Not Impressed

Advanced age has now limited how much time that we can be outside working in our gardens.  Native animals have always explored our ground but with our absence now really feel that this ground is theirs.  The doe dropped her twin fawns close to the stone wall directly in front of the house.  Her instructions to them were stay where you are.  We did not disturb them since their muscles needed time to firm up to the point where they could walk without injuring themselves.  This morning as I was walking toward the shed Mom and one of the twins held their ground as I drew near.  There were no hoof stabs into the ground or snorts directed my way.  Comfortable with my advancing presence, they joined the other twin and simply walked down the driveway.  More than one fox is commonly seen here.  Perhaps their level of comfort is overstated by this deposit of the remains of a wild blueberry meal placed directly outside of our front door.

This huge fearsome spider has found a place to lay her eggs in our gardens for many years.  Our wire fences provide an airy anchorage where generous meals, like the one just beneath her, are common.  Many years ago, I was describing this frightening insect in the faculty room at school.  The science teacher was interested in adding a mounted specimen to his collection.  He made a home visit with his killing jar in his hand.  He sized up his intended victim for some time.  A stealthy approach was underway when the spider suddenly dropped to the ground with lightning speed.  The teacher was mostly airborne as he quickly exited the garden.  Fast and ferocious is a powerful combination.

We placed a large planting of this purple  Monarda directly behind our bench in the shade garden down by the road.  Humming bird moths are fond of feeding on this plant and they are not troubled by our nearby presence.  That large yellow and black colored mass in the upper left of the picture is actively feeding.  Their wings are mostly transparent while those two black stabilizers clearly stand out.  Once again we have an insect that has no reaction to our presence.

 

Our homestead is located adjacent to a  bend in the Unadilla River.  For anything that flies, the direct path downstream is straight over our home.  Migrating Monarch butterflies fly right over us every Fall.  We have encouraged the growth of Milkweed, the only food source for these caterpillars, in many places on our land.  This plant is growing where the planting bed meets the stone path.  Its roots are well below most garden plants so both coexist here.  The migration is weeks away so this new butterfly will be able to lay eggs that will produce new butterflies for that trek.  We find it wonderful to be part of helping this endangered treasure to stay alive.

What Actually Is

It would be wildly inaccurate to claim that our gardens are anything close to well tended this year.  We have always had more cultivated ground than we could keep up with but the present combination of the weather and our age has created a huge mess in what was our garden.  This is the present state of our asparagus bed and the overwhelming presence of the giant weed seeds does not bode well for next year.  This is a sixty square foot planting bed and it could be cleared rather quickly but there are so many other places just like this one.  The combination of heat, humidity and biting bugs had us inside by 10 AM today.

Looking past the brightly colored self planted Gloriosa Daisy, one can see the stone path that edges our planting beds and a horribly invasive relatively new weed that has taken and holds this ground.  It grows close to the ground and finding the centered root mass is not easy.  We believe it essential to remove both the seed bearing growth and the root mass in a futile attempt to eliminate this weed.

 

When selecting photographs to share, it is customary to frame the image so that only beauty can be seen.  This combination of Ruby Spice Summer Sweet, Milkweed leaves that have served as a food source for perhaps a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar, a feeding butterfly whose name is not known and a background of grass and trees is a great picture.  In addition to the visual image, the scent of the pink flowers is fantastic beyond description.

These feeding bugs and a caterpillar appear to be working together despite their obvious differences.  We cannot be certain that they are not harming each other but they may be sharing.

We have been posting Lobelia cardinalis pictures perhaps to excess but the real star here is the Giant Blue Lobelia.  How these plants that feature so many differences can have the same last name puzzles us.  Both are native plants but the structure of their flowers is more different than just color.  These plants are both self planted here but we tend to focus our efforts on the striking red plants.  That should change but we can no longer keep up so the blue beauty will remain on its own.  One thing in its favor is our limited time weeding will not remove a self seeded plant that we do not instantly recognize.

Closed Gentian is a native plant that presents flowers that never open.  It is a vigorous plant that has taken and holds considerable space in our garden.  Pollination falls to the huge bumblebees that force their way into the tightly closed blossoms from the top point where the  petals meet.  Upon first glance, I thought that an insect had chewed a hole to gain an entrance into the flowers interior but that is not true.  A closer look will reveal that the fly's internal organs are visible and that the bug is totally outside of the undamaged blossom.

