in the blue pot

Pretty Much Picasso, supertunia

blue & lilac verbena

flutterby flutterby

Monarch
Danaus plexippus

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) & a Monarch

In the vegetable greenhouse, on the strawberry plants

4 June 2012

Butterflies flutter by

I found this
Painted Lady butterfly
on the marigolds

happy to pose
made me long for cute bobbly antenna

A Red Admiral
on a verbena bloom

I chased Monarchs all around the greenhouse today
None would pose for a shot
This one hid in the Bidens
On the highest hanging basket
No zoom lens in my pocket, just an iPhone

Red Admiral

Red Admiral
butterfly
VANESSA ATLANTA

A beneficial garden (in this case, greenhouse) bug, Red Admiral feasts on the sweet nectar of fruit trees and plants. Migratory, and common in the northern hemisphere, these pretty little pollinators are making news all over Ontario this spring, arriving earlier than recent years, and in great numbers. A sign that summer is right around the corner.

Red Admiral
on Giant Bacopa
at Bill Martin's Garden Centre

Dear Garden Diary,

Where have all the irises gone, you ask? Well, I can not break them apart - they are so overgrown and so tightly grown together that no spade nor old kitchen knife can dissect them. I thought about sectioning them, but even that proved to be too much. Admittedly my arms are weakened, but with all else I am able to do now again, I should be able to free a few irises. sigh

I've moved the giant clumps to the side of the house, for R to attempt to break apart this weekend. I do desperately want to save and replant 20 of them (maybe more) in the large open space in front of the Wegeila, eastward from where they were before, a little closer to the fence.
They are a stunning blue, the perfect colour to break up the pinks and reds we have such an abundance of in that are (unlike the front garden which is home to too many blues and purples...)

rescued red 1                            rescued red 2

I've rescued the two red dayliles from the west evergreen garden, which can now become dog territory without worry for the flowers. My favourite of the two, rescued red 1, is planted near the spot where the Rudbeckia Goldsturm is mean to be (a few leaves have appeared but timidly and without the vigor that plant should have)... I may have to seek another rudbeckia plant. Rescued red 1 is a large-flowered cultivar with deep red velvety, ruffled petals with a yellow throat and eye. Rescued red 2 has more tapered petals in the same deep red, with just yellow in the eye of the flower. They're both late summer bloomers, appearing just as the peach and yellows ones are finishing their bloom on the east side of the garden. It should look nice now that they're all together on the same side, ...though I'll miss the balance the red blooms brought to the west side of the garden.

The name Hemerocallis comes from the 

Greek words ἡμέρα (hēmera) "day" 

and καλός (kalos) "beautiful".

I'll find a great bit of satisfaction adopting blooms and more for the west side's new side garden (I should come up with better names for the garden beds...this is getting confusing..). After a few thousand dollars in vet bills to remove rocks from a certain Basset's belly, R has removed every rock and pebble from the beds on the west side of the house along the walkway - creating two rather large, 26 foot long x 2 foot garden beds. One side, to the west of the walkway, we've filled with bags of triple mix and manure, but we'll be needing a truckload to finish the job (and repair the dog run). 

The tall, thinly leafed hosta nearest the corner is "Twilight Time", which we chose for H thinking vampires are all the rage, but I don't think she was nearly as excited as I was. Either way, it looks nice - and under are two lime leafed, small 'Gold Drop' hostas. Further along is another hosta, another rescued plant from dog territory. This one was hidden under the giant dogwood that's taking over the middle garden, and unknown to R until I mentioned it. It's a gorgeous hosta (the kind I usually fall for in the greenhouses) and will thrive in his new spot nicely. Near to that is a section of rescued red 2, which divided nicely during the move.

Hosta 'Gold Drop'

Taxonomists differ on the number of hosta species; there may be as many as 45. The genus may be broadly divided into three subgenera. Interspecific hybridization occurs since all the species have the same chromosome number (2n = 2x = 60); except H. ventricosa which is a natural tetraploid that sets seed through apomixis. Many Hosta formerly described as species taxonomically, have been reduced to cultivars; these often have their names conserved, and retain Latin names which resemble species names (e.g., H. 'Fortunei' ).

Getting back to the east side, other losses have created new space for ..apparently tomatoes. Yellow tomatoes to be exact, which fill both the space where there was once that nice two toned spurge plant, and an open area in front of the zucchini. Hoping that the zucchini catch the trellis on the fence and climb upward, my only concern would be if it caught a touch of mildew. It's a little tight in there with the tomato, but it's a sunny, hot (probably the sunniest of the whole garden) there so unless it gets damp from over crowning or too much water from above we should be good.

