Howdy y'all... I am so SORRY I haven't been on DG since July!!! I have been so busy with my crafts & bazaars & the heat of the summer here made me ill, so I just lost track of time & of course with Christmas things just kept getting busier!!
I had GREAT success in my garden last year.. thanks to all the advice I got form you folks I managed to have a few Monarch caterpillars on my ONE planter of milkweed.. however what started out at 12 "babies" soon became none with me catching a Grackle pecking at the only larvae I got!!! I thought that Monarch caterpillars were yucky to "eat" for birds so I was very upset to say the least!!
That being said, I did get a few irregular species like a black & blue butterfly, which I don't think was a ST... of course I got a lot of Painted Lady & Sulphur.. I have a lot of photos to go through so I will post them when I can. I only had a few Monarchs during October migration.
I had hummingbirds though, for the first time & with me planting new plants that are for butterflies & hummers I will hopefully be more successful this year!
I hope to be on DG more than I have been, but wishing everyone a Blessed 2010!
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 72
Yes, please post pictures...in winter there is a butterfly picture shortage here!
Mine is on the way north... hope it doesn't freeze,,, LOL global warming.? Suppose to be in low 20's or teens for a week here (at night) 40;s in daytime. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Elaine
One of the 5 GF's that have eclosed so far lately. Another deep freeze on its way. Guess I need to check the vines outside...I bet there might be more cats.
I had an egg on a small Passi that I brought in. It had hatched and the cat almost ate the whole plant before I noticed. I have some of the evergreen Blue Crown to feed it and will hope it will make a chrysalis and stay until spring, or at least a warm day. Last winter there were cats all through the winter, but it has been an unusual cold winter so far and I think a lot of them froze. The frits are hardy ones and will bounce back I am sure.
I've still got another 10 monarch's to eclose, one will today, and we're having record lows here freezes last night and for the next 3. Still got 5 Zebra Longwings hanging on a passi that I had brought in. They should be eclosing very soon too. Hoping they take their sweet time for a little warm up later in the week, but there won't be alot of nectar plants for them left by then.
I saw where you guys are having really cold weather this year. It dropped very low last night and the frostweed burst again. This one was the stump of a very large stand that was cut back after it burst with our first freeze.
Hey, explain that bursting to me, please.
The Frostweed gets it's name from the display that is caused when it freezes and the stems burst open and the sap creates the sculpture ice formations. Isn't it cool looking? It is also a host and nectar plant for the butterflies.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=VEVI3
Yes, it's very cool looking. I always thought the flower had something to do with the name.
Popped in to get a BF fix and to think warm thoughts! Waiting for spring and hoping this year will be better for BF's!
I hear ya' Nanny! I got a field guide for xmas and also got Insect Identification with over 500 butterflies for my ipod. Now I'm all ready for some BFs. I did have a bad year for them, except for monarchs.
I read about your field guide that sounds really cool....may check that out! ipod thing would be cool too...except I don't have an ipod! lol Have thought about one though if I dont get a new camera.
Dreamed of BF's last night...think that is an omen of things to come??????
ha! I had the same thing. think i'm a bit anxious for spring! The application is for the iPhone/iPod touch (which is what I have). I also got a bird id app. fun. But it just made me soooo anxious to see some BFs
I am ready for training to start on the Butterflies in the Garden at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Conservatory this year. I worked it when it was here three years ago and love being in the excessively warm butterfly filled environment. They need volunteers to work, it is the whole month of March; so anyone that is around the area and interested contact them. www.fwbg.org
It is an awsome learning experience and great volunteer opportunity.
oh that's cool!
Ooooh wish I lived there!
Check with a Conservatory in your area, I know that others do the same thing. It is well worth driving to see. Here is a sample shot. Even if you don't get to work the exhibit it is worth going....don't forget your camera. People took pictures with phones but they couldn't zoom.
This message was edited Jan 7, 2010 9:12 AM
oops doubles
This message was edited Jan 6, 2010 8:29 PM
Hey Sheila:
Glad to hear that you're going to be working the exhibit at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens! We had our USDA inspection yesterday (and passed with flying colors) and are gearing up for the event. I've made the orders for the butterflies and we should start getting our first shipments the second week of February. I know we're planning on taking the volunteers through the conservatory at some point before the opening. I'll be doing a portion of the training so come up and say "howdy".
Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com
I am hoping to make this year, but it depends on the work schedule we have here.
I will Dale! I plan on being there the first day of training so I can sign up for a conservatory position. I worked on weekends only last time, but now I am retired and can work any hours. Glad to know you will be heading it up again, you did a super job before. It was also a great training session last time.
