Up close and personal

While spraying the weeds, I came across this guy, not in the milkweed "forest" but on one solo volunteer outside the "meadow". I worried that he might be too late for the trip to Mexico, but late monarch caterpillars are part of the "super generation" that not only migrates thousands of miles but lives for months instead of weeks. Alas, it was gone the next day, presumably eaten by a bird. :-(

Then while weeding the meadow, I noticed clusters of red milkweed beetles. When I got too close, they began to scatter. Not sure why, as they taste terrible (according to AI) so are not prey. You'd think they would be more confrontational over being disturbed.

The container plants on the deck are now getting more sun, provoking them to bloom more. I repotted the fuchsia with plans to try to winter them over indoors. The question is whether to do so in the garage where they will be dormant or try to keep them inside the house and maintain them like active houseplants.

This geranium has been overwintered inside the house but looked ragged... until I repotted it. Right now the whole plant looks great. If I overwinter outdoor plants in the house, I should provide them with more light.

The pineapple sage is starting to bloom. It provides late summer nectar for the hummingbirds. In fact, I see a hummer feeding on the blossoms RIGHT NOW.

I've been remiss about some of the weeds and they are going to seed (BAD, BAD GARDENER!) One type of so-called weed sending fluffy seeds hither and yon turned out to not be a weed after all but wild aster. It's very prolific and the goldfinch like the seeds, so I guess I'll stop pulling it.

Most of my labor these days is weeding and mulching. I'm still picking tomatoes and strawberries, but I gave up on the green beans. The grass continues to grow, so there is mowing and trimming as well. The temps are in the 70's, sometimes 80's, so it is still summerlike but not so oppressive. We could use more rain, though.

It's alive!

I have this theory. Most houseplants are tropical in nature. They may like it warm and humid, but they don't necessarily like strong sunlight. My theory is based on the behavior of my dracaena plants. One grew so tall that it pushed against my 8-foot ceilings. I eventually just whacked off the entire top and rooted it. It's in the livingroom where it gets mostly indirect light. And, surprise, surprise, it did not grow big and tall, but just sits there like a nicely behaving houseplant should.

Meanwhile, the naked stalk just sat there, too. I began to think that since it had no greenery, it had died. I moved it next to the fireplace where it appears to keep Beau the Feline Destroyer of All Things Nice from climbing onto the mantel. Today, I noticed a leaf bud! So it is not dead. Hopefully, it won't shoot up to the ceiling again.


Recently, the NYTimes published an article by Margaret Roach about Charley Eiseman and leaf miners. Of course, I had to go out and check my plants for leaf miners. I didn't find any, but I found a few other bugs.

I should get a book on insect identification. I don't know exactly what these bugs are, but I did determine that the wasp on the oak gall is not the oak gall wasp. What this one is doing is a mystery. And he wasn't alone. I'll have to pay more attention to the littlest creatures in my backyard.

While watering (hopefully for the last time) the new plants out front, I noticed this monarch crawling along the ground. It acted as though it had newly emerged from a cocoon (which I was unable to locate). I helped it over to one of the aromatic asters, but it wasn't interested. Instead, it took shelter under a wild geranium. The next day it was gone. I wondered if it was from one of the caterpillars I spotted a few weeks ago. Could be. That would be a native gardener's success story.

I have a date for my next shoulder replacement surgery: November 30. Like an ant, I am preparing for the ordeal: cooking batches of soup for the freezer, deep housecleaning, accumulating some new jigsaw puzzles, etc. The yard will basically be done for the season then, so no worries there. And I'll have an excuse to not do anything or go anywhere for a while.

I'm back

My SO and I spent the past week in the Hudson Valley, our first major vacation since the pandemic. We thought about flying, but since we can't get a direct flight from here to there, I worried about getting stranded somewhere along the way. So we drove. And drove and drove and drove. There is a LOT of golden rod between, but not too much of anything else. On the way home, we saw the trees were just beginning to turn. In a couple of weeks, those hills will be ablaze with glory.

