THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9606280062
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: 142 lines
It's that time of year when we think of flowers and butterfly gardening. I was not able to attend the Home & Garden Show where the gentleman from Cypress Gardens spoke about butterflies and host plants for them. Would you share that information with me?
I've planted parsley and fennel for the black swallowtail for the last two years and had more butterflies each year. I also know I need milkweed for monarch butterflies. Where can I buy milkweed seed or plants? I've been to the Norfolk zoo, and they have a big milkweed plant. I believe it's called common milkweed. Does the zoo ever sell seed pods or small plants? Also where can I find a spicebush for the spicebush butterfly?
It seems a lot of those plants are what most of us consider to be weeds, and we're yanking them out of our yards, along with the butterflies that need them.
Pam Urbanek, Harbinger, N.C.
My first suggestion is to join the Butterfly Society of Virginia, where many of your questions will be answered. Although you might not be able to attend all meetings, their newsletter is filled with information. Call President Mark Schneider at (804) 622-2190. Then buy the booklet ``Gardening for Butterflies in Hampton Roads'' by sending a check for $5 to Plants with a Purpose, P.O. Box 2884, Chesapeake, Va. 23327-1686.
To attract butterflies, you need flowers that provide a landing platform, like a zinnia, or plants that are scented to attract them. One is butterfly bush. Milkweed is one of their favorites because of the flat blooms.
The Virginia Zoological Park does have butterfly events. Mark Schneider is their horticulturist, so you'll find they lead the way in Hampton Roads in butterfly gardening and information, but they do not sell seed. The best way to get milkweed seed is to go along a country road and collect it before it blows away. You're right in that many butterfly plants are weeds, and you need to be prepared for that when you put them in your garden. Spicebush has a proper name of Lindera Benzoin, and Hampton Roads nurseries usually have it. If not, any mail-order wildflower source will carry it.
In your self-addressed, stamped envelope, I'm sending a list of butterfly attracting and host plants that you requested. I also recommend that every gardener buy the ``Book of Lists'' by Lois Trigg Chaplin, (Taylor Publishing, $17.95 paperback). If everyone had that book, my mail could be reduced by 25 percent. It's a quick answer to many garden questions. The Norfolk Botanical Garden Shop carries the book, as well as many others on horticulture.
I had more requests for butterfly weed seeds and moonflower seeds, when you mentioned it in the paper. It seems a lot of folks are interested in wildflowers, so I am enclosing two catalogs from Native Plants. I have purchased from them and have been pleased with the service and quality of plants. This company does not gather seeds of protected or endangered species from the wild. All plants are propagated at their nursery. They sell both seeds and plants.
I believe their prices are reasonable. They are cost-conscious and because of that do not accept credit cards. Likewise they don't take orders by phone. I think your readers will find their catalog informative and interesting.
I am wondering if you have any articles or research on computer software pertaining to gardening. If your readers who have computers could advise others as to their favorite software, it would enlighten the rest of us.
Larry Foley, Virginia Beach
Native Plants catalog is free by writing to Meredith and Ed Clebsch, 5737 Fisher Lane, Greenback, Tenn. 37742.
If readers have software on gardening, let us know what you think is best and that information will be published. One I've heard good comments about is Horticopia, available by calling (800) 560-6186. I receive questions about the Internet but am not an expert.
I have a bag of castor bean seed and am not sure if anyone would want some. It has been said they are poisonous if ingested. I would appreciate your input as to whether I should destroy them. They grow to be a pretty plant, but I will heed your advice on what to do with the seed.
Marguerite B. Roach, Box 777, Maple, N.C. 27956
Do not throw out your seed. Castor beans and castor bean seed are one of the best ways to run off moles. Grow the plants in mole-infested areas, and moles will leave. I use the seeds to put in their runs every few feet, because if moles eat the seed, it poisons them. I recently bought the last two packets of castor bean seed that Virginia Beach Feed & Seed had in stock.
I'm sure readers will help you get rid of your seed, by sending stamped addressed envelopes to the address above.
You recently had a question about ``Canadagreen'' grass currently being advertised. I thought you might be interested in the enclosure. I talked to a person in the advertising department at your paper on March 28, and she said they were going to print a retraction, but I have not seen it.
Robert L. Livesay, Portsmouth
The reprint enclosed is from the Virginia Turfgrass Council Newsletter, written by Gil Barber with Dennis Brown. It reads: ``Watch Out for Slick Ad for Grass Seed. The virtues of a new hybrid grass seed called `Canadagreen' would guarantee a lush lawn. The mixture contained annual ryegrass, common creeping red fescue and common (no variety) Kentucky bluegrass, which under the best conditions in this climate will not give the homeowner the choice lawn they deserve. Also the mixture was inflated in price, compared to good seed that is readily available. The good news is the Virginia Seed Regulatory Department stopped sale of this seed for false and misleading advertising. If someone has a question about a seed or seed ad, they should call their local extension office or the Virginia Turfgrass Council or David Chalmers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg or Dennis Brown at the Virginia Department of Agriculture in Richmond.''
Please publish the recipe for the homemade solution for lawns, etc., to relieve soil-surface tension. I believe some ingredients are liquid detergent and Coca-Cola. Also is there anything to prevent poa annua from germinating?
M. Smith, Chesapeake
I've never heard of a homemade solution to relieve soil-surface tension. That sounds like one of Jerry Baker's formulas, and it may be in one of his books. There are a couple of products on the market that will help. One is land plaster, used by peanut farmers, which you'll find in a farm seed store. Another is Aqua Turf, a liquid you spray on lawns and gardens, sold by Virginia Beach Feed & Seed.
As to poa annua (annual blue grass), many have asked the same question this spring. Experts say if you put down a pre-emergent crabgrass control in August, you can prevent poa annua from germinating in the spring. The problem is that you can't apply any grass seed in the fall after using the pre-emergent.
I want your readers to be aware that a sick or dying mole or vole that is poisoned with ``poison peanuts'' is an easy catch for a pet cat or dog. The active ingredients in these poison peanuts are extremely harmful to domestic animals. If one of your readers puts down poison peanuts, they may also inadvertently poison a cat or dog. A cat poisoned this way experiences terrible pain, diarrhea, vomiting and possibly death. My 6-year-old cat died from poison peanuts in February.
The label on poison peanuts says ``poisonous to domestic animals,'' but many people don't read the label. If they do, they think burying the peanuts carefully will prevent a cat or dog from eating the poison. They fail to realize that the poisoned mole or vole, now sick and lethargic, when caught and eaten, will also poison the domestic animal that caught it.
Death this way for my cat took six days and was terrible. Please alert your readers about the dangers of using poison peanuts. I have a better remedy for moles and voles. Get a good cat. I have very few moles and voles in my yard. My cats catch them and kill and eat them
Anne Marie Pesapane, Portsmouth
Thanks for your warning letter. I'm sorry about your cat - I know how we love our pets. Your letter raises another interesting issue, because some universities say that moles will not eat poison peanuts and live on grubs and worms only. Then I had heard that poison peanuts have been taken off the market. I've not tried to buy any in recent years, but apparently they're still around. Your letter is sufficient reason not to use them.
I'm wondering if the same thing could happen when a mole eats castor bean seeds, which are poisonous, and then a dog catches the mole. As you say, hungry cats are good hunters for moles and voles. I still believe the best control is milky spore or Mole Med to run off the moles. We'll never eliminate all the voles in the world, but you can catch them easily with a mouse trap - or a good cat.
by CNB