Birds, bees and butterflies

Peggy was working on her flower beds, getting them ready for her picnic on Sunday, when I went by to see her this afternoon. She has decided she is tired of re-planting annuals every year and is going to go with perennials except in her planters. She had bought us a salvia, Meadow Sage, which is supposed to attract butterflies. I tried to thank her for it, but she said it is bad luck to thank anyone for a plant. That was a new one for me, but I looked it up and apparently the plant won't grow if you thank the person for it. I can't imagine where that superstition came from.

Meanwhile, her oriole feeder had attracted two couples, and I got to see my first orioles. She said she almost didn't tell me, because she thinks our feeders compete with hers and we are stealing her birds. I admitted I had been thinking it would be good to put out some oranges to attract orioles, so that we could get some birds with different color. She had seen a bunting, by the way, so maybe there is still hope for us.

I also asked her for advice about the wasps and yellow jackets around the deck. The traps I bought are attractive but ineffective. Peggy is all in favor of using natural products to avoid adding chemicals to the environment, and she wants to keep wasps and bees away without killing them. That way they can do their ecological job of pollinating and pest control, too. She suggested sprinkling tomato and vegetable dust around, a product made with pyrethrin, a chrysanthemum extract. I guess she means Ortho Tomato & Vegetable Insect Killer. We'll have to give it a try. It is supposed to be safe around pets, too, assuming they don't pig out on it.

When I brought the salvia home, I was wondering when we might actually see butterflies. Seems pretty early in the season for that, but I see online that various species have already been sighted around the county. I put the plant out back on the deck and went to get some water. By the time I came back out, a hummingbird was already buzzing around it. Looks promising.