Celebrating the ordinary
I am thoroughly enjoying the striking color and form of Royal catchfly (Silene regia). It’s a Kentucky native perennial that grows 2-4 ft. tall.
The blossoms are a brilliant red and stand out from a distance. They are also well deserving of a closer look. I want more of them in my garden next summer.
I recently created a small picture book. As the subject of half of my previous blogs, you can see how enthused I am about butterflies. The book is a way to share my enjoyment with others. You can preview it on Blurb and order a copy if you like.
This paperback book follows a monarch butterfly from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis and finally to adult butterfly. I’ve used simple words and photographs, and hope the book will appeal to young children as well as adults.
I wouldn’t have had this experience without common milkweed in our backyard. It’s yet another reason I’m glad we landscaped with native plants.
I found butterfly eggs on my native pipevine (Aristolochia tomentosa) and brought them inside. I’ve enjoyed watching the caterpillars hatch, grow, and make chrysalises. This past weekend, six weeks later, the butterflies emerged and are now flying in and out of the backyard.
Beautiful pipevine swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor) on native purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) – what a delight!
Here’s a different view of the the same butterfly on native Lady Fern (Athrium felix-femina). In the right light the iridescent blue is breathtaking.
We had the privilege of keeping our neighbors’ puppy, Reesie, over the weekend. She is an eight-week-old puggle, a cross between a pug and a beagle.
Between daytime naps, Reesie explored the backyard and enjoyed chewing on leaves, bark and pine cones. She also tolerated being held, petted, and photographed. It was a special treat to have our daughter, Janet, in town to share the fun.
This is a bit of a switch from my usual native plants or butterfly blog posts, but Reesie was the highlight of the backyard this weekend. She was a delightful, entertaining house guest.
