The Spirit of Butterflies

June 2019: Roses, songbirds, dragonflies and a fluttering of a few butterflies

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Maraleen

June 3^rd the first Rosa ragosa opened. I’m grateful to be able to grow these most fragrant roses so that I can continue making rose petal jam, a tradition I started while living in Provincetown, the tip of Cape Cod, in the 1970’s. Instead of bicycling ten miles to the outer beaches to collect wild Rosa ragosas, I now walk out to my back deck, down a few stairs to a mini rose grove, blissfully convenient and divinely aromatic.

What stays in my memory is the unique smell of the briny sea intertwined with the aroma of thousands of Rosa ragosa bushes covering large dunes as far as one could see in either direction.

Peonies bloom for only a short time, but their fragrance and utter feminine grace add to springtime splendor. Ants have a special relationship with peonies; they eat the hard outer shell of the tight bud so that the flower can finally burst open in all its glory.

I’ve seen only a few dragonflies, but have many toads of all sizes and design on the property. We stare at each other until I tell ‘em I won’t kiss ‘em, and then we both move on.

The late lilacs are almost finished blooming, another rather short-lived fragrant beauty. Both the black swallowtail and the Easter tiger swallowtail enjoy its nectar:

Such a rainy spring interspersed with perfect days of low humidity, temperature in the 70’s so that I can work in the garden for up to eleven hours, lost in its wonder while inching my way around three acres of garden work. So much has to be done before the heat and humidity slow me down considerably.

This unusual little beauty, whose name I do not know, was nectaring on a dandelion and sharing it with an ant.

Rain, rain today then sunshine for the first day of summer. I’m sure if I sat in front of any plant I could watch it grow, but there is far too much to do.

During a break between heavy rain today, June 20th, I went for a walk. Among the many milkweeds, two plants had bite marks and, sure enough, I found two monarch caterpillars munching intently, one on each plant. I hadn’t seen the monarchs who apparently visited the gardens to lay their eggs.

Posted in butterflies, butterfly gardens, gardens, peonies and ants, pollinators, rose petal jam, rose petals, spring flowers, Uncategorized | Comments Off

May 8, 2019 Garden Haiku

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Maraleen

A robin in the grass, a hummingbird on a branch. The sun setting. Calm.

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April 30, 2019 Hummingbirds Have Returned

Posted on May 1, 2019 by Maraleen

Usually the hummingbirds return from Central and South America to the very same place they left the year before. Every year, the first male hummingbirds scouts arrive at our home between May 2nd and May 9th. This year, they are a few days early.

I spotted two males already dancing/arguing over territory by flying in half arcs facing each other. I immediately went back into the house to make a nectar solution for them before they started scolding me. The solution I make is one cup of water to a quarter cup granulated white sugar, bringing it to a boil for a minute or two. I let it cool down before filling four feeders, one outside the kitchen window, another outside my office window, and two straddling the front entrance.

Watching the hummingbirds fills me with a sense of joy and wonder.

April 16th, I spotted little electric blue lights fluttering in the garden around the white snowdrops, yellow aconites, and purple scillias. Two spring azure butterflies seemed delighted to be alive as they danced among the spring ephemeral flowers.

Spring, such a powerful time for renewal and rebirth. It always amazes me when new growth bursts forth from dead branches such as roses or trumpet vine and so many others.

I can still see the mountains through the budding trees, the reds of the maples, that chartreuse green, and so many vibrant shades of green.

I am so sad not to be able to put out birdseed feeders because the birds had been in weeks of a feeding frenzy. House finches, purple finches, golden finches, wrens, downy woodpeckers, chicadees, titmice, redpolls, nuthatches, and junkos devouring the seeds. I knew I had to bring in the feeders at night cause the bears were awake and like the birdseed, yummy trail food to them. One evening last week I was very tired after long hours doing spring clean up of the gardens, that I kept delaying going out to collect the feeders until my dog, Amanda, and I heard the bear at the same time.

I managed to salvage the squirrel proof bird feeder the next day, hoping my husband could repair it.

