The Red Maple is red all over. The tree has red twigs, buds, flowers, and fall leaves. The Red Maple is a pretty tree. It fills so many roles such as shade, specimen, autumn accent, or on a wet site. It’s easy to establish, grows rapidly and produces brightly colored flowers and fruit, and fall […]
butterflies
New England Asters, a Pollinator Magnet for Your Garden.
New England Asters are some of my favorite flowers. I know when the asters bloom in my garden that fall is truly here and the calendar year is coming to the end. New York asters are similar flowers. I am not sure what the difference is between the two species. They both are great for […]
My Community Garden Plot This Summer.
This has been an incredibly busy summer. I started a new/second community garden plot back in the spring. Those of you who subscribe to this blog received a post back in the spring highlighting the sweat equity my mother and I put into the garden plot. I promised an update and here it is. […]
Photographing Butterflies
I made a vow to myself that I would improve my butterfly and basic nature photography skills. (I also promised myself to draw more in my nature journal, take more hikes this year, remake a garden bed into a butterfly and bird magnet.) I’m coming along. I follow high school biology teachers Jeff’s blog and ran across this great explanation of how Jeff takes such great photos of butterflies. Like athletes preparing for a big game, here is some inspiration for us. Jeff explains how he approaches, keeps the sun at his back, […]
Metalmark Butterfly Family
Metalmark butterflies are a diverse family of butterflies that live mostly in the Americas. The name “metalmark” comes from the metallic markings of many species.
Red Admiral Butterfly and Flowers That Attract Them.
A Red Admiral butterfly was sipping nectar from the Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea) in my garden the other day. When I see a Red Admiral, I always catch my breath. It is something about the curved band of red on the dark black wings that delight me. These aren’t big butterflies but their colors are very […]
Observing Butterflies At Home and Far Away
![Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) Butterfly. Lycaenidae Butterfly Family). By Bob Peterson from North Palm Beach, Florida, Planet Earth! [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i1.wp.com/donnallong.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/gray_hairstreak_strymon_melinus_6195779779.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)
We like observing butterflies because they capture our attention with the fluttering of color as they pass by us. The blues, greens, and bright yellows advertise their presence and call attention to their beauty. On these pages we will learn about observing, their life cycle, their families and how to attract them to our gardens […]
Identifying Common Butterflies – Photo Gallery
Identifying common butterflies is easier with photographs or drawings. I put together this photo gallery of butterflies. I took just about every photo either in my garden or around the Philadelphia area. As I take more butterfly photos, I will add to the gallery. Some of the butterflies have photos of larva and adult life stages. […]
Little green caterpillar
This brilliant green caterpillar was asleep (diapause) in a pot of asters. I was repotting plants for the spring native plant on April 30th. I don’t know what species it is even my caterpillar guide couldn’t tell me. This little caterpillar is the same shade of spring green as the new green leaves […]
Gossamer Butterfly Family (Lycaenidae)
Gossamer Wing family butterfly is called the “gossamers” because some of the butterflies have wings, which are so sheer and delicate the wings look like the soft, filmy, sheer fabric called gossamer. They are also called “the little butterflies” because many butterflies in the family are small with wing spans of ⅞” to 2’’ (22 […]