Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Pretty Insects on Giant Red Zinnias and Joe Pye Weed

Pretty insect on giant red zinnia: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2016
Happy wild Wednesday! It's an amazingly warm and beautiful day here in Maryland. Although spring won't officially be here for a few more weeks, it feels like it's here and I'm enjoying the warm days.
Skipper on Joe Pye Weed: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2016
I haven't seen a butterfly or moth in the wild yet this year but hope these photos from last August make you smile. Spring and summer with their wild delights will be here before long.
Cute insect on giant red zinnia: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2016
Last year I experimented with starting a batch of early zinnia seeds indoors and direct sowing the rest. The direct sowed plants quickly caught up with those sown indoors and then turned out to be far sturdier. They were from different sources so it could be that the direct sown seeds would have grown stronger plants anyway but this year I'm planning to just direct sow the zinnias and pray for the best.
Feeding insect on giant red zinnia: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2016
Last year I waited until after Mother's day for direct sowing and I'll probably do the same this year.
Double insect love on giant zinnia: Copyright © Phyllis Wheeler, 2016
If you have room in your garden, zinnias are a great delight for both humans and animals. We had finches, hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and moths enjoying ours.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you today and always!

Related posts:
Giant orange zinnia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/giant-zinnias-gladiola-mr-optimist.html
Giant pink and red zinnias: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/vinca-dahlia-giant-zinnias-and-day-lily.html
Blue ribbon zinnias: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/09/blue-ribbon-flowers-for-floral-friday.html

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