I will watch it closely and take more pictures to share.
Nature is truly beautiful and amazing!
This caterpillar was busy eating tropical milkweed the other day. Now it has moved away to the nearby plum tree to start the next step in becoming a butterfly. They always leave the milkweed and move to another location to form the chrysalis. I took this picture on the evening of the 28, by that same time the next day the chrysalis was fully formed. I will watch it closely and take more pictures to share. Nature is truly beautiful and amazing! The same monarch taken at about the same time on the 29th day of August.
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I discovered that I have several monarch caterpillars on my tropical milkweed. I will have to watch for the chrysalis next, they are so pretty. I have a new camera and will be taking lots of pictures for a while. There is not much left of my garden but all the pots I put under the shade cloth are doing fine so there are still things to photograph. There are also some nectar plants for the monarchs in those pots. I put the tropical milkweed in pots this year too and I have found thats the best way. I put two plants in the ground and tried to keep them watered but they just never did as well as those in pots. The monarchs will soon be coming through on their fall migration and there are not many nectar plants left for them and a lot of the milkweed I have seen is not looking good either. I hope next year is better for them. I will be gathering milkweed seed for next year so if you would like to plant some just let me know i will share what I have. All gardens should contain a milkweed patch! I let my guineas out in the garden the other day, they are pretty among the flowers and they enjoyed catching grasshoppers and eating the crabgrass seed. I have added a few pictures of them at the bottom of the garden page.
This is a great plant for the butterfly garden. It is a tall plant so give it lots of room in a sunny location. It is drought tolerant but this summer the drought and excessive heat didn't do much for mine, they are dead now. I must also add that grasshoppers like it too. in a normal S. E. Kansas summer it requires little care. dead head those spent blossoms and you will be rewarded with more flowers for the butterflies. Humming birds will also visit the flowers. It grows 4' to 5' feet tall with bright orange flowers, the le
brugmansia - broog-MAN-sia, is one of my favorite flowers. It has huge trumpet shaped flowers and comes in pinks, yellows, white and anything in between. This is my newest one called ' Angel's Summer Dream'. It blooms when just 2 feet tall, I bought this one in the spring in a 4 inch pot and it is already blooming! Most brugmansia's need to reach 5 to 6 feet before they will bloom. they like full sun and want to dry out between waterings. As a zone 7 plant they will have to be brought inside in the winter with indoor temperatures above 40. Some people put them in their basements where they defoliate and go dormant. I have never tried this.They need a lot of light to bloom, high temps can also keep them from blooming. I had moved this one under my shade cloth so I would not have to water so often and that is when the buds began to form. I have a two year old plant that has still not bloomed and I would say it is close to 5 feet tall, I had left it in the sun and heat though so maybe it has just been too hot for it. they are heavy feeders and need a good monthly feeding, prefer 50% humidity or higher, and can take a heavy pruning after they bloom.
They are highly susceptible to white fly and mealy bugs aphids can also be a problem. I am currently fighting white fly all over my garden and must get them under control before everything goes back into the greenhouse. There are white flies on this plant now. White flies like the dry weather, they must be very happy. If you like fragrant plants this is a good one. if you have the room give them a try. I got mine at logees. be sure and check out the Garden page, there are some new pictures at the bottom of that page. There is a shortage of food for a lot of the wildlife in our area due to the drought and they could use our help. Bird feeders and baths are needed now just as much in the winter and while you are at it put out a dish of water on the ground for the turtles and put out scraps for them too. This turtle is enjoying some strawberries I cut up for it although I really think it prefers blueberries, I feed this one a lot as it lives in my garden. Turtles will dig into soft dirt to hide from the heat of the day and come out in the evenings to look for food and water.They will also come out if you accidentally water their resting place. I don't think there will be any nuts here either all the nuts are falling from the trees undeveloped, so feed those squirrels too. Whatever wildlife is in your area probably needs some help so it is a good idea to do what you can
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