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Forgot to answer one of your questions. I'm sure you could probably get seeds, possibly from one of the wildflower seed companies. If you can pick wildflowers in your state (it's illegal in mine), you could also just cut off a seed stalk and plant it. I'm going to cut the seed stalk in sections and plant the sections this year to see what happens next year.
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There are the domestic and an apparently unwanted nonnative milkweed variety which shouldn't be planted. I don't recall all the details - I think the nonnative variety was invasive. If you bought good seeds through a seed company, you probably had the domestic variety. When did you plant the seeds, and how did you prepare your soil? In what zone are located?

I've never planted the milkweed - it just grows naturally although I didn't have any this year.

Some gardeners I met on a now defunct gardening forum cultivated butterflies - they used jars to place milkweed or parsley, attract the butterflies, then they took care of the caterpillars until they morphed. I think I have the directions on my old computer.

Mullein is also known as verbascum. It's a wildflower, grows naturally when conditions are right. I guess they were this year because I had about 3 dozen volunteers. But they had trouble blooming; they'd get started, then stop, start again, then stop. Must have had something to do with the weather.

The stalks have the best posture of any wildflower I've seen! The leaves are pretty, kind of fuzzy like the lambs' ear plants, but I've read that they're miserable to the skin if touched when dried. So they need to be cut back and/or composted before the leaves become dried as the season ends.

This is what they look like:

https://www.google. c o m /search? (spaces added so the link won't be deleted)

q=mullein,+verbascum&biw=1097&bih=534&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CC8QsARqFQoTCOzR0sDs3scCFc4JkgodcbAISQ.

Mine look like the one in the first photo on the left in the first line. They're beautiful when the tall seed stalk blooms, but mine never had more than a few blooms. Still, the butterflies enjoyed them. And they were stately in the garden. Some only grew a few feet but at least a few of them are probably close to 8 feet tall. Next year I think I'll interplant them with sunflowers - they're both tall plants.

So you're a butterfly lover too?
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Garden Artist, tried to get butterfly milkweed to attract the butterflys--it was too early. Planted seeds, nothing happened! What is a mullein and is it something I can buy and then just water? Needed those butterflies!
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Lucky and Hope, your posts are very touching, very emotional. Thanks for sharing and helping to realize how much joy there can be in caregiving.

Glad and Massach, thank for the Martha jokes. I laugh everytime I read them.
And isn't it just typical that she'd turn a GPS device into jewelry!

Mina, you touch on so many of the natural things that are comforting. I love watching fireflies in their nightly dances, have never but would love to see a whale, and of course follow the butterflies as they flit from one pollinator plant to another in the garden.

This year I let the mulleins grow freely and had more butterflies, including a new one I've never seen. I still haven't identified it.
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Hi! I submitted a few jokes about Martha Stewart a few days ago. My son likes jokes and since he told me those, I asked if he knew anymore, so here goes! She has a show demonstrating crafts and tells the audience that "Today we're going to teach you how to turn an ugly tracking device into an attractive piece of jewelry!'
When she was in jail, she told all the inmates that "Stripes are in this year"! Hope these will bring a little chuckle to all of you. Have a great, safe Labor Day weekend.
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One of my favorite things...night time and Mama is smiling and in a happy mood. I get her fluffed up and ready for the night and get to hug her..one of those really cozy hugs where you get her and the pillow and just smoosh them nice and close...tonight she said "hey!" but she was smiling...I said a prayer and she is asleep...nice and cozy with her kitty curled up beside her...one of my absolute most favorite things of all....
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One of my favorite things we do almost everyday,is take a walk around the block.We started the walks after Mothers hip replacement when she was on a walker.Now 9 years later,she is on oxygen in a wheelchair but we are together appreciating the beauty that surrounds us.The neatest thing is that we have a cat that walks around it with us and we see the neighbors outside.Mother never had time to stop and smell the roses before she broke her neck but now she does and its awesome.
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"President Bush got an early Christmas gift. This week, President Bush was chosen as 'Person of the Year' by Time magazine. Not only that, Martha Stewart was chosen as person of the year by Doing Time magazine." --Conan O'Brien

"Martha Stewart published her recipe for disaster -- mix one part arrogance with two parts incompetence, simmer in the juices and then serve hot in the can." —Jay Leno

