Author: Lilac

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Butterflies in the TheGardenLady’s garden and in Cape May

 

ThisGardenLady was just out raking leaves- not the first time this summer. (In another post, I will write more about the trees on my property that make raking a year round endeavor). Just as I was about to start cursing the trees, what looked like a fresh young Monarch butterfly flitted around in front of me, going from flower to flower, to take me out of my evil frame of mind. It was so fresh looking, it must just have emerged from its chrysalis.  This Monarch stayed near where I was raking for quite a long time so that I could enjoy its beauty.  Then an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail joined in.

Butterflies are one of the joys of having a flower garden. I do not have as many zinnias in my garden as this YouTube lady has, but you can see how butterflies love zinnias if you watch the video above.

Did you know that the Monarch butterflies on the East Coast of the United States fly to Mexico to over winter? And before they fly over the ocean, these butterflies must fill up with food to be able to make this journey. Watch this video to learn more.

 

Cape May seems to be the last stop for the Monarch butterflies on that big flight. So if readers want to see this amazing migration stopping point, drive down almost to the tip of the peninsula and island in New Jersey to the town called Cape May Point- 12 minutes south of Cape May.  Stop at the Cape May Bird Observatory in Cape May Point. Go to the Cape May Point State Park. In this area there is a monitoring program where people are tagging, counting and now weighing the Monarchs. You might be able to join in.  This tagging started on Sept. 1 and will continue through October 31.

I was told that they are seeing huge numbers of Monarchs this summer. If you walk around Cape May Point, you will see a lot of houses with signs that say the house has an award winning garden. You might even see people counting the butterflies in some of these gardens.  If the owners are outside, you can ask if you can see what makes the Monarchs so happy in these gardens.

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A short visit to the Okavanga Delta

TheGardenLady has written about her good friend Lynne (she’s the one in the photo above with the blue bandanna), who is doing Peace Corp work in Mmathethe, Botswana.  She went on a short visit to the Okavanga Delta and below she writes about her experience and shares some of her photos.

Seven Peace Corps Volunteers traveled 10 hours by an African bus all the way up to Maun where we stayed at the Old Bridge Backpackers for 4 days. Many PCV’s stay there because it is very reasonably priced. From the website it looked nice, but often those photos don’t live up to the expectations. This one did though!

The camp was situated on the river going into the Okavanga Delta. Across the way, there was an “Old Bridge,” lots of beautiful foliage, wildflowers, and the safari like tents were clean and perfect. The food was very good for a place like this, and we sat out every night dining under the bright stars and sounds of the hippo. The food was casual backpackers food, but very well done for the price. Old Bridge will schedule you a day safari, so we were picked up at 6am to travel a little over an hour to Moremi National Park. On the way in we saw giraffe, then after getting through the gate, we had a lovely breakfast at a picnic spot. After breakfast we immediately spotted a rare leopard in this park. He was healthy, strong, shy, magnificent! And then moments later, a rare cheetah leaped out in front of us. My friend got a great photo of this!

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Celebrate the Bees – National Honey Bee Day – August 18th

Pollinator by macropoulos

This Sat., Aug. 18 is National Honey Bee Day. Check out this website to see how you can help the Honeybees.

A few things to do

Is your garden a Honeybee Haven? TheGardenLady likes to think her garden is.
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Trees that Encourage Butterflies and Moths to Breed

Monarchs in the eucalyptus trees by Images by John ‘K’

Do you want to encourage more butterflies and moths to your garden? One generally thinks of planting shrubs and perennial flowers in the garden for the butterflies and moths. However you must consider that some of these butterflies and moths need trees. Some butterflies or moths lay their eggs on them and then need tree leaves where the larva will feed when they hatch. Some need trees to take shelter in. So if you are thinking of planting a tree in your yard, consider some of the trees that might encourage butterflies and moths to breed.

Here are just the needs of a few of the common butterflies or moths.

luna moth by Creativity+ Timothy K…

Starting with the Luna Moth -Actias luna, a beautiful green huge moth with a wingspan of 4 1/2 inches, that if you are lucky enough to have seen, is an exciting treat. This GardenLady has them. They love one tree TheGardenLady has on her property. The Luna Moth lays its eggs on the leaves of the black walnut tree. But the larva eat the leaves of numerous trees including sweetgum, American beech, red maple, hickories, white oak, black cherries, willows, American chestnut and smooth sumac. These are all trees that I either have on my property or are growing near my property (see here), and if you have them or are near them, you might be lucky enough to see one of these lovely moths that only fly at night.

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People Enjoy Roses in TheGardenLady’s Garden

For you… by VinothChandar

TheGardenLady wants to continue to write about some of the flowers in her garden that make people  stop and ooh and aah.  Today she will talk about roses.

There’s a reason why roses are the most popular flower in the world. Even Shakespeare immortalized the rose by writing “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

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The Gazebo – A Great Structure for the Garden

Doesn’t everyone find a garden gazebo romantic? Is it because of the scene in The Sound of Music where they sang “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”? TheGardenLady read that you can still visit that pavilion structure in Austria. I do not know where it is located.

This GardenLady finds the gazebo one of the loveliest buildings in the garden. It is the perfect spot to sit and gaze at your beautiful garden or to meditate in the serenity of your garden or to have a picnic. It shelters you from the elements and you can also have one screened in like a porch to shelter you from insects. It is sort of a dolls’ house for adults.

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Container Gardening

Hypertufa Ball by Geek2Nurse

Growing plants in containers is popular for all sorts of reasons:

1) you have little available space to make a garden

2) you are elderly or handicapped so it is difficult to garden in a garden

3) the sun or shade on your property may not be where you are able to plant in the ground

4) you want to bring the plant in during the winter season

5) containers are just plain attractive and add another dimension to your garden

Where should one begin with container gardening? Collecting containers is a start. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get containers; but if you have a fortune- you certainly can find containers at all prices.

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Perennial Plant of 2012 – Siberian Bugloss

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Variegata’ 心葉牛舌草 by beautifulcataya

If you want to plant the Perennial Plant of 2012, it is Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’. The common name is Siberian bugloss. These shade loving perennial plants have flowers that look like light blue forget-me- nots but with lovely heart shaped leaves. Jack Frost’s green leaf has a silvery grey covering on top with only the green of the veins showing through so it looks frosty.

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Plants that can Survive Outdoors in West Chester, Pennsylvania March Weather

tete-a-tete miniature daffodil by ndrwfgg

TheGardenLady received this question from someone calling him or herself “Garden Challenged”.

I’m having guests next weekend and would like to put something pretty in the outdoor planters. Any suggestions for something that can survive mid-March in West Chester, PA (outside of Philadelphia)?

Visit your neighborhood plant nurseries. I recommend checking the better nurseries in your area where they will have the more interesting plants. Look only at the plants that the nurseries have sitting in their yard. (Don’t look at any plants that they have growing in their green house or indoors. Plants they keep indoors will not be hardy if you put them outdoors in a planter.)

Any plant the nursery has sitting on their grounds is hardy for your outdoor planter at this time of year. They should have many plants sitting outdoors including some that are flowering like pansies and some spring bulbs like daffodils. If you are worried, you can also ask the nursery workers if the plants have to be taken indoors at night. Nursery people love to talk about plants and help people. They will tell you how to plant the container. If they tell you the plant cannot stay outdoors at night, they usually know what they are talking about- they wouldn’t leave plants outdoors to freeze. They would lose money and they would lose you as a customer. You don’t want any plant that has to be taken indoors at night if you are planting something for an event.

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