Planting FlowersThis week, I planted flowers. Flowers are a vital food source for pollinators, providing nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies, moths, and many other insects. They also increase biodiversity, reduce erosion, provide oxygen, improve air quality, provide habitat, and much more.
I went to a plant nursery in Winston Salem called Franks's Perennial Border, that has a lot of native perennial flowers and shrubs. I bought 5 milkweeds and 4 creeping phlox. In order to plant the flowers, I first had to remove the leaves, sticks, and weeds. After I did that, I spaced out the flowers and put them in the spot I was going to plant them. I then dug a hole, removed the plant from the pot, loosened the roots, and planted it. Once all of the flowers were in the ground, I put mulch around them. Mulch keeps moisture retained in the soil, protects the plant's roots, prevents erosion, keeps weeds out, and just makes it look nice. I didn't have to worry about watering because it rained after I planted the flowers. I planted the orange milkweed plants together in a rock garden bed that has been empty for a year now. Milkweed is the only food source for monarch butterfly larvae, an endangered butterfly species native to North America. It is important to plant milkweeds so that the monarch butterfly can successfully reproduce and lay eggs. Milkweed flowers bloom in the summer, and will act as a food source for pollinators. I planted the creeping phlox around a fruit tree. I planted a pink variety and a white variety, two of each. Creeping phlox are small flowers that bloom in spring, and are a ground cover that will spread out around the base of the tree, providing food for pollinators when there aren't many other flowers blooming yet.
1 Comment
Charlotte Reece
5/8/2023 10:19:50 am
I love creeping phlox! My grandma had them planted at her house when I was a little kid! They would always bloom around my birthday.
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