Tag Archives: Butterflies

Dutchman’s Pipe: Perfectly Happy in the Home Garden

Dangling from chartreuse vines, the  flowers of Dutchmans’s Pipe, or Aristolochia californica, serve as a reminder of Nature’s unique gifts. As the sun sinks lower toward the horizon, shining its rays through the delicate orchid-like flowers, burgundy veins that look very much like those under our skin, stand out against the antique-yellow petals, creating a lantern-like...

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Roger’s Frosty and a Brilliant Caterpillar Rescue

I invited my son to join me on a day trip to my old stomping grounds and he accepted. We started the day with lunch at Roger’s Frosty, a Cottonwood landmark and my first place of employment. We finished our excursion with a dip in Cottonwood Creek and a brilliant caterpillar rescue. We ordered Garden...

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Good news first, bad news last

The good news: The Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars are growing quite nicely, spending their days happily munching on tender green leaves. Within two weeks, I expect them to be finished dining and be ready to move on to the next season of their lives. The bad news: Only three remain. Oh where oh where have the...

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Wordless Wednesday: Birth Announcement

Ten grain-of-rice sized Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars! The life cycle continues. (Sorry, not so wordless today…I am proud of the babies!) Amber GalushaAlways exploring, creating and cultivating, and sharing what I observe along the way. To visit my professional site, click here.More Posts – Website

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They’re Back! – Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies

Something amazing (amazing to me, at least) has happened in my garden! For the second year in a row, a Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor) has laid eggs on the Aristolochia californica, or pipevine, that grows on the garden arbor. Yesterday, as I sat in the middle of the path that leads through my fruit...

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More Lilacs…and Butterflies!

Amber GalushaAlways exploring, creating and cultivating, and sharing what I observe along the way. To visit my professional site, click here.More Posts – Website

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Weekend Wish: Make Time to Smell the Flowers

For the last week, I have walked past the budding lilac shrub that anchors the corner of my house, not once making time to stop and enjoy the gifts she gives. She has extended invitation after invitation in the form of the sweetest, most lovely fragrance, but I wouldn’t pay her any attention. I was...

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Butterflies Everywhere

Three weeks ago, when it became necessary for me to feed the caterpillars that were residing in my garden not once, but twice daily (see previous post), I called a local butterfly house to get professional advice on when I should discontinue feeding these ever-hungry creatures.  The butterfly attendant I spoke with asked me how...

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Hungry Caterpillars

The first thing I did when I returned from vacation yesterday was walk – well, more like run – to the garden to check the progress of the pipevine swallowtail caterpillars that are residing there. The dozen or so black and orange critters had grown quite a bit since I left three days ago and...

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My Yard, on a Garden Tour?

Several months ago, while volunteering planting shade trees at a local park, I was asked by a fellow volunteer and California Native Plant Society member if I would be interested in putting my CA natives garden on the CNPS 2010 Spring Plant Tour. I hesitated at first because I couldn’t understand why the society would...

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