DAILY PICTURES # 110

Lily love, I think you saw a Monarch since Viceroys do not occur in CA. By the way, I hope the butterflies find your lovely place soon.

Here are some pics from this morning.
1. Nectar Garden - Lots of glads and linaria blooming, zinnias, opium poppies, and verbena
growing good!
2. Tweedia caerulea - Already setting some pods. I think I still have some seeds if anyone
wants some.
3. Baby birds in the rat-tail cactus pot.
4. Awww their sleeping.

Pics

Memays, Spicebush cat sure is a big eater.

Nice butterfly house.

CA ivy I'm hoping I do better with them this year. I tried last year but a freak summer storm blew my cat away. Hence the condo this year. They are pretty small right now but checking them daily. Did you raise them? How long is the cat stage? I was good with gulf frits they were easy took about 2 weeks as cats and less than 2 weeks to eclose.

Thanks D. - My daughter hasn't finished the design yet but it's big enough to just stick potted plants in.

memays, really nice set up butterfly house/condo. I love those Spicebush cats. they are too, cute the way they try to camouflage themselves.

Domehomedee, those 'Blue MW' I so do like 'em. Do they germinate easily in sandy soil? I used to have a pot of it, and lost it.

It's nice to be able to put a couple pots of the host plants in. I have a huge house, like 4' x 4', as I'm on acreage. I need to get out there and weed and clean it out before the Monarchs cats arrive. Here's a butterfly I caught a picture of today.

Yeah. Monarch! !!

Likely be a while before I see any , am seeing Red Admirals Here's the Milkweed patch , not all there is ,, Blooms are the avatar ,

I am enjoying your flower and baby animal pics

This message was edited May 20, 2015 10:03 PM

I've had a lot of luck germinating the blue milkweed just out in my greenhouse. I imagine a little heat is needed to get them started. They will live for years if they don't get too cold. We get a light freeze here on occasion and I haven't lost one yet. And I have had them go completely dormant and loose all their leaves and still come back, it's best not to cut all the old growth as sometimes it will sprout new growth. Dmail me your address is you want some seeds.

I would love to trade for some of your blues MW Domehomedee. I have some Lotus seeds I'll exchange for the seed pod that you have. Other seeds that I will have in the near future are that of tropical MW (orange blooms).

juhur7 - I have that MW but here it will never bloom! Is it native in your area? It's A. Syricia right?

Yes a Syrica it is ,, While it is not recommended from information ,, try a little water and fertilizer , see if it makes any difference ,, Sometimes after they been growing already they will ,

The ones that grow along roadways in extremely dry places I had never seen them bloom like they do in the yard either .

Seeing Red Admirals , and Silver Spotted Skippers here , not many others so far ,, A blue spring Azure yesterday I noticed ,

Lily - Dmail me your address and I'll send you some seeds.

Sheila and Ju, I'm nourishing those pretty Syrica MW in container (transplanted from a shady spot in the garden) in hope that it will finally bloom for me this year? Ju, what time of year was it that yours make flowers? I spent a week away on vacation couple weeks past. I came home and my Syrica MW wilted, but it sprung back into life when I watered it. I was lucky. lol

Domehomedee, thank you for your offer, unless I can send you something in return. I don't feel right to impose on your generosity. Thank you all the same.

Usually from July on , those Syrica Bloom , This year ,likely earlier for a few of them ,, warmer , hotter ,,, oh , my ,, when July and August come rolling in ,,


Some pics now today

1 Syrica bloom forming
2&3 Stinging nettle , with rolled up Red admiral larvae likely

juhur, is the stinging nettle by your house or somewhere by a creek ? Ouch, makes me itch just to think about it.

I have been keeping a clump near the house for years .. Now I am keeping two pots of it , tearing out the random everywhere volunteers ,,
Several Question Mark and Red admirals Have been using it the past few seasons ,

Like Onions the Hotter the weather , the hotter the sting , They don't make me itch , they never did , on occasion , and the first time I walked through a bunch of it years ago ,, it stings like a big Thistle and then burns ,
Years ago that first time , I felt nothing until the next day ,, I looked like an orange , and wow ,, I could of past on that memory ,,!!!
Besides it was a good deterrent when the kiddies were younger about sneaking out their bedroom window .. it was right right there and couple felt it and bounced right back in the house ,, Yes , I am mean ,, I don't like sneaky ,,

juhur, thanks for the vivid funnies. An orange complexion and screaming kids with nettle sting. Yes, you are ornery but very funny.

By the way, my first Monarch of the season. Ya !!! Nectaring road edge milkweed in Fort Chaffee. Missing part of left forewing and all of left hindwing. What a tough butterfly. Male or female ?.

I swear that it has rained every day the month of May. Only a couple of years ago we were chanting a rain dance; now it's "rain, rain go away".

Yes plenty rain here too! A lot of flooding around Texas, so far we have been spared. We got a short storm last night that dumped 1.75 inches. This is only about the third day of lengthy sunshine we have seen in three weeks.