Now it is back to mowing and watering and weeding. While we were gone, about 1.25" of rain fell, so none of the new plants suffered. But the sickly Canadian hemlocks are definitely done. The landscaper is going to replace them.

One of the aromatic asters, the one that gets the most sunshine, is blooming its little heart out. I sniffed the blossoms, thinking that is how it got its name. Nope. The common name comes from the balsam-like fragrance it gives off when you crush the rigid stems.

I was beginning to wonder if the Clematis Paniculata was going to bloom at all this year, but it was just taking its sweet time. All the blossoms are at the top where I would need a ladder to get a decent photograph. Some pollinators are enjoying it.

The sweet potato vine 'Marguerite' I planted in containers in the backyard really took off for an end of summer burst of color, overwhelming the geranium. Next year I plan to plant it in hanging baskets along the fence. That should be quite a show.

I am very tired of watering all my new plants, but if I hadn't been watering, I wouldn't have seen these two guys munching on the butterflyweed. This photo is from a week ago, and there is no sign of the caterpillars anywhere now. A younger caterpillar I spotted yesterday is already gone, too. Monarch eggs and larvae are mostly a food source for other creatures.

Have a munchie good week.

On pause

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. The passing of RBG was quite a blow and I didn't feel like doing much of anything for several days (except eat comfort food). My son and his girl friend visited yesterday (we wore masks and social distanced), which really lifted my spirits. I hadn't seen them since last xmas.

Because of their impending visit, I spent more time housecleaning than I normally do, so less time gardening. And now the temps are a bit uncomfortable for outdoor work, again. I did relocate some coreopsis to the area under the 'Perfect Purple' flowering crab, and mulched there and under the 'Golden Spirit' smokebush.

After not seeing hardly any monarch butterflies this summer and deciding to cut down the common milkweed, I spotted this fellow. I haven't seen him since - probably eaten by a bird, yum! As much as we all love monarchs and want them to thrive, the fact is they are primarily food for other creatures.

I stopped moving transplants to the south side of the house. For one thing, there will be some work on the fence and I don't want new transplants to be trampled. Also, an area I want to move some asters to is not ready for them yet. There is still time.

The area doesn't look like much, but give it a year or two (or three).

Along the fence, ironweed, rudbeckia, coneflower, aster. Along the house, switch grass and northern sea oats, plus some aster to be moved.

I talked my SO into taking some of the extra rudbeckia I had. We positioned six of them along his neighbor's privacy fence. The soil is sandy there, so I told him to water, water, water. He likes Mexican sunflower and can plant those in between the rudbeckia next spring. I'll turn him into a gardener yet!

The backyard has been full of sparrows, at the feeders and in the birdbath and all over the weedy lawn. I've seen robins eating pokeweed berries, nuthatches fetching peanut splits, blue jays hogging the whole peanut "wreath", etc. While a squirrel occasionally creeps along the fence or the telephone wire, I have not seen any perched on the feeders, so either the dogs are being vigilent enough or else the rodents can't get to the feeders.

It's the time of year I get a little burned out on gardening, find myself wishing for snow. I have a list of what I want to finish up this year - it's not that long - so (in so many ways) I must soldier on.

It's a jungle out there!

The heat wave finally broke, so I took advantage of the lower temps and overcast sky to mow and trim and weed a bit, mostly in the front yard. I tell myself to just pull a garden cart full of weeds each day and the yard will look halfway decent, but like housework, it is too easy to say mañana.

In previous years, I have complained bitterly about the lack of blue berries on the Viburnum dendatum 'Blue Muffin'. For whatever reason - polar vortex? rainy spring? heat wave? = it looks like it will have a bumper crop this year. For the same or different reason, the bishop's weed had very few seed heads while the yarrow decided to bloom.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the butterflyweed looks good this year AND now I can report it is doing its job of attracting monarchs. This fellow hung around just long enough for a couple of decent shots.

I was equally happy to find (bumble?) bees on the bee balm, aka monarda. Many years ago I had plenty of this in the so-called meadow, but somehow it all disappeared. I'm happy to have it back with its unique scent.

