Saving Butterflies

When my children were young I started planting parsley so we could attract black swallowtail butterflies to our garden. We would gather the eggs and tiny caterpillars and bring them inside and watch the amazing metamorphosis. It never thrilled them as much as it did me! Even though the children are grown I still bring caterpillars inside to watch the amazing transformation from egg to butterfly. A new butterfly is a beautiful thing to behold.

This winter I grew my dill and parsley from seed in anticipation of this summer tradition.

Around the end of May, I was delighted to see the first butterfly of the season laying eggs on the dill. Every day I checked the parsley and dill to see if there were any caterpillars.

It wasn't long before the eggs hatched and the plants were covered with caterpillars! Since the butterfly host plants were on the patio, I decided to leave them alone this year and watch them outside.

One morning when I checked on the caterpillars, they were almost all gone. I carefully looked over the plants and discovered what had eaten them.

A baby praying mantis was feasting on my caterpillars! I was so disappointed!

Only four caterpillars were left. This one attached itself to the side of a planter so I left it outside. The other three were smaller so I brought them inside.

I thought this one would be safe outside but a few days later I noticed it too was gone. I saw a male cardinal searching for food around the parsley and dill, so I think this one was fed to baby cardinals.

For the last few summers I have not seen many butterflies, so losing all of these caterpillars caused me to do a bit of brainstorming to try to find a solution to save more of the butterflies. I found a large plastic container that I covered with a screen but the cat was way too interested in the moving caterpillars to keep them safe inside.

A few weeks ago while at Goodwill, I saw this rolling cart for $5.00. I thought maybe it had potential for my butterfly project.

 I removed the back and stapled fiberglass screen to it. I needed something removable for the front, so I used some of my husband's heavy duty velcro. It was sticky enough to attach firmly to the screen.

It is just a temporary solution until I can build or find something similar that will be more substantial and hold up to the weather. For now it works great and is exactly what I wanted!

I counted twenty-two caterpillars this morning! Hopefully they will all survive and the garden will be full of black swallowtails!

I'm keeping a close eye on the milkweed and if I see a monarch caterpillar, I'll place it in the enclosure too!

Swallowtail Butterfly Summer 2012

Longing for warmer weather! A 2012 summer butterfly.

Busy, Busy, Busy

 Very little time has been spent this summer enjoying nature.  Between the excessive heat and adjusting to working outside the home again, there has been little desire or time to be outside with the camera.

 I finally had some leisure time Saturday morning to sit outside on the patio. I read, watched the birds and took a few pictures. Three hummingbirds fought over the feeders in the backyard. This juvenile male was determined to have all four of the feeders to himself!

 Because of the excessive drought there isn't much blooming right now. I kept the patio planters watered and even with the excessive heat and drought my lantana is thriving!

 The verbena bonariensis survived without being watered and I am seeing a little butterfly activity!

 I have been busy working on my Lowe's project for August. Our assignment for this month is, Address the Mess: Pick and area or item that could use a creative approach to organization or storage for your gardening tools and accessories.

This project really had me stumped and I just couldn't get inspired by ordinary garage organizational tools!  One day I walked into work and saw this fabulous Drexel hutch with a free sign on it! Someone had dropped it while stocking their vendor space! I felt bad for them, but I was thrilled!

As soon as I saw it my mind started thinking of all of the possibilities for the project! The glass was broken and the top was busted, but it was perfect for my garage project.

I am almost finished and you wont believe the difference! I am off work tomorrow and plan to complete the project and reveal the end result!

Stay tuned! :-)

 Don't forget to check out Lowe's Creative Ideas for more project inspiration!
/http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/

A few days ago I spent a little time at a local park to get some fall pictures.

The little ground squirrels were so cute playing around the roots of the huge tree.

The black walnuts are prolific this year and walking under the trees was quite dangerous. Every time the wind would blow they would come crashing to the ground.

The squirrels were quite busy gathering walnuts and acorns. They were so busy that they didn't pay much attention to me and I was able to get pretty close to them, even with the bulky tripod..

This one was pretty funny all spread out eating his walnut.

We have had a warm and lovely autumn so far. It has been absolutely delightful!

I have a thing for old barns. When I see one I have an intense desire to stop the car and photograph it. I gave in to that desire a few days ago while I was on my autumn photography adventure!

This one is huge! Sadly it is dilapidated and the roof is collapsing. I don't know what the story is and why it is in such disrepair, but I assume since it is right off of a busy street in an area that has some new construction close by, it probably will be torn down soon.

This one was right down the street. I'd love to go back again when the photography conditions are better. These were taken about 3:00 in the afternoon with bright sunshine. Sunrise or sunset would be much better!

Not much is in bloom here. Just a few roses, cosmos and verbena.

I loved this dark cosmos against the fence. The wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to get pictures!

The maple trees are gorgeous right now!  I saw these two leaves near the bottom of the trunk.

