ABC Wednesday - B is for Butterflies!!

Well!  The usual wealth of Butterflies has not been the norm this year... however, there were QUITE a number of Giant Butterflies awhile back.  :-)

This is almost all of what I have seen this year.

Giant Butterfly

Giant Butterfly on Butterfly Milkweed

Pearl Crescent Butterfly

Eastern-tailed Blue Butterfly

Northern Checkerspot Butterfly

 White Cabbage Butterfly

Because I have a large number of food-source nectar flowers for all Butterflies - Monarchs included, and a quite a good number of Butterfly and commong milkweed plants (larval food), I am Bummed that I'm not seeing Monarchs in my yard... and I've only seen TWO Monarchs this spring/summer!

Before I go, perhaps you can tell me if you are seeing Monarch Butterflies??

Thanks!
SG

This is a Wonderful Year for Butterflies!!!

Great Spangled Fritillary

Look carefully - do you see THREE?

Tiger Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail and Tiger Swallowtail

Lord of the Dance!

Not Shady at all!! :-)

Hope YOU are having wonderful experiences this Summer.
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Mish Mash Monday

Following suit with Monica's suggestion (Garden Faerie's Musings),
today's post covers a few different subjects.


Have you visited Randy and Meg Emmitt's site
Randy & Meg's Garden Paradise?

If not, you really should. Randy and Meg live in North Carolina. Randy is an avid and consummate photographer of a variety of garden flora (lots of subjects) and fauna (usually butterflies, dragon- and damselflies as well as birds) and a great provider of information about his subjects, as well! Can you tell I enjoy visiting their site?

At any rate, in January they received unusual Winter weather (as much of the country seems to be experiencing), including ice on the ponds that was even deep enough for a curling match!) See the January 10 post here. It's a riot! On January 12, Randy posted about a contest he was having. You MUST visit this post, so click here!

I entered his contest - after all, he was giving away his own creation -
Butterflies of the Carolinas & Virginias - Interactive CD!

And guess who won??
ME!
(I'm so happy!)
This is what it looks like...

I'm having a lot of fun with it, and maybe I'll even learn something!

On February 4, I took the following photos outdoors.

Since then, we've received a good covering of snow - with a forecast of 2 - 4" tomorrow (that being the forecast from the more conservative weather report). We'll see!

Below: Arum Italicum - still green... next to a small hypertufa planter. (Looks like the squirrels remain active!)

Helleborus Orientallis Spotted - planted LATE last Fall.

Another Helleborus (I forget which variety...)

Helleborus 'Brushstrokes'

The last subject of the day deals with the addition of a few more Mini-Greenhouses! An earlier post, January 10, 2010, dealt with creating and setting out the first batch of greenhouses. At the end of January, I set out six more... and here they are. :-)

Credit goes to Gail of Clay and Limestone for sending me seeds LAST Winter. I used most of them at that time, but there were a few more Tennessee Coneflower seeds that I just set out... hopefully they'll germinate. Jim Groble of illic est haud equus quoque mortuus barrou was SO kind as to have mailed me ligularia seeds recently! So... thanks so much to the two of you! I'm hoping not only that your seeds germinate and grow - but that mine will do the same! ha.
Can you see how the snowfall enters the jugs? This worked Very Well last year, so I'm excited to see how they work again this year. :-) Happy Looking Forward To Spring to YOU, too!