Monarch on Mexican Sunflower
My favorite butterfly on my favorite annual flower. That’s all.
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Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
Turf War
About 10 days ago the Washington Post had an article about a fight over one couple’s right to maintain a meadow on their property, which sits within a subdivision consisting of large homes on very large lots. This is in Loudon County, Virginia, which happens to be the wealthiest county in the nation.
Milkweed Surprise
So my friend and coworker Joanna was telling me about how excited she was to be finding Monarch butterfly eggs on what she called a “milkweed vine” in her backyard. That’s great, I told her authoritatively, but if it’s a milkweed it can’t be a vine.
The Jolly Yellow Giants
Some say that Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum), or any perennial that can top 10 feet in height, is unsuitable for a small suburban garden. I disagree.
A Summer Picnic for Pollinators
There was a lot of buzzing in the garden the other day, buzzing and fluttering. So I decided I would do a little pollinator post. Judy was out of town, though, so these pics are not be up to her usual quality.
Our First Home Grown Monarch Butterflies
So Judy and I just raised our first Monarch butterflies to adulthood. We were nervous about trying, but then we read that only about 5% of Monarch caterpillars in the wild make it to adulthood. We figured we could do better than that.
Monarch Caterpillars!
We believe strongly in doing our bit to help the Monarch butterfly, whose migrating population has declined about 90% in recent decades (you can read more about saving the Monarchs here). And so we have lots of Milkweed (Asclepias spp.), which is the only genus of host plants for Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars.
5 Native Plants For Shade
The catalogs made me do it. My intention was to add only a few new plants this spring. But then the catalogs came. Before I go to sleep, I like to leaf through the garden catalogs. I find it soothing, and I told myself I was only looking. There’s no harm in looking.
Plant Breeder, Spare That Coneflower!
Excuse me while I go on a little rant. This year’s plant catalogs are starting to arrive, which is generally a wonderful thing. However, some of those catalogs are touching a sore spot with me: namely, the never-ending supply of ugly and unnatural varieties of Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).
Savoring Autumn Awesomeness
It’s the middle of October already. I’m already starting to mourn the passing of autumn, which is rough because I’m still not over the passing of summer. Anyway, at the risk of being repetitive, I’m posting some pictures taken earlier in the month.
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