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6/26/10 Eggs in the Yard, Other Insects, Root Canal I was outside hanging up laundry (sun-dried laundry is one of the best smells), when I noticed a monarch in the shed garden. Finally, a monarch in the yard! She was an older butterfly with fading wings and I was easily able to catch her with my fingers. I brought her in the house to show Joel and Shane and to do a butt check with the microscope. She checked negative for Oe (see the Monarch Diseases and Parasites page for more info). Then I set her on the butterfly weed in the rose garden (photo) and she stayed there long enough for me to grab my point & shoot Nikon and snap this photo. We found 10 eggs that she had laid and brought them in the house. Most of them were laid on swamp milkweed, but she also chose showy and tropical milkweed.
Currently our monarch count is at 12 eggs found, one of which has hatched. We also have one mystery egg that Shane found, 5 orange surphur larvae, 1 orange sulphur egg, and 1 tomato horn worm. The latter Shane found on our picnic table this evening while I was grilling some burgers.
After seeing the spicebush caterpillar photos on Larry and Leecy’s blog ( Butterflies and Wildlife.com), Shane wanted to lure them to our yard. I admit, they are very cool looking. I was able to locate a spicebush (lindera benzoin) at a Gardner’s Nursery and we planted it this afternoon. I also couldn’t resist the Tiki Torch coneflower -- such a lovely burnt orange color! So, now when we are looking for monarchs, we will also check any sassafrass that we see for the spicebush caterpillars and eggs, since that is also a host plant for spicebush swallowtails.
About 2 weeks before my parents’ 50th anniversary party, one of my teeth started to become sensitive to hot and cold. My dentist took an x-ray and shot some cold water at my gum line to pin point the offending area, which was 2 teeth down from where I thought the pain was. He sent me to a specialist who performed my first root canal Thursday on the tooth that has my one and only crown. Although the tooth is sore (the doctor gave me all sorts of meds to take), I can drink hot coffee and cold water again! Ahhhh. . .
6/20/10 Sulphur Eggs, Butterflies, 1st Monarch Egg Friday, about 5 minutes before I had to leave for work (I still had to inhale my meatball sandwich), I saw a flash of orange in the rose garden. Excitedly, I grabbed the point & shoot Nikon and was able to get 1 acceptable shot of an aphrodite butterfly (top photo). Of course, yes, I was hoping it was a monarch. So far we have seen no traces of monarchs in our yard or at Pickering. I told Shane that we could raise any butterfly eggs or caterpillars that we find, since the monarchs might be scarce this year. So, last week we brought home some red eggs that were similar to checkerspot eggs (photo on my Facebook page). Alas, they hatched out to inch worms (moths)! The only moth I have any interest in raising would be a luna.
This morning I noticed a sulphur butterfly (yellow butterfly photo) in the yard. I grabbed my D90 and followed it around. It did not sit very long in any one spot, so I never got a real good photo. Somewhere along the way, I realised SHE was ovapositing on my treefoil! I was able to collect 5 of her eggs. The charming yellow flower is birdsfoot treefoil, which I introduced to a few spots in my yard as a ground cover. It can be mowed and is a grazing plant which deer like. From the Audubon butterfly book description, I decided that she is an orange sulphur and the egg shown is hers. I’ve added a page to the Monarch Study sheet for any non-monarchs that we raise.
We decided to take a family walk at the park to see if we could find any monarchs. We followed a female around for awhile that was trying to ovaposit. Either her eggs dropped to the ground or did not come out, because we were unable to find any on the plants she visited. We saw several other butterflies at the park. A painted lady is shown next to the egg photo. One of the ladies was chasing a sulphur. I took some shots and cuttings of the butterfly weed, which is a bit deeper in color than the butterfly weed I have at home. When I viewed the photos, I was surprized to find a small butterfly in the corner of one photo (bottom left). I did get a good shot of the butterfly (bottom right), which is an American copper. Before heading home to a Father’s Day dinner of slow-cooked roast beef, we drove to another spot at the park and I jumped out to give the milkweed a quick check. Success! I found our 1st monarch egg of the season!
