The Backyard Plant Sale

Monarch

I was so excited last night to find a Monarch Pupa. I was in the yard, in the dark, cutting flowers and I brought them in. I see this hanging off one of the leaves and thought it was some kind of seed pod. Closer look revealed this treasure! I'm so relieved I didn't destroy it in the process of cutting flowers without seeing what I was doing. I put the flowers in a jar of water and "planted" them back where they were in the garden.

I have been looking for a pupa for at least three years as I have photographically documented most of the stages of the milkweed lifecycle and have really wanted to get the Monarch pupa. So now I have it and hope that I am here as it emerges.

Contemplating a trip to Mexico sometime in my life to see where they migrate to.

04 Oct, 2009 | Julie |

Pollinators

I heard an interesting story about pollinators on NPR not long ago. It mentioned the incredible importance of pollinators in our food supply. In addition to species like bees and butterflies, pollinators apparently include bats and 13 species of birds to name just a few.

However what really caught my attention was the importance of native species in the act of pollination. Apparently some hybrids just don't contain the amount of pollen that native plants have and are not as attractive to pollinators. So that was just another thing that makes me feel good about the message we are delivering at The Backyard Plant Sale.

If you are interested in this kind of thing, you can find more information at these sources:

www.pollinator.org/pdfs/SoutheastMixedForestrx3.pdf

www.nappc.org

I pulled this from the first link above:

In theIr 1996 book, the Forgotten PollInators, Buchmann and Nabhan estimated that animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of 90% of flowering plants and one third of human food crops. Each of us depends on these industrious pollinators in a practical way to provide us with the wide range of foods we eat. In addition, pollinators are part of the intricate web that supports the biological diversity in natural ecosystems that helps sustain our quality of life.

Abundant and healthy populations of pollinators can improve fruit set and quality, and increase fruit size. In farming situations this increases production per acre. In the wild, biodiversity increases and wildlife food sources increase.

Peaches, strawberries, watermelon, and cauliflower are some of the crops raised in the Southeastern Mixed Forest that rely on honey bees and native bees for pollination. Domestic honey bees pollinate approximately $10 billion worth of crops in the U.S. each year.

Unfortunately, the numbers of both native pollinators and domesticated bee populations are declining. They are threatened by habitat loss, disease, and the excessive and inappropriate use of pesticides. The loss of commercial bees to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has highlighted how severe the issues of proper hive management are to reduce stresses caused by disease, pesticide use, insufficient nutrition, and transportation practices. Currently, the pollination services that the commercial beekeeping industry provides are receiving much needed research and conservation resources. The efforts to understand the threats to commercial bees should help us understand other pollinators and their roles in the environment as well. It is imperative that we take immediate steps to help pollinator populations thrive. The beauty of the situation is that by supporting pollinators’ need for habitat, we support our own needs for food and support diversity in the natural world.

Thank you for taking time to consult this guide. By adding plants to your landscape that provide food and shelter for pollinators throughout their active seasons and by adopting pollinator friendly landscape practices, you can make a difference to both the pollinators and the people that rely on them.

Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
Pollinator Partnership

a NAPPC and Pollinator Partnership™ Publication



By the way, did you know The Annual Backyard Plant Sale has a facebook page?

21 Aug, 2009 | Julie |

Awesome!

I am so blessed with great donors, great buyers and wonderful volunteers! The sale was a great success and lots of fun. Rain was called for each day but it held off at the last minute. Donors came from as far as Chesterfield and Midlothian and three from Northern Virginia. Total proceeds were around $3900.

Thank you.
Julie

Some of my EXCELLENT volunteers:

05 May, 2009 | Julie |

2009 Plant List

05.02.09 LIST UPDATED SATURDAY MORNING! Sale is today from 9am - 1pm. Plant donors can come for free plants at 1:00. Plants that are gone are marked with xxx. The sale has been a raving success so far. Thank you!

Current Backyard Plant Sale Plants:
05.01.09

Bulbs and Tubers
The bulbs from Lewis Ginter may take a couple of years to reach full strength after planting. So if the results aren't what you hope after a year, you should see improvement each year thereafter. I received a beautiful bouquet this spring from a buyer who planted several varieties of the bulbs from this sale last year and the year before. Many people do not wait until fall to plant the bulbs but plant them immediately after the sale.

