Gardening Is a Workout!
I about wore myself out planting some new host plants and flowers for some butterflies(and bees) this morning! It was a cool 77 degrees F when I got started, but alas it was at least 91 degrees F by the time I finished. Yes, I'm a Texan and 77 degrees F is cool for me in the summer!
We have clay soil along with caleche rock, that is hard to dig in, so it always takes me longer than I think it will if I have to dig very deep holes. After that I have to put some quality gardening soil in the holes and then finally place the new plant. Also I had to dig and cut out roots of an old rosebush that I removed because it had rose rosette disease. That's a subject for another post, just trust me rose rosette disease is bad for roses!
Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar on my Passion Vine this morning!
It looks to be about the right size to turn into a chrysalis!
Isn't this a beautiful caterpillar?
This is what the gulf fritillary butterfly looks like.
Photo taken in my yard about 5 years ago.
Sorry that it's not in focus!
The gulf fritillary or passion butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) is a bright orange butterfly found in the southern part of the USA. (Mainly near the Gulf of Mexico) They are seen in Texas and Florida.
Gulf Fritiallary females occasionally wander north of Texas to lay their eggs on passion vines.
Here is another post I made a few weeks ago about these butterflies.
As for my gardening, this is what I planted today!
Gregg's Mistflower - great nectar plant for butterflies and bees!
Petunias
Pentas - tropical flower that we can plant in Texas and it's great for nectar for butterflies and bees!
How is your day going?
Have a Blessed Day!
June 25, 2018
All original photos taken by me
Congratulations on your hard work. In Korea hard work is considered medicine for longevity.
Being from the mid west I have always been used to rich soft deep soil and digging was fun, but rocky soil is a bummer. I get what you are doing. You are almost like making a flower bed under the ground then filling it with planting soil. I will try that when I plant. We live on a mountain and the natural soil is shallow and rocky compared to my hometown. I always had to buy potting soil when I planted.
I expected to see some pictures of the soil and digging but that's OK. From your pictures I can see that your focus is the butterflies. The digging and the flowers were just a means to attract more butterflies. Good plan.
Since early in the morning there has been a steady down pour. I used to like rain but today my bones creak. I'm just sitting here at my desk between classes and surprised how my feed has become so inactive for the past couple days. It's like the day the music died. A lot of people are on a Steemit vacation. I'm glad you are still posting.
A good game of ping pong this afternoon will make everything OK.
Blessings
Haha, I guess I should have made my hubby take pics of my progress as I was digging and planting and post them, but come to think of it, he was at exercise class! Thankfully my husband and Daniel, @d-pend, have done a lot of digging and adding organic soil and compost to make our flower beds and yards so much healthier! Isn’t strange how the price of steem and all the cryptos seem to have dropped and be on vacation along with a lot of people who post on here?
I can tell that you are not worried about the price drop at all. So I feel comfortable when you continue to post the same. It is an encouragement to me... and the pictures of the flowers are sufficient... you already sweat enough putting them in.
Stay cool
I think you're doing a wonderful job there!
Beautiful post, Violet. That first shot in particular is truly amazing:)
Thank you! I was very excited to capture that!
Beautiful photos. The caterpillars are the future butterflies that pollinate the flowers.
Exactly!
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Wow wonderful macro photography with that caterpillar
Thank you!
Really great work you’re doing attracting butterfly’s, love the photos. We have a lot of different butterflies on the property~ my fav is the Eastern Black Swallowtail.
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