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Once upon a time..
there was a great big catipillar...
"Excellent shot! Love it."
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who ate and ate
and ate...
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and ate...
and ate
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and ate...
and then took a nap for the winter. (We had three caterpillars total. We picked the branches of this plant and put them in an old bird cage. We fed the stems out the bars and then put the stems in a bottle of water; if we didn't keep the caterpillars from the water they would literally walk down the stems and drown. Once they caterpillars started to spin cocoons we pulled any loose stems out and set the cage outside, just above snow level for the winter.)
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Then she woke up
and was the biggest baddest moth on the block
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Hyalophora cecropia
The Cercropia moth has to pump blood through its wings and dry off - this took a day. We know she is a she because of her antennae - they are narrow. Males have more feathery antennae.
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Still pumping...
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And we are almost full...
Notice the empty cocoon spun onto the bars of the cage.
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All done!
But before she left we posed this shot.
"What a beautiful moth and ..."
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Off she flew!
Luckily she flew to a different spot in our yard to our Silver Maple and then waited for a male to find her.
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Several males came a courting
And find her he did... They "went at it" for over 12 hours.
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The garden in early August.
I am 5'2" and this yellow plant is off the charts! We had plenty of rain in the spring and it shows! I am also holding up the stem of a MN native tiger lily; you don't generally see 4' tiger lily!
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More garden...
My garden always starts out very short in the spring - and always reaches great heights by seasons end!
"I love your garden. It lo..."
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Painted Lady migration coming thru!
We saw butterflies all during our lake walk, and their presence in great number in the garden tells us the fall migration is here! Have you ever seen so many butterflies in one spot? This is a rare site for a city garden, that's for sure!
"They are really spectacula..."
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Painted Lady butterfly close up...
It could be a HIM - only s/he knows for sure!
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Poison Ivy!
This is a pic from a June prairie walk, but I had to share! Poison Ivy's appearance can vary by locale, so I like to take pix of it to show what the Minnesota type looks like!
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More PI!
Next to some raspberry leaves. (Yeah, you laugh, but other people collect pictures of even weirder stuff, OK???)
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The lillies were so pretty this year
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Falcon at city hall
No shrub nor bug, but wild life just the same! This is Alejandro - banded earlier in the year, and now taking his maiden flight - or flop, as the case was. I am the 'falcon catcher' and catch the babies that land in the wrong spot - the moat in this case. Once in hand (or in box) we then take the falcons to the Raptor center to get checked out. They then return to the building, rapel down the tower, and place the babies back into the nest for the next flight.
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Bob getting the trellis up
Early yet in the garden - the green phase.
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Prairie smoke in bloom!
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Looking down the street at the sea of green.
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Planting a thistle on the 4th of July!
I got this beauty in Boyceville, Wisonsin, at the Windmill Kennel! I have removed a clump of violets and am preparing to plant the thistle.
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Only the roots have no prickers...
I use the newspaper to spare my hands. This is a smaller variety of thistle, with a deeper purplish color. I hope that it will drop many seeds after its planted, so I will have it again next year.
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