Butterflies

These pictures are several weeks old. We think we saw a butterfly laying eggs on the milkweed a week or so ago. There are tons of leaves and blooms on the milkweed so we are ready for round two!

Butterflies!

Yesterday morning I went outside to find three butterflies emerged and hanging from the siding on the shed! I have concluded that maybe when they say the butterflies emerge in the morning they mean daybreak- not my morning which falls around 8:00 - 8:30. This was confirmed by my aunt whose entomologist friend said it only takes a couple hours for their wings to stiffen. By the time I saw them, their wings were completely flat.

I turned around to Theo barking at this fourth one in the grass. One of its wings was bent. I helped it over to the milkweed area out of the rain. The entomologist also said that if their wings aren't stiff after a couple hours then they probably won't make it.

When I came home in the afternoon I saw this one behind the shed, but there weren't any other empty chrysalises.

This morning there were no new butterflies, but when I took Theo out an hour later there were five butterflies in the grass. One with very crumpled wings like the one you saw in the last post. I felt like I was in some kind of butterfly twilight zone. Several hours later there were two in the grass- one with the crumpled wings and another one whose wings looked like they just wilted over.

I think we need 24 hour surveillance on these butterflies.

Butterflies?

A couple nights ago we finally wikipedia'd the Monarch butterfly. Earlier that day I had noticed that there was very little green left on this chrysalis. I figured in a day or two we'd have our first butterfly. The next day it looked like the picture below. I checked on it around 11 am before running errands and it looked like it was still there when I got back. Fifteen minutes later I took Theo outside and the butterfly was gone. We had read that the butterfly will emerge in the morning and take quite a while for its wings to stiffen. So what happened? 

This morning there were two more empty chrysalises. I spotted this butterfly on its wings on the ground. It wasn't moving so i took this little stick and gently touched its legs. To my surprise it grabbed onto the edge of the stick. I put the stick in the ground and the butterfly moved its wings and hung on. I went to work today so I couldn't keep an eye on it, but Michael saw it when he got home and his wings looked about the same. 

Is something getting my butterflies? Is it too windy? Can they not hang onto the shed siding? 

More Caterpillar Fun

Accidental Gardening

Yesterday we spent the day raking the back yard. In the summer I was trying to cure some of my sickly plants with pesticide (which I really felt bad about) and I foolishly sprayed the milkweed. I killed the monarch caterpillars and I even found a dead Monarch butterfly on the ground. I felt terrible. So when I saw all these caterpillars munching away I was beyond excited! I can't wait to share these friends with baby.

The way that gardening seems to work for me is if I neglect it, it will do just fine. The rose bush at our apartment in Charlottesville had more blooms than I've ever seen on a rose bush and we paid no attention to it. Now it's our hydrangea which seemed to be struggling in the dry summer heat and the soil by the shed that seems to always stay wet. Yesterday I removed the old dead blooms and leaves and noticed pretty new blooms. Who knew?

So Long, Buckley

You were a good house plant. You never judged me for forgetting to water you. I'm actually pretty surprised you hung on for so long. Maybe it was the magic of my French flower fairy that I made at the toy store.

I guess I don't have much of a green thumb since you're the second of your kind to die on me. I'll miss forgetting to water you and I promise I'll dump you in the back by the fence return you to the circle of life soon.

Rosy

The mystery plant is growing quickly now. I think it is really happy on its window ledge. (Why is everything underlined?!)

I woke up this morning with an envie for a cinnamon roll and coffee so we headed for the weekly City Market. When we got in the car we noticed that the rose bush behind our house was blooming. Lots of buds! They smell so lovely. The best part is I didn't even do anything. I guess now we have to figure out how to care for a rose bush. I don't know what kind of rose it is but I think I shall call them "Mimi Roses" since they remind me of her roses.
Oh and I did get a cinnamon roll and coffee. (Didn't want to leave you with a cliffhanger there.) Props to The Baker's Palette for making a phenomenal cinnamon roll. We were glad to see lots of veggies and strawberries at the market, but we hadn't planned any meals for this week. We made a note to do that before we go next week.

Green Thumb

Can you see it? It's tiny, but it's there! Try clicking on the picture then it should be bigger. This is either lavender or burning love. I can't remember which pot is which. Aunt Lydia gave the two kits to me for Easter. Thanks, I'm enjoying them!

Buckley

Let me introduce you to the newest member of our household. We purchased Buckley this afternoon at Lowe's. I think he will be a charming addition to our home.