"Tough times for Martha Stewart. Yesterday, Martha Stewart reported to her parole officer and had to take a mandatory urine test for cocaine and marijuana. Martha was found to be drug-free and her urine was found to be a lovely yellow saffron." —Conan O'Brien

"Martha Stewart was convicted of four counts of lying and obstruction of justice and could serve up to 20 years in Congress." —Craig Kilborn

"Martha Stewart was found guilty on all charges. You know what that means, stripes are in this year." —Jay Leno
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GardenArtist, I can't think of any off the top of my head right now, but I certainly will post them when I do think of them. Thanks for the input! I do wish I had time like that as well as the money she makes! CM
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Massach, I love it! Lemon slices in a water bowl - I'll bet her Chows actually do have special water bowls. But Chows are special dogs in my mind; I love Chows!

Folding napkins like swans is one of the reasons why some of her ideas are so unrealistic. Imagine having all that time to sit and make cloth origami figures after doing the laundry.

Any more Martha jokes to share? I'd enjoy reading them.
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On Martha Stewart: How do you know that Martha Stewart has been in your home?
There's the tell-tale sign of lemon slices in the dog's water bowl; all the towels are folded like swans! Those are just a couple of jokes my son told me a few years ago; there are more, but these are the ones that really stuck in my mind!
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Ooops...accidental early post.....Anyway, no time to look at pics before friends arrived.....they saw them first, and....were baffled w/the 15 pics of nothing but empty ocean....Never did catch one of those magnificent beasts....lol...
BUTTERFLIES....Mom's lovely ALF has the most incredible butterfly garden (GA you would love it).....huge, beautiful wind chimes, each w/a different tone (I always walk around and chime them for Mom....and me!). Beautiful large and small sculptures of birds and animals, and of course, lovely flowering plants that attract a ton of beautiful butterflies. Last time I was there w/Mom there were butterflies everywhere....BUT....Mom never saw one of them! She was starting to get irritated because every time I pointed one out to her, by the time she turned her head, it had flitted off....gone....she missed it. So, of course, I pull the iphone out and try to capture a pic....well, by now you know how that went....no butterfly pics....luckily Mom has a great sense of humor still. She said to me, "Well, let's go to the lake (right around the corner from the garden). At least I know I can still actually see the ducklings there!" LOL....
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GA....go for it, girl! Jeanette....such a lovely little visual you paint w/words....quite poetic! Also love your doggie pic....beautiful...both dog and setting!
FIREFLIES .... for a couple of weeks this past August the yard was just filled w/them right after sunset as it got darker and darker.....so cool, brought me right back to childhood and running around w/a Mason jar....of course, I whipped out my iphone and tried to snap a pic of the yard lit up by fireflies....what did I get? Just dark skies and a garishly lit lawn....lol....
WHALES....Years ago (10+) I was in Hawaii and went out on a boat whale watching. They were everywhere....such huge, magnificent creatures...they would rise up out of the ocean for split seconds, then disappear again below the surface. Of course, I kept trying to get a photo. This being before cell phones w/cameras, I had to have the film developed. Literally, picked up the photos and raced home because I'd invited friends over....no time to look
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Rainy afternoons, curled up on the couch, a 7 week old chubby puppy, curled up under your neck snoring and.....wait for it..... puppy breath. sigh.
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I think I've had the wrong approach. Maybe I need to look for some older, richer men.

Two beers a day - naw - I want to spend my money on garden plants and equipment!

Just received my fall Wayside catalogue today and the dollars are going to be adding up as I go through it....where can I find a sugar daddy really quickly??? I wouldn't mind having one who does all the cooking and cleaning as well.
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Exactly.......All my wives have been older, smarter and richer than me. It's a good system as long as you don't mind be a boy toy, slave. My current wife even let's me have up to 2 beers a day!
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Hey, you gotta admire a woman who gets a degree in architectural and European history and apparently leveraged it to subsequently get a job as a stockbroker, then goes on to become one of the most famous women in the world through another leveraging, this time of domestic bliss and creativity.

Even the chairwoman of the Fed with her admirable economic qualifications will never make as much money as Martha.