6/12/10 50th Anniversary Since my Dad trots around the internet, I have not mentioned this online. . . At the end of February it dawned on me that it was going to be our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in June. We are honored to have parents whose married has stood the test of time. So, I contacted my sister and brother and we began scheming. My brother lives near our parents, which is 1 1/2 hours from me. My sister is several hours away in MA. So, there have been lots of emails and several phone calls over the past few months. In the end, we were able to surprise them with a drop-in party at the lovely home of some people from their church. I have temporarily put a photo album of the party on my Evanson Art & Design page for those who are not Facebook members. The album is also listed on my personal Facebook page. In the photo to the right you see them opening some gifts. My brother is in the background on the right and my husband to the left with the video camera. We would like to thank everyone who was able to come and make the party a success!
6/1/10 Our Greenhouse and the Plant Stand The greenhouse arrived over vacation and we set it up without much fuss. The squirrels and slugs set out to destroy my milkweed seedlings, so I potted the remaining ones and moved them to the safety of the greenhouse. I also have added herbs, some flowers and a tomato. I then decided to try common milkweed cuttings once again. I pulled out my perennial book and did some research online before taking the cuttings. So far they are doing great (see photo below). Some types of milkweed may not want to propagate this way -- I’ll have to experiment.
In order to expand my milkweed collection, I have purchased more seed. I have a tray that I have sewn with milkweed seeds that is in the greenhouse. I also have some seeds getting the cold treatment (stratification) in our beer/soda frig. In about 2 weeks they will be ready to sew. Since these varieties do not like to germinate when it is hot, I will have to start them in the basement. So, I got new lighting for the top 2 shelves of the plant stand, which I made years ago. The hardware store did not have enough lights to revamp the whole plant stand, but I won’t need all 3 shelves until the winter. Hopefully, they will restock before then. Note that the irons on the top shelf have nothing to do with plants -- the ironing board is kept next to the plant stand. And no, I do not recommend having a dehumidifier next to the plants. Until Joel runs a separate line for it, that is where it stays.
You may have noticed that I added a Milkweed page to the Monarch Butterfly Mania section of this site. In gathering info for the page -- from books, onlines souces and from the tags that came with the purchased plants/seeds I purchased -- I did find that some of the data was conflicting. This is probably because plants grow differently in different regions of the country and because what you call this plant locally in PA may not be what they call it in CA. Regardless, the latin name remains unchanged. I have added info about dogbane to the page, because it is a relative of milkweed and it is poisonous to monarchs. You do not want to feed it to your larvae! Speaking of monarchs, we have not seen any in our yard yet, but Shane and I saw a male when we were at Valley Forge over the weekend.
5/10/10 1st Monarch and Mountain Biking, Raising Milkweed and Greenhouses Well, I finally saw the first monarch of the season. 5/5 I went for a mountian bike ride at Valley Forge. I stuck to trails near the fields and milkweed, thinking my chances of seeing one there would be better. However, I couldn’t resist riding my favorite stretch of single track through the woods. I was coming to the end of the new section when I almost ran over a monarch that was puddling along the trail. I was unable to determine the sex, but it was in excellant condition and flew up into the trees. I did check some of the milkweed at the park for eggs and larvae, but did not find any.
I have been expanding my milkweed collection and was saddened to find that Seneca Hill will no longer be selling milkweed retail. They had the best selection of plants. After talking to Joel, to my great surprise, he showed interest in selling milkweed retail (online). We have talked about having a green business together and this was the first one we could agree on. We were thinking about green in the sense of global warming and conservation -- say, recycled artwork. So, how greener can you get than growing plants to help an endangered phoenomina (ie, the migration of the monarchs)? Of course, that is easier said than done. Since our yard is pretty shady, it will limit us to trying this venture on a hobby basis at first. To make it work on a larger scale would require having a larger property with at least one greenhouse and the ability to expand from a zoning prespective. It will also require permits to sell/ship live plants that are pest free. Aphids are a big issue with milkweed. But before any of these big steps can be taken, we need to see if we can grow healthy milkweed. Whether we do the initial propogation ourselves or buy from a wholesaler, we still need to have green thumbs. Of course, one of my neighbors calls me the Plant Lady, so perhaps we are headed in the right direction. I have a plant stand that I made in the basement to start seedlings and cuttings over the winter, but the lighting needs to be replaced and it needs better cat-proofing. Then there is the matter of keeping the plants outdoors in the summer. Joel was ready to buy a permanent greenhouse, but that runs into building permits and if we decide we just do not want to do this, then we would be stuck with a greenhouse. Also, we need a new roof on the house before we need a permanent greenhouse. So, for Mother’s Day, we ordered a 6x6 greenhouse tent. Should our grand experiment fail, we can also use the tent to keep our monarchs outside instead of in the guestroom.
