The cycle of life in our own backyard...Monarch style.

A few months ago we took the kids up to the Chinsegut Birding and Wildlife Festival.  It was very cool.  Lots of facts about the local plants and animals.  What caught my eye was the native plants.  It reminded me that I had been meaning to get a milkweed for the yard.  They didn't have any that day because spring had just begun and the plants were not big enough.  I grabbed the first one I saw and then a second during a visit at Lowe's.   I got the second one because there was literally a Monarch on the plant in the garden center.  Ryder thought the butterfly would come home with us to be our yard pet. 
As it turns out we had Monarchs in the yard that week!!  How cool?!
A couple weeks after that I noticed that one of the plants was almost completely devoured.  Upon a quick, closer inspection I saw several caterpillars in action.  I checked every day after that.  One day the caterpillars just weren't there.  We have a lot of birds and other wildlife in the yard, but I thought for sure at least one had to have made it.  I searched the nearby trees and the soffit under the house, nothing. 
Then one day, I stumbled upon this by accident while weeding.....

AWESOME, right?!!!!

I got the other stages on camera too.

 Monarch in mid-flight

 Caterpillars munching away.

It's the chrysalis that I think is most amazing.  It's hanging under a large leaf of the japanese plum tree.  I've read that this helps hide it from predators and protect it from the weather.  Seems to be working perfectly. Nature is efficient.

Hopefully I'll be adding to this page shortly with pictures of the butterfly that emerges and then we will have completed the full cycle. 

So Cool!

If you are thinking of getting on of those mail order butterfly hatching kits, I would recommend getting a milkweed instead.  We've done the kit and while it was cool, there isn't a real chrysalis, more of a cocoon.  Plus, this is cheaper and you will have Monarch butterflies coming back to your yard and fluttering around year after year.  Then you can share your pictures with me!

Happy Gardening and butterfly watching. :)

Earth Day 2013

Happy Earth Day!
(well, yesterday, but it's Earth Day Everyday, right?!)

It's amazing how beautiful and complex plants and flowers can be.
As an ode to the day, I went around the yard and snapped a few shots of the flowers that are blooming in my garden right now.


The climbing Jasmine is my current favorite because it smells so unbelievably fantastic.  We have a whole hedge worth, so it permeates the entire yard.

The Jasmine has started climbing up one of the near by Chinaberry trees.

 An elephant ear still holding some of the day's moisture

 

A Solenia Begonia with a big bloom.

Bush Daisies.  I just made this garden but they are a "Florida friendly" plant so they should tolerate a drought and a light freeze.    Trial and Error is how I learn when it comes to what I can plant.

 Tiny marigolds are good for the soil.

I found this bad boy at Lowe's this spring.  It's a Picassa petunia.  Cool, huh?  I have them in my planters and they are trailing and blooming fantastically.

A milkweed that I'm hoping multiplies like crazy.  These guys will keep Monarch butterflies coming to your yard year after year.

There is more, but it's all not blooming right now.   Which is good, I wouldn't want to put all my eggs in one basket.  I like a show for as many months as possible.  The amaryllis just got done their post winter show and the day lilies and lily of the Nile are about to start theirs.  My hubby's mom also scored some Easter lilies the day after for 50 cents each! Their bloom period is short and only once a year, but they do come back year after year.  And who could resist a deal like that?!  ( I got 12 )
Speaking of shows, if you live in Florida and want a plant that blooms a lot, is drought tolerant and can stand a freeze I would recommend double knock out roses.  The only complaint I've heard is the thorns, which of course, is just what you get with any rose. They are great.  Practically no maintenance.  Here's one that's started a new bud.

We also started a salad garden for Ryder.  He got a kit from Growums.com.  Very kid friendly, with free little cartoon veggie videos that narrate what should be happening week by week. He's already asking for the "stir fry" garden.  So, if you wanna promote some gardening skills or healthy eating check 'um' out.

After 6 yrs of living in this plant zone, I think I have finally figured out what does and does not make it here.  This year's garden should be the best yet, as mostly everything I planted last year came back!

As a special little treat, I got a few shots of this red-bellied woodpecker coming to and from his nest.   It's really fun to watch the male and female alternate feeding the babies.  You can barely hear the little peeps from the ground.  This Chinaberry tree has several nest holes where they have come back year after year.

Before I head out to plant some African Iris that my hubby's mom got for me yesterday, I leave you with an image of the wildest, ferocious, car chasing beast I know.