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March 29, 2019

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Maraleen

Today the CBS This Morning Show featured monarchs and their amazing migration. The encouraging news is that this was a banner year for the monarchs east of the Rockies. The over wintering population covered fifteen acres rather the six last year versus one acre four years ago. The bad news is that we lost 86% of monarchs west of the Rockies. Climate change is one of the driving factors. Drought, intense rain storms, mudslides, and fires in California decimated and/or disrupted the population of many creatures.

The hosts of the show did not notice or mention the deforested areas surrounding the monarchs reserves. Reforestation must continue at an accelerated pace rather than deforestation continuing unabated. It was emphasized on the show that climate change profoundly affected the monarchs and their migration.

Timing is everything for all creatures.

In the meantime, the trump administration is taking by eminent domain The National Butterfly Park & Sanctuary in Mission, Texas so they can bulldoze the habitat to build a wall. The North American Butterfly association established this few hundred acre sanctuary for butterflies and other pollinators over twenty years ago. This science-denying president doesn’t realize he won’t have his chocolate ice cream without pollinators.

Posted in monarch migration, pollinator pathways | Tagged habitat loss, monarch habitat, saving monarch butterfly habitats, saving pollinators | Comments Off

Signs of Spring March 18, 2019

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Maraleen

There was a gift under the maple tree on St. Paddy’s day: winter aconites and snowdrops made their first appearance:

A female Downy woodpecker has been a frequent visitor to the bird feeder outside my office window. The male comes by once in a while to shove the female aside. He has a bright red head. The downy is among the smaller woodpeckers.

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Sign of Spring Starting Seeds

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Maraleen

March 13, 2019: Birds were chattering loudly early in the morning even though the thermometer read 20 degrees F. and snow blanketed the ground. I hadn’t heard so much twittering since early last Fall.

The process of starting seeds in used milk jugs continues. Everything takes more time than one anticipates, but it is worth the effort. First step is to assemble all the ingredients: peat moss, perlite, and compost. I mix about 1/4 compost, 1/4 perlite, and 1/2 peat in a five gallon bucket I use for the potting mixture. Have on hand strong weather proof tape (duck tape) to seal the two halves, a permanent marker, and clear tape to cover written name. Make sure to put 4 drainage holes on the bottom of jug before filling with potting mixture.

After filling jugs, I slowly add water and mix thoroughly so the moisture is evenly distributed. I use my dandelion pulling tool for mixing.

I plant a variety of seeds, both vegetable and flower, some on the surface, some 1/2″ deep.

After you have sealed the two halves together, identified the seeds planted, you take them all outside in the cold and sunshine.

I’ve planted forty-five jugs so far and I hope to plant more. The jugs will sit till late spring planting time, when the seeds have sprouted, which they will do when they are good and ready. They will grow be the strongest plants in the garden. The only tending to do till planting is to make sure they don’t dry out. You have to add water if there has been a long dry spell, otherwise, let them be.

Posted in butterfly gardens | Tagged butterfly gardening, gardening for pollinators and butterflies, monarch butterflies, monarchs, pollinator gardens, protecting monarchs in Mexico, saving pollinators, starting seeds, using milk jugs seed starting | Comments Off

March 11, 2019 spring is near

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Maraleen

Did you know that tree trunks are two degrees warmer than the ambient air? I first learnt of this from Dr Lincoln Brower who wrote a paper scientifically showing that to be true in the monarch overwintering colonies in the mountains of Mexico. Thousands of monarchs cling to each tree to insulate each other and derive warmth from the trees.

Here in the Catskills, I can ascertain that the earth surrounding a tree melts snow faster as attested to by our dog, Amanda, taking a nap nestled to a maple tree.

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Drama in the Forest

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Maraleen

March 6, 2019:

Out my kitchen window is a view of a field of glazed icy snow beyond which is a stream and the woods.

view from my kitchen window March 6, 2019

I just heard the familiar caw caw of crows with movement in the periphery of my vision. Looking up, a red tailed hawk was flying low and landed in the crook of a tree, making itself as invisible as possible. Seconds later, two black silhouettes, the crows, in pursuit, landed much higher on thinner branches, searching. Less than a minute later the hawk made a run/fly for it, again landing where it was well hidden, the crows in hot pursuit. This repeated one more time before they were out of my view.

