Too much excitement here at the Long house. Didn't even go to MOSI today. I feel bad for missing two weeks in a row, but I also feel bad physically, so not too much I can do. I'm actually eating better and exercising because I had "the talk" with my doctor when I saw her. I'm now technically a member of the diabetes club, but I'm going to try and turn that around. Unfortunately, genetics are not on my side, but I know I can make a lot of lifestyle changes. But I think I'm going through sugar and caffeine withdrawal! I've switched back to tea, though, which is nice. I think it's my British ancestry, but I love me a good cuppa tea. Starbucks is going to miss me, though.
I did have to feed my own caterpillars today so I went outside when Mom went for her walk. It was really nice here today. It was 59 last night and it stayed cool and kind of windy. I got some more Pellitory for the Red Admirals, but didn't find any more eggs. My cat was playing dead until I poked him a little. The eggs haven't hatched yet, but they did change color. I was showing them to Mom and she said they looked "sparkly". While I was over there, I checked the Pipevine again. And way down low on the vine, I saw more Pipevine Swallowtail eggs!
I thought it possible I may have missed them the other day since they were so low, but I kept looking and found way more. So it seems I've been egg-bombed again.
Like I said before, they mostly lay on the stems, but you can see where she got one of the leaves. And they're almost always in small groups although sometimes you see a single egg. I always think something must have interrupted her when I see that.
Not a lot of butterflies out today because it was cool and windy, but I did see this Skipper.
And a Gulf Fritillary (aka "Espejito") was laying eggs on my Passiflora 'Lavender Lady'. This picture turned out better than I thought it would. Wait, if it's a female, wouldn't it be Espejita?
But then she nicely posed for me as she was basking on the lawn.
The Gulf Frit cats on the Corkystem Passion Vine were getting big enough to be moved, so the Melanie Transport Service took them over to the P. 'Lavender Lady'. They wouldn't have had enough food if I left them on the Corkystem. There are four of them on my hand. The third picture is the 'Lavender Lady' where they have plenty to eat now. It's growing up my cherry tree!
Saw another Looper caterpillar on the well.
So on Friday, Dad started working on the center. He marked it off with landscaping timbers because he wants my brother to be able to mow around the edge to keep a nice border. I'm okay with that. Don't want caterpillars too close to my car or the curb. You can see we transplanted three of my Senna ligustrina volunteers. It rained all day Saturday so they got a good soaking.
I already have some nice clumps of Spiderwort, but Dad transplanted some that were outside the timbers to inside the timbers. It's funny, but I actually planted the Spiderworts in front of the house (on the other side of my car). They just seed themselves really well. I dug them up from the road just south of us where they were growing around a utility pole. I see the Native Plant Society selling them sometimes and while I'm glad people are supporting them by buying them, I can't help but wonder why they don't dig them up in the right of way like I did. You know the county or the electric company will just mow them down. I also noticed not long after I planted mine, my neighbor planted a bunch. What can I say? I'm a trendsetter. Oh, and blue is my parents' favorite color, in case you couldn't tell from the house.
I was reading the Home section of the paper today because that's where they list all the upcoming garden events and I swear next Saturday everyone is doing something. Normally, I would be at the USF Plant Sale, but I've been enough years to know what vendors show up and what they have, so I think I'm going to try somewhere else. If I feel up to it, we're going to drive over to Largo where the Pinellas County chapter of the FL Native Plant Society is holding a plant sale in conjunction with Wilcox Nursery. They're a well-known native nursery and quite a few people on the FL Forum have been there, and I've been meaning to go there. I want to get some Dune Sunflowers to grow in the middle. And if they have native milkweed, that would be awesome, too! I also want some of that Florida Pennyroyal I saw while hiking. My Dad is always going to Pinellas County for woodturning stuff so I told him he could take me (he's got a truck) and then he could take Mom and I somewhere nice for lunch.
Back to what I currently have in the circle, here's the Corkystem Passion Vine growing up some Spanish Needles. I didn't plant this one; it volunteered from the one in front of my car. It's on the obelisk just in front of my car in the previous picture. But it has spread itself all over the place! Free host plants!
The Spanish Needles were already attracting Skipper friends.
Okay, it's confession time. I don't think I mentioned this when it happened, but a couple weeks ago, I opened the lid to the Cassius Blues, and accidentally sent everyone flying on to the floor. I picked up as much as I could see, but I knew I had one caterpillar that appeared to be pupating and I just couldn't find it! It doesn't help that I need to vacuum - badly! I kept checking the area, but never saw anything and I kind of forgot about it. Until I was sitting on my bed and I was looking at the pair of jeans on top of my laundry pile and saw something on them. I thought it was Desmodium seeds at first, but when I went to pick them off, I realized there was a Cassius Blue sitting there! Thankfully, I managed to get it in a plastic container and I took it outside since I don't know how long it had been out. I did put it over by its host plant, the plumbago. I took a picture of it on the container, and then one on my finger to show you just how small these guys really are. For those of you who have Eastern-Tailed Blues, they're about that size, but without the tails.
And since the container I used to capture it was the one with my Zebra Swallowtail chrysalis, I tried to take a photo of it. It's in an awkward spot for photos.
Speaking of photos, I bit the bullet and bought a new camera! I have a pretty good camera but it's the first model in its series, and model number four just came out. I actually went with a different brand and model after reading tons of reviews because I wanted something with a better zoom for bird photos (and so I don't have to get quite so close to the butterflies) but I also needed something that could take decent macro photos. My camera won't arrive until next week and there might be a learning curve, but hopefully I can take even better photos soon! I'll just have to find the patience to sit and read the manual.
