Variegated Fritillary on Salvia
My side yard has a new unwanted hedge of plants in pots. These are plants that should be planted in the new butterfly plot at the Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills. They are not. They sit in pots. At my house.
The plants have been living in my side yard for two weeks. They remind me of adult children who move back in for “just a few months, Mom,” and a year later you’re still sharing the washer with their yoga pants.
Using the butterfly garden plan, I made a list of plants required for that garden. We needed almost 200 plants.
Plant sales are a little cheaper, but you have to know what you’re doing:
Get there early. I am convinced most shoppers get up at 4:30 a.m. to line up two hours before the doors open. If you’re pulling in the parking lot with your coffee in a to-go cup about 10:30, it’s not worth the drive. The shelves are bare at that point.
Plant sales are the closest thing Dallas has to a crowded New York subway. You’ve got to elbow your way to native-this and hard-to-find that (saying ‘excuse me’ after each grab—this is, after all, The South). My genteel mother would have been appalled.
Don’t kid yourself. A tiny old Prius will not be big enough for the drive back with your new acquisitions. You’ll have to beg your patient friend Judy-with-a-truck to pick up all the leftover purchases the next day.
Which brings us to why I have about 200 Plants In A Pot in my side yard, and why I know each of them intimately.
North Texas has been in a severe drought for six years.
I purchased the plants two weeks ago. Six hours after I unloaded them to my side yard, I hauled them back into the garage because of impending “damaging 60 mph winds, hail, and possible tornadoes.” Out into the sun. Thirty minutes later, back into the garage. This has gone on for days. The plants are confused. I am exhausted.
Last week I emptied 5 inches of rain from the rain gauge. It is too muddy to till the site for the new butterfly garden. It is too wet to even think of planting.
The forecast is for 85 degrees and sunny today. Severe thunderstorms are predicted for tomorrow.
Elizabeth
To read more about our Butterfly Garden Plans click here.
Picture by Starla
DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ 
I feel your pain. I’ve done the same with over 50 pots of various sizes in my own private stash. Hope to be able to help you in the rain garden in a couple of weeks when I return from seeing the tulips, I hope, in Amsterdam.