Butterfly Garden Notes, May 28 - May 29, 2017

This weekend I saw a Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) in my butterfly garden.  It spent most of its time nectaring on the butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii).  It arrived around 11 am and stayed for several hours.  A male Monarch has been showing up around 10 or 10:30 am for the past several days.  I can’t help but wonder if he was born in my garden.  He'll come and go throughout the day and stays until late afternoon.

  

I checked the milkweed in the front of the house and on patio and all plants are loaded with monarch eggs.  There were at least six new monarch caterpillars on the patio milkweed and I'm sure there are caterpillars in the front garden, although since those plants aren't high up on shelves, they're harder to spot unless I go around turning the leaves over.  

A Gulf Fritillary was spotted fluttering around the zinnia although I wasn't able to get a photograph.  As usual the skippers were plentiful and also a few dusky wings came by for a bite to eat.

May 28, 2017

Mourning Cloak

 Male Monarch

 Fiery Skipper

 Funereal Duskywing

Male Monarch

May 29, 2017

Mourning Cloak

 Fiery Skipper

 Funereal Duskywing

Butterfly Garden Notes, May 21, - May 23, 2017

May 21, 2017

There has been a steady flow of monarchs visiting my garden to lay eggs.  I've also seen quite a few caterpillars both in the front garden as well as on the few milkweed plants I have on the back patio.  I try not to disturb the pots too much because when I do, that's when I usually find the caterpillars and I don't want to accidentally squash them by moving things around.  I've also seen baby praying mantises both in the front garden and on the patio which isn't good for the caterpillars, but that's nature.  I saw the first fritillary of the year fluttering around the courtyard and then stopping by to nectar on the zinnia.  The usual crew is also present:  cabbage whites, skippers, sulphers, and dusky wings.  Here are some images I took with my good camera over the weekend.

I love it when I'm able to catch them in flight.

May 23, 2017

This caterpillar was on the milkweed plant on the back patio last night.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, May 2017

I've been a little lax with my monthly postings to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but I finally got around to writing a post.  If you've been following my blog, you know I have a very small space and my entire garden is in pots.  Last year I started a butterfly garden, so that my garden wouldn't just look pretty, it would serve a purpose.  All of the plants I have are either host or nectar plants for butterflies and caterpillars.  They also serve as a nectar source for hummingbirds and bees.  Some of the plants I grow include:  milkweed, rue, passionflower vine, fennel, zinnia, verbena bonariensis, pincushion flower, lavender, lantana, cleome pentas and butterfly bush to name a few.  It's not summer just yet and the weather has been fluctuation between cool and hot, but on the warm days, I have been seeing lots of butterflies, especially monarchs, and I have lots of monarch caterpillars on the milkweed.  Here are just a few photos of my 2017 Butterfly Garden.

(Taken on May 21, 2017)

Please visit May Dreams Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, the web site that hosts this day for gardeners all over the world to share what they are growing in their gardens.

Butterfly Garden Notes May 9 - 13, 2017

Seeing lots of caterpillars.  So far all monarchs.  The garden is now doing what it's supposed to do!  Here are some photos: 

May 13

Lots of Monarch cats on this pot.

 Incoming Monarch.  This one hung around most of the day.

May 11

May 9 

Butterfly Garden Notes for April 30, 2017

I'd say the butterfly garden is coming along quite nicely.  Sunday I was home for a good portion of the afternoon, and there was a female monarch coming and going throughout the day laying eggs.  I keep seeing more eggs on the milkweed, but haven't see any caterpillars this week.  Could be I just can't find them or else they fell victim to predators.  I did see a tiny green praying mantis on the porch earlier in the week, so I know the predators are out and about.  Besides the monarch, I saw skippers, cabbage whites, dusky wing and cloudless sulphers.  Also, the hummingbirds are becoming more numerous now.  I've seen them drinking from both the feeder in front of the house and on the patio.  In addition, in the evening there has been a good number of white-lined sphinx moths.  We are just going into the warmer months now so I'm hoping the butterfly garden will be in full swing in the next couple of months.  Here are some photos I took over the weekend.

female monarch on milkweed

 cabbage white on verbena bonariensis

 skipper on milkweed

 male hummingbird

Creating my butterfly garden, Spring 2017

Over the past few weeks I’ve been preparing my garden for butterflies.  Most of the milkweed I have is from last year, so I’ve been replacing some of the old plants with fresh ones.  On Friday, April 14, I saw at least 3 new monarch caterpillars, so I know they’re out there even though they’re sometimes hard to see.  On Sunday morning, April 16 around 11 am I saw a female monarch laying eggs.  The front of the house is mostly in shade until after 12 pm, so she didn’t stay too long since it was a little chilly in the morning.  The cabbage whites are starting to come around again too.  Last year they were really interested in the catmint, so I need to make note to get more of that.  There are quite a few skippers coming around as well.  I should also mention that last weekend I saw what I think may have been an american lady butterfly.  I didn’t have a camera with me, and didn’t see her long enough to make a proper identification, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it was.

Besides the butterflies, I have white lined sphinx moths nectaring on the foxgloves in the evening.  I also spotted a tiny brown chrysalis on the patio which I think may be some sort of month.  It’s still a little early and the weather has been on the cooler side, so I am hoping that when it warms up, there will be even more butterflies visiting the garden.

At this time, there are plenty of bees enjoying the flowers.

Recently, I noticed there’s been a decrease in hummingbirds at my feeders.  I did some research as to why this could be because I was concerned since I always have an abundance of them all year long.  From what I could find, it seems this is probably due to the “super bloom” we’ve had from all the rains.  The hummers are getting their food from their natural resources (as well they should) and don’t need the feeders.  I imagine once the blooms fade, they’ll be back.  I did see a few on the feeder on Sunday throughout the day and while I’m happy they’re nectaring in their wild habitats, I admit I do miss their buzzes and chirps outside my window and on the patio.

Photos taken on April 16, 2017

Other garden notes:

April 14, 2017

My cat, Magic, watching the squirrel stealing from the bird feeder.

April 12, 2017, Monarch egg on milkweed

April 10, 2017, clematis on the patio