In an unrelated note, I am attempting to improve my drawing skills by rendering one flower a day, in a range of mediums, mostly colored pencil or markers. Needless to say, my first efforts are obviously first efforts. For days when the weather is uncooperative, I am capturing some closeups of blossoms, so I can continue this pursuit indoors. The drawing results are posted on my IG account, under bittenbyknittin.

Here's hoping the milder weather continues for a while.

Are you tired of monarch pix yet?

Another monarch hatched yesterday. The chrysalis had turned black as its surface thinned to reveal the new butterfly within. At least, that is what I was hoping was happening.

I kept checking the habitat throughout the day, but missed the actual emergence of the adult.

The newly emerged adult butterfly is very tame, has no qualms about climbing aboard a human finger.

This time I managed to catch some decent photos of the wings, closed and open.

Some of these photos are with my Olympus SLR, some with my Samsung Galaxy phone camera. Can you tell the difference? I can't.

This fellow picked a cool and wet day to emerge. I left it perched on the outside of the habitat, then last night arranged some shelter to protect it from the rain. It is still sitting there today. Probably needs a little sunshine to get going. (Don't we all?)

Finally

A day after my last post, I went to check the butterfly habitat and was startled to find... A MONARCH BUTTERFLY! It must have been newly hatched, as it was gently waving its wings to dry them. My source said it would take 4 to 9 days for the chrysalis to hatch, and I believe this one took the full nine days.

Taking photos was a bit awkward. I tried to catch one with the wings outstretched but the shutter delay was never timed right. I helped it out of the enclosure - its feet feel sticky - and it flew away (while I chased Finn the indoor-outdoor cat away).

When the caterpillar sheds its skin as it grows, it eats it. However, the shell of the chrysalis is left behind.

Raising butterflies is not quite as simple as it seems. For the habitat I have, I would like a branching structure that reaches from top to bottom, so the caterpillars can climb, and with platforms (or something) for holding fresh milkweed leaves. Even a small tree branch would do, I think. I'll have to ponder that for next year.

Still no butterflies

There are three pupae in the butterfly habitat, but none have hatched yet. I moved the habitat outside, as I thought maybe being exposed to natural temperatures instead of the steady 74 in my house might help things along and/or acclimatize the little buggers to the real world. So far, no luck. Hope everything is okay.

While gathering fresh leaves for the captives, I found this guy in the wild (backyard). I checked on it everyday, but now it is gone. Did a bird eat it? Did the dogs knock it off the milkweed? Is it pupating somewhere not obvious?

Regardless of my success or failure with the caterpillars, my heart has been gladdened by the sheer number of butterflies, especially monarchs, I see in the backyard these days. Most are nectaring on the Mexican sunflowers, along with the hummingbirds. Both are preparing for their migration south.

Otherwise, not a whole lot has been going on in the yard and garden. I finally tired of harvesting flowers for dyeing, so there is a small riot of color out there, mostly yellow and orange. The weather continues to confound - it's either too hot or too wet to do much besides mow. Speaking of which, I'd better get at it.

And we have a chrysalis!

Many moths spin cocoons. Butterflies create a chrysalis to protect themselves during the final stages of metamorphosis. (I am getting my monarch information from here. That site has better photos - I am finding it difficult to snap pix without disturbing the critters too much.)

Just hanging around

Closed for renovations

We're right behind you!

Now that the end is near for one of my monarch caterpillars, I am finding it much easier to remember to check on the habitat. To extend the main milkweed stalk, I twisty-tied a shorter one to it. Now the remaining caterpillars will be able to climb to the top of the mesh ceiling.

Out of sight, out of mind

One problem with keeping the monarch caterpillars locked away from the cat is I forget to tend them. A milkweed stalk does not last long even when standing in a jar of water. Also, caterpillars can fall into the jar of water (I rescued one). All I need to do is remember to give them fresh leaves everyday, but somehow that is too much.

