My Butterfly Birthday Sweater

We had  a week of serious rain here in 9B last week. Then on my birthday last Friday, the rain stopped and the sun broke through. Now my butterfly garden is teeming with flowers and tiny caterpillars.  I can't wait to see everything grow! As they say, "April showers bring May flowers."

I received the perfect sweater for my birthday and I thought I'd share it with you Monarch lovers out there. It's called the Stripe Monarch sweater...

Here's a fun one for you :-) ...

Yay! We are Monarch Waystation 6425!

There was a recent story on NPR's Science Friday about the serious decline of the Monarch population.  Dr. Lincoln Brower, a biologist,  was interviewed about this sad news and he encouraged listeners to plant more milkweed! You can play an active role in this by planting a Monarch Waystation. By planting milkweed, you can help sustain Monarchs during their incredible migration.

We have been working towards getting our butterfly garden certified as a Monarch Waystation and we finally did it! Here is our sign hanging proudly in the garden.

You can learn more about working towards and certifying your butterfly garden here. It can be a small garden or a large garden - just plant milkweed!!

Please let me know if you have any questions about establishing your Monarch Waystation! I'm happy to help!

Snapshots!

I have been busy with several gardening projects this week but I wanted to share a few quick pics with you from the garden today. Temperatures have been staying in the 80s around here so I have seen more butterfly activity in the garden recently.

Monarch with Tropical Milkweed and Giant Milkweed

Monarch caterpillar  - he helped me teach a butterfly class to 3 year olds this week!

Butterfly Gardening Class

Zebra Longwing by Just chaos via Flickr

Our local extension office is hosting a Butterfly Gardening class this week. Topics include the essential elements of a butterfly garden, common Florida butterflies, plants for adults and caterpillars, and planting design. Class will also include a tour of the extension center's own butterfly garden! This class is on Tuesday, April 16, 3013 from 9a-10:30a at the Orange County Extension Education Center. You can pre-register here.

Places: South Seas Island Resort Butterfly Garden

Just back from Spring Break with my family in Captiva Island, Florida. What a beautiful place... aqua water, white sand beaches laden with shells, and fresh seafood. Needless to say, it was so hard to leave!

Gulf of Mexico

As part of South Seas' ScoutAbout program, they have a colorful butterfly garden. The weather was cool by South Florida standards, so I didn't see many butterflies flying about. However, the garden was lush and full of blooms.

Tropical Milkweed, Giant Milkweed, Daisies, Lantana, Pentas, Firespike, Salvia, Clusia

I find the Tropical Milkweed more dramatic en masse...

More Tropical Milkweed

Short milkweed in front & tall milkweed towards the back

Each ScoutAbout Point of Discovery provides educational information about local flora and wildlife. My children really enjoyed exploring the resort in search of these and collecting bracelets along the way. It was a big adventure!

Mini Butterfly Garden Valentine's Day Gift

How about this mini butterfly garden for Valentine's Day? I spotted it at Whole Foods and it's filled with parsley, dill, and fennel. These are all host plants for the Black Swallowtail butterfly. XOXO!

Butterfly Life Cycle Models

Sometimes I give talks in our community about butterfly gardening. I especially love talking to children about the life cycle of butterflies. They are always so curious and eager to learn about "bugs." I found this fun teaching tool for my next presentation at the Butterfly Rainforest's gift shop.

I always try to bring live caterpillars to my presentations but occasionally they are still too small or just not available. These models will will be fun for the children to touch and explore!  You can find them online here.