Category: Butterfly

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Where have all the butterflies gone?

Cabbage White Butterfly by wwarby

My yard is jumping with squirrels. The Liquid Fence I use seems to keep the deer and rabbits away, though I see deer as well as rabbits in the distance. A neighbor has 3 red foxes living in her culvert. They prevent deer and rabbits from entering her yard. And a reader from Chicago has raccoons living under his deck. So much of the animals’ territory has been reduced that all these animals are now in our backyards. And with this drought the animals are less afraid to come closer to our homes.

I have a lot of birds happily chattering and flying about or enjoying some to the plants- like the finches on the agastache.

But what has happened to the butterflies this summer? Has so much of their environment been destroyed that butterflies populations are dwindling?

The cabbage white butterflies came on schedule and seem to be as numerous as usual. I have a lot of their favorite nectar plants but none of their host plants.

Continue reading “Where have all the butterflies gone?”

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Getting Ready for the Monarch Butterflies

Caterpillar to Butterfly… just emerged from its cocoon, Monarch is feeding on orange and gold flowers of a regrown milkweed by jungle mama

Are you, like TheGardenLady, getting ready for the Monarch Butterflies?


Yellow Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail in TheGardenLady’s Garden

My garden has lots of butterflies including the beautiful Yellow Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail butterflies enjoying the nectar. But as lovely as these butterflies and the other butterflies are in my garden, for some reason in my mind, the siting of the Monarch seems to let me know that all is right with the world. So I eagerly look forward to the Monarchs arrival.

A great computer site for following the Fall migration route of the Monarch butterflies is this.  This site will be posting Monarch butterfly sightings every Thurs. starting on August 26th and continuing through Nov. The Monarch Butterfly Journal is a fun and fact-filled site for adults and kids that is interactive so you can both report your sightings of Monarch butterflies flying South as well as find out where others have seen Monarchs flying.

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I Love Animals, Especially Birds, In My Garden

Beija-flor (Eupetomena macroura) – Swallow-tailed Hummingbid 2 592 – 2 by Flávio Cruvinel Brandão

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky

by William Wordsworth

So does my heart leap up when I behold an animal, bird or beneficial insect that has returned or come for the first time to my garden.

For example, I have a number of birds nests but only one seems to have a resident each year. I know that size of opening is a major factor that determines which bird will use a certain bird house. But I also read that birds seem to like pretty bird houses and this birdhouse that has had birds build nests every year is the prettiest birdhouse on my property.  I had also been told that bird houses should be cleaned out yearly because birds can have lice and that the inhabitants need it clean. This bird house was filled so high with twigs that I couldn’t believe another bird could fit into it. So last fall I cleaned out all the all old twigs only to be entertained by this year’s birds filling the nest back up with twigs piled so high. I didn’t think anything could fit in besides the twigs but I hope they know what they are doing and lay eggs on that pile.   Check out this video clip.

I have lots of birds on this property because I have lots of shrubs for them to hide or build nests and have a stream for them to drink water. I plant flowers that I believe will encourage birds, butterflies and good insects. My soil has been amended so that I have lots of healthy worms. Robins love the worms. I have yellow flowers for the goldfinch so it is a special delight when they return. One has been tap-tap -tapping on the window.

And of course, I do everything I can to encourage hummingbirds. This year I added a honeysuckle that they love Lonicera sempervirens – coral red honeysuckle. Hummingbirds are always such a delight to see in the garden. ( I also have hummingbird moths. See here. )

I have so many birds singing at daybreak that I don’t need a rooster to wake me up each morning.

I have been spraying Liquid Fence on the plants so that deer won’t eat the ones I planted. My heart leaps up even when I see deer but there is enough wild greens for them to eat without eating dessert all the time – like my hostas are to them.  This year I have so many hostas in bloom that I hope all the black swallowtail butterflies will see them  and return. I have been counting those swallowtail butterflies that I see but there haven’t been that many.  I always had a lot of hosta flowers before deer became so prevalent and decimated these flowers. Liquid Fence has been my garden’s savior.

As I sit and write TheGardenLady post, I am often entertained by a bird resting on a branch outside in my backyard. I especially love to see the colorful ones, like the cardinals that always build nests in shrubs around the house.

I almost stopped using my front door because a delicate paper wasp nest was built. I am leaving it up for now unless someone gets stung. As much as I believe this is a beneficial insect, at the end of the year, sadly, I will have it removed.

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Save the Monarch Butterfly – Create a Monarch Butterfly Waystation

Just released... by weedsforwildlife.com

Have TheGardenLady readers ever thought of having their garden become a Monarch butterfly Waystation? Let me explain.

Everyone knows that the Monarch follows a route of migration from Mexico up to Canada in the spring and then returns to Mexico every fall. This is a herculean task and the monarch butterfly needs lots of nutrients or places to lay its eggs to survive this rigorous flight. However, the population of monarch butterflies is deteriorating rapidly. The population is down to one-tenth of its peak in 1996. This is because of the destruction of farms and the urban building of too many houses, paved parking lots and the use of herbicide resistant crops as well as pesticides.

So how can you help? In 2005, insect ecologist Chip Taylor, of the University of Kansas in Lawrence came up with the idea of creating at least 10,000 “waystations” wherever Monarchs fly. This is how people who have a garden or flower bed can help: by planting plants that monarchs need to lay eggs, like milkweed and nectaring plants for them to drink, like zinnias; these are sun loving plants and butterflies love full sun,too. Also offer a little water in a birdbath type of vessel. Monarch butterflies can and will stop at your home for much needed sustenance. And you can have the pleasure of seeing butterflies fly in your garden.

Monarch in our yard on milkweed by rowrlm

You can get your own waystation kit online here or by calling 1-800-780-9986. Kits contain seeds for milkweeds and nectar plants. You can read more about the Monarch butterfly’s need here.

The Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata is the best perennial plant for the Monarch butterfly. Another milkweed that Monarchs like is tropical Milkweed Asclepias Curassavica. New England asters Aster novae angliae is an excellent nectar plant for Monarchs. Zinnia elegans and Zinnia lilliput are also excellent nectar plants to raise. These seeds can all be purchased here.

And having these plants in your garden will also attract other butterflies besides the Monarch butterflies.

So, please, Dear Readers, won’t you plan and plant your garden with butterflies in mind?. Make your garden a “waystation” and send TheGardenLady photos of your waystation with its visiting butterflies. Help restore the numbers of Monarchs to the environment. Thanks.

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The Western Painted Lady Butterfly

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A reader of TheGardenLady blog wrote this column about an exciting happening in California on Sat., March 28, 2009.

If we were questioning the calendar, residents in the Bay Area of California knew for certain that Spring had arrived on Saturday, March 28. By late morning, it was well into the 70s and supposedly some thermometers hit low-80s mid-day. The balmy weather, blue skies, and gentle breeze sparked our mass exodus from behind TVs to local parks where all were eager to hit the hiking trails on the East Bay hills. But aside from the hoards of people on the trails, it was for the most part a typical day; while unseasonably warm it was the kind of day that we Northern Californians expect for the next 8 months.

Continue reading “The Western Painted Lady Butterfly”