Here at McAdam Nursery and Garden Center we have many plants that attract butterflies. To name just a few:

Perennials

• Buddleia davidii
• Achillea filipendulina
• Centrathus ruber
• Echinacea purpurea
• Eupatorium
• Helianthus
• Hemerocallis
• Liatris spicata
• Lonicera japonica
• Monarda didyma
• Phlox paniculata
• Rudbeckia
• Sedum spectabile
• Lavandula angustifolia

Annuals

• Zinnias
• Marigolds
• Rosemarinus
• Petunia
• Nicotiana
• Lantana
• Cosmos

For more information, visit: http://www.nhm.org/exhibitions/butterflies/

Bold in the front row, these shorties can make a huge statement. Do not underestimate a plant that is short, for a plant so short must surely be quite sweet!

The front line of most borders is composed of the lower growing annuals, perennials, shrubs, and even bulbs. These guys would simply be hidden if you planted them in the middle or the back of gardens that are designed with multiple plant heights involved.

Beautiful borders can be foliage or flowering groundcovers and nothing else. That works fabulously along a meandering walk through a garden. Sun choices include thyme, trailing rosemary, armeria, ground morning glory (convolvulus), beach strawberry (fragaria), gazania, and many, many more. Shade choices include sweet woodruff (Galium), green carpet (Herniaria), mondo grass, pachysandra, or baby's tears.

Or picture this: flowering border plants, low and mounding, such as nepeta (catmint), small (1-2 ft ht.) lavender, coreopsis, and Santa Barbara daisy or fleabane (erigeron) combined with button shaped pittosporum 'Crème de Mint' santolina in gray green or bright green, or curry plant (Helichrysum italicum) spilling over a stone walkway. The purple, yellow and green mounds will lead you to the pathway destination.

And not to be forgotten, succulents can be colorful not only for their flowers, but also for foliage color. The long succulent list includes many varieties of sedum, aptenia, iceplant and more. Low growing ornamental grasses such as Festuca glauca or Japanese blood grass can make a large visual statement.

You can design your borders using a single plant type or a monochromatic (all one color) theme, or instead, create a "border of many colors." The choice is all yours. We have presented a few suggestions, but there are so many more plants, we'd just have to take you on a tour of the garden center to show them all to you.

Border plants, short and low, can make an instant beautiful impression in your gardens whether they are along your pathways or the front line of your garden beds. They will bring simple delight. We'll see you soon in the garden center, selecting your favorites.

Summer Solstice, June 21, marks the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The word "solstice" is from Latin meaning "sun stands still" (sol=sun, sistit=stands). Since all days are the same length (24 hours), what this means is that on this day we have the longest time between sunrise and sunset and the shortest time between the sunset and sunrise.

The ancient monument Stonehenge in England was built to mark an annual calendar. One of the stones in particular, the heelstone, was aligned to demonstrate this day, the longest day, as the beginning of their new year.

What does this all really mean? It's the first day of SUMMER! The beginning of dog days, warm weather, sunshine, and most important, lots of flower-growing time for all of us. Hooray!