Today, Jan. 2, 2010, at about 1:30 pm, I witnessed a miracle.
It all happened because of the butterfly garden and research that I had done on plants for that.
I bought a firespike plant and planted it in July, 2009.
I had read that it attracted butterflies and hummingbirds, and it really did.
Then, about a month ago, I noticed caterpillars crawling all over the leaves and eating them.
I did some more research and found out that this is normal
and not to kill the caterpillars because they will become butterflies.
So, everyday since then I have watched the caterpillars.
Then I noticed eggs on the leaves.
After a while, the caterpillars wrapped themselves in leaves.
Today, I saw a MONARCH BUTTERFLY emerge from its chrysalis and fly around.
It immediately began sipping from the one flower that we have on another plant.
I was so excited. There are a lot more chrysalises on the plant,
so if you stop by #108 you might witness another miracle.
(The plant is located to the right of our front porch.)
Patsy 108
Patsy 108
9 comments:
Patsy you leave the most interesting items on the blog. Thanks for all your great inputs.
Thanks! What a neat part of nature to be able to observe. Gives us another good reason to plant plants that attract butterflies and birds.
(Psssstttt...)
(There is a space between "every" and "day".)
(Pass it on...)
(Psssstttt...)
I guess I was so excited about seeing the butterfly emerge that I forgot my spelling. But thanks for reminding me!
Patsy #108
Sorry, anonymous, your comment really hit a nerve with me. Although Patsy was very gracious in her reply, I took offense. If all the posts are going to be checked for misspellings and grammar, many people are going to avoid posting. My opinion is that if you feel the need to criticize, the least you can do is to identify yourself.
Tony, we miss your poetry, spelling and all!
It wuzent me
even wen I have to pea
I will start to poet
wen I lern to spelll
until then what the hell
Thanks, Tony, you made my day!
There are only 4 or 5 chrysalises (sp?) left hanging on my firespike bush. The stalks of the plant are stripped bare where the caterpillars ate all the leaves in order to become butterflies. Does anyone know what I'm supposed to do with the bush now? Should I prune back the bare stalks? Should I just wait and see if it rejunvenates itself? What if it doesn't? I need some advice; being a butterfly midwife is a new experience for me. (Psssttt!) Help!
Patsy #108
I'd wait til the weather is a bit settled then prune it back to shape the bush. Most caterpillar food plants bounce right back from their de-nuding.
Mid-wife to a butterfly! LOL, I love it!
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