That A. Syrica milkweed has underground runners that have extended 5 or 6 foot in places. Sure wish the Monarchs would use more it here. It gets very little action.

Rain, rain go away. Sunshine a coupe of hours yesterday. So a quick trip to the Cherokee Prairie near Charleston, AR. Lots of lovely flowers, butterflies, skippers and dragonflies. The butterflies were photogenic and not skittish. A rare sighting of a Jaguar Flower moth. A fun 2 hours in the field.

Great pics. there C_A_Ivy. what kind of camera is yours? Sheila, so the Monarch do not use the A. Syrica? Ju, how about where you are, will Monarch use them as hostplant?
Here is my 'native' MW to our region the tuber kind. They're slow to bloom in my shade garden.

Lily_Love I have Tuberosa , the only ones the Monarchs seem to to be attentive unto are A syrica . A Cynachum , and A Incarnata ,, these are all I have seen larvae on . There are , four or five native to your Alabama , A , Incarnata , Poke Milkweed , A humistrata , Tall Green MIlkweed .. I read that these are all native where you are

I keep getting camera shy red admirals ,,

Yes Indeed !!! Great pics Ivy ,,!!! Keeps us going ..

Hey !!! I finally got a picture ,, I guess walking around thinking "well worms" every time a BF would not stay still , finally gave me this :

By the Way Lily_Love , I love that pic of the Monarch also ,,


Red Admiral Larvae on Stinging Nettle ,,,,

Am in Va- and have no clue what Plant nor what bf's these are- cept maybe the cabbage white? No 2's other half wouldnt pose for me tho.

2 is the silver spotted skipper the next maybe a Meadow Frittilary ?

Yup, to skipper and meadow fritt, but means I missed the other skipper - entirely different package of red and black energy. Thanx Ju!

Looks like folks are getting to see some butterflies. I've been busy the last week with little time for butterflies and nature. But today I grabbed my camera for about an hour during late afternoon in Broken Arrow, OK. As I was resting on a patio chair, I noticed a small colorful butterfly. Wow!!! A lifer for me. A Harvester butterfly. The only butterfly that has carnivores caterpillars which eat wooly aphids.
Now where's that next lifer,Great Purple Hairstreak?

Ivy That is Great !!! Fulfillment !!!

I have seen a Question Mark and a blue Azure or two ,, only not many BF's so far ,, Got to get some blooms happening ,

Hey all, can I just say my spicebush STILL has not gone to chrysalis! This cat is like super slow.

Gulf frits finally made it to Atlanta; have 4 eggs, looking forward to some faster cats.....

How's everyone's butterfly summer coming along?

memays, your Spicebush cat. is too cute, what is it munching on? It has not been very busy here as far as butterflies. I saw occasional Sulphers flitting by, some cabbage white, maybe, and skippers, but not much else. I did see a Variegated Frit. last week, so I hope I'll see more of them. Won't you send some my way, lol.

I was hoping to find more Black swallowtails, for I've dills, parsleys and in the fields there are so much Queen Ann's Laces blooming, but I haven't seen any of them yet. I'm kinda blue being caterpillar-less.

This week Red Admiral , Cabbage White , and Blue azure , that is all , only few of these ,,Slow season ,, Milkweeds beginning to Bloom , a few host plants , only very , very few Butterflies ,,
Stormy Humid weather may have something to do with that ,

Nice memays ,, were hoping ,,,

No pic , National Pollinator Week , begins today !!!

Happy National Pollinator Week everyone!

Okay, ok, I took the picture. But it isn't remotely my own garden setting. That's the very Butterfly house in Chattanooga Tenn. Aquarium exhibit. Enjoy butterfly gardening to all my friends here @ DG.

Here is another one. I've no idea what the species are those.

I love seeing the exotics at the butterfly exhibits, aren't they fun? Of course, I never remember what they are!

The spicebush cat is eating spicebush. I have 3 of them in the yard 2 are doing well, one is NOT happy - I'm hoping it pulls through.

There was an interesting chat on NABA over the past weekend; a lot of folks were remarking the butterflies are making a slow start this year with the weird weather - best advice was to stay patient. Easy to say, harder to follow - the good thing is that there are a fair amount of NABA butterfly counts and field trips coming up, so there is something that can be done even if it isn't in the backyard if need be.

And Happy pollinator week to all the DG crew!

Memays , hoping for your cat

lily _ love , the first a Pearly Eye ?

Here it is !!! the first large BF of the season!!! YAY !!! ,, a Frittilarie , A great spangled or a very , very large Meadow

Feeding on Syrica Milkweed ,,

juhur7, a nice Great Spangled frit. I've seen several on my backyard pink coneflowers this week. Must be the season for them. Also spotted several Coral hairstreaks on the Black-eyed Susans. Beautiful red spotting and tailless.
Rain has been a bain this year in western Arkansas for butterflies. Hopefully some summer sunshine soon.