Canna lily - tubers
Crocosmia
Daffodil – ‘Dutch Master’ – yellow trumpet (Lewis Ginter)
Daffodil – ‘Mt. Hood’ – white (Lewis Ginter)
Daffodil – “Minnow” (Lewis Ginter)
xxx Daffodil – ‘February Gold’ (Lewis Ginter)
xxx Daffodil – ‘Suade’ (Lewis Ginter)
Daffodil – ‘Cyclope (Lewis Ginter)
xxx Daffodil – ‘My Story’ (Lewis Ginter)
xxx Daffodil – ‘Tahiti’ (Lewis Ginter)
xxx Daffodil – ‘Bridal Crown’ (Lewis Ginter)
Daffodil – ‘Barrett Browning’ (Lewis Ginter)
Daffodil – ‘Flower Record’ (Lewis Ginter)
Grape Hyacinth (Lewis Ginter)
Iris germanica -- Old fashioned purple German iris (1)
Iris – misc
Iris - Yellow flag iris
Iris sibirica - Siberian iris

Shrubs
xxx Buddleia (blue - 1)
Calycanthus florida ‘sweetshrub’ (VA native) Unusual, fruit-scented flowers
Cutleaf Elderberry (VA Native)
Forysythia
xxx Helleri Holly
Inkberry holly (2)
xxx Annabelle Hydrangea
xxx Inkberry ‘Shamrock’
xxx White Lilac
Purple Lilac (seedling - 1)
Mahonia
Nandina
Lonicera Nitida seedlings (2)
Flowering Quince
Ribes odoratum 'Crandall' -- Buffalo current. Spicy clove-scented flowers
Rose of Sharon
xxx Sarcacocca Rustifolia (1)
Spirea prunifolia - Bridal Wreath spirea (1)
Spirea - early blooming

Trees
Crape Myrtle seedling (1)
Dogwood seedling
Dwarf Buford Holly (1)
xxx Red Maple seedlings
Tulip Poplar seedlings
xxx Viburnum
Black walnut tree seedling
xxx Curly Willow

Shade plants (or partial sun)
xxx Aegepodium
xxx Japanese anemone – pale pink w/ yellow center
Arum
White Wood Aster
xxx Astilbe
Hardy Begonia
Strawberry Begonia
xxx Bleeding heart – pale pink (1)
Cameleon Plant, Houttynia Cordata
Columbine (VA native)
xxx Dutchman's Breeches
xxx Epimedium
xxx Euphorbia
xxx False Solomon's Seal
Japanese Painted Fern
Sensitive Fern (VA native)
Impatiens
Day Lilies (orange, yellow, misc)
Helleborus (foetidus and orientalis)
Hosta (various kinds inc. blue, ‘tiara gold’, ‘wagon gold’, ‘Krossa Regal', 'plaintain')
Climbing Hydrangea
Siberian Iris – white, purple
Liriope
Lily of the Valley (pink and white)
Monarda – Bee Balm (pink, purple)
Money Plant
Mondo Grass
Oxalis -- Wood sorrel - pink, nice low mound. fades in summer, returns in fall (3)
Phlox Divaricota (VA Native - 1)
xxx Phlox – deep pink
Phlox subulata (Moss phlox--lavender flowers)
xxx Primula - Red with yellow eye, Grandma’s yellow
xxx Snowdrops
xxx Variegated Solomon’s Seal
Spiderwort – Tradascantia (purple, pink, white)
xxx St. John's Wort (Hypericum - 1)
Sweet Woodruff
Tansy
Toad lily - Tricyrtis hirta

Sun plants
Winter Aconite (dying back now but nice early bloomer)
Ammi seedlings (annual reseeds) looks like queen anne’s lace
Amsonia tabernaemontana (VA native)
xxx Anemone robustissima - Fall flowering anemone (1)
Artimisia (variegated and two silver kinds)
Tartarian aster
Korean Bellflower -- Campanula
Black eyed susans (VA native)
Brown-eyed Susans
Butterfly Weed
Prickly Pear Cactus
Celosia ‘new look’
Various chile pepper seeds
Chinese Lantern
Moonbeam Coreopsis
Crocosmia
Shasta Daisy
Day Lilies (stella d'oro)
xxx Dianthus 'Bath's Pink'
Echinacea – Purple coneflower
Echinops – globe thistle (purple)
Euphorbia
xxx Blue Fescue – (tiny)
xxx Geranium 'Claridge Druce'
Geranium hardy scented
xxx Geranium other
Goldenrod
Hollyhock
Bearded Iris
xxx Iris Cristata (native)
Walking Iris (not hardy in this zone – bring inside)
Jerusalem Artichoke
xxx Joe-Pye Weed
Jupiter's Beard
Lamb’s ear (Stachys lanata)
Larkspur (reseeding annual)
xxx Liatris Spicata - Blazing star (only 2)
xxx Autumn lilies
Lilies, Asiatic – red, pale yellow
Blackberry lilies (ask me where -- easy to miss>
xxx Lilium - White tiger lily
Lychnis - Rose Campion – Mullein Pink
Marigold
Milkweed
xxx Millet 'Jester' seedlings (annual - good and tall for the middle of a pot)
Moonflower
??? Button Mum
Mum 'Korean Apricot'
Nigella – “love in a mist” (reseeding annual)
Pansies
Mexican Primrose
Saponeria - Soapwort - 'Bouncing Bet'
Sea Oats – chasmanthium latifolum (VA native)
Sedum upright
Sedum Ground Covers (several kinds)
xxx Snow in Summer – Cerastium Tomentosa
Stokesia - white or blue (seedlings)
Sundrops
Tansy
Yarrow – pink, orange, white w/red
Zinnia

