New Black Swallowtail, The Sequel

It is a beautiful day to be in the garden.  In spite of the long list of things we wanted  to accomplish this morning, pictures of this newly hatched Eastern black swallowtail butterfly had to be taken. The female butterfly had finished pumping up her wings and was warming up on the stone ramp that leads down to the basement of the house. We were on our way to plant the pumpkins and the butternut squash.  Ed came out the basement door and called me to get the camera. He took these pictures then  carefully stepped around the butterfly.   We had seeds to plant so  we did not wait for her to fly away this time, but when we returned right before lunch she was gone.

 Ed's stone wall provides lots of spots for a  butterfly chrysalis to winter over.  It is not the first time we have had a chance to take a picture like this.  On June 26 of 2010 another new black swallowtail  picture was taken.  That was ten years ago.   It also was a female.  I would like to think that the two specimens are related.  The family resemblance is definite.We have had a thing for butterflies for a very long time!  If you click on the date, the blog will take you back to that ten year old post.  Ed wrote it and it is one of my favorites!

This time Ed got a chance to get a great shot of the underside of the butterfly's left wing.  Living here where we do we get to observe  butterflies closely without interfering their life.  What a huge improvement over killing them and sticking them with a pin. 

Eye Of The Beholder

This Italian parsley plant is not having a very good year.  It is small and now it is being eaten by a parsley worm.  On the other hand this caterpillar will turn that parsley into a beautiful black swallowtail butterfly. I have a passion for black swallowtail butterflies

The pink hibiscus has been frosted , dried out, then drenched and skeletonized by bugs. I think the Japanese beetles did it, but I didn't actually see them and I won't since there are no leaves left for them to eat  Pressing on regardless the large pink flowers open to show off their beauty just the same.  It is quite magnificent for this plant to put on such a display under these conditions.  The large pink flowers with pleated petals flowers look perfect!  To give credit where credit is due, we borrowed the expression "press on regardless" from Sue Hubble.  She used that expression as the name of her old pickup truck.  We read her books when we were trying to define what our retirement life would look like.

Things being what they are this year the garden has gotten away from us.  There are plenty of weeds in this picture.  In this case Ed's stone wall and the red cardinal flowers look so sensational it's difficult for almost anyone to see weeds.  I have always loved the lush overgrown look anyway!

By now I hope you are seeing beauty in the garden and feeling serene! WARNING: If you really get freaked out by snakes STOP reading here.  If you are looking for a different kind of beauty and some excitement in your life, read on!

We have more tools than the shed will hold.  As a result the three wheelbarrows remain outside.  Stored up side down and propped up on large stones or an abandoned bale of hay, we know that creatures live under them. I went to get a wheelbarrow and let out a piercing scream when I righted it.  This was no ordinary scream.  I was still making noise when the sound returned after echoing off of the ridge. Ed knew that I had uncovered an impressive snake, one worth seeing!  When the snake straightened out to slither away, it displayed more than three feet in length.  That is about as large as milk snakes get here.  This one had recently shed its skin.  That is apparent because of the sharp lines of separation between the colors.  The skin is also blemish free.

Later in the day the serenity of the garden was broken with another of my snake shrieks, but it wasn't nearly as intense.  After all these years, Ed could tell it was  only a garter snake and less than a foot long.  He didn't bother to come to see it and the snake was long gone anyway!

One of our lawn tractors must also be parked out of doors.  It has been transported to the dealer twice this year to try and repair the damage done by nesting rodents.  We now park that tractor near a stone wall where we know milk snakes gather.  We are counting on these beautiful constrictors to decrease the number rodents living in the immediate area.