Attract Butterfly Royalty to Your Garden. Welcome, Monarch!

Butterflies bring out the child in me!

I started chasing butterflies when I was five or six (that's me at age 6). When I got my first single-lens reflex camera my freshman year in college, I started photographing them.

Several years ago, I started a butterfly diary and have continued to record the butterfly activity in our yard. Admittedly, the fluttering around our yard is impacted by the number of trees we have. Shade is a blessing on a blistering hot day and when the electric bill comes due, but it also casts a shadow on a butterfly garden.

We do, however, have a precious little patch under our kitchen window that the sun shines bright on for enough hours of the day for black-eyed susan, bee balm, zinnias and a large butterfly milkweed plant--asclepias--to grow.

The pink butterfly milkweed is the caviar of the monarch world. It can be somewhat difficult to find. I ordered mine online. But, it's easy to grow, hardy (it winters over in our borderline Zone 4) and, if you let it go to seed, will send up new plants the following year. Plant it in the back of the garden, though. It grows to four feet high or so.

The pink butterfly milkweed is the caviar of the monarch world. The butterfly lays her eggs singly on the leaves and blooms of this plant. When they hatch, the larvae feast on the plant and when ready, build a stunning green chrysalis trimmed in gold specks.

This flashy caterpillar was one of 23 that hatched on my milkweed a couple of summers ago. I think I squealed with delight that morning!

This pretty lady hung around the milkweed plant for four to five hours one day last week. She fed on the blooms and laid A LOT! of eggs. Can't wait to see how many hatch.

Looking forward to having more garden royalty in the coming month.

A note about my photos:  I had fun enhancing the horizontal top photo and the collage with lovely textures from Kim Klassen.



Make it a great day!

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Thursday Favorite Things

Saturday Sparks

Frolicky Fun or a Sad Story?

That's not a garden statue. After an absence of several years, the fox are back in our neighborhood. A family of four.

We live smack in the middle of the city, but our acre lot backs to a wooded ravine that drops off to a small creek. The wildlife are abundant:  deer, raccoon, woodchuck, turkey, opossum and fox are among the most common varieties.

Year-round, turkeys call our yard home. We've had as many as 23 in the yard at a time. Generally, they visit in groups of four to seven. They scratch up the garden, trample the plants, poop all over the place, lounge under the evergreen trees and chase the ice cream truck. Despite the havoc they wreak on the yard, they're fun and interesting to watch.

A few weeks ago, this young hen proudly, but cautiously, paraded her 10 poults through the yard. We only saw them once.

Not long after we witnessed the tiny turkey parade, the foxes appeared in the neighborhood. Which is why I think we haven't seen the tiny turkeys since. I hate to speculate why they're no longer around.

Earlier this week, while these two foxes played around the yard, the fox in the top photo stood watch.

They tussled and chased each other around playing with a couple of the moulted turkey feathers that are so common in our lawn. They looked like a couple of kittens playing with a spool of yarn.

I'm glad to have the fox around to keep the rabbits out of the garden. But, I hope the young hen and her poults moved to safer territory.

Make it a great day!

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Anything Goes

Friday Favorites

To Paint or Not to Paint?

Years ago, I found this terrific metal chair at a local thrift store for $3. It was love at first sight, even though I didn't know exactly where or how I would use it.

Over the years, I collected three more. I picked them all up at the same thrift store. All at different times. All for the same low price of $3. In the back of my mind, I envisioned painting them bright colors and strategically placing them in our vast backyard garden.

They might look at home alongside the vintage bicycle and tricycle.

When I recently pulled the chairs out of the back shed where I had stored them out of sight since I purchased the last one,  I was surprised at how rich the rust and chipping really was.

I like it so much I'm thinking about not painting, but instead, simply applying a clear coat sealant to prevent further deterioration.

What would you do? Paint or not paint? Give me your thoughts by leaving a comment.

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Thursday Favorite Things

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From the Farm Blog Hop

Springtime at the Garden Gate

Many years ago I picked up a vintage garden gate at a garage sale.

Then, a few years ago, I found what looked like architectural salvage at Hobby Lobby--in the clearance aisle. There were three big pieces and I bought them all. They're probably not meant for outdoor use, as they appear to be made of plaster.

When I moved the garden gate to the front of the house a couple of years ago, I positioned one of the architectural pieces behind it to add interest. The gate sits up against the house and under the eaves, so the piece is protected from the elements. I took in over the winter the first year, but have since left it behind the gate year-round and it still looks to be in good condition.

Over the years I decorated it with different wreaths for the changing seasons.

