This beautiful moth is my choice for the “Whatsoever is Lovely” challenge hosted by Xingfu Mama. I got several good captures of it feeding on the flowers of the Butterfly Bush. The plant lives up to its name, although it resembles a tree instead of a bush. We cut it back, and it grows even taller.
The multiple blossoms of the flower sprays make it a perfect setting for photographing butterflies and bees. They are usually so intent on moving from flower to flower they ignore the trespass of my camera into their space. I love the way the photograph captures the face of the moth and the blurry whirr of its quickly fluttering wings.
There is hope! The Monarch butterflies have finally made some appearances, although not in large numbers. This one flew in for a landing and cooperated with my camera’s intrusion, allowing me to capture several photos.
Today, I had strange companions along for the ride as I drove to Red Bank Battlefield. Ten caterpillars, mid-sized in their cycle, rode along to become residents of the Butterfly House. The fennel plants collapsed a bit in the heat, but the caterpillars did well.
The house has many butterflies, chrysalis, and caterpillars. The interior is filled with dozens of nectar and host plants.
The volunteers (Butterfly Whisperers) were pleased to welcome and make room for the new residents. The jar holding the fennel sprigs they were feasting on was placed beside a beautiful fennel plant growing in the house.
It gives me great joy to think of all the visitors receiving a bit of pleasure as they watch the butterflies throughout their life cycle.
The Revolutionary War Battlefield, now a historic park, is located on the banks of the Delaware River. Philadelphia’s skyline is in view to the right of the park.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge for this week is a Single Flower. I chose this beautiful white Echinacea that grows in full sun near my patio. The identity of the seed source is Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Since I planted the seeds indoors sometime in Spring of 2022, it took two years for the plant to flower outside. As soon as I finish writing this post, I will follow the link to Baker Creek and purchase another packet. I plan to start the echinacea seeds now, in late summer, and grow themto blooming size by Spring.
I had many unusual colors grow from this variety: peach, deep coral, the typical pink, and this white flower. If you love the sturdy stems and reliable bloom of Echinacea plants, try growing this unique mixture.
Paradiso Echinacea loaded down with blooms in late July.
(Later) I did purchase the seeds and they are already shipped. At this slower time of the growing season Baker Creek Seed company is very fast with order fulfillment. Baker Creek is definitely in the upper echelon of best heirloom seed companies.
The Farmer’s Almanac has an excellent article on how to grow echinacea.
Over the past decade, I’ve dabbled in a variety of WordPress photo challenges, each offering a unique perspective. In this post, I’m excited to share my experiences from three such challenges.
You may notice a red spot on the seagull in the photograph I chose for the birdwatching challenge hosted by Don’t Hold Your Breath. The Audubon Society explains this in a great article. In short, the red spot is a visual clue to help baby chicks peck the parent bird’s bill to be fed.
One of my longtime favorite challenges is Friday Skywatch. Although I am a day late, they accept entries throughout the week. My photos show the wide beach at the point of Strathmere, NJ. We love Strathmere beach and appreciate the fact that it is one of the few southern New Jersey beach towns that don’t require beach tags. (Wildwood, North Wildwood, and Wildwood Crest are also free beaches.)
The last photograph I include is Six on Saturday hosted by Garden Ruminations. My theme is a few of the Sea Birds from the Jersey Shore. These photos were taken during weekend visits to Strathmere and Wildwood, New Jersey.
We grew this lively mix in the front beds of our old farmhouse porch and discovered it is one impressive zinnia, forming mounds of continuous color that were adored by the butterflies. ~Pinetree Garden Seeds
I am in love with this low-growing zinnia. Perfect for the front of my backyard patio border, the color is luscious, a brilliant coral pink.
The plants have been blooming for several weeks. They were available through Pinetree Garden Seeds, a reliable seed company. Next year, I will do the same and plant two side by side. This creates a mesmerizing display of color.
There is a plethora of flowers, and they last quite a long time. The color is beautiful even as they near the end of their bloom time. These zinnias fade to a lovely creamy yellow before they need to be cut away.
