Butterfly Gardening in the Carolina Piedmont is now available for purchase at Park Road Books, Reedy Creek Nature Center and Preserve, Stevens Creek Nature Preserve and on Amazon. It draws on my years of experience at Shamrock Gardens Elementary School and in my own garden. It was beautifully designed by Little Shiva. It can also…
Small world
Yesterday afternoon, amid a misting rain, my garden inhabitants went about their business. With summer’s heat and a first cold snap behind them, I imagine they relished the coolness and the damp. As I trimmed and tidied, I tried not to disturb them. It wasn’t always easy. They hid well. A lizard perched motionless amid…
October: Pipevine Swallowtails
Back in 2020, when I was posting stories about our Shamrock Gardens butterfly calendar, I somehow ran out of steam (it was a challenging time). Now that my Butterfly Gardening book is out, I thought I’d finish the job. October, November, December, here we come! First up: Pipevine Swallowtails. I so love these beautiful butterflies….
Jardines y mariposas
I’m delighted to announce that Jardines y mariposas, the Spanish edition of Butterfly Gardening in The Carolina Piedmont, is now available on Amazon (I hope to have it placed in local bookstores soon). Many thanks to Mare Keziah for her expert translation, and to Little Shiva for fitting the new text into her beautiful design.
Watching for Butterflies
A Tiger Swallowtail glides above my backyard creek, held up by yellow wings with coal-black tiger stripes. It heads toward a clethra bush festooned with spikes of nectar-filled pink flowers. It settles and sips. I never tire of watching. Late summer is butterfly season here in the North Carolina Piedmont. . . . If you’re…
Butterfly Gardening
Growing a butterfly garden is a multifaceted delight. It also serves the planet. Butterflies pollinate a wide range of plants. Caterpillars transform leaves into food for birds, frogs, lizards, mice and countless other creatures. With residential and industrial development rapidly consuming open land, home habitat gardening has taken on new urgency.
Instars
Caterpillars pass through five stages of growth, called instars, before they make chrysalises or cocoons. They enter each new stage by shedding their old skins. This Polyphemus cat is nearing the end of its last stage. Caterpillars often stop eating a day or so before shedding. They use silk to attach their rear ends to…
Polyphemus 2023
I thought I was done with Polyphemus moths when the past spring’s group didn’t end up producing any offspring. I was wrong. Last fall, students in a friend’s preschool class found a caterpillar at their school. It made a cocoon and stayed in it all winter. Two weeks ago, a beautiful Polyphemus emerged – a…
Adventures in Bureaucracy: Bradford Pears
The crazed, broken trunks of dying Bradford pear trees emerge from the ground at awkward angles, like wraiths struggling to rise from ancient graves. I’m standing at the corner of Anne Street and Country Club Drive, looking through the trees at the bustling construction site where the new Shamrock Gardens Elementary is slowly taking form….
August & September: Monarchs, Fritillaries and more, oh my!
As the days get hotter, butterfly activity intensifies. It’s a great time for outdoor explorations. I went over to Shamrock on Monday, and the gardens were teeming with all sorts of creatures. With kids away, the insects play. Visit if you can! You can find every butterfly featured in our Shamrock calendar in some form…