share all your ideas and thoughts!

Also looking for broken colorful china or stoneware and colored glass wine bottles for making stain-glass

(decorated) stepping stones.

Thanks in advance!!

Jean

Comments (5)

  • trianglejohn
    16 years ago

    Hey Jean - I've got some of what you need. And to make things even easier I will be at the Wake Forest Farmers Market on most Saturday mornings from now til the fair in October (I live in Garner but I sell in WF).

    An additional vine I would consider is Manettia or Firecracker vine. Blooms in the late summer/fall and only gets about 8-10 feet tall. Handles neglect and is perennial for me on the southside of town.

    I will check on my many potted plants and haul some north for you. I know I have Tall Garden Phlox (pink), Bronze Fennel (with swallowtail caterpillars already on it!), and Dicliptera suberecta (though it looks like crap right now).

  • shari1332
    16 years ago

    Jean, I will pot up as many for you as I can between now and the swap. I have creeping plox, Bath's Pink dianthus, mother of thyme, bearded iris, verbena bonariensis seedlings and probably alot more. I'll bring some seeds as well.

  • Jean Hidden
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks John! What day should I stop by the Farmer's Market, Aug 24th or another day later in the summer? Just let me know what is most convenient for you! I appreciate it sooooo much! That would be a big help!!

    Thanks Shari - I really appreciate you doing that for me (and the school/kids)! That would be great!!

    I should have some Swan Milkweed seeds and sunset coneflwr seeds I can share with you in return, if you would like some.

    Thanks so much to you both! Jean

  • trianglejohn
    16 years ago

    Jean - I hope you meant the 25th (the Wake Forest market is only on Saturdays). Lets aim for Saturday Sept 1st. This next weekend is a big grilling festival at the market and I need to haul as many sellable plants as possible to make up for the lackluster sales these past couple of hot and dry marketdays.

    I will also go through all my various stashes of plants to find more goodies by Fall Swap. And next spring I should have even more after sowing seeds all winter.

    I have Rue. But the caterpillars on it are eating it down to the nub so I doubt I will get seeds. I plan on finding some seed somewhere and growing a bunch of it, so at some point I will have some available. I do have some parsley potted up and some Agastache (Hyssop). If you find any of the annual butterfly weed (Asclepias currasavica)(sp?), I have been able to over winter the roots and got bigger plants the next spring. I simply dig them up after first frost and pot them up and store them out of the way. They are easy from seed also. Pentas are a great nectar plant and they are easy from cuttings but they won't overwinter outside.

    Good luck

  • Jean Hidden
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Hi John,
    Yes, I did mean the 25th (Sat) - lol. YES, Sept 1st would ge great! thanks!
    Do you know what kind of cats are eating your rue? Are they the giant swallowtails?
    Jean

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