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Sunday, July 9, 2017

Butterflies and Bees

One of my favorite pastimes is watching the bees and butterflies enjoying the bounty of our island beds.  This year seems to be shaping up to be a good year for them.

This lovely pink flower is much beloved by the pollinators of all types that visit our garden.  But I have no idea what it is!! 


In fact, at it's base, I have a sign which states "I don't remember planting this"!  The very fact that it has taken hold and is thriving so well leads me to believe that it is, in fact, a weed.

If anyone knows what it is, I would really appreciate if you could let me know in the comments.   here's another photo, showing the forming seed heads.


The bumblebees also love the Salvia Greggi., there are usually at least five of them bumbling from bloom to bloom at any given time.  They make me smile.


Another visitor this week has been this Black Swallowtail on the Dallas Red Lantana (at least I think think it's a Black Swallowtail).  I haven't had much luck getting a good photo of it's wings to ID it with.  I tried again earlier today with no luck at all!


I have better luck taking photos of Gulf Fritillaries.  They seem to like landing on blooms to eat, rather than fluttering around like the Swallowtails do.  Makes the photos much easier.  Here's one on the Violet Queen zinnia. 


Here's another one enjoying the Profusion zinnia.  You can also see the sign I mentioned earlier in the post.


I'm also seeing Monarch butterflies in the garden. This looks like a female, so it's not one of the ones I released a couple of days ago from my Monarch Nursery, which were both male.  


Speaking of the Monarch Nursery, I still have 4 chrysalides in the enclosure in the bathroom.  Here's a photo of some of the caterpillars before they changed.



And here's one who has left the milkweed and climbed to the top of the enclosure to make his chrysalis.  

I'll probably get a lot more caterpillars and chrysalides later in the year, as the Monarchs prepare for their migration.  Last year I had a total of 30.  I'll see if I can match that this year :-)  Wish me luck!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Thursday, July 6, 2017

It's a Boy!

When I got home from work this evening, I went to check on my caterpillars, (now all chrysalides) and was thrilled by orange flapping in the corner of the mesh enclosure.

The first Monarch butterfly had hatched and was eager to be released!!


I carefully wrapped my hands around it and carried it outside to the patio, with my husband opening doors along the way.

Once on the patio I opened my hands ago let it go.  The butterfly sat there for a moment, opening its wings slowly to show me that it was a beautiful boy, and then he flew up, up, up and away. Gone without a second glance!

I do wish I had got a photo of him sitting in my hand, but he didn't hang around long enough!

I've got five more chrysalides in the enclosure, so perhaps I'll have better luck getting a photo of one of them in my hand.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Happy 4th of July!!

As a departure from my usual garden blogging, today I'm celebrating the Independence of my adopted country, the United States, with these images and quotes.  I hope you enjoy them.  Wishing you all a safe and happy Fourth of July.




Where liberty dwells, there is my country ~~ Benjamin Franklin


America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination ~~ Harry S. Truman




With freedom comes responsibility. ~~ Eleanor Roosevelt





Freedom is never granted. It is earned by each generation. ~~ Hillary Clinton


Images from Pixabay/Pinterest.