I had ONE!

  I have always loved the photographs of the thousands of Monarch Butterflies clinging to trees as they rest during migration.  There is just something special about seeing them finally getting a well-deserved rest after their arduous flight.  In a way, it gives a sense of hope.  If fragile butterflies can make such a trek, surely we can face our every day trials.  At least it seems that way to me.

  While taking the old dog down for his afternoon hike, I noticed the Monarchs flitting overhead.  Several dozen of the orange "flying flowers" made their way across the marsh.  It seemed as if their migration was heading in the wrong direction, however.  The butterflies were coming across the Bay, over the marsh and, then, northward.  I would have thought that this was backward!  As I stood there pondering the misdirected critters, one came in to alight in the old oak tree,  A single Monarch hung in my tree.  This pales in comparison to the photographs I have seen but my loner made me smile.  You can do it, buddy!! Take a little snooze then catch up with your friends! Happy flights!

Why I Like A Weedy Garden!

  During the spring, I pretty much keep the garden weed-free. I get a bit overzealous and want everything neat and tidy.  Nary a weed grows in the tomatoes...for a while, at least.  Then I get a bit lackadaisical and pretty soon, hunting for tomatoes is exciting!  It is like a hiking through a rain forest with plants towering overhead, vines wrapping around the ankles and...well, you get the idea.  It is pretty bad. Then about midsummer, I do away with most everything and start over again.  The gardens are cleared and it looks nice for a bit.

  Fall, however, sees a whole new bunch of weeds popping up everywhere.  Goldenrod shoots up six feet high, Ageratum mound over in thick clumps, Blackeyed Susan Daisies sway with the breeze and Oxeye Daisies fill in wherever there is space.  The garden never looks prettier than with all of these wildflowers that others call weeds.  At least, I think it is pretty.  Where others see weeds, I see...butterfly magnets!

  Right now, the Monarch Butterflies are starting their migration through the area.  They need a place to stop for a few moments to gather nourishment to continue their flight.  My weedy garden offers a variety of delectable treats for the butterflies, moths, honeybees, bumblebees and any other pollen seeking critters.  The beauty is not only in the blossoms but what is attracted.  Yep, I love my weedy garden!

My Butterflies are Missing!

  Normally, September and October are the months when the yard is filled with butterflies of all sorts.  Of those that visit, the Monarchs have all ways been the most prevalent.  They would come in swarms as they migrated.  There were times a few years back, when the Asclepias and Ageratum were simply covered with the orange and black butterflies.  For the past two years, however, the sightings have been sparse, to say the least.  I miss the butterflies.

  I was reading the other day how the plight of "missing" butterflies was not just a local thing.  It seems that the Monarch population is on a sharp decline in this country.  Part of that is due to weather changes but a good bit is due to the loss of habitat.  One of the main sources of food for these butterflies is the milkweed plant and, as the name implies, most folks see this as a weed.  The plants are promptly destroyed to keep those "well manicured" lawns and gardens in shape.  No one wants a weed in their garden.  This is a shame.  Sorry, folks, those things you deem as nasty weeds are actually wildflowers and should be left to grow where they will.  Here on the Bayou, I leave as many as possible.  Yes, I do cut the grass but wildflowers are welcome to grow in the flower gardens and vegetable gardens because I know the importance of having native plants.  The native flora helps the native fauna survive.  Cut out one of the two and both are soon decimated.

  The milkweed plant is of the Asclepias genus.  These plants grow readily in just about any type soil.  (I have one that grows in sand!) These plants require little to no work so can be a lazy gardeners dream plant!  Mine is dubbed "Butterfly Weed" and it truly seems to attract the Monarchs.  This type Asclepias has orange, red and yellow clusters of blooms and looks quite striking when mingled with the purples of the Wild Ageratum and the towering fluffs of Goldenrod!  My wild gardens are never boring but they sure miss the butterflies!

Mystery of the Missing Butterflies

  Several times in the past few weeks, I have made mention of the weeds/wildflowers that I allow to pretty much take over the gardens.  Fall sees these plants put on their finest attire which gives the gardens a lovely splash of color.  Fall, also, sees the migration of butterflies that come to visit these very flowers....usually.

  As I was out with the old dog this afternoon, I made a very sad observation.  Although, the wildflowers are in full bloom, nary a monarch was sipping nectar.  The wild ageratum are usually the desired bloom for the orange butterflies.  These and the milkweeds seem to attract more monarchs than any other blooms in the gardens.  Today, however, I found only a few small fritillary butterflies and nothing else.  

  Are the monarchs simply running late this year or did they take an alternate route through the area?  I have no idea other than to say that none of my neighbors have seen the mass migration of previous years.  This, indeed, makes me sad. 

Weird and Wonderful

  Mother Nature has this weird and wonderful thing down pat.  Mark and I went out to purge the spinach patch of snails when he discovered something that I found to be rather remarkable.  He pointed out a chrysalis that had been attached under the back porch railing.  Hmmm? Does it not seem to be a tad cold for a butterfly to be thinking of developing?  I pondered that thought as I photographed the tiny case.  