Herbs, Fruits and Veggies (grow in full sun)
xxx Thornless Blackberry
Blueberry
Carrot seedlings
Garlic Chives
Dill seedlings
Echinacea - Purple Coneflower
Egyptian Walking Onion
Elephant garlic bulbs
Feverfew
xxx Anise Hyssop
Lemon balm
Mint (curly, chocoloate and pineapple I think)
Monarda -- Bee Balm (pink, purple)
Oregano
Red Raspberries
xxx Rose Geranium
Salvia officinalis - Garden sage
garden sorrel
Strawberry
Sweet Woodruff
Tansy
Thyme
Tomatos
Yarrow – pink, orange, white/red

Grasses
Miscanthus Gracillimus (Lewis Ginter)
Panicum Virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ (Lewis Ginter)
xxx Pampas Grass (1)

Water Plants
Sweet Flag

Indoor Plants
Cactus – 2 kinds
Christmas Cactus (xxx 1 large, some cuttings) – xxx white and red blossoms
Japanese Walking Iris (not winter hardy)
Night Blooming Cereus
Peace Lily

29 Apr, 2009 | Julie |

The 9th Annual Backyard Plant Sale preparations are beginning!

Spring is making its heady appearance and I am well underway with preparations for the 9th Annual Backyard Plant Sale. I hope you all are happily gardening.

For those of you who don’t know about “The Backyard Plant Sale”, I hold a plant sale in my back yard each year. The plants are donated by interested people like you and come from our own gardens. Last year, we had over 1200 plants donated and, additionally, over 5000 daffodil bulbs were donated by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Proceeds from the sale benefit The Nature Conservancy’s Chesapeake Rivers Program specifically for land acquisitions in our area. The dates this year will be:

Friday, May 1 from 4:00 pm - dark
Saturday, May 2 from 9am - 1pm

The location is my back yard at 203 Howard Street in Ashland.

For those who donate plants, there are the excellent perks! There will be a preview sale for donors on Thursday, April 30 from 4-dark. On this day, only donors may purchase up to the number of plants donated by that person. Some items actually sell out on this day. So the more plants you donate, the more purchasing power you have. It is permissible to bring a friend and share your “credits” with your friend. Saturday at 1:00, all leftover plants are given to any plant donor in any quantity. This part of the sale has become very popular to the donors. Those who are not plant donors can still purchase plants at this time until they are gone.

The procedure for the sale is this: If you have plants to donate, you can leave them on my front porch any time during the week before the sale (please leave your name so I know who donated what) or call me if you need help getting them here and I will arrange for pick up. If you can label them, that’s great, but most people (like myself) are lucky to get them in the pots in time. No invasive alien plants will be sold (see attached invasive species list – it may surprise you!) and we love to see Virginia native plants at the sale. Then, if you are a donor, show up at the preview or any of the sale times if you would like to shop for plants. Donors who would like free leftover plants can show up at 1:00 or later after the sale is over (there’s always good stuff left). And, of course, you don’t have to donate plants to shop on Friday and Saturday.

For those of you who love to garden, this is a wonderful way of making a donation to an organization that preserves land in our area. If you are on facebook you can find a page called “Annual Backyard Plant Sale” where I will be posting information as well.

Thank you very much.
Julie Ericksen

28 Mar, 2009 | Julie |

Cutting back the Pampas Grass

Ok -- I have a confession to make -- I have hardly been in the garden since about July. But I haven't been able to resist these last couple of weeks when we have had GORGEOUS warm weather interspersed with VERY COLD weather. So I have been taking advantage of the nice days to start on the cleanup. Today's job, among other things, was cutting back the Pampas Grass. YIKES -- they have gotten massive. Over the past 3 or 4 years I have hired someone to cut them back but this year I decided to do it myself. Wow. The Pictures don't do it justice. Good thing they are not far from the street for debris pickup.

I'm getting excited about the sale as I see those daffodil leaves just starting to push their way up. If you are on facebook you can search on 'Annual Backyard Plant Sale' -- I've been experimenting with how to use facebook to promote the sale. You can also RSVP to the event there.

08 Feb, 2009 | Julie |