The Lost Season

The weather this gardening season has not been conducive to gardening.  We had cold weather up through May.  Then the rains came and continued to come for weeks on end.  I watched helplessly as the weeds took over everything.  After the rain, the staggering, breath-stealing heat and humidity hit and it has been like that for a very long time.  The bugs are bad, the weeds out of control and the garden is a mess.  I can only think that fall may finally offer some relief and allow me to spend some time outside.  The weather is changing and not for the better.

On the bright side of things, I've had a bumper crop of monarchs this year.  The milkweed bloomed during the constant rains and I feared that there was no nectar to be had.  I guess the plants provided them with places to lay eggs because my front porch is decorated with the lovely little jade green jewels.

So far there have been 6 of them and one caterpillar that didn't make it, the spiders got him (which I also have a bumper crop of this year!)  However I did spy this guy last night and have been watching him to see the amazing process.

He's hanging off our handrail, a much safer place than the logs of the porch as the spiders love all the corners a bit too much.  

So far 4 of my wards have taken flight, one I rescued yesterday morning as it was sitting incredible close to a very large orb weavers web and since I could not find the spider I didn't want it getting any ideas.  This morning I was fortunate enough to spy another hatchling and nab a picture of it.

To me this is such a special gift, to know that my little patch of milkweed is providing what these beauties need to continue their life cycle.  So many humans do so much damage to this amazing world of ours, not realizing that each insect, animal, and plant has a part to play in the web of life.  All I can do is tread as lightly as I can and cause as little harm as possible.

While I was snapping the picture of the monarch, movement caught my eye and lo and behold the orb weaver appeared.  I suspect slightly chafed with me for stealing the meal yesterday!

I was very surprised to see how small this one was in comparison to the web it has.  The web (which I have no idea how to get a photo of) is about three foot by three foot around.  It's massive and is connected to the porch swing, the top of the porch and the birdhouse hanging from a hook as well as the lower rail!  This spider was not messing around when it made its home on my porch.  

For now, I sit inside and watch the weeds grow and flourish.  My mother laments on the critters that come to her yard and eat her plants.  I would love to have something that would eat the stiltgrass and whatever this noxious weed is that is taking over everything, however, Randy continues to say no to goats.

Everyday is full of gifts..

We get gifts everyday in our lives, I think a lot of the time people don’t realize it.  Me, well I find wonder and joy in the smallest of things, a spiders web in the sun, a tufted titmouse taking a bath, the mother deer and her twins eating from the wildlife feeder.  All of these things are special to me and they make me smile.  Over the course of the last couple of weeks I got to witness something that I’ve never seen first hand and I want to share that gift with you now.
It all started when my mom bought some Swamp Milkweed plants from Butterfly Bushes.  Rose the proprietor raises Monarch butterflies and at least one of the plants that she sent to my mom had a hitchhiker.

Meet the Monarch Caterpillar.   They feed entirely on milkweed plants, which in turn make the lovely Monarch butterfly that they turn into something that will make anything that eats it pretty sick since milkweed plants are poisonous.  These caterpillars face a variety of threats in the wild and unless you are completely out of touch with reality you know that Monarch populations have been on the decline. So in the fashion in which I was raised my mom decided to give it a safe home and constructed an threat free environment for the caterpillar.  However, my mom had a trip planned and wasn’t going to be able to take it with her and since I grow an abundance of milkweed plants, she brought it to me.
I added a small stick to the cage when I collected milkweed for it so that the cutting would be propped up and so that the caterpillar would have a way to access the top of the cutting.  Within two days the caterpillar was hanging off the stick in the shape of a “J”
 
Now this process happened so fast I could barely believe it!  The next time I checked on it this is what I found.

There is the skin of the caterpillar and it was replaced by a lovely green chrysalis with beautiful gold details!  It looked soft at first but it seemed to harden over the course of the next few days. From July 16th till the 27th this is what it looked like.
On the morning of July 28th I was startled to see this.

My first thought was something was wrong, until I looked at it closely in the light and saw this.

How amazing, how truly wonderful to see that wing inside like that!  It’s absolutely beautiful, the rich orange, the black and that gold! It was a matter of minutes before the butterfly emerged!

Wonder, awe, joy, nature is amazing as this beautiful butterfly emerged, it’s wings damp and droopy!  I watched as it gradually pumped up its wings to full size.

It takes about 6 hours for the Monarchs wings to harden.  It just hung on the stick all day and every so often it would open it’s wings ever so slightly and then return to the closed position. How wonderful to see the skin, the chrysalis and butterfly together!
Finally though the time came when it was ready to be released, it began to walk around with it’s wings open and continually head for the top of the cage.  So outside we went close to flowers that were blooming so that it would be able to find food if it wanted.

It seemed hesitant at first, or perhaps it was enjoying the first rays of late day sun on it’s wings. 

Slowly, the Monarch walked up the lid to the edge, it slowly opened and closed its wings once, twice, three times and then it took it’s leap off the edge of the lid.  It flew in a circle around my head and flew up into the air.  I’d like to say that it fluttered softly to one of my awaiting plants and ate because that sounds much better, but that isn’t the case…

Up it flew and landed on my dragonfly flag!  It stayed perched there for quite a while, so long in fact that I had to come in and eat dinner!  The next time I went out to check it was gone. 
I feel so blessed to have been able to witness something so magical first hand.  I wonder how many people ever get to experience something so truly amazing.  Everyday is full of gifts, we just all need to take more time to see them and realize that they exist!  I’m pondering now how I can raise butterflies because this is something that I’d love to witness again and again….

For the bees and other pollinators!

Butterflies are easy to love, they make people happy, they make you smile and admittedly they are beautiful!

There isn’t much not to love about them, they don’t sting or buzz around your head and as guests in the garden they are some of the most polite ones around.  Butterflies also have loads of written material, there are volumes of books, magazine articles and websites dedicated to attracting, feeding and housing these winged beauties.  I’ve planted many plants based on butterflies and luring them into my gardens and it has paid off in having a wide variety of these wonderful creatures around.
 
 
What about the bees though?  What about those hardworking little pollinators that without, we would have fewer blooms, fewer fruits, fewer vegetables?  Where are the books written in favor of them?  Where are the websites dedicated to helping you plant flowers that will help to feed them or magazine articles telling you about the solitary ones that need a patch of dirt to make their home in?  Even when digging on the web looking for such information I can tell you it isn’t easy to find!


Bees are the silent hero’s of the gardeners world, without them our gardens would not be the same.  Bees are afterthoughts to a lot of people, or they are feared because they are believed to be aggressive.  Sadly lots of people mistake honeybees for yellow jackets (which are wasp) and kill them!  As gardeners that like to eat produce and stop to smell the flowers we need the bees, it is time they got a little more love, a little more respect and a lot more attention.  Take some time to watch the bees and be thankful for all they do for us!