5/2/10 Summer, Milkweed, Monarchs? We seemed to have from winter to summer all in one week. At the beginning of the week I was wearing my winter coat and we had freeze warnings. Last night we put in all 3 air conditioners because it is muggy and nearly 90°F. Mother’s Day, next weekend, is the hallmark around this area (planting zone 6) for when it is safe to plant annuals. Looking at the weather report, we’ll be near 50°F or more every night, so I went ahead and planted some annuals and all of the milkweed. Most of my gardens are packed with perennials, so I do not have to plant too many annuals. I did plant some parsley, fennel and dill for the black swallowtails (or parsley worms, as my mother calls the larvae). There was a black swallowtail puddling in the neighbor’s yard yesterday, so we will hopefully raise some of them this year in addition to monarchs. Of course, mom can always give us her parsley worms!
Going back to the milkweed . . . I was wishing that I had made a map or left markers to show where the butterfly weed plants were. The swamp milkweed popped right up and was easy to spot, but the butterfly weed has been slow in sprouting. I have found a few of them as I was digging in the gardens, but I know there were over 20 of them last year. I’ve taken some photos of the small plants so I know what to look for next year. I plan to take more photos of each type of plant as it grows and am thinking about making a milkweed page. 2 1/2 weeks ago I had ordered from Seneca Hill Perennials and those milkweeds are already planted. I was thinking of buying a few more milkweed last night and went to their website. Including 3 of the 4 types that I had bought, many of the milkweeds have sold out! I placed another order and hope to be able to get 1 each of Hall’s, Davis and poke milkweeds.
You will notice that I have split my Excel sheets into the Monarch Study and the Milkweed Study. After working through a few weeks of the study, I decided that this would be easier. Although the MLMP study only asks you to look at 30 plants maximum, I will be checking all of mine for this year to get as much data as possible. Also, many of the new plants will be very small, so the checking will go quickly. I may only load data for 30 plants to the MLMP site -- depending on how long it takes me. Additionally, the MLMP milkweed study does not look at prairie, showy, redring, Hall’s, Davis or poke milkweeds. This would account for 9 of my 84 plants. I can count the monarchs on them for the monarch study, however.
We are now participating in the Journey North website. I have added our milkweed and other butterfly sightings to the site. The closest monarch sightings are 6-8 hours away in MD and VA, so we are eagerly awaiting their arrival here. Wewere excited to hear the Larry and Leecy from Houston, TX (Butterflies and Wildlife.com ), have monarch chrysalises!
In other news, Joel’s brother, sister-in-law, their daughter, his mom and step-dad stayed with us April 17th-26th. Although 8 people and 1 bathroom was challenging at times, it was good to see them since they hale from WA and MN and we do not see them often.
4/11/10 Common Milkweed and Deer at Valley Forge With the weather being so lovely, we decided to go on a family hike at Valley Forge. Although the common milkweed (photo to the left) in our yard has not popped out of the ground, many of the plants at Valley Forge (about 5 miles as the crow flies from our house) are 4-6" high. No sign of any monarchs, however. The butterfly milkweed that grows there has not sprouted yet. And no walk on the trails would be complete without seeing some deer. Seeing a herd or 2 of 20-30 is common. While they usually run if I am on foot with camera on hand, they keep right on eating if I am on my mountain bike. I have gotten as close as 5 feet when I am on my bike.
4/10/10 Milkweed, Monarch Season Starts, Garter Snake and Swallowtails After I finished Dragon Age Origins: Awakening, the weather was finally warm enough to work in the flower gardens. The plants have spouted too quickly for me to add mulch or mushroom soil to the gardens. I noticed the swamp milkweed spouting on 4/7/10. I expect the butterfly and common milkweeds around the beginning of May. The tropical milkweed cuttings are hardening on the front porch. I couldn’t resist and planted one of them in a pot on the patio. It is doing fine so far, but I will have to cover it if frost is predicted. The purple and prairie milkweed seedlings will remain in the basement for another month under continual light. I have ordered a few more milkweed plants to see what will grow in my yard and to see if the butterflies like them. Last year they favored the tropical milkweed and I have read that other people have observed this also. It has even been referred to as candy for monarchs.