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starting seeds in winter

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Maraleen

February 24, 2019:

Even though snow blankets the ground, and the thermometer is below freezing, sap is rising and thoughts of the garden return to dispel other tasks and notions.

It’s time to take out my reused and reusable ½ gallon and gallon plastic milk containers. I don’t have a greenhouse. I used to have adjustable height grow lights and a heating mat, but those got destroyed in a fire two years ago.

The Puerto Rican grandmother of a fellow student in my Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program turned us onto a process of starting seeds using plastic milk jugs. I have tried it in the past few years with mostly successful results. There were some challenges. Aren’t there always?

Preparing the ½ gallon and gallon milk cartons:

– using a mat knife, cut them horizontally just under the handle. Pierce holes on the bottom of the bottom half. Invert top and put aside. Keep individual units together. I have found that I can never make a straight cut, so each one is unique.

– Procure a big bag of peat moss, and a large bag of vermiculite or perlite. I have my own buckets of compost I’ve kept defrosted since the late autumn. I’ll make a mixture of these three ingredients, moisten, and get ready to plant.

– Before planting, I have to sort through all the seeds I’ve saved and bought, a continual organizing process every spring.

Since it is too cold to work outside, I’ll spread newspaper in the studio, and fill each of the seventy-five or so plastic jugs that I have with the planting mixture. It’s not difficult, it’s just that everything takes time, more time than one thought possible. It’s important to make sure each the contents of each container is moist, but not wet. I make the mixture in left over five gallon white buckets. Make a bucketful, fill the jugs, see how many times I have to repeat that.

Have ready: white duct tape, clear tape, and waterproof markers. I made the mistake one year of unwittingly using markers that soon blurred beyond recognition, thus making it difficult to know what to plant where. I’ve solved that problem. Not only to I use permanent markers, but also now use clear waterproof tape on top.

Planting a few seeds in each jug fit the top half on the bottom and use the white tape to make sure it fits snugly. Write what you have planted and date. Put clear tape on top of that. You have created a little personal greenhouse, the only opening for moisture and air, the pour spout.

Put all the containers outside in the elements in a sunny location. Yes, that means in the snow, rain, or cold, whatever. Do not let them dry out if there is too long a dry spell. The seedlings will sprout later in the spring, when they are ready. They will be among the hardiest plants in your garden. I have used this method for both vegetables and flowers to great success.

Good luck.

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June 24 2016: Fireflies, Fritillaries, and Flowering Milkweed

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Maraleen

June 24^th 2016 : Fireflies, Fritillaries and Flowering Milkweed

Another delightful and enchanting and seemingly magical element has begun; the fireflies are back seeking their mates through light signals like dancing stars or Tinkerbells, just making me happy to be among them, to witness that they are still with us.

For those who say they don’t see fireflies anymore, turn off your outside night lights so the fireflies can see each other. If you can, take an evening’s stroll by a river or stream and be delighted.

There is a small stream at the back of our property, yet the fireflies dance all through the gardens. In the nearby town of Phoenicia, there is a stretch of quiet road next to the large Esopus creek. Every year I walk through a galaxy of twinkling lights, the air so filled with fluttering lights that I’m filled with awe.

The hundreds of milkweeds on our property are starting to flower; soon their sweet aroma will infuse the air with their intoxicating aroma. Not only do monarchs need milkweed to lay their eggs, but many species of butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds nectar at its flowers.

Challenges: Oh Dear the Deer are Here

This year there are just more deer that have to be repelled from my gardens. My heart breaks when I take my early morning walk around all the gardens to see who needs what. It’s then I see not only what I have to do, but the damage the deer have done. They are eating things they never ate before, including sedums, little white and yellow begonias, butterfly impatience, black eyed susans and other rudbeckias, in addition to the monarda, echinacia, phlox, butterfly bush, elderberry leaves, branches, and flowers, hollyhocks, ladies’ mantle, coral bells, hydrangea and others. Oh my.

I’ve been making my concoction of egg, garlic, cayenne, peppermint oil and a dish of dish soap, but I last put it out a week ago. Since there are many more deer this year it seems, I need to spray that stuff around every few days. It’s exhausting.

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