  The case appears to be that of a Monarch Butterfly.  The caterpillar also seems to be close to emerging as a full grown butterfly.  The chrysalis starts out as bright green but as the butterfly inside starts to develop, the case starts to show the colors of the butterfly's wings.  This one was already darkening so it should not be long before the side splits and the critter emerges.  It will hang for a while under the railing while it unfolds and flexes its wings.  Then off into the world it will fly...cold weather or not.

  Monarch Butterflies are a bit different that most other butterflies.  While they go through basically the same changes from egg to adult during the spring and summer months, come late fall, things change.  The average life span of the adult warm-weather critters is anywhere from two to five weeks.  During that time, the butterfly eats, mates and lays eggs.  The eggs will hatch in a few days and the critters starts life as tiny caterpillars.  For two weeks, the caterpillars eat milkweed.  They grow and grow until finally each will create a chrysalis.  Inside its chrysalis, each caterpillar will go through metamorphosis.  The change takes about two weeks then a beautiful butterfly crawls out to start the cycle all over again.  The late fall butterfly crawls out of the chrysalis, eats but does not mate.  Instead, it starts migrating.  Its life lasts up to eight months. During that time the butterfly migrates southward and mates once it reaches its destination.  The new batch of butterflies emerge usually in February or March. These will start the migration back northward.  They will mate, lay eggs and let the cycle continue.  Our friend seems to be a bit early.

  I am curious to see if the critter survives the next few nights.  Our weather has taken a turn to the chilly side which cannot feel too happy for the morphing butterfly.  Hopefully, since the chrysalis is dangling on the south side of the porch, it will be protected from the icy winds.  I will keep watch.  Oh...one obviously just did its metamorphosis since right next to this case was an empty shell.  Hopefully, that butterfly did well!  I better plant more milkweed!

Where are the butterflies?

Normally by this time, the Bayou is aflutter with all sorts of butterflies especially the Monarchs.  The wild Ageratums are usually the site of a mass of orange.  I always love when the Monarchs are here.  Their colors of orange and black are so fitting for October and Halloween!  This year, however, the Monarchs are missing.  Sure, I have a few but nothing like it has been in the past.  Last year and the previous year, thousands of butterflies made a stop at the Bayou to sip from the flowers.  The Zinnias, Ageratums and daisies were covered in years past.  Not now!  With the exception of some Long-tailed Skippers and an occasional Fritillary there are no "Flying Flowers".  This makes me sad.

Speaking of the wild Ageratums, they are doing extremely well since I corralled them in the flower garden.  They, with the Morning Glories, seem to enjoy the extra attention they get by being considered flowers and not weeds.  I am still trying to get a few of the "Ditch Daisies" (better known as Blackeyed Susans) to take in the garden.  This garden has been designated as the "Wildflower Garden".  I have a tendency to name each area of the yard as it makes it far easier to explain to folks just where something is planted.  "Go look in the Herb Garden!", "The Ferns are growing in the Moss Garden." or "The Rubies are in the Lily Garden!" can be heard whenever there is a question of what is blooming.  The Wildflower Garden is definitely in dire need of a few Ditch Daisies!  (This is a name that folks plastered on the Blackeyed Susans since the roadsides seem to have a plethora of the yellow-headed plants each fall.)

Still, I wonder..where are the butterflies?  Did they just pass by the Bayou without making their usual feeding stop?  Are they running a bit late this year?  Or did I blink and miss them?  Hopefully, next year they will be back as they do add a good bit of beauty to the Bayou.

The Dance of the Monarchs

The Monarchs are here!  This morning when I was out and about, I noticed a few early-comers visiting the Purple Ageratums but by this evening, the flowers were alive!  Ms. Ez and I slipped out to the gardens while on our way to the pier and were pleasantly surprised with a good number of the orange and black beauties!  The ageratums were literally crawling with the pretty, little critters!  This evening, I counted thirty-one butterflies.  This is not nearly as many as the hundreds that swirled about my head last year but this is only day one of their visit to the Bayou.  More will come!

I did notice, though, that all of the Monarchs were on the Purple Ageratums.  There was not a single one on the zinnias.  I wonder what the allure of the ageratums is and why the zinnias do not have it.  The Fritillaries, Yellow Sulphurs and the Long-tailed Skippers were on both but the Monarchs stayed close to the ageratums.  Do butterflies have preferences?  Does one type of butterfly prefer a certain type of flower?  I am supposing that like humans, butterflies can develop a liking for specific nectar!  My Monarchs definitely head to the ageratum garden over all the other flowers.

Now, all of these butterflies visiting the gardens give me satisfaction.  I have been threatening to mow out all the ageratums and never allow them back into the gardens.  This time of year, they get long and lanky.  They spill over into every other garden and block the pathway.  You see, these are wild ageratums.  They are not some sweet, self-contained nursery stock plant.  They are wild and free!  They will take over the place if you allow it!  But when the Monarchs come, I am happy with the wild and woolly gardens!  The scraggly plants can be removed in a month or so.  By then even the latest of straggler butterflies will have moved on their way.

