This monarch surprised me being in the garden at sunset tonight. Usually the butterflies are long gone by that hour. I wondered if he was sick, because he was crawling all over the angelonia very slowly. Then I wondered if he might be laying eggs. The angelonia is not a host plant for him, but it’s right next to a milkweed. So I’m going to hope for some caterpillars!
Monarch on angelonia
Birds-birds-birds! We are getting visits from at least 50 red-wing blackbirds and grackles each morning and evening. Goldy and Squirt like the mourning doves, too (their call as they try to land on the feeder reminds us of a call “watch out below!!!”). It’d be fun to have more songbirds in the yard, but it’s also fun to host these guys.
Spring has sprung! Except it’s two months early! The first azalea blooms appeared this week. The weather has been usually warm–highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s–and we’ve had several inches of rain. The whole garden seems to be waking up for spring. The crape myrtles are all putting on new growth; one even has a tiny bloom. The butterfly bushes are blooming again, and I have tiny zinnias and cosmos re-seeding themselves all over the yard. I’m sure ready for spring…but are we going to get a surprise freeze?
Azalea