Benefits and Beneficials ~ A Garden Teeming with Life

Zebra Longwing (Heliconiuscharitonia) butterflies were missing from my garden last year. It was sad not to see them. They had been so abundant in years past.

You can imagine my excitement when a Zebra Longwing butterfly appeared again this spring. As a matter of fact, I remember the exact day I saw the first one.

It was Easter Sunday. The family was all here and I made a little squeal as it gently fluttered past me during our annual outdoor egg hunt. This very landing was its destination that day, too.

Since that first sighting this Chaya Spinach Tree (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius) seems to be a regular hang out for them. (There are several now.)They are strongly attracted to the rather insignificant blooms that sprout up from the tippy-top of the tree.

The alternate landing zone, where they are seen most often, is on the firebush (Hamelia patens) shrubs. There are several planted throughout the garden (not pictured here). Zebra longwings living in my garden again is like receiving a hug from them.

Sharing the nectar on the Chaya is the ever-present monarch. They can be seen regularly, most any month out of the year. That does't mean I take them for granted. I delight at the lilt of every colorful flight across my garden.

I like knowing my garden is safe for every creature. I make certain of it by eliminating the use of pesticides and insecticides.

Nature has a way of balancing and taking care of unwanted critters when gardeners respect the eco-system God put in place. Even the spiders no longer feel like a threat to me. They are allowed to spin their homes and wait for prey to help with the balancing process.

Milkweed assasin is a mighty powerful worker around here. A favorite bright and eager predator of stink bugs, flies and aphids among other pesky insects. If all they ate was stink bugs that would be enough for me! What colorful attire and handsome profile they adorn to boot!

The rewards and benefits of purposeful gardening are numerous. One welcomed benefit is the discovery of caterpillars feeding off of host plants (Rue herb) installed just for them. I watch them chomp away progressing toward maturity. Butterfly caterpillars never fail to amuse. Seeing them satisfies my desire to provide a safe garden for them to reproduce.

Once in a while we actually get the privilege of noticing where they crawl to make ready for transformation. They often instinctively travel away from the host plant. This fat cat (Black Swallowtail) somehow made it to a neighboring container plant. It found the underside of a stiff bromeliad (Aechmea Blanchetiana).

Within a matter of hours its skin split down the center (I missed it) and formed its cozy home to hang. After a couple of weeks it will make its final metamorphosis into a Black Swallowtail butterfly. I hope it decides to live its short life in my garden and perhaps keep the cycle going.

I place a number of bird feeders throughout my garden. They lure the birds from the limbs of the trees down to human levels for a closer look at them.

Cardinals are plentiful here. We've counted over a dozen at once time as they swoop from limb to limb and feeder to feeder.

Small Carolina Chickadees are also numerous and play well with the wrens, Cardinals, Titmouse, and Mourning doves. They frequently gather at the feeders together.

One of my favorite bird families is the Red-bellied Woodpeckers. They have the most distinct soft,rolling call. It is easily recognized as it forages for insects among the tall oak trees.

I've observed butterflies and other pollinators in my garden over the years. I make efforts to identify which flowering plants they are most attracted to for nectaring.

If I notice they pay more attention to a particular variety such as the Florida-Friendly crimson Pentas (Pentas lanceolata) plants, I endeavor to spread that plant around the garden in numerous places.

I realize crimson-colored Pentas is a pollinator's smorgasbord when I see the sun catching the wings of all the tiny critters flying around them.

Can you see the pollen on the edges of this Tiger Swallowtail's wings? It is helping to spread goodness throughout my garden naturally.

A garden teeming with life is full with not only vegetation and but critters, too. My Florida garden has a wide variety of plant materials that attract indigenous wildlife. The benefits of organic gardening allow the beneficial insects and pollinators to live out their life-cycles fully, in freedom. If I happen to encounter some aphids on a plant, I exercise patience. I have confidence predator bugs will find them and rid the plant of pests for me. When I plant edibles I know the pollinators will transport necessary pollen for reproduction.

It's the most sensible and rewarding way to garden. What benefits have you discovered from the beneficial critters in your garden?
Happy gardening,
Meems
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Graceful Colors In Flight

Oh, it has been a spring to remember! Wonderfully mild temperatures with a stellar winter melding into this current season when we celebrate all things bright and new.

So it is no surprise that the butterflies stayed with us magically right through winter. We saw caterpillars feeding and chrysalises hanging on in January.

The current population of them is more like what we typically see in summertime. We are quite happy about the presence of these graceful critters at any time in the garden. As you can see from these particular photos Verbena bonariensis is a popular favorite among them.

Dragonflies play an important role in this subtropical environment. They are agile predators of numerous insects. They are equipped with powerful speed to hunt down flies, mosquitoes, and gnats out of the air. They feed on ants and termites as well. I do adore watching them in flight.

In the bright sunlight the buzzing and flitting about of beneficial insects is evident around the flowering plants especially. Syrphid flies, green sweat bees, bumble bees, honey bees, and many tiny flies that I do not know the names of sing their buzzing song as they diligently pollinate the flowers and edibles.

Splendidly colored wings and bodies to cherish in any garden. The underside of the bright orange Gulf Fritillary (below)is a masterful work of art.

