There is a big chunk of June that really requires several blog posts to get everyone back up to speed...including myself :-o.
Showing posts with label butterflies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label butterflies. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
July
July was hot and humid, but we got plenty (and then some) of rain so the grass grew and nothing turned soul crushingly brown and crispy. I already know it's going to be hot. I can live with the extra humidity if it's from rain. I'd prefer it didn't flood the barn, but we can deal with that.
The B Garden has been a real treat this summer. We've had several monarch appearances already (usually not until August) and have seen several caterpillars! I'm not sure if this is just going to be a good monarch year all over (finger and toes crossed) or if we've just added enough habitat that our farm has made their map.
Our year supply of hay and straw is in the barn. The Tour de Fleece was fun and productive. I pulled the big girl camera out and enjoyed taking some nice pictures. Archie only nearly fell off a couple of things this month, Possum has fully embraced the air conditioner life, and Bea has learned what a "pup cup" from Dairy Queen is.
Onward into August!
Saturday, July 1, 2023
Sunday, June 25, 2023
B-eautiful
I was worried the B Garden was going to be a bust this year after Blossom and friends basically mowed it to the ground...twice...back in the early spring. Thankfully it survived and is really beautiful right now. I did a video tour this morning. Besides being here, that's really the best way to see everything. Well, almost everything. Here are a few pictures of some things that I missed.
I think this same butterfly has been here for almost two weeks. It's not a monarch, but still quite pretty. I've wondered if she's laying eggs on the milkweed as I'm pretty sure that's what I'm seeing and I'm even more sure that I haven't seen a monarch yet.
We added a second purple martin house last month. No one has moved in, but at least they know there is more room to expand. They have been very busy this summer.
Here is a link to the video tour. For some reason it won't let me embed it here directly like normal. It's worth a watch :-).
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
A New Butterfly
I've never before been able to spot a chrysalis out in the "wilds", but I have found two this year! Both have been on the milkweed in the raised beds, but I'm suspicious there was one in the B Garden as well as I found a newly hatched butterfly out there one morning a week or so ago.
This chrysalis was on a rapidly browning leaf and as I watched the leaves around it drop to the ground I decided to pluck this one and put it somewhere safe until it was ready to hatch. They have to hatch in the air so they can dry their wings as they expand. Opening on the ground it would not have survived.
My original plan was to move it back to the raised bed just before it opened, but as I carried it out there I saw a bunch of birds and decided to keep it on the Wool House porch, about 40' from where it was laid. That worked out okay for the butterfly as no predators grabbed it and good for me because I was able to watch and take a time lapse video.
Welcome to the world, little girl. You can tell it's a girl by the thicker black lines and the lack of two black dots on her lower wings.
I have picked up the other chrysalis and attached it the the drying rack on the porch as well. The old milkweed is fading fast. Next year I'm going to "mow" it after it blooms so it sends up new growth before the late summer butterflies arrive.
Friday, August 26, 2022
Crawling Under A Leaf
I've seen way more monarch caterpillars this year than last...but I'm still not sure they are making it to the chrysalis stage. I've yet to find a chrysalis in real life. This is not just for this year, but ever, so maybe they are just really good at hiding them. I hope.
I've toyed with collecting them and putting the porch nursery back in service. I kept all my supplies. Watching the caterpillars grow and change was really fun...but it was a lot of work keeping fresh food picked for them. Providing habitat was my go forward plan, but if they aren't actually surviving, then it's still not a great plan.
While I'm stewing on what to do, here are some fun pictures from a couple of days ago. The greens are turning brown rapidly, but there are a few younger plants that can hopefully keep everyone fed.
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Late Summer Blooms
The B Garden is in a yellow phase right now, but the zinneas and a volunteer cosmos are keeping things colorful. I'm starting to see a few monarchs and and few swallowtails. I haven't seen any caterpillar activity, but maybe soon.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the caterpillars this year. I feel like most of them, maybe all of them, were predated last summer. I'm thinking about putting the nursery back in play this year. I'd rather they lived a natural life, but if they don't make it to maturity, that's not helping anything :-/.
While we think on things, here's a fun new puzzle :-).
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
If You Build It They Will Come...Or Not
After the milkweed took off like...a weed...this spring I had high hopes for a record number of monarch butterflies this summer. I've only seen four so far and none of them stayed more than a couple minutes and I can't find any evidence of egg laying, much less caterpillars.
I can only guess that maybe the cold spring caused problems? Or maybe I should say I hope that is just the problem. I'd hate to think the loss of habitat and too many pesticides have pushed them to the point where it might be too late to help them.
Here's a short video tour of the B Garden. I have thoroughly enjoyed this messy place full of blooming and seeded out buckwheat, sunflowers, milkweed and all sorts of bright colors, shapes and sizes tucked here and there. So have tons of wild bees, some smaller moths and butterflies, lots of birds and even a couple bunnies :-).
Friday, July 10, 2020
Monarchs!
Well, one. One monarch. But more are surely coming!
How could they resist this buffet :-D.
Last year I planted milkweed seeds in two of the raised beds and my cousin and I transplanted 10 plants from the back field into the lavender garden. Nine of the 10 plants came back this year with extras on the side and one of the raised beds is so packed with milkweed plants that I haven't even had to weed it all summer.