 

News Flash From The Stone Wall Garden

When Ed and I walked down to the mailbox, I snapped this picture of my Purple Flowering Raspberry, Rubus odoratus.  It looks like after several years this native plant is going to live up to its name.  That is exciting news!   When we stopped to sit on the bench in the shade before heading back up the hill, we saw a big black squirrel.  He was very fast and chasing the gray squirrels.  I have seen black squirrels before farther north in the state, but seeing the first one here is big news.  

I found the very first Monarch caterpillar of the year while I was weeding the onion bed.  The picture is larger than life.  This little guy was about half an inch long.  The first piece of Monarch frass of the year is on the leaf to the left.  I love butterflies so this is great news for me.  It might not be great news for the onions since the milkweed growing as a weed is shading them.

Also while weeding the onions for the first time I found the body of a snake  without a head.  It was medium sized  garter snake.  It is now resting in peace in the compost.  No picture is shown here because I consider that kind of gross news  is not fit to print.

First Monarch Caterpillar

Becky first spotted this young caterpillar three days ago.  Their appearance seems unusually early this year. Usually it is the second week in July before the first caterpillar is spotted.   It has been more than six weeks since our last frost and that may be the defining number.  The flower buds remain tightly closed but the caterpillar feeds only on the leaves.  Lush soft new growth is widely available inside of the stone square that anchors our garden and we will remain watchful looking for other future butterflies.

It might seem to be a strong contradiction to encourage milkweed to grow in our planting beds.  Its horizontal root runs for far more than one foot several inches below the surface of our finely prepared planting soil.  Any attempt to remove milkweed results in a broken piece of root in hand and the certainty that the plant will return.  In this picture milkweed is growing among Black Eyed Susans.  Since both are native meadow plants this might be seen as a natural planting in one corner of our garden.  Oriental lilies, Daylilies and tomato plants reveal the intended function of this ground but we benefit greatly from all of these plants.

The stone wall defines one corner of our center square.  The Pinxter and neighboring but hidden Cardinal Flower plants are the intended growth here.  Some ferns came along when the Pinxter was moved from the woods.  The milkweed is self planted and the pictured caterpillar feeds close by.

Becky thought that she saw a Monarch several days ago.  These beautiful insects move about quickly and the slightest breeze moves them out of sight before a certain identification can be made.  I also saw a female as she darted from leaf to leaf after depositing a single egg on the underside of each leaf.

The butterflies that complete the fall migration hatch out closer to September.  It seems unlikely that our first caterpillar will survive long enough to make that trip.  Instead it will likely play a part in the creation of the fall eggs.  We will keep our eyes open looking for the first chrysalis of the current cycle.  Tremendous satisfaction follows our plants playing a part in the life cycle of this threatened beautiful butterfly. 

To Move Or Not To Move...

 Amy and I were working to clear some of the weeds from the thyme on the patio.  Things were going great, but then she spotted this gorgeous "Marge Simpson" spider otherwise known as Arigope aurantia.   We both remembered these spiders as being much darker in color.   We decided to leave this beautiful blonde in peace and move to another spot in the garden to work!  That was several days ago and she is still right there in the middle of her web today!

 A single milkweed plant is growing out of Ed's curved stone wall.  I spotted this Monarch caterpillar on the plant when he was tiny.  It has been great fun to look for him when passing by.  The change in his size has been astounding.  Of course all caterpillars really do is eat and drop frass.  Leaves on the plant this morning were down to a precious few, but it was the slight tinge of yellow in the leaves that made me decide to take action.

I lopped off the plant at its base and carefully placed it against  a nice green milkweed plant inside the stone square.  Later I went out and checked   The transfer has been made.  The caterpillar switched to the new plant.

The caterpillars new home is in the foreground of this picture right between the lemon and the red basil.  I hope he likes it.  I think it was a fabulous move!

Still In Search Of Monarch Caterpillars

Boy we have been having some serious rain.  It has been 5 days since I went In Search of Monarch Caterpillars.   This time I knew I had a great chance if I looked at the milkweed growing in the path next to the  green beans.  The first thing I noticed were large pieces of frass.  Who knew caterpillar poop could look so interesting.   It is definitely green, segmented and pretty darn big.  That caterpillar should be around here somewhere.

