How I Got Started

I started Butterfly gardening many years ago. My yard has been a progression over the years, and has made many transformations. Twenty years ago I experienced Hurricane Andrew. My yard and house were destroyed. We decided not to replace the pool screening and open up the backyard and put in some landscaping. That was the official beginning of my love for gardening in South Florida. I added a beautiful water garden years ago, and have been adding host and larvae plants for pollinators, mostly for the butterfly, for as many years as I can remember. I had my yard certified as a Natural Habitat, through the National Wildlife Foundation. To have a natural habitat you need to provide and meet certain requirements: 1. Provide a food source, 2. Provide a water source, 3. Cover, 4. A place to raise young. I try not to use any pesticides in my yard. I vermicompost and recycle as many of my food scraps as possible. If I had more land I would have a huge compost bin to recycle all my yard cuttings. Basically, I try to lessen my carbon footprint on this earth. In my own little world or backyard I try to provide an ecosystem in my water garden, provide birdbaths, birdfeeders, hummingbird nectar sources, feeders, puddling areas, host plants and nectar plants for butterflies and other pollinators. I am hoping to raise everyone’s awareness of the importance of saving our Butterflies, Blooms & Bees. Without them our world and food source will be in trouble. I hope you all enjoy my journey. I am not a Master Gardener, or Master Beekeeper, an Entomologist, or Journalists. I am simply a Backyard Gardener who is trying to lessen her Carbon Footprint of this Earth.

I hope you enjoy my blogs.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Beautiful Butterflies


I just had my first blooms of the season on my Mexican Sunflowers (tithonia).  The butterflies really love these flowers.  The variety I am growing is a beautiful cultivar called “Torch.”  I am still waiting for the Lemon Queen Sunflower to start to bloom.   I love to go out and just watch all the activity in the yard when I get home from work.  It is so relaxing!  There are butterflies everywhere going from flower to flower, the bees are shooting out of their hives going to forage for whatever nectar and pollen they can find, and cardinals and doves are singing their familiar songs.  If the mosquitoes wouldn’t get me I think I could sit out there forever.   The most common visitors that I have in my yard are the Long Wing Zebra, Monarchs, Julias, Gulf Fritillaries, Swallowtails, Skippers, Yellow Sulphurs, and Southern White butterflies.  I really need to get a new camera.  I have a small point and shoot Sony.  Lately I have been using my iphone.  If I’m going to continue this blog I think it would help if my photography improves.   But for now, it will have to do.  

 

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