I also planted plenty of buckwheat and scattered several packets of seed mixes for butterflies, bees and birds. There are still a few lavender plants left after three years of way too wet winters and a few volunteer sunflowers have popped up as well. I'm just now seeing some mixed flowers and I can't wait until the whole garden is blooming!
This picture shows how many milkweeds are packed in the raised bed just outside the lavender, now known as the butterflies, birds and bees garden.
This picture maybe better shows how tall they are.
I tried (once again) to plant some vegetables this spring, Victory Garden style, and (once again) in the event of a zombie apocalypse, we're going to be some of the first folks out. But, hey, we'll have lots of pretty flowers ;-).
Here's a new puzzle that ought to keep you busy for awhile. Enjoy!
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Butterfly Birthday
The first porch butterfly hatched this morning. I knew he (watch for the two black dots on the lower wings) was close to hatching so I hurried with the barn chores and came back to the house to watch. While I was killing time I decided to wash the dishes...and missed the first 30 or so seconds. Housework...
While the weather is just as ugly as it could possibly be (way too hot and humid for a September morning!), it's perfect for a newly hatched butterfly and his wings were dry and he was ready to release in just a couple of hours.
I carried him out to the zinnias and carefully turned the hamper over so the top was open, gently set it on the bench, grabbed my camera...and zip, he was gone! This was the only "release" picture I got.
He immediately got to drinking...probably because he was dehydrated because it's 9 million degrees...well, 90 degrees...
He had lots of company. I thought this delicate butterfly (moth?) was very pretty.
And a swallowtail! I usually don't see many of those, but I'm hoping after all the caterpillars I found this summer there will be a big influx in the next week or so. I need to look up their hatch schedule.
Better than tv!
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Caterpillar Camp
The nursery is back open for business. Sigh...
I planted a bunch of milkweed seeds and plants this spring in hopes that the caterpillars could all grow up out in the "wild" this year and I could just walk out and enjoy them without all the set up and care...and what I think I did was plant a flashing neon sign that says "ALL YOU CAN EAT CATERPILLAR SMORGASBORD!" :-(
This is mostly what I see. There was obviously a caterpillar here not too long ago. The leaf has been eaten and the green balls on the next leaf down are caterpillar poop...but there is no longer a caterpillar.
My first thought was birds, but I think a bigger culprit is wasps. I see them swooping in and around the plants all day long. There are apparently several that are known to eat caterpillars. While I am a firm believer in live and let live in situations like this and that maybe surely wasps have a productive purpose in life, my fun trips to the milkweed gardens...have not been fun.
Frequently I see this - a baby caterpillar happily eating away on a fresh leaf, just the way nature intended. I have yet to see one make it to maturity. They are now coming in to the nursery where they are probably not as happy...but they have a much better chance of staying alive and turning into beautiful monarch butterflies.
In order to put the cut stems down in a water bottle or container, I have to pull off the two lowest leaves. I almost missed this super tiny baby on one of the discarded leaves. Into the nursery he goes! At least I'll have easy access to plenty of fresh leaves this year.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Blooms
It's been a week since I last posted...and it's been a week. We're all okay, basically, but the summer has taken a toll on everyone around here...except maybe Saint Tim...who's a summer loving freak...and that's all I'm saying about that...freak ;-).
Hank has had issues with the heat and also has an ulcerated lesion on an elbow that doesn't want to heal. Salt ended up with an abscess on a foot that is slowly healing. Tilly still has her ongoing band aid butt. Renny got an infected hair follicle on a foot that had to be lanced. Big Moose got a cough that needed doctoring and now Frankie's got a hitch in his get-along. I'm getting a hitch in my get-along just trying to doctor on everyone :-o.
So it's raining AND pouring...but not actually rain...which we could use. How about some pictures of some of my birds, bees and butterfly plants?
Sunflowers.
Pink buckwheat.
White buckwheat - flowers and grains.
Milkweed mixed in with the white and pink buckwheat with some phlox from a friend in the background.
These are the short sunflowers. Somehow I got some packets that were supposed to grow to 12' and 15' feet tall. These are the 12's, but they are probably only 10' tall.
The 15's are probably only 12' but that's still a pretty darn tall plant and kind of fun.
I planted milkweed, dill and parsley for monarchs and swallowtails this year. The birds and the wasps are getting all the caterpillars :-(.
I guess I should start bringing them in to the safety of the porch when I find them, but honestly...I am mentally and physically maxed out right now...and I feel bad about that...on top of everything else. Maybe things will settle down this week and operation caterpillar rescue can commence.
A friend posted on IG that every day there is "one less day of summer". We (except Saint Tim) are feebly counting it down to ZERO.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Busy As A Butterfly
My Tour de Fleece spinning the first four days was...a bit disappointing. I did spin every day, but not the two ounces I'd "budgeted" for each day and I was slipping way behind. After some encouragement from the Wool House Crafters last night, I put my "butt in seat" this afternoon and got quite a bit done. The "butt in seat" principle may apply to other aspects of life, but I haven't fully researched that ;-).
As I worked, I watched a beautiful butterfly working the Blanket Flowers outside the front windows. I now know it's a Red Admiral. I've seen one Monarch so far, but haven't started looking for eggs and caterpillars yet. I've also seen a couple Swallowtails. I planted parsley and dill to encourage more of them and milkweed for the Monarchs. Fingers crossed :-).
Click to biggify this picture :-).
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