My one complaint is the small number of seeds in the packet. Although, the description does include the seed count so there was ample warning.
In this photograph, my grandson is five or six years old. He is my first grandchild. Becoming a grandmother is a dream that did not disappoint. It was, is, and I hope will always be, even more precious than I had hoped the relationship would be when I first heard the news of his impending birth.
He just turned eighteen and graduated from high school in the same month. The colors for his school match the color of the shirt he wore all those years ago as he marveled over the pea-sized tomatoes I grew in my garden.
A mystery: rain recently washed up a small sand toy he and his brothers played with in the backyard sandbox. Once, I might have packed it up or even thrown it away, but now it is a treasure. Cleaned up, it will be placed in my keepsake drawer, a reminder of how fast time goes and a delightful prompter of lovely memories. God bless you all on these pathways we walk as we travel through life.
I might be slightly stretching the challenge subject of passages/paths to consider walking alongside the ocean and bay a pathway, yet my way has a water border and dry sand on the other side. I walk on the wet, hardened area swept over by the waves. On further reflection, I think of walking along the ocean, a definite path.
The first photograph is one of my favorite places, Fortescue, New Jersey, along the creek that flows into the Delaware Bay. This area is a popular spot to fish. Again, I found the photograph quickly because it is set aside as a scene I would like to paint.
Another favorite area is Strathmere, New Jersey. We walk to the point across from Corson’s Inlet State Park. The beach has large cordoned-off areas for the shore birds that raise their young in the sandy stretches beyond the reach of the waves.
Whatever beach I visit, I collect an assortment of ocean treasures. I keep them in baskets and jars, paint them, craft with them, and have them in my living room as decor. Today, I created a decorative basket with a few. I especially like the piece of seaglass on the front. I found the glass with the small oyster shell firmly attached. I imagine that oyster had quite a whirlwind life while it was alive, tossed around in the waves with its piece of glass host. The small shell included on this piece is a cat’s paw collected on Sanibel Island.
On the subject of Sanibel, I’m including a clip of one of my favorite YouTube Channels: SWF Beach Life. This clip includes Sanibel Island. I love her channel; it is so relaxing and fun to live through her as she gathers beachy treasures. On a scale of 1 – 10, I give this YouTube channel a definite 10. If you feel stressed, or are just interested in seashells, check out this channel.
Glen Lake Park: This park has benches all along the lake and is maintained by the students of Kindle School. The lake recently has been fitted with fountains and lights. Glen Lake is stocked for fishing. It also is rather shallow and often freezes over, providing a nice place for winter outdoor ice skating. ~Our Town
Glen Lake, a small pond near our home, is a favorite destination for a quick walk. Early morning is my favorite time to circle the paths along its perimeter. A clue to its size is how easy it would be to throw a pebble across its breadth.
Although morning is my favorite time to visit, sunset can be beautiful, too. I love this photograph of my husband walking a pathway of sunlight shining through the trees surrounding Glen Lake. Way back in time, we took photographs of our wedding party beside this lake when we got married.
So often, we want to find beauty in our travels, but for most of us, there are colors and incredible scenes of sunlit splendor right outside our back door. It could be a body of water, such as this small pond near my house, or something as starkly beautiful as a dandelion growing in a crack in the sidewalk.
Wherever your pathways and passages take you today, I wish for you to find beauty that will touch your soul.
It’s day two of the Pathways and Passages challenge, and I’m still walking the paths of Block Island and Longwood Gardens in my imagination. We often stayed in a Block Island Bed and Breakfast called the Sea Breeze Inn. It’s been well over a decade since we spent a week on the island, but we still remember one of the biggest draws of the place, its beautiful location, and the innkeeper, Gabby.
In the photograph, Gabby is standing on the path that leads to the room we always booked for our week’s stay. I wish we had kept in touch and could still withdraw to the wondrous room with its high ceilings and comfortable furniture. Every morning, Gabby brought us a basket filled to the brim with a pot of coffee, muffins, Danish pastries, fruit, and many delicacies to start the day. I often wonder where life has taken her, if she still lives on the island, or if she has moved to the mainland.
