Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 56, 1 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
Thanks everyone, and so sorry to hear about your father Deb. : (

It's finally raining here now that we have a cold front moving through. I thought since things were slow it might be a good time to go around and kill the aphids on the milkweed. So naturally, I found two baby Monarch cats and seven eggs. There might be more but the rain went from a sprinkle to a drizzle so I went back inside. I haven't had Monarch cats since...probably November. And the museum hasn't had any in weeks. I don't know when a crazy Mommy Monarch managed to sneak on my property; they sure can sniff out the milkweed.

Since I've been convalescing at home I've been looking through all the new seed catalogs. I want to get some different varieties of milkweed this year. Also, I found that the John Scheeper's http://www.kitchengardenseed.com/index.html catalog has the Mexican sunflower variety I prefer. It's a dwarf called "Goldfinger". I got it as a freebie from Park's seeds years ago and it was a resounding success. Dad likes it, too. I know Mexican sunflowers are excellent butterfly plants so I feel like I should grow them again. Plus, they go from seed to bloom in just over two months (at least in FL) so I can get several "crops" of them through the year as they readily reseed themselves. I just have to thin them out or they get scrawny and don't bloom. All the catalogs sell the "Torch" variety and I've tried those but I prefer "Goldfinger".

Other than my surprise Monarchs, it's mostly been the Gulf Frits around here. Mom saw one of the winter-colored sulphurs the other day. Of course, I ran outside just in time to see it fly to my neighbor's house. I was explaining how the sulphurs get more spotty and have a pinkish tint in the winter. Dad found that interesting; Mom was excited to see something new.

Quite a few of my bromeliads are blooming which is nice since the butterflies have died down. I redid the landscaping at the front of the street and moved a lot of bromeliads out there. I was running out of room in the backyard and I figured since I take care of the front, I can put whatever I want out there, LOL! But I'm pleasantly surprised as the morning sun has been turning my bromeliads all sorts of pretty colors. Sometimes I see butterflies land on them and I wonder if they get confused and think they're giant flowers. I have yet to see one sipping water out of them but I'm sure it's possible.

Here's a picture of my Monarch baby!

Melanie (who enjoys being on short-term disability more than she should)