Tag Archives: Lantana camara (Common lantana)

Butterfly Journal For 10/22/2021 – 10/28/2021

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Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Since my last Butterfly Journal report I recorded 7 observations (2 species), bringing the 2021 annual butterfly total for my garden to 590 (30 species).

Compared to the previous report this is 3 more observations but 2 fewer species. Nectar sources are still available for any last minute guests but the butterfly party is closing down for this year.

Butterfly Sightings 10/22/2021 –  10/28/2021

10/22/2021 Monarch – Danaus plexippus 3
10/24/2021 Fiery Skipper – Hylephila phyleus 3
10/27/2021 Fiery Skipper – Hylephila phyleus 1

Frequent visitors to the garden since mid-June, Fiery Skippers are uncommon now.

Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)

On October 22, 2021, I was particularly happy to see 3 monarchs feeding at the lantana. This male had a unusual light coloration on it’s right upper wing.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

At one point it moved perilously close to ensnarement by a huge orb spider. Alarmed, I disassembled the web quickly but was unable to relocate the spider. A master at escape, it simply dropped out of sight.  The next day it’s web was rebuilt and once again I took it down. One thread of the web is visible in the lower left quadrant of the photo below.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Butterfly season has been an enriching time here in my little garden this year. Thanks to all for sharing this little adventure.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Butterfly Journal For 10/15/2021 – 10/21/2021

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Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)

Since my last Butterfly Journal report I recorded 4 observations (4 species), bringing the 2021 annual butterfly total for my garden to 583 (30 species).

Butterfly Sightings 10/15/2021 –  10/21/2021

10/15/2021 Cloudless Sulphur – Phoebis sennae 1
10/15/2021 Ocola Skipper – Panoquina ocola 1
10/16/2021 Pearl Crescent – Phyciodes tharos 1
10/21/2021 Monarch – Danaus plexippus 1

None of the butterflies stayed around long enough for more than quick snapshots. With the Pearl Crescent the time was only enough to recognize and record its presence with an obscure image.

Last weekend there were promises and some reports of rain throughout the region but nothing more here than a brief splash. Though there are still plenty of flowers on the Lantana camara (Common lantana), skippers have all but disappeared from their favorite nectar source in my garden.

Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola)

In mid-October despite their now deeply mildewed foliage, zinnias continue to provide a resounding zing of color to the borders. I’ve been in no hurry to clear them, preferring to enjoy for myself the pops of pink, orange and yellow that dominated this year’s crop, knowing too butterflies might enjoy them. Yesterday I embodied an old clichéd phrase: my heart soared when I spotted a fresh female monarch nectaring on the zinnias.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) -female

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) -female

Occasional sightings are possible into next month but butterfly season here is coming to a close.

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

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In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

This is one of my favorite arrangements of the summer. It began as a different concept, lighter in weight, more airy, but ended up a round, tightly-packed, solid form with an arc of white flowers moving horizontally and an arc of pink flowers cascading vertically.

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

Five Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’ opened all at once. This is a creamy white semi-cactus dahlia. I cut them and the other flowers Sunday afternoon when it was already 93°F.

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

Three of the large flowers forming the pink arc are an unknown semi-cactus dahlia and one is D. ‘Cafe Au Lait’.

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

Stems of a small white ball type, Dahlia ‘Petra’s Wedding’, along with salvias, gaura and common lantana fill out the arrangement. There are also a few sprigs of Angelonia AngelMist ‘Spreading Berry Sparkler’.

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

In A Vase On Monday – Summer Flowers In Black Vessel

Materials
Flowers
Angelonia AngelMist ‘Spreading Berry Sparkler’
Dahlia Ball ‘Petra’s Wedding’
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Dahlia ‘Penhill Watermelon’
Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’
Dahlia sp.
Lantana camara (Common lantana)
Salvia nemorosa ‘Blue Hill’ (Meadow Sage)
Salvia uliginosa ‘Blue Sky’ (Bog sage)
Zinnia
Foliage
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Passionate Blush’ (Butterfly Gaura)
Container
Black Matte Dish With Red Interior

As always thanks to our host Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for providing this opportunity to to share our vases. Visit her to discover what garden surprises she and others are offering this week.

An August Sunday Album

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My grandmother’s mossy front yard held a magical surprise and each summer I was delighted by the appearance of her spider lilies. Finally in 2015 I added some to my own garden and today was the magical day they burst forth into bloom.

Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)

Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)

Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)

Usually there are plentiful zinnias to use indoors butI have left them outside for now, the few zinnias from a second sowing. Finally they are in bloom, six or seven weeks later than normal due to the rabbit “crisis”.

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia

Nearby, asclepias has rebloomed.

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Plant)

There are other small pleasures.

Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower)

Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)

Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)

Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’

Unknown dahlia

Phlox paniculata ‘Robert Poore’ (Garden phlox)

Lathyrus latifolius (Everlasting sweet pea)

Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)

Salvia uliginosa ‘Blue Sky’ (Bog sage)

Lantana will continue well into October. On any given day it is a popular gathering place for butterflies and skippers. Today there were six Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, yesterday swallowtails and a couple of monarchs.

Lantana camara (Common lantana)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

The oakleaf hydrangea leaves point toward autumn, as do changes in light and pulsating sounds of cicadas, but mostly there is just a knowing deep inside, an inner sense that fall is near.  Every time I stepped outside this past week I felt it.

Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ (Lil’ Ruby dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea)

Wordless Wednesday – Garden Benefits

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Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower)

Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)

Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola)

Junonia coenia (common buckeye)

Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus)

Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus)

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

 

July Juncture

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Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)

Summer has turned the corner in my garden and plants are tired, weary and thirsty. July has been hot and mostly dry. Although we have had a few thunderstorms often dark clouds pass overhead to find a different target than our neighborhood . I have watered selectively, but sometimes even include the coneflowers because they are doing so well this year.

Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)

In particular when watering by hand I’m trying to encourage the dahlias as well as my two tomato plants which were planted very late. (I tasted the first two grape tomatoes this week. The German Johnson shows little interest in producing more than just the two still-green specimens that formed early.) The dahlias are not doing as well as last year but a few nice ones show up. It’s so hot they don’t last long.

Dahlia ‘David Howard’

I am still trying to outwit the rabbits to protect a third sowing of zinnias. Spraying frequently seems to help some but is not a good long-term solution. My neighbor is scouting for rabbit fencing but supplies are out. It seems it will be costly anyway and fairly unattractive. If you have found a good solution to keeping rabbits at bay, we welcome your advice. She and I have white vinyl picket fencing (as dictated by our homeowner’s association) and is open at the bottom. She had installed chicken wire along the base but the rabbits are still slipping inside. One thing left unbothered by rabbits has been this crinum lily. The plant has had three tall shoots so far. Individual blooms are delicate.

Crinum × powellii (Swamp Lily)

This week on Instagram I joined Amy @newgatenarcissi for another #gardenmonthlycollage on for July 2020. There are so any images to choose from for July, but for the collage I found several for which I had made some Waterlogue counterparts.
Left to right: Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) on Lagerstroemia (Crape Myrtle)
Canna With Echinacea (Purple coneflower)
Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)
Bombus (Bumble bee) on Salvia uliginosa ‘Blue Sky’ (Bog sage)

Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ hummingbirds seem to adore, but unfortunately mine is producing few flowers. (A tip I recently heard on an old Gardeners World episode is the salvia may just be too “happy” and it needs to be moved to where it will be stressed and has to work harder.)  I love to hear a hummingbird’s wings as they nectar close by. Other birds we are seeing now are American goldfinches, eastern towhees, nuthatches, cardinals, house finches, chickadees and lots of little brown sparrows, all which frequent the feeder. Mourning doves stop by and lumber around the meditation circle.

Yesterday I saw a new-to-me white moth which I have identified tentatively as White Palpita Moth (Diaphania costata). It flew frequently as I tried to photograph it and it always landed under a leaf, making it challenging to get a clear image.

White Palpita Moth (Diaphania costata) underside

White Palpita Moth (Diaphania costata)

Cleome has taken over the meditation circle again this summer but it is hard to mind.

Cleome hassleriana (Spider Flower)

Cleome hassleriana (Spider Flower)

Cleome hassleriana (Spider Flower)

Cleome and rudbeckia provide the most color to my garden right now. Both attract lots of bees.

Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower)

Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower)

Finally coming into full bloom this month, Lantana draws many pollinators, such as this little skipper.

Lantana camara (Common lantana)

But where are the butterflies this year? Very few have passed by that I have seen. This one seems to have had a hard life.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

That is a look at July so far. 95° F.  Be safe.

Swallowtail and Spider

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Yesterday (August 15, 2019) I spotted a new garden visitor. This Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) appears tattered and torn as do many of the butterflies I saw this week. (Life ain’t been no bowl of cherries for some of them.) Like so many others it is attracted to the Lantana camara (Common lantana).

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

The iridescent blue on the top surface of the hindwing makes this butterfly especially lovely.

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Here is the Pipevine in action (21 seconds).

The spider mentioned in the title is one of my favorite spiders, Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily). My grandmother grew these near the front foundation of her house and as a young child I was fascinated by the color and form.

Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)

The tall stems erupted and shot up overnight Wednesday with red tips showing by yesterday the flowers had opened.  I took these images early this morning while rambling through the garden. I wonder if they will last as cut flowers?

Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)

Lycoris radiata (Spider Lily)