Giggling with Butterflies

The Chicago Botanic Garden Has Weed

Hey you almighty and all-knowing horticulturists at the Chicago Botanic Garden....I've done tricked you out!

That's right. I'm letting the whole universe know that you're not as perfect as you claim to be.

My husband and I decided to trot down to the north side of things (Kenosha, WI to the magical land of Mars Cheese Castle, then to the Jelly Belly Factory, and hit up the Chicago Botanic Garden on the way back home.

I was eager to visit there, but yet depressed at the same time. I had imagined each and every one of their gardens as immaculate, clean, bug-free, tidy, neat, and any other positive connotating adjective you can throw in here. I figured I would be so amazed at their immaculate showing of floral bliss, it would eventually bring me down to a funk, wondering why I could never get my garden to look that tidy.

If you've never been to the Chicago Botanic garden, they have around 15 different gardens that represent different types of gardens, such as butterfly, prairie plants, vegetable and herbs, Japanese, roses, fruit and other ornamental trees, shade gardens, and so on. To be able to maintain these gardens requires a lot of manpower, something that I don't have the luxury of having. As you might imagine, the place is pretty big. In fact, it's so big that you have the option of driving around the park as opposed to walking. We decided to hike it, because a lot more can be seen that way.

We are about six gardens in, and in awe of the gorgeous greenery. At one point, I thought to myself, 'Self, I just want to see one weed. ONE.' I feel this way because some days I am overwhelmed with the weeds. I have pretty sizable land. Every time it rains, it seems as though the weeds instantly pop up out of nowhere. Some days I just let them be until I feel like getting around to them, but because of this downward spiral, my garden looks ugly. Well, it's just going to look ugly for a day. Or two....or.....

If one person has a hard time with the weeds, I can't help but wonder how in the world can a huge place like The Chicago Botanic Garden be just so damn perfect! I feel the same way about the Chicago Botanic Garden as I do with Halle Berry. I just want to see ONE blemish. Just one! Because then I know that not even Halle Berry is perfect and I will feel shitloads better about myself.

Well, Halle Berry's blemishes still remains to be seen. However, that's not so much the case with the Chicago Botanic Garden.

You see, my husband and I took a stroll down The "Evening Garden." The Evening Garden is a long pathway, lined with more delicate florals and groundcover. The mood of this garden is very enchanting, with lots of birds and butterflies flying about. It is very serene, very calm, and romantic. Everything was perfect, the air, the sun gleaming down, and not a petal out of place. I looked down to take in the wonderful smells, and then........THIS:

That is a WEED, my friends. And it's the worst weed ever imaginable, and my most hated weed. How in the holy hell did the superior and all-knowing horticulturists miss this?!

You know what.....it doesn't matter. Soon after I discovered this, I was doing jumping jacks. I almost tinkled by accident because I was so excited. I HAVE FOUND A FLAW at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and I have the pictorial evidence! I cannot explain how much of a ego boost this gave me. My husband thought I was nuts, but I didn't care. I HAVE FOUND AN IMPERFECTION!

This weed is probably long gone by now, at least I hope it is. This picture was taken about a month ago, but the fact remains.....Chicago Botanic Garden = NOT PERFECT.

Now....if I can only find a similar imperfection on Halle Berry, my life will be complete.

Pimp Up The Fountain

I love a young girl's imagination. Sometimes their ideas don't make sense, but they're funny. Then there are other times they make so much sense, you kick yourself wondering why you didn't think of it yourself? The latter was the case yesterday when my niece showed me a really good idea, and she came up with this just by playing around:

I wish I could take credit for this fantastic idea, but I owe it all to my 14-year old niece.

In the past, I would waste money on items to pimp up my fountain (I've used decorative rock, but that got really old after awhile). There are decorative pieces that is sold in the pond aisle that's designed to float on the pond, or a fountain, and the idea is to simulate a lily pad-esque type look. The problem with that is as soon as there is a strong wind, they get blown away, buried underneath the deck, never to be found again. Despite the fact that they have a weight attached to them, that won't stop a 40-mph wind gust from doing a Toto with my fountain charm. I had two of these said fountain charms. They are now both MIA.

When my niece pulled off random petunias (just the flowers, no stem), she placed them inside a container that was filled with water. She says, "Look....they're floating!"

"That's really cool," I said. "Why don't you put them in the fountain?"

Together, we're pulling off blooms of petunias to be placed in the fountain. As you can see from the photo, that was the end result. Imagine how pretty it would look with a bunch more petunias.

But why stop at petunias? This can also be done with roses, coneflowers, morning glories, and so on. You can even play around with contrasting colors to give the fountain that Big Pimp Daddy look. My backyard birds don't seem to mind the decor. If they're thirsty enough, they will drink out of the fountain provided the water is not dirty. The possibilities are endless. Why waste money on those dumb fountain charms when they are right there in the backyard? You just have to use your big pimpin' imagination. Or have an ultra-hip 14-year old girl do the imagining for you. ;)

The Gray Comma Says Hello

I spotted this guy chillaxin' on a grape leaf yesterday:

I had no idea what it was at first. You see, I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to identifying butterflies, so if I see someone I don't recognize, I turn to my reliable friend, The Butterfly Site.  I am not 100% positive that this is a Gray Comma, but in looking at all the photos, only one came closeto my own photo here.

The below photo is from The Butterfly Site :

Since the two photos look very similar, I am content in knowing that is the proper identification. Nonetheless, he is still welcome to rest on my grape leaves any time.

