Since the middle of August Monarch Butterflies have been a steady presence in the front garden. There have been at least two fluttering around almost every day. This past Sunday there were three, passing through on their way south to Mexico.
Late in August some of the birds begin to fatten themselves up for their fall journey. At the same time, berries of all kinds have begun to ripen. This, then, is a good time to take stock of what kind of garden buffet is on offer for our avian friends.
Don’t you think Fruit’n’Foliage would make a good name for a breakfast cereal? It could be made with kale flakes and blueberries. Or not blueberries – too common. Kale flakes and açai berries! You heard it here first. But enough of that. Today I want to look at interesting things in the garden that aren’t …
I planted Purple-Flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus) last spring. It didn’t do much last year, but this year I’m quite pleased with it so far.
So on the Sunday before last I bought a hummingbird feeder. It was something of a Father’s Day present to myself. The Wild Birds Unlimited store was having a 25% off sale so it would have been foolish not to buy one.
After leaving our friends in Maryland, we drove over to Front Royal, Virginia, at the northern end of the Skyline Drive. On the way we stopped at the northern Virginia garden of our friend Tammy, author of the vastly entertaining garden blog Casa Mariposa. Tammy warned that there wasn’t a lot of color in her …
So the numbers are out on the eastern Monarch population in Mexico for the winter of 2015-2016, and the news is good. The Monarchs roosting in pine forests occupied a total of 4.01 hectares (a little under 10 acres) this year, more than three times last year’s 1.13 hectares (less than 3 acres). The population …
So here’s another garden we got to see during the Garden Bloggers Fling in Toronto. This was a small private garden in the Don Mills area. The owner had removed all the lawn in front and replaced it with a mix of small trees, shrubs, and perennials.
So just yesterday I posted that I was seeing only one Monarch per day in mid-September. As if in response to a customer complaint, Monarch Central seems to have dispatched four Monarchs to ensure that I don’t feel neglected. These were displaying themselves in the front garden when I first opened the door.
According to the website Monarch Watch, the peak for Monarch Butterfly abundance in Chicago should be roughly during the first half of September. However, in our garden the Monarchs seem to be on an expedited timetable. This year in July and August we would often see multiple Monarchs, as many as five at once. In …
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