And yes, with the swamp milkweed growing, our monarch season has started! I’ve uploaded data to MLMP and updated my 2010 page on this website. As of this year, I am loading my full Excel spreadsheet of data to this site instead of summarizing it, which saves me time so that I can monitor the milkweed this year (we did not do this in the past). I have included a link on the 2010 page so you can download a free Excel viewer from Microsoft if you do not have Excel. Since the harsh Mexican winter tooks its toll on the monarch population, we do not expect to see many of them this year. Of course, we were not supposed to see many last year and they were quite prolific in this area. I have read that they are breeding in Texas. Hopefully we will see them soon!
For several months, we have had a gater snake living in an old mouse hole by our kitchen door. S/he warms in the sun during the morning hours. I almost mowed over her/him yesterday. In the butterfly world, we have seen cabbage butterflies, a question mark and a tiger swallowtail in the yard. I have planted lots of parsley seeds for the black swallowtails (or parsley worms as my mother calls them).
2/26/10 Snow, Flying Reindeer, Dragon Age, eBay and Milkweed
I have spent the past 2 months shoveling and throwing snow, playing Dragon Age and getting my tax records ready for the accountant. The latter of which needs no elaboration. Snow . . . I have lost track of how many noreasters we’ve been hit with. The worst one dumped 18" during the weekend and then a few days later about the same amount. The photo of our front yard was taken the day after the 2nd storm. We were quite glad we had a snowthrower. The snow was so heavy from the double whammy storms that our metal shed roof started to cave in. I’ve wedged some 2x4’s against it until we can get in there and do a proper support job. The noreaster we got this morning, however, dumped 5" of super wet snow on us and the snowthrower just clogged up instead of throwing it. So, I shovelled for 1 1/2 hours. The yellow crocus by my kitchen door (photo below) are ignoring the snow and will soon be blooming.
Our Outback suffered its 3rd deer attack last month. My husband explained that he was coming home from work and was going up small hill with a sharp turn and out of nowhere, "A flying reindeer appeared in the sky and collided with my car." Well, that at least amused the insurance agent. The deer was actually a white-tailed deer, which are ubiquitous in our county, and although no blood was shed, it probably died later of internal injuries. There was deer fur stuck in the smashed headlight. Joel and Shane (who was also in the car, because he had the day off school) were ok. Our car suffered over $2000 of damage, most of which the insurance agency covered along with the rental, which I drove. This time I got to drive a Corolla, which drove similar to my Sable wagon.
Once or twice a year I make time to play a new PS3 video game. Leaving Fallout 3 unfinished, I moved on to Dragon Age and became totally addicted. It has more than filled the void left by Oblivion. I’ve played it through twice and started a third game. Joel has played 3 full games and will probably find something new to buy until more downloads are available for Dragon Age. What do we like about Dragon Age over Oblivion? The addition of cats, dogs and children are a nice touch. At first I missed having a horse, but you do not need a horse in Dragon Age. I am glad to leave the inane leveling of Oblivion behind; spending an hour jumping off high buildings to level up my character in acrobatics is just not fun. The interactive cinematic shots and story line of Dragon Age are awesome. And then there’s the romance option that was so missing in Oblivion. As you might guess, having the option to become queen of Fereldon for a female character is a satisfying end to the story.
eBay’s latest changes, although marketed as a cut in fees, are actually an increase in fees for small stores like mine. The increase will be nearly double. So, I’ve decided to close the store within the next week. I will be creating a Discontinued and Clearance Art page on this site to list the things that are currently only listed on eBay. I will still be a seller on eBay, but only auction items will be listed. Also, more posters will be added to my Artfire store and I will be adding more items to Cafe Press and Zazzle. There are about a dozen more art seller sites that I want to investigate. If I choose to sell on any of them, I will announce it on Facebook and Twitter and add links for the sites to this site.
Regardless of several rounds of aphid attacks and some neglect over the holidays, the tropical milkweed I have in the basement has survived. Last week I removed all of the dead leaves and trimmed the stalks back to 6" to encourage new growth and bushing. I fed them some Miracle Gro too. Many of the stalks that were snipped off were also 6" long, so I stuck them in water to root. I planted the prairie and purple milkweed seeds that were undergoing cold stratification in my frig and they have started to sprout. The tropical milkweed seeds that I gathered from the garden are still thinking about sprouting. Alas, I have read that the monarch population has suffered a serious decline due to the weather down South and in Mexico. So, perhaps I will have lots of milkweed this summer and no monarchs. I did check the Monarch Watch website to see if any tagging results were posted for 2009, but they have not been.
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