We had a very productive last summer. We raised and released 48 Monarch butterflies. We took in 50 eggs but only 48 made it to butterflies. The whole process was much more time consuming than beekeeping. To prevent disease, we changed Milkweed leaves and cleaned the nursery tanks daily. Once the last butterfly fluffed it wings out in the garden, a sense of accomplishment and … Continue reading Raising Monarch butterflies
Raising More Monarchs This Year: As much as I want to complain about the heat and heavy rain, the garden seems to enjoy it. The lawn that I haven’t invaded with extended garden yet is lush green. Vegetables and flowers are growing profusely. Except for tomatoes, the heirloom types don’t do well at all. And insects, they follow their food in. We are happy to … Continue reading Monarch
Time To Recognize Our Little Friends The United Nation has designated May 20 as World Bee Day and this year is the first observance of this day. I’m so happy that the importance of these little pollinators is finally and officially recognized globally. Hopefully it will bring a change in the rules and regulations to help make the environment safer for them, protecting them. You … Continue reading World Bee Day
Some Colors In The Garden I see the spring light at the end of the tunnel, a little dim but still a cheerful light of hope. Snow still covers the majority of the garden but in the bare specks there are colors. Crocuses in the front yard bloomed nicely this year. Last year they became deer food. At least deer left the bulbs alone so … Continue reading Spring At Last
From Garden Spiders Spiders can evoke nightmares and cause many people to pause or scream. For us, they are friends. We have plenty of them in the garden and some in the house which we don’t mind as long as they stay in the corners. I should point out that they keep the house flies in check for us. The webs they create always fascinate … Continue reading Happy Halloween
More Of Them This Year The population of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) has been dwindling down to a point of concern that they may be heading toward extinction. With a small patch of garden, we try our best to help them by letting the Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) grow. It’s the only plant that Monarch caterpillars eat. I didn’t grow the first milkweed. It came … Continue reading Monarch
The Guest Who Came To Breakfast I came out to make coffee in the kitchen this morning and found an unexpected guest resting on the kitchen sink. I can’t really say ‘unexpected’ since I expected him to show up sometime in the near future but not this morning. He has been lounging in his chrysalis next to our kitchen sink for the last couple of months, a totally … Continue reading Yellow Winter Butterfly
Spring Already? Tomorrow, December 22 will be the official first day of winter but Mother Nature didn’t get the memo. Day time temperature will be over 50° F for the next few days and night time will not be much lower than that. In fact, in this area Christmas Eve is predicted to be 70° F during the day. The sad part of this unseasonably warm … Continue reading Fooled By Nature
Ode to a Honeybee In Late Autumn We are having a warm autumn this year. The daytime temperature is still hovering above 50° F on most days but drops back to slightly above 30° F at night. We had frost for a couple of days early on in the season which killed off most of the garden. So there is not much left for the bees. Honeybees … Continue reading Last Resource
Busy Little Lady Anywhere I look in the garden I see buds on stems and branches. New shoots sprout up from soft cold ground. Some leaves start to unfurl and early flowering plants and trees are blossoming. A new colorful season has started, a new life cycle. Spring is always a busy time of year for me. I have started to do a little clean up. … Continue reading Ladybugs
Petals and Wings 