skip to main content

Texas Gardening Butterfly Garden

Broccoli isn't just for humans ...

roselee z8b S.W. Texas

last year

last modified: last year

My friend Linda M. who lives near Seguin TX, shared this short video taken on about Feb. 4. She says the only reason she grows broccoli is for their flowers to feed winter pollinators and early butterflies when not much else is blooming. I believe most of the butterflies are Pipevine swallowtails.

Enjoy! Why I Grow Broccoli

Featured Answer

loreleicomal

last year

This is from our community garden.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (14)

Vulture61
last year
Beautiful! I may try to do the same next year. I think I heard geese. It looks and sounds like an interesting place to visit. When are we going?

Omar
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked Vulture61
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Omar, good idea! I didn't hear geese, but her neighbor's have peacocks and axis deer. Here's a little tour of her place posted sometime back. Here's funny one on herdo's and don't's of making bottle trees.
Related Discussions
Just not happy with this furniture arrangement
Q
Comments (46)
If you are using the existing furniture - place the sofa across from the fireplace,place the 2 chairs on opposite sides of the fireplace. If you are buying new furniture - have you thought of a sectional (sofa/chaise style)? Sectional opposite fireplace, ottoman or coffee table, rug, 2 smaller chairs (I think your existing chairs are a bit large.) Its always best to have a console table behind the sectional back. (softens the look and a great place to add more personality - options: 1. Add lamps, accessories, books, trays, etc 2. Place stools under the console for additional seating when needed. 3.Or use it as a desk - add a chair.
...See More
Do you have a secret hiding place at home for treats just for you?
Q
Comments (104)
I guess the freezer wasn't such a great place to hide things, after all...will have to think of another. A funny memory came up with the question, though... I once watched a cooking show with Sharon Osbourne as a guest. She said, when she was trying to get Ozzie to stop drinking, he always hid a bottle in the oven, because he knew she would never look in there... ;p When I lived in SE Asia, most transactions were in cash. So....i frequently had to go to the ATM. My bank provided an escort to your car if you got cash from a teller, but if I went to the ATM, I stuffed the money in my bra...funny enough, a very safe place for a lady to put her money... But then I was in Indonesia during the monetary crisis, and a trip to the ATM had me coming out looking like Dolly Parton. That was the end of that!
...See More
Rug(s) for this space??
Q
Comments (5)
You can get a rug store to cut you a piece with exactly the dimensions you want and bind the edges. They would even make it L-shaped if you want. Since you don't need all that much, you might be able to find a nice remnant that will suit your need and get it at a great price.
...See More
My husband is driving me CRAZY! Is it just me? What would you do?
Q
Comments (91)
Hi Suzyq53, This is one of my favorite threads along with the guy that wants the gay bathhouse themed bedroom, I'm cracking up! As I've aged, I can't stand visual clutter, put that crap away! Also, it's about "flat surfaces", I was on a trip and when I got home, I couldn't even set anything down as hubs had nearly all flat surfaces covered with crap. So I declared all crap sitting out to be "abandoned", if it wasn't where it belonged, it was abandoned and went into a box, (like everyone else pretty much suggests). As I am a former hospitality professional, I'm blessed with a colorful vocabulary that often makes my point, sometimes to a fault. Plus, I'm Irish... Post and let us know what happens!
...See More
Vulture61
last year
You make me feel olllddd! :D The first post is 10 years old and I was the first person to reply to it.

Omar
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked Vulture61
phoenix7801
last year
The flowers smell wonderful and the bees love them.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked phoenix7801
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
last year
Wow -- I had no idea that the flowers had a good scent.
four (9B near 9A)
last year
For what length of time does it flower?
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked four (9B near 9A)
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
last year
Four, good question. I asked Linda M., but haven't heard back yet. Maybe someone else on here knows. She did tell me when she sent the video that after the center is bloomed out she cuts it off and the side shoots start blooming.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
Linda M. says: "They've been blooming for at least 3 weeks and there is still a lot of bloom power left. The neat thing is that it blooms when there is not much else. I'm speculating that about the time it's done the spring flowers will be going strong such as larkspur, poppies, etc.."

Nine years ago today I posted about Pipevine swallowtails nectering on Winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima. I still have it. When I walk outside on a warm winter morning its scent fills the air. Bees love it.
javiwa
last year
Amazing!!! I glanced at this thread several days ago, but didn't have time to view the video until now. OK, I'll bite! I realized it's too late to start broccoli from seed here in zone 9a, but Google results indicate broccoli might be regrown from stalks: worth a shot!

I've got pipevine swallowtail host plants in the garden, so now I just need to attract the butterflies.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked javiwa
four (9B near 9A)
last year
You know that you are obligated to give us broccoli reports.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked four (9B near 9A)
Vulture61
last year
Javi, I bought broccoli seedlings at HEB yesterday. I hope they get to bloom before the heat hits us.

Omar
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked Vulture61
javiwa
last year
four: I wouldn't have it any other way -- oh, the pressure, though!

Omar: they sell broccoli seedlings at your HEB?! I need to go check.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked javiwa
loreleicomal
last year
The picture I posted above of the bees in the broccoli--That has been blooming for about 4 weeks now.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked loreleicomal

Related Stories

LIFE How Will We Live on the Moon? Just Ask ‘The Martian’ Author

By Mitchell Parker

In his new book, ‘Artemis,’ Andy Weir geeks out on how homes and cities could one day be built on the lunar surface

REMODELING GUIDES 10 Elements of the Just-Right House

By Bud Dietrich, AIA

The World Series, Moneyball and the smart house: The case for smaller homes rich in character and function over the big and bland

DINING ROOMS New This Week: Proof the Formal Dining Room Isn’t Dead

By Mitchell Parker

Could graphic wallpaper, herringbone-patterned floors, wine cellars and fire features save formal dining rooms from extinction?

HOME TECH Why Google Just Paid $3.2 Billion for a Company That Makes Thermostats

By Mitchell Parker

Smart home technology just got a new champion — and everyone is speculating about the reasons

COMMUNITY Community Building Just About Anyone Can Do

By Vanessa Brunner

Strengthen neighborhoods and pride of place by setting up more public spaces — even small, temporary ones can make a big difference

REMODELING GUIDES Should You Remodel or Just Move?

By Bud Dietrich, AIA

If you're waffling whether 'tis better to work with what you've got or start fresh somewhere else, this architect's insight can help

DREAM SPACES Just a Few Things for the Dream-Home Wish List

A sunken hot tub, dedicated game room, tree house, hidden wine cellar and more. Which of these home luxuries would you like best?

HOLIDAYS How to Have a Just-Simple-Enough Holiday

By Laura Gaskill

Make this the year you say no to holiday stress and yes to joy and meaning

DESIGN POP These Pets Saved the Day, or Save Every Day, at Home

By Gwendolyn Purdom

Before American Humane gives out its Hero Dog Awards on Sept. 29, we celebrate readers’ pets who’ve helped their humans

SMALL HOMES Houzz Tour: A Student's Bed-Size Shelter in the Arizona Desert

Could you sleep in such a small space just above the desert floor? One Taliesin architecture student at a time does just that

Sponsored

Pond Roofing Company, Inc.

5 Reviews

Loudoun County's Premier Roofing and Door Professionals

More Discussions

Anybody up for a fort Worth spring plant swap?

78

Loquat Tree may have died

18

The aftermath as of Easter...

8

Need a Plant Recommendation

6

How did your Central Texas Vitex (Chaste Trees) do in the freeze?

16