Black Beauty Zucchini Squash

COMPANION PLANTING:

Monarda is a great companion plant to grow with tomatoes, attracting pollinators and some predatory insects that help to minimize garden pests. Commonly understood as a food plant for the larvae of some Lepidoptera species and many Coleophora (moths), the plant is a favourite attraction for hummingbirds and bees. Also, the roots of the Monarda plant contain oils which are beneficial in deterring subterranean pests around small, susceptible vegetable crops. 

Monarda, (Bergamot, Bee Balm) and the East Garden

Flutterby Kisses

The Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year. They offer a wonderful pre-visitation guide for educators (pdf) - great for the kids, and includes information on the parts of the butterfly, butterfly behaviour, Lepidoptera Trivia, info on the lifecycle, colors and patterns, and Monarch migration.
I printed this guide for Hannah. :)

more random information about butterflies:

Ontario Butterfly Gardening

Gallery of Ontario's Butterflies

• Monarchs can incorporate toxins from plants into their own tissue, making them poisonous or distasteful to predators.
• Some butterflies can can plot routes to visit the same choice plant at the same time each day, and they will only select the most nectarrich flowers on which to lay their eggs.

I bought a beautiful butterfly house a few years ago which I will finally use in my new garden, I'm going to create an inviting place for them with dense plants, baths, and all the best butterfly plants. Along with them will come the dragonflies, my favorite. (note to self: post picture of butterfly house)
There's a woman who lives somewhere in my area who has been attracting Monarchs to her garden for years, and has apparently enjoyed these spectacular visitors with great success. I'd like to see her garden. Sue S. told me about her and her Monarchs one morning last Spring when I walked the 55 Plus Centre path towards work. I believe the woman's name is Zora -( I hope I see Sue again soon, once I start working the River Street greenhouse - hopefully she can refresh my memory. I'd like to contact "the Monarch lady" to ask some advice. :))

The Willow Park Butterfly Garden in Norval Ontario is one of few public butterfly gardens in Ontario to use exclusively native wild plant species.
Gardens that contain a diversity of native
plants provide a safe haven for butterflies to
reproduce and develop.

• Choose a sunny, sheltered location for your butterfly garden. Cold-blooded butterflies need warm temperatures to fly and feed actively, and most host plants do best in full sun. Place a flat rock in a sunny area as a basking spot for butterflies to warm themselves on.
  • Include larval host plants such as those listed on the back of this sheet. Don’t worry about caterpillars defoliating your plants. They are generally quite specific in their food choices and their host plants have adapted to tolerate their feeding.
  • Select plants with bright, fragrant flowers that are tubular or flat-topped. These formations enable butterflies to access the nectar with their long, siphoning “tongue”, or proboscis.
  • Create mud puddles in the garden. Butterflies use these as a source of water and additional nutrients. A small area of exposed soil in the garden is the perfect spot to encourage puddling.
  • Avoid pesticides in your garden. Butterflies and caterpillars are very sensitive to these chemicals and even the slightest exposure can be fatal.
• 
  • Caterpillars outgrow their skin several times before they are full grown. Each molting marks a new growth stage called an instar.
  • Most butterfly caterpillars do not spin a cocoon. In their final instar, their skin hardens into a protective chrysalis around the pupa.
  • Many caterpillars use mimicry or camouflage to protect themselves from predators. The tiger swallowtail caterpillar has false ‘eyes’ on its head to frighten predators. The white admiral caterpillar is mottled grey and white, resembling bird droppings.
• 
  • Bright colouring can also be a defense. The black, white and yellow striping of the monarch caterpillar warns would-be predators of its bad taste.
  • Butterfly wings are covered with tiny scales, resembling roof shingles, that are arranged in distinctive colour patterns. Depending on the species, these patterns may help with protection from predators, and/or location of a mate.
  • Butterflies have taste sensors in their feet that help them to locate nectar sources and larval hostplants. They feed on nectar through a straw-like proboscis that coils up when not in use.
  • The length of time a butterfly lives varies from species to species. Some live only a few weeks, while others, like the mourning cloak, may live for months because they overwinter as adults.
  • butterflies have clubs on the end of their antennae, while moths do not.
  

Butterfly Watching in Ontario: www.web-nat.com/Butterfly

Holmes, Anthony et al. The Ontario Butterfly Atlas. Toronto Entomologists Association, 1991.
Johnson, Lorraine. 100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens. Random House of
Canada, 1999.
Layberry, Ross et al. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press, 1998.
Toronto Entomologists Association www.ontarioinsects.org
Xerces Society/Smithsonian Institute. Butterfly Gardening: Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden. Random House of Canada, 1998.
Butterfly Garden, Host Plants for Caterpillars:

• ash (green and white)
• butterfly weed
• common milkweed
• New Jersey tea
• spice bush
• willows

Nectar Sourcesfor Butterflies

• wild bergamot
• black-eyed Susan
• blazing star
• goldenrods
• Joe-pye weed
• pale purple
• coneflower
• swamp milkweed
• turtlehead
• bee balm
• yarrow