But it’s okay, Windy. We now know that you have a hankering for older women or should I say older women who like to make money?
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Aw windy we love you..........
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Boy! A guy makes a couple nice comments about Martha S and now y'all are making me out to be some kinda creep....Jeeze....
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GA, you can get Mother Earth online !!!! I get great emails everyday.... but don't throw out the magazines... go back and look at them.... found some ancient zines at J's house... had a ball looking at the way people dressed.... and wore REAL hose, not pantyhose..... and just how syrupy everything was..... what a bizarre time of innocence....
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Windy you are a scream...........:) Martha Stewart a babe? LOL To each his own I guess. Let me guess you probably have a huge hankering for Betty White too.
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Well ok, she is getting a little long in the tooth, as they say.......and have never cooked one dish or bought one product and don't follow her tweets. And honestly never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to be discussing Martha Stewart on a forum. But hey, you brought it up! I just find her longevity fascinating. She was a model way back when...1890s I think.......
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Windy, I'm struck by your confession and at a loss for words. Give me some time to come up with a proper retort.

In the meantime, care to share any of those delicious delicacies that you're learning to make while watching the Great Martha? Has your wife decided to let you do all the cooking and baking yet?
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Well Garden, she is kinda hot Ya know.......
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And yes, she survived a jail term, recovered and rebounded as if insider trading was merely a blip on the radar.

Funny, some of these insider trading folks managed to survive despite their crimes. I recall Mike Milken was eventually involved in some cancer support group; Ivan Boesky was the inspiration for Gekko in Wall Street with Michael Douglas playing the pompous Gekko, and Charlie Sheen his gullible protegee. I'm sure Boesky negotiated some fat profits from the movie rights based on his life.

But if you tell me you watch her cooking shows I'll be devastated forever!
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Oh boy! Martha Stewart! I gotta get in on this! She's a major Babe, America's Queen of style for lo these many years. You can sleep on her sheets, cover you windows with her curtains, wear her clothes, paint your walls with her paint and make a wreath for the front door in 163 easy steps. And she goes to the slam and comes out back on top!

Remember the topless Martha skit on Sat Nt Live? Just precious.......
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The harvest moon draped in clouds. My son's first laugh as my telephone ring tone. My husband's phone ringing with same laugh ring tone in public restroom with very large men on either side of him using urinal.
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Martha Stewart? OMG, no! I don't even engage in insider trading, let alone have multiple animals or poultry to care for (although I would like to borrow a few goats from someone local to trim the unwanted foliage in the back yard and nibble on the lawn to help me minimize my carbon footprint!

Seriously, she's so "over the top" that it's almost laughable.

A lot of the ideas I get are just from trying to be in tune with seasonal rhythms, and are espoused by many gardeners, who I've always felt have a bond with the land and don't see it as something to be "managed", manipulated and/or controlled.

Mother Earth News years ago used to be one of the few magazines that provided information on this lifestyle. I still have the magazines I bought, probably including the article on how to build a cider press - something I used to want to do.

I guess that means I'm a magazine hoarder?
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Garden Artist, are we having a Martha Stewart moment here? I love it, who needs her ideas when we've got you!
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The first day of a season changing month. One's approach toward life begins to change...

Time to start cleaning up the garden after harvesting all but the crops still growing...

Time to start planning for next year's garden...

Time to think about getting painting projects done before it's too cold to paint...or maybe putting off painting projects because it'll be too chilly soon - then the task is put off for until next year...

Time to go to fabric stores and check out the new Christmas fabrics, even if I'm not sewing much any more. Just the beauty of the designs is inspiring and a mental uplift.

Time to think about the harvest... the fresh apples from Michigan, freshly pressed cider - there's nothing like the fragrance and taste of fresh cider!

Time to think about holiday activities...visiting a cider mill, picking apples from an orchard, planning a hayride, planning Halloween decorations, carving pumpkins...

Time to start checking the grapevines for hardness that makes them more sturdy for wreaths, and time to start planning the Fall, Christmas and Winter wreath designs...

I've already seen Halloween magazines and one Christmas decoration magazine in the stores. That always inspires projects to plan.

Anyone else feel that sense of anticipation? One last summer/fall holiday then it's drifting into Fall.
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