July's Ending Rainbow Rosy Light Magical Monarch Metamorphosis

So Long July. 

Thanks for the rain and rainbows at sunset . . . many hours of luminous light . . . Hemeracallis, hydrangea and hummingbirds aplenty . . . copious caterpillars becoming complete within their magical Monarch chrysalises . . . joyful viewings shared of their virgin flights into butterflies . . . first ever sighting of a Giant in the garden . . .  exceptional dusk encountering . . .  a family of flying squirrels soaring from house to Rock Maple trees . . . eighteen furry elusive mammals exiting the eaves one-by-one and two-by-two . . . using the furnace chimney as their runway . . . scurrying up then fast as a flash gliding over to the large tree . . . disappearing up into its full canopy . . . for our garden bats . . . fabulous human family news . . . high art experienced with a dear generous soul and heaps more.

Millions of dripping prisms painting spectrums arching across the sky . . . somewhere perhaps a pilot  flies through a complete circular rainbow.

July ends with Lilium 'Journey's End'

Daylight softly fading away makes for soft focus images.

Miraculous Monarch Butterfly Metamorphosis . . . a sneak peek. More to emerge . . . 

Flower Hill Farm raised and released . . . 

I am certain to have raised over a thousand Monarch Butterflies during the last twenty five or more years but each time the metamorphosis astounds and amazes me. I especially feel joy at seeing them lifting off and taking their first flight. 

It is an honor and privilege to witness the miracle of this courageous creatures fleeting life.

It is also an honor to share it with you. 

Thank you.

Hello August.

Flower Hill Farm BUTTERFLIES OF 2011 ~ Favorite Fritillaries

Fritillaries fritter away their days sipping nectar and flitting about the gardens. 

Not a bad life . . . as long as they can escape beaks of birds and other predators.

Echinacea is a favored flower for these Aphrodite Fritillary Speyeria aphrodite, 'NOT' butterflies. 

Throughout my blog, I have wrongly identified these butterflies. Thanks to Randy I finally get it! 

It is so funny how something can stare us in the face and we just never see it. 

Each of these composites is of a different butterfly on a different day. Three July days . . Four Great Spangled  Speyeria cybele, butterflies . . . many frames.  

Fritillaries busy themselves placing their probosces in tiny florets between the flaming darts of coneflowers and are not bothered by my coming in rather closely. They are in constant motion, however, making it difficult to clearly capture them. 

The Great Spangled Fritillary has one brood . . .  in flight from the end of June through the first week of September. They overwinter as first instars . . . tiny caterpillars who never have known the taste of violets, for they have not taken a bite before hybernating. 

I do get dizzy trying to identify Fritillaries. 

Fritillaries are listed under the Family Nymphalidae or Brushfoots along with all the Milkweed butterflies, Admirals, Emperors, Satyrs and Wood Nymphs to name but a few. The Subfamily is Heliconiinae or Longwings. There are even different classifications for Aphrodite and the Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies. It is fun to sort them all out according to families too . . . but I go cross-eyed trying to identify and remember it all. 

Fresh Female? Wings

These two Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies share nearly the same patterns. The fresher one above dons white edges . . . perhaps the more faded butterfly below had them earlier on? The brighter ovals above the white edges are more pronounced in the fresher butterfly too. The entire abdomen in the butterfly below is thinner and has less hair. Could this be a male and female? Or are they two different kinds of Fritillaries? 

Older Male Wings ?  ~ A repeat of the third photo from top.

Sadly I read that tiger patterned Aphrodite Fritillaries are less common these days. Perhaps due to climate change. Great Spangled Fritillaries are much more common now in Massachusetts. Most all Fritillaries here in New England prefer violets as a host plant. Rabbits are so numerous here that I fear for their survival in my gardens. 

There are more Fritillaries to come . . . today the butterflies and skies are in the pink.

Our winter continues to be milder than most I can recall. Sunrises are simply stunning. 

Light stretches and lengthens our days.

May your romance always flutter.

May your love always give you butterflies. 

Happy Valentine's Day Dear Readers!

Flower Hill Farm BUTTERFLIES OF 2011 ~ American Painted Lady

American Painted Lady Vanessa virginiensis

The American Painted Lady or American Lady Vanessa virginiensis is another favorite butterfly of the family Brushfooted Butterflies Nymphalidae, donning large eyes. These painted beauties are most often sighted between late April and early October. They migrate south for the winter. 

If you look within the plants of Edelweiss or Pearly Everlasting in the summer you may find some of the caterpillars of the American Painted Lady. 

2011 was only the third year that I was able to capture one of these striking butterflies . . . so, it is rather a 'new acquaintance'. 

Sadly, I was not able to get this beauty to open its wings last year. 

I am including the photos below from my 2009 and 2010 gardens.

This American Painted Lady almost seems like a flower on this Verbena bonariensis. 

Painting in Progress

 Another 'new acquaintance' is this painting (Still in a pupa stage.) . . . that continues to grow as we come to know each other better.  You might remember it when it first began the end of November 2011 ~ A purple underpainting.

WORK IN PROGRESS

I was not able to paint most of December and January, but now I am happy to report that I am applying pigments to canvas again. Painting with vibrant colors helps keep joy alive, when outside all is white and gray with bits of dark evergreen . . . with exception to the sunrise and sunset skies. 

I have a good amount of work still left to do on this rather psychological painting. The trees are not really that close together . . . I have them placed a bit like bars . . . imprisoning the house and its occupants. The huge Rock Maples are both protectors and do appear to be somewhat threatening . . . foreboding . . . if you will. The tree's branches are intertwined . . . you can imagine the invisible roots that anchor them to the hillside are as well.

Here is a review of my favorite butterflies of 2011 so far. If you have not had the pleasure of meeting eye to eye ~ a Monarch, Eastern Black Swallowtail, a Buckeye or a American Painted Lady, I hope 2012 will be the year you make their acquaintance.  

Next time I will showcase Tiger Swallowtails. 

It is time again to fly towards Sweden and visit Katarina's Roses and Stuff . 

Much beauty and imagination awaits you there!

Flower Hill Farm BUTTERFLIES Of 2011 ~ Favorite Monarchs

The much beloved and admired Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus begins this series of my favorite butterflies from the gardens of 2011. I so look forward to their return each summer and delight in finding their tiny etched eggs on milkweed plants. It is more exciting when I see the female actually fastening her eggs. 

I should truly love to be a butterfly . . . a Monarch emerging in late summer, so I could fly to Mexico. 

Ah . . .  to have the courage of a butterfly! I should wish for sunny warm days to fly freely.

Here are a few of my favorite images and encounters with Monarch butterflies over last summer and fall. I have written extensively about their marvel of a metamorphosis here, here, here, here, here and here. 

This is the first in a parade of butterflies from 2011. 

It is time to visit Katarina for other fanciful flights of imagination and delight.