I cannot say the same thing about those wretched Japanese beetles. These guys deserve their very own post. It's because I hate them, and I need to write about them using a lot of curse words.You see, we are at war. It's like playing the game of Risk, where they are trying to take over certain territories. Most notably, the Boston Ivy, the grapevine, and my hollyhocks. For the time being, they're having a blast with the grapes and the ivy, but their destiny to achieve hollyhock Hollywood status is falling to a bare minimum.

To be continued.....

It's A Bird! It's A Moth! It's a BAT?! No It's....

....a perfectly sweet Black Swallowtail:

My husband and I situated ourselves in the cozy nook we had built the same time the retaining wall was constructed. It's a miniature patio, complete with concrete patio blocks with a 2-seat bistro set. It's designed as a relaxation spot and get a more intimate view of the butterfly garden. In fact, so initmate that  my husband had mistaken this butterfly for a moth.

"Oh wow....look at that moth!" he says.

"That's not a moth. That is a Black Swallowtail." I replied, with some annoyance directed at him.

"Moth, butterfly....same thing."

"Ah no." I said.

I really didn't feel like explaining the physical differences between a moth and a butterfly, instead I mentioned that moths are only seen at night, for the most part. Then he insisted on referring to it as a moth anyway. 

I can't win.

I Just Wanna Get Mooned Already!

I don't know what the hell possessed me to start gardening as a hobby. I have no patience, and I want everything to happen, like, yesterday. Over the years, I have seen some gorgeous gardens, and I always ask, "How do you get your garden to look like that?"

"Patience."

There it is.....the 'P' word. I was really hoping for a different answer. Something like, "oh, I just woke up one day and now I have beautiful flowers!" or, "I use this special fertilizer that contains magic powers," or maybe even "I just wiggled my nose and poof!"

Having patience is not exactly one of my best attributes. It's safe to assume that I am somewhat of a control freak and want things to happen right at the moment, otherwise I get disgruntled. However, gardening has definitely helped me in dealing with things with a bit more tolerance, not just with the anticipation of beautiful greenery, but with life in general.

Oh ha ha ha! Who am I kidding?!

These moonflowers pictured below are going to be the death of me:

I was so proud of myself when I took the initiative to grow flowers from seed last March. These moonflowers were among the first that I started growing, and was pleased when they germinated within days and was vigorous ever since. When the threat of the last frost came and went, I immediately placed them outside and let them do their thing.

The leaves are gorgeous. Big, healthy, heart-shaped leaves greet me as I walk onto the deck. This area of the deck is known as the "Moon Me" area. This spot is designated as the moon garden . These moonflowers take up one side of a pergola (that my husband built entirely on his own --- it helps to have a spouse who's handy) and also has a lovely seating area. It is the perfect spot to be in on a warm summer evening. It is also flanked with zonal geraniums (also pictured), Cosmos, petunias, and impatiens, all white in color. During the day, they get full sun. Having said that, everyone is doing well -- except the moonflowers have no flowers. All moon....no flowers!

I turned to my trusted friend Google to find out what the heck is going on. I've found plenty of resources on how to grow them from seed and the care of them, but I hardly found anything as far as troubleshooting. When I did, I found the dreaded 'P' word.

One post said, "Relax! Summer's not over yet!"

As far as I'm concerned, summer is practically over. Even if these guys start blooming flowers, I only have a month and a half, at best, to enjoy them. So that answer was not acceptable.

Another post read, "Don't feed them....they don't need it!"

I was surprised, because what plant doesn't benefit from fertilizer of any kind? I previously fed them with Miracle-Gro, but now I'm wondering if I committed a cardinal sin by doing so? My thinking is no, since they are still doing well -- just no flowers! I am perplexed.

It got to a point that there were so many varied responses that I completely gave up and decided to wait it out. I will be discouraged from growing these next year if I don't get mooned by flowers. That's a promise!

The Invasion of Red Admirals

I believe this was one of the very first photos taken with my iPhone 4. The zoom feature is quite nice, and the resolution is amazing in this photo. Of course, it helps to have a cooperative Red Admiral butterfly. This guy didn't even seem to notice I was there, with me being all techy-geeky while snapping a thousand pics. He didn't care. He just kept on munching.

I couldn't help but notice the massive quantities of Red Admirals this year. In my area, I first started seeing them in early Spring, and I saw at least 8-10 butterflies a day. I do have an established butterfly garden, but it doesn't contain any host plants for Red Admirals. My understanding is that the caterpillars like nettle, which I don't have in my yard, at least not in large quantities. I'm not complaining. It just brightens my day when I see these guys flying around. They give me the giggles, because they're not exactly graceful flyers....they're all over the place. Once they land on something, they have a calm demeanor, meaning they don't fly away immediately as you get closer to them.

In the last month I haven't seen as many as I have earlier in the Spring, but the ones I did see were hanging out at the butterfly bush. On occasion, one will fly over to the main deck and chill on one of the patio chairs. I'm being very careful not to make a move. Even though they're pretty calm, I don't want to take the chance in startling them. After all, the whole point of having a butterfly garden is to enjoy these beauties in their natural habitat, so I don't want to do anything to distract them. Yeah, I know.....I'm a real geek. One of my many fine attributes. :)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Friends

I was so excited to see this beautiful butterfly. I first saw it from a distance flying around my angel's blush hydrangea. Curious, I got up to see what the heck it was, only to be greeted by bees. Eek, no thanks. I quickly sat back down. About an hour later, I saw it again, this time hanging around my butterfly bush. At first I thought it was a leaf, until I got closer and saw it had wings. These guys were hanging around my yard the remainder of the day. It was a quick reminder that hard work does indeed pay off.

Giggling with Butterflies - Intro

This blog will chronicle wherever my green thumb allows me to go. I intend on covering a wide range of topics that relates to gardening, and hopefully inspire others to create a garden of their own, big or small. :)