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Sulphur Butterflies Bring Sunshine to Gardens!Read the article this discussion is about
This archived discussion is "read only". « Previous 1 2 3 Next » » Red - Naomi, what a delightful... article. I learned a lot by reading it. I visit your column often and have been reading some articles from the archives. You have taught me so much about these beautiful creatures.We still have not seen our first butterfly up here. I will be sure to let you know when we do. We have our eyes open, but of course the weather is still cool here. Thank you for writing this wonderful piece and educating me on sulphur butterflies. I will have to look into it and see if we have those in Canada. Hope all is well with you and yours. I will visit again soon. -- posted by Red » terri_in_pa - No Sulphurs Here........... And i dont think i have ever seen them!! I took a look at the link you provided, Naomi. All i seem to get that looks similar is the cabbage whites.Ill have to take a better look around me to see if i can spot them. All i have been seeing of late is the cabbage whites, and the little blue and little brown butters, gosh.. i try so hard to take a pic of them, but they flit so fast and are hard to capture on film (disc). Another great article, im forever learning at your butterfly home here at the Suite. Hope you are seeing more then i... I have placed the hummer feeders up.. no one yet has come to eat. Waiting patiently here!! Have you seen any hummers yet? -- posted by terri_in_pa » Naomi_Mathews - Hi, Mary! Thanks for stopping by, and ... I'm so delighted that you enjoyed my article about these "sunshine" sulphurs! I just thought they deserved a little attention, as so much attention is always given to the larger and more colorful butterflies of the world.If you live in Western Canada, you probably will find Clouded Sulphurs out in the open meadows and fields, as they do like to hang out in open areas and love wildflowers. They're not super picky about their nectar sources, and enjoy frequenting dandelions and clovers equally as much as cultivated flowers. I remember seeing oodles of them as a "kid" -- out on the farm we had so many butterflies, but now they've gotten pretty scarce it seems. Thanks for visiting my archive articles as well, Mary. There's so much to learn about these "flying flowers" and I do enjoy writing about them. I have so many things in bloom right now, and took a BUNCH of digital photos just yesterday, as it was such a sunny day for a change. So I'm hoping for BOTH butterflies and hummers to come visiting soon. Our Chinese wisteria is absolutely loaded with blossoms right now, and the bees are havng a hey-day! My hubby measures the blossoms every day, and most are 28 inches long!! They are really awesome, and very fragrant. If I get time, I'll try to publish a "Spring Garden Tour" as an addendum page when I get my photos downloaded. Again, I always enjoy your visits, Mary. I'll be visiting your latest article soon! Take care, Mary. -- posted by Naomi_Mathews » Naomi_Mathews - Hi, Terri! You haven't seen sulphurs? The sulphurs and whites do look a lot alike, and are in the same family called "Pieridae." There are also different kinds of whites that are really small and dainty, and that also include the Cabbage Whites.I don't know if I'd know the difference if I saw either a "clouded" or "cloudless" sulphur. There are other sulphurs too, such as the Dainty Sulphur and the "Dog Face" sulphur. (Terrible name for a butterfly, don't you think!) As to hummers, nope -- haven't seen a single one yet. I think with our warming weather (they keep saying so anyway!) they might start coming around. I certainly have enough "blooming" things to attract either hummers or butters now. Maybe I'm just in the wrong place at the right time??? I don't think I could ever catch a tiny butterfly in a photo, they're just too quick for me! I did get one or two of a swallowtail last year, but was too far away from it to turn out! Thanks for stopping by, Terri -- always great seeing you here! -- posted by Naomi_Mathews » jerrib - Hello, Naomi I was just thinking yesterday I have not seen a lot of butterflies this year yet. Thanks for pointing out another variety. By the way, I could not get your second look at this week's butterfly to open.Your articles are so interesting. Is that your garden in the picture? Beautiful! It puts mine to shame. Of course, it's still spring here and there's a lot of time to get it going. We do have a lot of rhododendrons in bloom. I enjoyed the link to see the sightings. I don't see many WA people contributing. Hmm. Enjoyed my visit once again. Jerri -- posted by jerrib » Naomi_Mathews - Hi, Jerri! Thanks for the