Farther up the plant the caterpillar was easy to spot.  It's hard to hide under a leaf when you have eaten most of it.  From the look of the frass in this picture this caterpillar isn't stopping eating for anything!

Soon I will be looking for a chrysalis instead of a caterpillar.

We are definitely seeing more Monarchs flitting around the flowers this year.  Another way to find Monarch caterpillars would be to follow this gorgeous female and see where she lays her eggs.  You have to be quick.  She is in beautiful shape and can move very fast.  Lucky for me and my camera, she was focused on sipping nectar from the coneflower and didn't notice me!

In Search Of Monarch Caterpillars

First you need to find milkweed!  Here where we have acres of common milkweed I can find it by following my nose.  The sweet fragrance floats on the air.  It might be possible to track one of the Monarch butterflies that are flying around, but they fly by pretty fast and Mrs. Monarch would rather deposit her eggs in a private unobserved location!

Once you know what milkweed looks like, look for a nice green tender looking plant that has been chewed on the edges.  The black stuff on the leaf is another great clue.  It is frass.  That is just another way of saying caterpillar poop.  Since it is black it is not fresh.  More searching is necessary.

Caterpillars are not as speedy as butterflies though so a closer look at this plant is needed.  There was a caterpillar here before, maybe he hasn't gone far!  I spotted a leaf lower on the plant with what looked like fresh chewing.  I don't see anything on the chewed leaf.  Often the caterpillars are found on the underside of the leaves.  That is where the eggs usually are.  What I need now is a closer look!  Let's set the camera on macro!

Eureka!!!  This is not a big fat Monarch caterpillar, but a tiny instar.  It is actually smaller than it appears in the picture.  In fact I have never found a Monarch in such an early stage of development.  This is exciting!  Notice the frass on this leaf is not black, but green and watery.  Now that is what I call a fresh clue!  If you go back to the previous picture you might be able to notice the caterpillar.  It was tiny, but right there in plain sight all the time.

This is the earliest I have found a Monarch caterpillar here.  Ed follows a careful mowing program so that the milkweed flourishes and so that fresh green plants are available for the Monarchs to use right up until frost in the fall.  Once the first caterpillar has been spotted, no matter how small, the mowing stops!  I will be checking on this caterpillar and searching for more.  Now that you know what to look for, find some milkweed near you and take a closer look.

The Monarch And The Giant

The Monarch caterpillar is growing fast.  The red milkweed bug is gone.  Here he is cutting the vein of the leaf to reduce the amount of white poisonous sap in the leaf that is next on the menu.  A little milkweed sap makes it so he doesn't get eaten.  Too much is deadly.  Fortunately his instincts tell him what to do.

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It takes a sharp eye to notice a monarch caterpillar.  They often eat from under the leaves.  Check out the shaded leaf that is nearly gone and you might see him munching away.  At the left edge just below the center line of the photo, a small bit of the eating end of the caterpillar can be seen.

Ed and I had another fun morning in the garden.  Before we went inside for lunch we sat on the bench with a cold drink. We watched the hummingbird feeding on the cardinal flower flowers, perch on the moonflower wire support and eventually zoom up and away at breakneck speed.  A monarch butterfly fluttered across the stone wall and landed on the white phlox.  These days it is a joy to see a monarch, but a huge black and yellow butterfly chased him away.  It was moving fast but was so big and brightly marked, I wondered what it might be.  I knew I had never seen a butterfly like that here before.  I wished out loud that we could have gotten a closer look and then the butterfly landed on this Liatris plant just to the left of where we were sitting.  He spread his wings and ate for a considerable time.  I did not have the camera, but we both had time to memorize the markings of this stranger. After he flew away, we described aloud to each other exactly what we thought we had seen.   With our mental images clearly fixed, a check of our books revealed the name of this never before seen here butterfly.  The position of the wings has a dramatic impact on the placement of the bands of  bright yellow, but we are certain that we were looking at a Giant Swallowtail.  They do venture into southern Canada but are more commonly seen where citrus trees grow.  Citrus growers consider their caterpillars a pest and call them Orange Dogs.  Here the large bright yellow and black butterfly was a once in a lifetime event.    As we age it is natural to think that we have seen it all.  We have spent more than two decades here in close contact with what is going on around us.  Then along comes a stranger who gives us an extremely good look at him and we experience the wonder of seeing something for the very first time.