Frankly, though, I'm not a wreath person. I've tried. I really have. Different sizes, shapes, materials. They just don't do anything for me. So, this year I decided to look for something different for spring/summer.

Saturday, when my hubby and I were at one of my favorite church sales of the year, I found what I thought could be the answer. This vintage aluminum pitcher caught my eye and I instantly visualized it full of pretty plants and hanging from the garden gate. The church lady told me this pitcher had actually come from the very old church's kitchen and had been used countless times to serve ice water at church events. How sweet.

A small digression . . . 

This church sale is one of my favorites because it's also a plant sale. Members of the congregation offer up plants from their own gardens every year. The most expensive plants are $3 each. Many are less than that. Some are smallish, but, as you can see from the photo below, many are quite large. Here are the plants I took home this year--all for only $16.

Back to the garden gate . . .

The pitcher is now filled with pretty color that stands out nicely against our house. For my taste, a more interesting solution than a wreath.

Now, for a cool drink of seasonal color . . .

Make it a great day!

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From the Farm Blog Hop

Wilson--New Look, Natural as Ever

For our household, "wild turkey" references the real thing, not straight Kentucky bourbon whiskey.

On any given day, as few as six wild turkeys, and as many as 23, make our suburban acreage adjacent to a creek their roost, dinner table and playground.

And, where flocks of turkeys shake their tail feathers daily some fallout is inevitable. With all the strutting, courting, primping and scrapping, stray feathers become a common sight in our lawn. I've been collecting them for a couple of years--since the turkeys first showed up.

Turkey feathers are so remarkable. The variation in size, shape, color and texture is amazing. From long, narrow and clearly striped to short, fluffy and irridescent, they offer tremendous versatility for use in home decor.

A couple of years ago, I introduced you to Wilson II, so named because he reminds me of Tom Hank's volleyball-turned-companion in the movie Cast Away. I've been re-creating Wilson II for several years now, using dried elements from my garden--grasses, seed pods, hosta scapes, twigs and anything else that adds interest.

To freshen Wilson's look this year, I pulled out the feather collection and combined a variety of feather sizes, shapes and colors, with plumes of feather reed grass.

A vintage metal flower frog facilitates the basic structure.

Feather reed grass creates the height, the turkey feathers add interest.

Welcome back Wilson II. Love your new "do."

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Sunday Show Off
Nifty Thrifty Sunday
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Wildly Original
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Time Travel Thursday

Up on the Rooftop--Green, Green, Green

NATIONAL PHOTO MONTH, DAY 10

The rooftop of one of the out-buildings at Vinland Valley Nursery, south of Lawrence, Kansas, always dons an array of plants.

My daughter, who lives in Lawrence, introduced me to this charming and delightful organic nursery. For the past few years, I have driven down to Vinland to buy my vegetable and herb plants. I found the best tomatoes ever there:  Alaskan Fancy. But, I digress . . .

Other photos in my National Photo Month collection that were taken at Vinland Valley Nursery are the quaint shed with its picnic table and the rusty but stalwart silo. This rooftop photo is appropriately textured with an overlay called "Organic" from Kim Klassen.

Each year, I stop to admire and snap a photo or two of the rooftop garden. Are all those little plants deliberate or volunteer? I've always wondered.


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It's Bloomin' Tuesday
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Where the Rubber Meets the (Garden) Road

{reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim, repurpose, 

respect}

Recycling and reusing tires has been around probably as long as tires have. 

Before sitting down to begin this week's feature on earth-friendly ideas, I went searching for an early 1960s photo that was taken of me flying high, standing, on a tire swing in my grandmother's back yard. 

Probably better I didn't find it. I seem to recall blue cat glasses and peddle-pushers (what we now call capris) with sneakers and white socks. What a dork!

I also hoped to find pictures of my grandparents' flower gardens ringed by giant tractor tires. No luck, there either. Not in the box I thought they were in.

My grandparents used both tractor and truck tires to create flower beds. Some were painted white, some  au naturale. Some were cut around the top edge to look like flower petals.

The tire swing of today makes my modest model of yesterday seem awfully mundane. What kid wouldn't want one of these?

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Recycled tire planters have come a long way since the '60s, too. 

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Rochelle at Studio G features a super tutorial for making your own whimsical planter from tires that no longer tread on asphalt.

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A few other recycled tire projects I love:

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You wouldn't know by looking, but Apartment Therapy's beautiful ottoman indeed started out as a plain ole tire.

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Not for everyone, but I like these innovative tables and chairs.

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Next time your tread wears thin, consider making your tires a part of your landscape (or living room).

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop
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Tuesday's Treasures
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