Year of the Insect

 

Good news! Theodore, the caterpillar, has moved on already! From stage one, he now enters stage TWO! I can't believe my little guy is so grown up. His brothers are still smaller, and haven't yet moved on, but as you can see, our friend just changed. His stage one skins are still on the parsley beside him. Still, before moving on to the updating of the Genoa garden, I thought I would enjoy some delicious orange chicken and tell you all about Theodore's progress!

 He's been doing really well clearly. Getting all gigantic and learning to eat as much food as caterpillarly possible. Its just that there are three of them, and I am increasingly concerned that my single little parsley plant won't be enough to feed all these growing babies. Oh well, I will continue to monitor him! Maybe tomorrow I'll use a a ruler to see just what size he's measuring now, but since he's the biggest and never stops eating we decided he was only fitting to be named Theodore.

NOW! Moving on to the Genoa garden. I told you it was colorful, but its pretty awesome. Be prepared to be wowed with, purple speedwell, geraniums, and tall stocky sunflowers. Soooooo exciting! The idea, is that tomorrow I will clean up the front of little, if the mosquitoes are too active, and that means that there will be a front to work with again. It was so hot over the last few weeks that I could barely take the kids out for longer than a half an hour. Here's hoping the tempt stays settled below 90.

One of the six replanted Dill. They planted themselves this year without any help of mine. So cool. And the only yellow that has yet to rear its head in our garden. Jonathan and Sarah love the dill plants, because they attract butterflies. Which, considering the above, I'm getting quite the laugh out of. We never anticipated so many butterflies this year, but it turns out we planted all the right things. Anything in the parsley family.

 And then there are the silver mound bushes. Another perennial that flourished this year, in a way no one ever expected. These are Mik's favorites, and I have to say, I agree wholeheartedly that they were a great choice for our happy little spot in the backyard. So soft.

 These are the speedwell of course. And the reasoning behind the year of the insect? Check out the plant on the right.... Yet another caterpillar. Or an inch worm. I can't quite tell.

 GERANIUMS!

 Put them all together and what do you get?! Our beautiful garden.

A Late Blooming Garden!

I have been remiss! I just refound all this, but cutting through all that I would like to instead break through, right into the business. Upon seeing the date on last years amazing sunflowers! I realized that this year is a very late summer. We haven't had a single blood or head grow on our sunflower heads. Not yet this year. They are tall, and thirteen of last years sunflowers dropped enough seeds to regrow their beautiful progeny. Very exciting. We weren't as business like about out garden yet this year, but that isn't to say there aren't beautiful flowers growing happily. Just not as many to report on this year. I have however planned on bringing my camera tomorrow and I'll get some good pictures of the growing garden to update it. The speedwell by the way is grand. I'll update everything much better tomorrow, but for today I'll show you what I do have!



Apparently! Parsley (Which I have been inclined to grow this year, on our porch side garden), has produced another of nature's miracles. Mom saw it early this afternoon, going to take out her laundry. She discovered a  large butterfly, zigging and zagging around my plants! As though it had decided, that the huge purple whatever it was, we found to plant this year from Walmart, was a delicious snack. Taking its picture, this is what I discovered!  This lovely butterfly, is a female Black Swallowtail. She is also known as the villainous! Parsley worm. With every intention of making tea from my parsley this year. In hopes of trying out a new herb for cultivation, I have been thwarted. I couldn't very well be cutting fronds of parsley for brewing, when its covered in these!

He is adorable! And apparently the first stage of three that this kind of butterfly go . They go through 1 to 4 stages, and as they pass through them, he starts looking more and more like a monarch caterpillar. I'm planning on documenting him, and his two brothers. They are to be named.... Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. There are however, eggs, so if new arrivals from our lady's egg laying hatch, I will be documenting them as well. These are his expecting brothers! Lets wait and see!!!!