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An occasional report of what’s growing at Maypop Hill Nursery and the Miley homestead in
An occasional report of what’s growing at Maypop Hill Nursery and the Miley homestead in
Norwood, LA; to subscribe to the free newsletter, contact us by email:
Norwood, LA; to subscribe to the free newsletter, contact us by email: maypophill@gmail.com
maypophill@gmail.com.
.
Website:
Website: maypophill.com
maypophill.com
The Maypop Hill
The Maypop Hill
Newsletter
Newsletter
September 2023
September 2023
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Clasping Coneflower
Dracopis amplexicaulis
Obedient Plant, Physostegia virginiana,
Hwy. 37 near Grangeville
Lizard's Tail, Saururus ceruus
LA Blue Iris virginica (French Settlement
First, I was a medicinal herb garden, with a big Comfrey
(also called Knitbone) next to the Hugulkultur pots with
Egyptian Walking Onions
and other vegetables.
But then, a foot of
rain poured off the
roof of the shed and
flooded the soil .
Bother. Back to the drawing
board, when I became a bog
with plants that tolerate
wet feet.
:( That worked fine
until – Oops, one more
makeover. Looks like
I'm a plant prison now,
a work-in-progress,
a hole-y mess, thanks
to an armadillo
digging for grubs in
the moist soft soil
during the Great
Drought of 2023.
Map of Rain Garden, ~ 2 x 5 ft..
Symphytum officinale

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Coping with Critters
On top of a freeze in March that wiped out the blueberry crop, the severe drought this
summer has given us reasons to drag out ALLLLL the garden hoses to water plants too
far from ALLLLL the faucets. Then, the muscadine grapes disappeared, hmm, who?
Plus, watering the parched ground also invited digging experts – not the little squirrels
and chipmunks and toads – but real masters of destruction:
wild hogs and armadillos.
Recommend ed solutions call for:
stout fencing,
cayenne pepper,
garlic and onion plants,
mints,
commercial products that repel
pests with loud sounds or
scents that discourage them.
Our concrete
mascot
armadillo,
has a pet
cricket which
stays on his
head.
A family of wasps
decided to stick
around on the
kitchen window
—
on the outside,
thank goodness
Another effect of the drought
is that we're not seeing
many acorns or
 pine cones or other
so-called mast fruits
that deer, quail. turkey, and
other wild animals
eat in winter.
Partridge Pea 
and Little Bluestem and
other wildflowers and native
grasses will be allowed to
remain upstanding for birds
and mammals that eat their
seeds when forage is scarce.
Hot pepper suet
does seem to keep
squirrels away from
the bird feeders

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page 42 of free ebook,
Putting Nature First
on Your Southern Land

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Maypop Hill Nursery & Publications
4979 Spec Garig Rd., PO Box 123 Norwood, LA
Betty & LJ Miley, specializing in native plants of the South
email: maypophill@gmail.com web: maypophill.com
Geaux native!
Welcome, Butterflies and Bees
Maypop Hill grows a succession of nectar plants for
as much of the year as possible.
This partial list of native wildflowers does not include
important sources of nectar provided by trees, shrubs, vines.
Bloom times are approximates.
Late winter – early spring
Butterweed, Packera glabella, annual, moist soil, Dec.-May
Spiderwort, Tradescantia ohioensis, Feb.-May
Wild Violet, Viola species, Feb.-April
Spring – early summer
Downy Phlox, Phlox pilosa, April-May
Tickseed, Coreopsis lanceolata, April-June
Beard-tongue, Penstemon digitalis, April-June
Wild Indigo, Baptisia alba, others, April-June
Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, April-July
Beebalm, Monarda fistulosa, May-July
Milkweed, Asclepias species, May-July-August
Stokes Aster, Stokesia laevis,May-Sept.
Late summer – fall
Yellow Coneflower, Rudbeckia hirta, others, April-July
Partridge Pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata,May-Nov
Blue mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum, Aug.-frost
Ironweed (butterfly magnet), Vernonia gigantea, July-Nov.
Sunflowers – Helianthus mollis, others, June-Sept.-Nov.
Goldenrod, Solidago orora, others, Aug.-frost
Aster, Symphyotrichum praealtum, others, Sept.-frost
The New Orleans Bug Lady, Linda Auld, has been
speaking to gardeners and naturalists lately about
2 possible problems to consider when growing
milkweeds as hosts for the Monarch butterfly.
Problem 1
Problem 1 is the OE parasite transmitted in
non-native Tropical Milkweed plants
Read more at
Problem 2
Problem 2 is that milkweeds bought at many
nurseries may expose monarch caterpillars
to harmful pesticide residues link to article and image
link to Monarch Parasites
Michael Glaspell