My Goodness What A Day In The Garden!

I headed out to the garden pretty early to pick squash blossoms to stuff for lunch.  It would have been a bit less exciting if I had gotten outside earlier.  As it was I had to shake bees out of the blossoms before I could place them in the plastic bag.  On my way out I noticed this milk snake curled up in the stone wall.  I promised myself I would take a picture if it was still there on my return.  There it was right at my eye level.  It looked like a fancy bracelet.  Ed and I did a couple rounds of "You touch it! " "No you touch it!"  In the end even though snakes give the the willies, I did touch it lightly.  It barely moved and was soft and dry to the touch.  Maybe someday I won't shriek when a snake surprises me, but I doubt it.

Woo Hoo!  I present to you the first Monarch caterpillar I have seen in the garden this summer.  In this picture it's a little hard to tell which end is up.  We watched it for some time and decided that the end with the shorter horns has the mouth.

I noticed him sitting on an immature seed pod.  Usually I find them chomping on the leaves.  I was delighted to see him!  I hope there will be more!  Our mowed area is looking a little strange as Ed avoids mowing the young milkweed now growing in our lawn.  He is unwilling to take the chance of cutting down a caterpillar food source.

We have left milkweed growing in the garden in places we would normally weed it out.  Here we have a lovely planting of Black-eyed Susans with three milkweed plants.  All of these plants are invasive and have displaced what we planted there.  In time we may see the winner here but perhaps both plants will survive.

We had a busy day in the garden.  We harvested onions, picked and processed Tavera green beans, picked some tomatoes, pulled lots of weeds and Ed mowed some the hay field that we pretend is our lawn.

We also discovered that a ground hog has dug a tunnel under one of Ed's stone walls in the square.  A huge pile of stones and yellowish subsoil was piled in the corner.  No end of the tunnel could be seen.  The ground gave way under foot revealing a six foot tunnel running parallel to the wall.  That critter doesn't know it yet, but he has crossed a line and war has been declared.  I gave up one of my heads of broccoli to bait the trap.

I also discovered an active hornet's nest under the ramp into the kitchen.  In the past a neighborhood skunk took care of a nest of ill tempered bees for me.  I'm afraid where this one is hanging Ed will have to come to the rescue like he so often does.  Tonight a big yellow moon shines on the garden. Tomorrow looks like another wonderful day to spend in the garden.  What will it be relaxing or infuriating?

Garden Guests Galore

A first look out the window at the garden revealed the local flock of wild turkeys, usually 4 adult females and eleven babies, were making themselves at home in the stone square.  They sit on the bench, perch on the wall, dig in any fresh dirt they can find and leave unmistakable calling cards behind.  The nicer ones are feathers as for the others, you just have to watch your step.  While they really are intriguing  to watch, all this activity is getting to be a bit much.  At least they leave when we approach them.

I took a few moments to watch a couple of hummingbirds challenging each other at the  rose of Sharon flowers just outside of the bedroom window.  I can't hear their chatter from inside, but the way they flare their tails wide showing its white edge  then zoom after each other is amazing.  They do this even though there are lots of flowers to share.  I guess it's a territorial thing.

These orange and white insects are unknown to me.  Good or bad they certainly are attractive!

A bumble bee is always a welcome visitor for Ed's lovely asters.

Our apple trees are covered with fruit.  I tasted one, but unripe it was beyond sour.  The apples are not yet ripe but many are showing lots of red.  I imagine this American dagger moth is not great for the apples, but he certainly is an attractive visitor.

The hummingbird moth adores Ed's Salmon star lilies.  Perhaps there are no pollen stains here because of all that wind turbulence from his continually moving wings.

A single white phlox flower holds this tiny little bee-type insect.  The number of bugs in the garden this year is astounding.

I saved the very best for last.  Finally I managed to find a monarch caterpillar.  This one is munching on a milkweed that came up in the garden.  I guess we won't be weeding any more milkweed out until later after the monarchs are gone.  The plain fact is you can't do anything in the garden with out disturbing something!