In this episode, Jim talks about butterflies and how to attract them to your garden.
Podcast Transcription:
WRVO Producer Mark Lavonier:
This podcast is one in a series titled, From the Soil with Sollecito, hosted by lifetime senior certified landscape professional Jim Sollecito of Sollecito Landscaping Nursery, Hallock Hill Road, Syracuse. These commentaries focus on landscape management practices that use only natural products and methods, safe for the environment, and that bring beauty to the landscape. And now Jim Sollecito.
Jim Sollecito:
The longer I live, the more beautiful planting becomes. Next to prayer, it’s one of the more faithful, optimistic, deeply personal relationships we can experience. It is a way of showing belief in the future. I didn’t want to be 60; now I aspire to be 70. And since I’m constantly evolving, so does my landscape and the wildlife I aim to attract.
Let's talk about our most delightful, tranquil, hardworking guests. Butterflies add a moving, breathing dynamic to the landscape, sometimes called flying flowers for the fleeting, flamboyant role they play. As a vibrant butterfly unexpectedly enters my view, I feel my whole body respond with excitement. My wife Megan’s automatic response is to enthusiastically bounce into action and grab a photo. She loves Monarchs feeding on a Hydrangea. Megan tells me it’s easy to sneak up on a butterfly, so this makes them pretty agreeable photography subjects.
Butterflies are attracted to red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple blossoms that are flat-topped and have short flower tubes. They’re nearsighted, which makes them more interested in masses of plants and flowers. The larger the number of flowers, the better the attraction. These pollinators are most active mid-morning through mid-afternoon, so they love plants that are in sunshine at that time of day.
Look for the newer Proven Winners plant varieties found at boutique garden centers because they have improved flowering and shrubs that will flower compactly and require very little, if any, pruning. They don't require any type of spray, and if by introducing multiple varieties, you can achieve months and months of continuous bloom.
Thankfully, we live in Central New York, so once again we're celebrating another change of seasons. For decades of my life, I haven’t had to set an alarm clock all through April and May. During those months, my inner being can’t wait to leap out of bed. With the unfolding of spring, I look forward to expanding daylight so I can begin my day much like the butterflies will very soon.
Spring is our reward for getting through another winter. Don't let this one slip away. If some of your landscape plantings are underwhelmingly weak, interfering, overgrown, or otherwise don't please you, it is so easy to change them out for something that will attract flying flowers. Let's make this year one that your dreams can come true.
WRVO Producer Mark Lavonier:
From the Soil with Sollecito is a production of WRVO Public Media. If you have a question for Jim about your home landscaping, visit sollecito.com and click on contact or call 315-468-1142.
