Over the moon

Posted on February 27, 2023 by SweetButterfly Bliss

One of the first nectar plants I bought when I started my butterfly garden was the blue mistflower. There was something about the pop of color, the shape and apperance of the flower that drew me in. I have attempted to grow this flower in my garden and have never had success no matter what kind of spot, full sun/part sun/ shade.

Well, I am over the moon happy that I grew some from seed. It took a while for it to mature, but, it is finally blooming, and I could not be happier!!

I have more starting from seed that I hope will have the same success rate. The butterflies love this plant as much as I love it being among the plants of my garden.

Really, what’s better than growing something from seed and watching it flourish?

First of the New Year

Posted on January 30, 2023 by SweetButterfly Bliss

We had our first of 2023 monarch butterfly emerge yesterday in our butterfly house. This beautiful male was eager to fly away, making it No. 350 that we have successfully reached since we began this journey.

The great thing is the garden is very active, as well as the butterfly house with many chrysalis and caterpillars.

It is incredibly rewarding to witness the life cycle of the butterfly. The nest part is sharing that passion with not only my daughter, but iur fsmily and friends too.

I am excited to share that 2023 is bringing a new vision for me, one that includes growing many host and nectar plants from seed. I am having huge success with zinnia and dill so far.

Torn wing

Posted on July 10, 2022 by SweetButterfly Bliss

This female monarch butterfly, although had a torn wing, fluttered about just fine this morning in the garden.

It definitely makes you wonder how long she has been flying and what happened.

She was a beauty, and fun to watch as she tackled the porterweed to grab some good.

I wonder how much nectar they have to consume in a day for their diet?

Brilliant orange

Posted on July 4, 2022 by SweetButterfly Bliss

My butterfly garden was full of a brilliant orange this morning as a few gulf fritillary butterflies fluttered in feeding on the nectar flowers.

Gulf fritillary sipping from a porterweed.

The nectar from the flowers holds both proteins and other chemicals, which help the butterfly both receive energy, or pheromones for males. When the butterfly is fluttering by a nectar plant it will look at the shape, color, fragrance and test the flower by using its antennae, palpi, tarsi (feet) and its proboscis, which all have sensory receptors.

I read in “Florida Butterfly Gardening” that the nectar may only be secreted during certain hours of the day, which may be why the butterflies are abundant during the morning hours.

Hungry

Posted on June 24, 2022 by SweetButterfly Bliss

This butterfly sure had an appetite and was quite acrobatic as it sipped nectar from the garden yesterday. Research revealed that it is of the hairstreak species, mallow scrub hairstreak.

This is the first time I have seen it visit our garden. It loved the nectar from the porterweed flower the most.