One of my favorite things has always been butterflies. When we would vacation in the fall in Cape May, New Jersey the hotel had dozens of Butterfly Bushes on their grounds, and it was the time of the year for the annual flight of the Monarch.
I could sit for hours on our balcony and watch them.
 |
| This is actually two, facing each other |
This spring, when we started to remodel the front of our homes landscaping, I decided I wanted to have some butterfly bushes at the one end that I knew would get enough sun light to grow them well. And, I was correct!
All five have grown well and now I will need to do even more research on how to prune them to keep them looking nice and not getting too out of control.
I purchased all five plants from a local grower who sells plants out of the front of her yard during the spring as a project to teach her children, whom she home schools. The children come out and help you with your selection, are very knowledgeable and will place your purchases into your car, and they also take care of adding your purchase and your change.
The Monarch has suffered over the last few years. Between the change in the habitat along their long journey to Mexico, to the cold spell they had that froze hundreds of them. They need our help. So I was very happy to plant some lovely food that will help them along their journey this fall.
In November, I am planning to plant the Milkweed seeds that I purchased from
Butterfly Encounters and I hope that they will grow to feed the caterpillars of the Monarch butterfly next year. Butterfly Encounters helps you choose which seeds will grow best for your area. A very nice website that I enjoy using.
Such a small thing that one can do to help our environment and a species.
Have you seen any Monarch butterflies this fall?
No comments:
Post a Comment