This well-dressed lady piqued my fancy one October day while visiting Longwood Gardens. I didn’t know her, and perhaps it is not polite to take a photo of someone just because you admire their outfit, but I loved her hat with its sassy bow, the red coat, and the posh bag she carried. Her long skirt was the perfect complement to the coat. So cute! In hindsight, I wish I had told her how beautiful her outfit appeared as she walked the pathways in the gardens. The photograph was taken in 2009. One of these days, I will attempt to create a watercolor of her. Fifteen years later, there is a lot of time between my first inspiration and getting around to it.
Today I’m including literal paths I have walked and enjoyed.
A pathway near the Bell Tower in Longwood Gardens; I have visited more times than I can count and always come away refreshed by the sights, especially in the winter when the conservatory is filled with flowers.
A perfect tree for climbing on the way to Clayhead Beach on Block Island, Rhode Island. I hope the tree is still standing. I have begun a watercolor painting of the tree, including a figure on the long, low branches with a book in her hand.
Block Island again, the same pathway; carrying beach chairs and paraphernalia to the beach at Clayhead is quite a hike, but it is well worth the effort.
In my part of Southern New Jersey, the temperature is in the 90s. AccuWeather says the real-feel temperature is around 104°. The hot weather is helping the caterpillars thrive. I have an abundance of them in the Butterfly House and each is born with a ravenous appetite.
Inside the houses, I have Rue, a host plant, and a few sprigs of parsley. The dill in the garden is still only in the small sprout stage since I planted it late. The fennel is suffering a bit in the heat, and since that is where most of the eggs for the Black Swallowtail Butterflies are laid, I don’t want to use it all. My goal is to concoct the perfect caterpillar feast for strong butterflies.
Queen Anne’s Lace, a host plant, is in bloom now, and the tall umbrella spires grow in hedgerows near my home. I took a walk with my cutting sheers in the hottest part of the day in hopes of collecting the wildflowers.
Unfortunately, the Queen Anne’s lace was not where I expected it to be. The sprigs I had seen a week or two earlier had bloomed and gone, and my walk became longer than I had planned. I did find more growing along the edge of the woods and cut several stems. By the time I got home, they were significantly wilted, and I wondered if I could use them as I had planned for the IAVOM challenge and afterward as food for the caterpillars. The Queen Anne’s Lace stems drew up water and eventually recovered. I used a Coca-Cola bottle as a vase.
Butterfly tip: The Queen Anne’s Lace, though the blossoms become frail, has stems that stay firm even after drying out. They are perfect for a caterpillar to use to form its chrysalis.
Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty. ~Abraham Lincoln
Yes, you are correct if you think this blog becomes inundated with butterflies at this time of year.
Today’s photographs are part of the Cosmic Photo Challenge, Contrast. The markings on the butterfly are an excellent example of contrasting colors. The butterfly contrasts nicely with the garden plants he rests upon as he finishes drying off his wings.
Another good contrast is the natural support of the butterfly chrysalis on the left compared to the one on the right. I save so many caterpillars; they sometimes bump finished chrysalises right off their mooring of spun web. I found the chrysalis in the papoose-like sling of string lying on the floor of the butterfly house. I am hoping it will develop properly and emerge perfectly.
When I use string to repair a chrysalis resting place, I separate garden twine into single pieces. This is as close as I can come to mimicking the web they spin. It doesn’t harm the developing butterfly. I’ve had two emerge and fly off into the wide world after being put back into place with garden string.
The first Black Swallowtail butterfly was ‘born’ today. The high heat, present even in the morning, sped up the drying process, and the butterfly was ready to fly within two and a half hours. I took the butterfly enclosure outside, and the new butterfly easily flew into the world and quickly disappeared. Success!
I like the way the photo shows the web they spin to anchor themselves in place. Due to the number of caterpillars I was able to save, I’ve had a few mishaps. I’ll post some of the solutions later in the week.
