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June 28, 2024
Final yr I planted Mexican flame vine (Senecio confusus) on the base of the deck and impatiently waited all summer time for it to do something. After which, oh my gosh, it exploded in fall with pumpkin-orange flowers that drew in bees and butterflies like bears to honey.
Our first freeze got here late — not till early January — and so I bought to benefit from the flowers for months. On Christmas Day they had been superb. I took these pics on January fifth, proper earlier than the top, because the flowers fed late-migrating monarch butterflies.
Honeybees had been busy among the many frilly-capped flowers too.
It was fairly a payoff for an annual vine. Planting it in opposition to the deck meant I bought to get pleasure from its magnificence day by day from October by early January. I might even see it whereas sitting on the kitchen desk.
A crimson admiral butterfly added to the orange extravaganza.
I think about many gardeners develop Mexican flame vine from seed, however I planted mine from a 1-gallon pot. A wire trellis in opposition to the deck gave it a simple strategy to climb.
Full solar and once-a-week watering stored it joyful, though I most likely gave it supplemental drinks from the hose in the course of the hellish a part of final summer time. I can’t bear in mind now.
When the primary onerous freeze lastly got here, I mentioned goodbye to this stunning vine. As a result of it’s an annual in my zone 8b (or 9a, as they now declare), I pulled it out in the course of the huge cutback. For some motive I didn’t plant one other one this spring. As a substitute I fell for a crimson ‘Woman Margaret’ passionflower, upon whose leaves Gulf fritillary butterflies are eagerly laying eggs. Passionflowers are their larval host crops, so I’m nonetheless serving to out butterflies. And hopefully this fall I’ll see one other good bloom present. We’ll see!
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Digging Deeper
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