Each one of these helpful beauties is a great reason to avoid the use of pesticides and insectides. Nature, when left to balance on its own, has a wonderful way of overriding the small amount of bad with the abundance of good.

The average lifespan of a butterfly (varies with each species) is only about 1 month. Isn't it amazing that the numbers of them in the garden doesn't seem to fluctuate!

They are busy creatures in their short life time. Each species needs their respective host plants to lay their eggs and provide food for the larvae. Once they mature into adults they will be looking for flowering plants to retrieve their nectar. Little do they know how much enjoyment and entertainment they provide to the gardeners who diligently work to attract them. :-)

Which butterflies are you seeing now in your garden?

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Hummer Makes My Case For Crimson Pentas

Crimson pentas rank high on the 'favorite year-round perennials' list here.

For so many reasons.

They are bright and cheery and endure all kinds of ill-weather. Mine all came back from being frosted to the ground this winter. They bloom consistently all year long. Other than benefiting from deadheading occasionally (not required) pentas of all colors ask for very little from the gardener. Grown in partial shade or direct sunlight makes them suitable for just about every garden.

They are most notably a butterfly attractor!

Recently they were bumped up to an even higher position on my favorites list.

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I NEVER EVER have my camera handy when I see hummingbirds in my garden. Occasionally one will come whizzing past me while I work; sounding like an overgrown bumble bee to my ears. But it is no use trying to scramble for the camera. I'd rather just enjoy the sight of them in their lightning-fast motion.

Such was the case as Mr. Meems and I were eating brunch on the back porch the other day. Only it was Mr. Meems who spoke up saying, "I think I just saw a hummingbird on the roses." Immediately I doubted his identification as not moments prior I had watched the chickadees as they fluttered about the feeders in almost-hummbingbird-like motion. Surely he has seen the chickadees was my first thought.

Not so. He was absolutely right. Sure enough it was a hummer. (I should've known right!?).

We watched that busy hummer through the screening about 40' away for a good while. It moved from the knockout rose tree, to the crimson pentas, over to the mexican petunias and back again. Repeatedly. Hungry little hummer.

Finally I could stand it no more. We came up with a plan.

Mr. Meems scurried inside for my camera (while I kept my eye on the hummer). Then he stealthily opened the screened door for me to slip outside unnoticed in an attempt to maybe... just maybe get a photo. Oh, how I needed my monopod. I was excited and too far away ~~ my hand just couldn't get steady enough.

Still, I gave it my best effort and this is it. What a thrill to see them sipping nectar from any of my plants. It is almost always the coral honeysuckle or the fire bush that attracts them. They DO love the color RED.

One of these days I'm going to be ready and all the universe will align for that in-focus hummer photo.

One of these days...

Views from a Garden Picnic

Vantage points when photographing the garden make all the difference in perspective.

We walk around our gardens upright looking out across the way or down at a particular plant or vignette.

But to photograph the scenery from that stance does not always turn out to be the most appealing view.

It isn't all that atypical actually to be found in our gardens squatting down in various contorted positions and twisted maneuvers to get to an open bloom or stationary critter.

We don't mind looking silly for that better angle trying to achieve that 'just right' vision we want to capture through our lens.

Springtime and there is so much happening all at once in the garden we don't want to miss a thing. Yes, first day lilies have flushed out.

This is the perfect time of year to enjoy the garden by just 'being' in it.
I have my 5 year old grandson to thank for helping me occasionally put down the shovel to play. Since he's with us weekly on a regular basis we spend a good deal of time together... much of it outdoors. We created a fun activity when he was a toddler to pack up our lunch, toss a blanket on the grass, plop ourselves right in the middle of the back gardens to eat and chat about discovering the habitat that surrounds us.

We've labeled it with various 'pretend' names that have morphed as he's grown older. At this stage we simply call it our 'wilderness journey' adventure. He with binoculars in hand and me with camera in hand as we discuss our favorite butterfly or bird or dragonfly or squirrel or plant or flower. We each do our best to name all that we see while we either sit or lie on the blanket.

When did you last have a seat on the ground in your garden just to see what you could see?

One of the first things I notice is the undersides of leaves.

Large, colorful leaves...

Small leaves...

Lacy leaves...

and leaves I'd never think to photograph until a future season when trumpeted flowers will be the irresistible draw.

What a splendid sight from this seated position.

Like they say... "the eye of the beholder" I suppose. Brilliant greenery of agapanthus and blackberry lily standing erect and sturdy with the promise of blooms destined to appear in the not too distant weeks.
It happens almost every time. We see something we've never seen before. A monarch sipping from a miniscule flax lily bloom? That is a first. I'm pretty sure the monarchs know when our little guy is around. Not only do they always come out to play but they put on quite a fanciful show for him.

Paying close attention is the object of this fun time as we aim to spot as many garden critters as we can. The feeders where cardinals frequent daily is a good distance away but as long as we can see them from the vantage point of the blanket they are eligible.

Perspective. What do you see at eye-level? What do you see a bit farther up and farther up still from the ground up!

Sitting anywhere for any length of time is not easy for me. One of the keys to this amusement is to linger for a goodly period of time. The depth of what we notice increases over time. That's why this little exercise in 'sitting and noticing' is eye-opening on an inspirational level and calming/relaxing all at the same time.

Perspective. Leave it to the innocence of children to teach us the best lessons in life!