Bundling up!

We are having another cool spell hit the Bayou. It seems a tad early to be thinking of weather in the thirties and forties but, then again, hey...its Fall! When out this afternoon, I saw a few of the Bayou critters that might better make a run for their migratory destinations! Then there were those diehards that stay in the marshes year round without worrying about a little frost on their feathers! I am thinking, though, that it is perhaps time for the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds to be on their way so I took down most of the feeders. I left one up just so any stragglers would have a feeding station. As far as I can tell, I only have one lagging behind on his trip. He stays by the feeder most of the day causing me to wonder if he is just not strong enough to make the flight. If so, I fear for him this winter..the cold will not be kind to him at all. I will watch him carefully over the next few weeks but I am not sure just what I can do to help him if he does decide he cannot make the trip. Perhaps there is some sort of windbreak that might help or even some type of heated area..then again..I might just make matters worse. Sometimes the best help is to leave well enough alone.

This afternoon the Monarch butterflies were gathered en masse at the Wild Ageratums. They fed upon the nectar most of the afternoon and then sought shelter beneath the thick leaves. With the extreme change in temperatures expected tonight, I am afraid they will be in for a rude awakening in the morning. Our temps are to drop from a high today of near eighty to a low of below forty...enough to cause them problems as well. Hopefully, tomorrow will be sunny and they can warm themselves enough to carry on their journey. There is not much I can do to help them through the winter...they better get themselves on the move!

One bird that will stay and ride out the cold, is the Night Heron. He is on his usual perch, the pier post. Here this bird will fluff his feathers out to fight the stinging cold of the North wind. By morning light, though, he will be wading in the cold water in search of a breakfast of shrimp. This is the same Night Heron that comes to me for a handout occasionally. When times are tough, he knows that I will throw the net for his breakfast! This one, I can truly say, is one of my "friends" as he returns time after time to visit.

Although most of the hummingbird feeders have come down, the seed-filled feeders will be well-stocked for those that will stay on the Bayou during the winter. Windbreaks will be allowed to remain in tact for the comfort of the resident birds and other critters. Son and I have decided to leave several brush piles just for this purpose. For the duration of Winter, these piles may not look the prettiest in the yard but they will provide a safe haven from the frigid temperatures for many of my Bayou friends! Brrr! It is a tad chilly out there!

The Return of the Sassafras!

Years ago, I called our place Sassafras Hill. This was because when we first built our house on the Bayou, just about every other tree was a sassafras tree. I loved it! Then for one reason or another, the sassafras trees began to decline in numbers. They became few and far in between which distressed me to no end. I missed my trees! My love for the sassafras tree is merely because of the smell. If you ever have the opportunity to smell any part of the bark or root of this tree you will immediately know what I mean by this. It smells like root beer. For any that do not know..sassafras root was the main ingredient in root beer before its use was banned. (It seems that when you force feed lab rats massive quantities of the sassafras oil, they develop liver damage. I tend to believe if you force feed lab rats massive quantities of anything it could cause liver damage.) Now, artificial flavorings are used and they are supposed to be much healthier for you! Hmmmm?? I question this with a capital Q! The sassafras you find in teas and such now has been processed to remove any of the harmful stuff. Personally, I still think it is relatively impossible to have any problems using the sassafras root or bark since umm.. well.. I cannot imagine using massive quantities of it at one time. It is strange that the use of the root and bark has been banned but not the leaves. It is a little known fact that file' is made from the ground leaves. Now, just what is file' you may ask??? (As you can tell, I do not know how to put the little accent mark over the "e"..sorry.) File' is a powder that is used in making Creole or Cajun dishes. It is most recognized as Gumbo File' and is served more or less as a condiment to be sprinkled on the dish. Long before this use, though, the Native Americans would pound the leaves to a powder and used it as flavoring and as a thickening agent in soups and stews. It now has become a staple in many Southern kitchens. But back to the point of this post..I am happy to say that suddenly there are sassafras trees popping up everywhere! I am carefully staking the little saplings so that they will be protected from lawnmowers and tractors alike. Hopefully soon, there will be sassafras trees covering our hill and I can enjoy a cup of sassafras tea again without worry that I will be decimating the population of these enjoyable trees!

The Monarch Butterfly migration must be in full swing about now as our yard is full of the orange and black flying flowers. I love seeing these flitting about the blue ageratums and the goldenrod. I was pondering just why it seems that the monarchs are so tame compared to other butterflies. They seem to have no fear of humans as they bop around on the flowers. These are butterflies that are of the "no net needed" sort. If you stand near flowers long enough, you will have them crawling all over you. Just reach out next to one feeding on a flower and before long it has moved to your hand. Maybe they are fearless.. or.. maybe they are stupid?? I just like to think they are friendly!