Another problem is fresh leaves may also have eggs on them - or even a teeny tiny caterpillar the birds haven't found yet. I really need to get on the ball here or I will miss out on the fun of releasing a live monarch into the wild.

With all the rain we've had lately, it is all I can do to keep ahead of the mowing and trimming. Yesterday I was feeling rather blue about the yard. Today I weeded a bit, though, and discovered it's not as bad as I thought. The raised beds are relatively weedfree. It's the areas that are not protected and mulched that are problematic. In past years, my SO has helped out a LOT, especially battling weeds. This year his contribution was primarily the moving of the wood chips from driveway to backyard. That reflects some progress. Once it cools down, I will corral him into helping me tackle (my side of) the (neighbor's) privet.

A little catch-up

Sometimes I think I have too many hobbies. Other times I just seem to be inefficient or lazy. I'm retired, so all "goals" are self-inflicted, but I know I am happiest when I feel like I have accomplished something by the end of the day. Blogging tends to fall by the wayside.

Monarch update: I think I have put six caterpillars into the butterfly habitat. I'm hesitant to check the leaves too thoroughly, as if a caterpillar falls off its leaf (a common reaction to disturbance), there is no way it can climb back on.

When it's time for cocoon formation, they will want to climb up and attach to the top of the habitat, but right now there is no way to do that, either. I'd like to add another milkweed plant, but a danger of doing that is introducing a predator. The newly hatched larva are SOOOO tiny I think the smallest spiders could make a meal of them. What is a monarch foster mom to do?

August is rudbeckia season. I have some scattered around the yard; next year, there should be a lot more. Thanks to all the rain we have received, the coneflower and rudbeckia transplants are doing great (as are all the weeds). The butterfly weed is okay; it takes a while to get established.

It's easy to forget about the 'Limelight' hydrangea. It is in a corner I don't visit often except to mow, and then I am looking down, not up. I caught a glimpse of it over the fence while walking the dog the other day and realized it is in bloom.

The late season 'Royal Standard' hosta is in bloom as well. The hosta in general have somewhat recovered from dog trampling but only because I fenced off that section of the yard. I would not be walking daily were it not for the dogs, but sometimes I wonder if my health is worth all the damage they do to the yard.

I continue to pluck blossoms from the cosmos and dyers coreopsis on a daily basis, and in less than 24 hours, there are MORE. A LOT more. There is a lesson in deadheading there, I believe (although the marigold are much slower to recover from just such a denuding). Some plants are in desperate need of deadheading - those flowers are definitely DEAD - but then I see goldfinch feeding on the seeds. Maybe the birds and I can reach a compromise of some sort.

They grow up so fast!

I have little bitty monarch caterpillars! Ironically, the eggs on the first leaves I picked did not hatch (not fertile?), but after ordering the butterfly habitat, I saw a monarch laying eggs on the milkweed by the deck. I grabbed a couple of leaves from there and those are the ones that hatched.

Day 1 (or 2?)

I didn't write down the caterpillars' "birthday", so I'm a bit fuzzy on exactly when they hatched. (And I suffer from CRAFT - can't remember a freaking thing.) I *think* day one they looked like teeny tiny meal worms, but by day two the stripes were visible.

Day 3 (or 4?)

Now you can see the antennae, which for some reason just makes me go *squeee*!

Day 4 (or 5?)

The first indicator that there were caterpillars was the appearance of frass (caterpillar poop) in the bottom of the mason jar. This has to be kept cleaned up, so now not only do I pick up dog poop and scoop kitty litter, I am mopping up frass.

Frass

Initially, I set up the butterfly habitat in the kitchen, weighting it down with a couple of bricks in what turned out to be a vain hope Beau (the feline destroyer of all things fine) could not knock it over. Unfortunately, the mess sides are perfect for snagging cat claws. So now the habitat is in the bathtub, behind a closed door.

Butterfly habitat

According to the instructions, this habitat can incubate up to 30 butterflies at a time, so of course I went out and found five more leaves with eggs. It is not limited to monarchs, either, so maybe next year I'll be able to raise some swallowtails or something. Science is fun!