Josephine, even if you can only work in the minimum hours, (two 4 hour shifts I think) don't miss it. The training and walk through of the conservatory was a fact filled experience.
I will do my best to get there.
Gotta love that Erato!!! We get them here on rare occasions but they don't stay put long enough for a good photo.
BRRRRRR!!!! It's cold out here. Okay, probably a warm day for ya'll from way up north - but for us LRVG'ers (Lower Rio Grande Valley - located in the south tip of Texas) used to 100+ weather - anything below 75 is a cool front and anything below 60 is downright COLD! So getting a dose of 20-30 something temperature is a crime!!!
Quick! Somebody call the weather police - this isn't supposed to happen here!!! Am going to be really upset if all my plants freeze - there's just no way I could cover them up - needless to say, I neglected pruning them back and all of the lantana, firebush, duranta and hibiscus are well over 10 feet tall!!! On one good note - the Green Shrimp Plants that took over my backyard will probably get zapped - at least that will keep those "Little Shop of Horrors plants" in check!!!
~ Cat aka Freezing my furry butt off :o)
Yes Cat, we are all holding our breath up here hoping the outside plants make it.
Josephine.
Well that's one thing that I don't have to worry about. THat would make me sick to see a 10 foot lantana get zapped.
I am with you Josephine and Cat. Just hoping the plants will make it. I have got most everything cut back and made sure to leave leaves in the beds until spring.
Cat...you may have saved the Lantana etc by not pruning if they had a lot of foliage.
I went out this morning and found the fish pond with a sheet of ice on it! The white is not foam. I had to break the ice to put the sump pump in. Only have a couple Shubunkin's and 7 regular goldfish, but still hate to loose them. Hopefully it will keep the water moving.
Shelia, I have two shubunkins and 4 comet and they are doing fine. I have a tank deicer in it though. I'm sure if you just have it open from a pump that they will be good.
Wow! let us just say I don't like this weather.
That is good to know Ms Ed. It is not normal for that to happen down here, so I didn't know. Hopefully by Sat this weather will break and go down below freezing.
((hugs)) I know you must just hate it. I do and I'm used to it.
Brrr! I start shivering and my nose gets runny when it's too cold. I can just imagine living where it's cold most of the year! It's supposed to be 15° tonight. Guess some of my plants won't survive that!
Well Linda. It's depressing to say the least. I don't imagine you have enough sheets and blankets down there to cover everything well enough.
Well, the sun came out and heated things up for a bit but the chill came back around 5pm. Getting downright cold out!!! The pond at the ranch had a 1/8 sheet of ice completely covering it...as did the dog's water dish, the dog's plastic swimming pool and all the birdbaths :o)
The butterfly population at the ranch is pretty much non-existent. I did see about a dozen Dainty Sulphurs once the sun came out though. Am pretty impressed those little ones were still on the wing considering how chilly it was.
What happens to fish when ponds freeze over? Guess they can still survive with the oxygen in the water? Still must be really cold for them. Not sure whether any frogs were trapped under the ice. I ended up breaking it apart and the sun melted the rest of it fairly quickly. It's supposed to freeze over again tonight.
I came back to the city and am happily watching the Dallas Cowboy football game and enjoying the aroma of freshly baked cranberry walnut sourdough bread :o) Baking warms up the house and well, it makes the house smell soooooooooooo yummy!!!
~ Cat
Hi Cat....we got to 12.7° here. Yes, I ran out of sheets and blankets and such....not enough to cover that much, mostly just the pots not in the shed. I know the shed I kept some of my potted plants in got below freezing in spite of the small heater...not surprising, but at least those will be okay.
Don't know how the GF's that eclosed lately will survive when I let them go. I've got maybe half a dozen eclosed butterflies in containers now, can't keep them very long. Last winter we had GF's outside during the winter.
12 degrees?!!! YIKES!!! Okay, I'll stop whining...you have it much worse than we do :o)
I did bring in a few of my choice potted plants (like the aristolochia erecta I've been babying for months) and put them in the garage. Just got done doing a couple of loads of laundry and the dryer warmed up the garage for them quite nicely :o)
~ Cat
ps...my neice lives in Ohio. She and her husband came down for Christmas and they loved our warm "40 degree" weather :o)
Mrs. Ed, you've probably had some single-digit or negative lows lately, right? My FIL lives not far from St. Louis on the Illinois side and I know they've had those kind of scary lows recently. Bad winter this year!
Why Yes, Linda. It's -9 right now. was -14 yesterday morning. At least the sun is out. yes. i have to look for the silver lining.
Did you guys up there get the extreme heat too this summer?
No, as I recall it was a pretty cool and wet early summer. We had a few weeks here and there of 90s and humidity. We had a really warm November though. But by December 1 it was all winter!