visit, and... Thanks also for pointing out that my last butterfly link wasn't working. I appreciate that very much, and it's fixed now! By the way, it is a superb photo of a cloudless butterfly at a lovely pink flower. They really are cute little fellows, and we get quite a few of them around here when it's warm enough for them to fly. (-;I'm afraid that's not my garden, Jerri -- but it is a lovely one! I've been taking all kinds of digital photos of all my spring flowers that are in full bloom. When I get some free time, I'm hoping to place my best ones on a "photo addendum" page and link it to my articles. With our cool spring here, my azaleas and rhododendrons are just beautiful too. Everything is lush and green and/or flowering, and today I found my first ROSE blooming! It's one of my hede of "Pink Simplicity" roses that I simply love. They're planted right beneath our bedroom window and the cool weather has them looking IN my window already! When they're in full bloom, I'll get a couple of photos of them as well. Glad you enjoy my articles, Jerri, and hope you see some butterflies soon! I enjoy writing about them -- and there are so many different lovely species I thought I'd focus on some of them in my articles during the summer season. Of course I always love having you visit my butterfly garden, Jerri. I'll make time to "flutter" my way over to your latest articles soon! I've been swamped this week with a special project I'm working on, but love reading your most interesting articles and will have to play "catch up!" Have a great week, Jerri! -- posted by Naomi_Mathews » terri_in_pa - Finally!! Saw my first hummingbird of the season yesterday!! A gorgeous male! He must have been here last year, as i had one last year who was very dark in color, he seems to look exactly like the other.He also seemed to have no fear, like others who first come here do. I was on the deck getting some R&R when he appeared! Took a sip from each of the sippers, left and came back on and off all afternoon! I am hoping to get more pics this year of him! -- posted by terri_in_pa » Naomi_Mathews - Fantastic, Terri!! That's great news! And you just got to sit there and watch him going back and forth? What treat for you, Terri! Surely others will come now, as the word has probably spread amongst the hummer community that "Terri has food!" (-;I was gone most of the day, so don't know if I had any come or not. But we have one feeder right outside my kitchen window hanging on the "bottom" of my hanging basket of "Mexicana" Ivy Geraniums! The flowers are red/white striped and very bright colored. How can a hummer miss that kind of "dining table?" Or should I say "sipping bar?" Anyway, one of these days, Terri -- I'll surprise myself and SEE either a hummer or a "butter" and let everyone here know when it happens! Take care, my friend! -- posted by Naomi_Mathews » terri_in_pa - Sure......... He was just going back and forth with no care that i was on the deck, it figures, the camera was in the house. I swear i should velcro that to my chest so i can have it with me all the time! LOLHoping you see your hummers soon, actually you should see them. A way to tell if they are at your feeders? Go out and tilt the feeder, if there are air bubbles that means something has been feeding! It works for me! I had noticed that the hummer had been feeding before i actually saw him. Hoping you have a great day, ill catch you later! 
-- posted by terri_in_pa » Naomi_Mathews - Hey, Terri -- It worked! I did as you said, went out and tilted my hummer feeder just a tad bit to the side, and had huge bubbles surface!! Then, just to be sure I wasn't "seeing things" -- I hurriedly did it again, and that time there were NO bubbles. So -- do you think those little jewels have been sneaking my nectar behind my back???? LOLThanks for the tip, and I also made a note of the nectar level as a double check. This is fresh nectar, and the weather's so cool I can probably leave it up for a few days longer than I would if it got up to the 80-90 deg. range. (Fat chance of that happening!) And yes, Terri -- with as much wildlife as you have in your lovely garden, you really SHOULD velcro that camera to your chest! I can see you now, sneaking around all those beautiful paths you have in your yard, and through the woods, and around the ponds -- camera on chest ready to shoot the first critter you see moving!! BTW, readers -- If you want to see Terri's great gardens there in PA -- go to my "Links" page and click on "Terri's Garden!" Enjoy! (-; -- posted by Naomi_Mathews « Previous 1 2 3 Next » Please follow the guidelines set forth in the Suite101 Posting Etiquette when adding to the discussion. |
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