This is what drew me outside today with my camera, even though the wind was blowing so hard. I couldn't believe my eyes! A monarch butterfly! I hardly saw a butterfly all summer and to see this one so late in the season was a sweet surprise! I'm so glad that the verbena was still in bloom!

I sure hope it ventures south soon!

Last Days of Summer

The nip of autumn is in the air and a visit to a local apple orchard has already been made.

The flowers are few and far between with the limited amounts of summer rain.

I'm still seeing a few bees...

and damsel flies...

and everyday I watch for the hummingbirds at the feeders knowing any day now could be their last visit for the year.

The butterflies have been scarce this summer. Only recently have I spotted a few. Usually I see black swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley and fennel but not this year. I guess there can be no caterpillars if there aren't any butterflies. I think this is the first year that I haven't had them.

I was thrilled to see the Buckeye butterfly a few days ago and chased it around the yard with my camera for quite some time.

I am enjoying the cooler last few days of summer and looking forward to the lovely autumn season...

even if it means that I won't be seeing these little guys for a long time.

I hope you are enjoying the last few days of summer too!

Butterfly Houdini

Tuesday evening, while we were eating, I glanced over at Lilly, (she always lays on the floor by the table just in case something drops or someone is feeling generous with a bite of leftovers). To my surprise, she was nose to nose with a black swallowtail butterfly! Mind you, we were eating in the kitchen, not on the patio!

I immediately got up, let the butterfly climb on my hand and took it outside. I am still baffled by how it got loose in the house.




I have brought in a few black swallowtail caterpillars to watch the metamorphosis, I keep a close eye out for them and I was certain all of them were accounted for.

I am assuming that somehow one of them must have escaped the enclosed space and the chrysalis was attached somewhere in the kitchen.

I'm so glad that Ms. Libby the kitty was upstairs or there might have been a different outcome for the beautiful butterfly.

Wordless Wednesday

Back in the Saddle

These aren't exactly beautiful pictures of butterflies but I wanted to show that you can attract a variety of butterflies by providing fruit for them.

Hackberry butterfly- (First time to see this one in the garden!)

Each time I cut a melon I place the rinds outside. The butterflies flock to it! The flies do too, but I try not to think about that.


I think this is a Viceroy

I found this blue plastic tray with a stand for $2.00 at a garage sale early this summer. I bought it with this specific thing in mind. It has worked just like I had hoped that it would!

Red Spotted Purple

Last year was cool and rainy, I think I may have seen five butterflies all summer long. This year has been hot and I have seen more species in my garden than ever before. I think the watermelon has helped attract them to the garden, especially the red spotted purple. They love it!

Question Mark

I apologize for my lengthy absence. I just needed some time to process all of the changes in my life. Losing my mother was such a shock. Sadly sometimes these things tend to bring about the worst in people, so there have been some challenges regarding extended family as well. I was not expecting to deal so soon with greed and malicious behavior. It is very sad and incredibly hurtful.

It is time to move on and try to enjoy my life and my own precious family again.

Monarch

I have also had frustrating computer issues. My desktop computer has been in the shop twice and it needs to go back again. Thankfully it is still under warranty. The laptop I use now is frustrating because it skips letters and without warning it erases large sections of script and pictures. I just have not felt like doing battle with it and Blogger to post. Hopefully, now that I am in a better frame of mind, I can get back in the saddle and post more regularly.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and encouraging comments for me during this very difficult time in my life. I've missed you all!

A New Appreciation

The poppy has been gorgeous, but like the peonies it is a fleeting beauty. I noticed this evening that the petals had already begun to drop.


I usually sit on the patio swing in the mornings, but yesterday morning my husband and I decided to sit on the front porch to enjoy our coffee. The curbside trees in our front yard are in bloom.



I noticed quite a few butterflies at the tree. After I finished my coffee and conversation, I quickly grabbed my camera to get some pictures.



I have no idea what kind of tree this is, I've searched and can't identify it. Maybe a Linden tree? It is very fragrant with a strong sweet smell. Do any of you know what it is?



There were several Red Admirals on the trees. I am excited to see so many butterflies this year! I saw precious few last year and I missed them.


I can't believe that I had never noticed the pollinators on this tree before now. I never really liked the two trees so I payed very little attention to them. Every spring I would be disappointed because the city placed these in front of my house rather than some of the prettier
spring flowering trees that all of my neighbors have.


These little bugs look like lightening bugs and they were all over the tree mating.



The bees were covered in pollen!

After today my opinion of the two trees is totally different. I have a new appreciation for them and I'm so glad that I have trees in my yard that attract so many wonderful pollinators.

Thank you all for you comments, regarding my parents. Your thoughts and prayers for them mean so much to me. My mother is continuing to improve but her recovery will be long and difficult. Please keep her in your prayers.

I hope everyone is enjoying this Memorial Day weekend!