Elizabeth's Secret Garden

Butterfly raising isn’t all fun and pleasure. Caterpillars are a handful! They have to be fed, and everyone knows what goes in must come out. It’s a law of nature. Let’s take a look at the messy side of caterpillar raising. In just one container, I have 40 caterpillars. I cleaned their container in the morning, but by lunch I discovered this giant pile of caterpillar frass (poop). I had to take all 40 caterpillars out of the container to clean up this mess. That is just one container, I have 2 more plus my butterfly pavilion. The caterpillars blend in well with the frass so it takes a good eye to find them all. Inside another container the caterpillars are busy eating. They strip the water hyssop vine of all its leaves. This container has to be refilled with food. See a video of a White Peacock caterpillar floating!   Moving caterpillars is not an easy task! I sometimes have to scoop them up with a spoon to transport them. Then after I clean the contain...

My family went on an adventure to Talking Rock, Georgia. We stayed at a friends cabin www.gingerscabin.com . The beautiful cabin over looked mountains. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy0Ey9-Dyyw Through the tall windows we could see the changing colors of the leaves. We got to venture through the forests to look for leaves, insects, plants, animals, and bears. After climbing down a steep hill we began are journey through the forest. A long brook is running underneath the tree I’m sitting on. My dad even joined in our adventure. He inserted sticks in holes in search for sleeping animals. We saw sheep and snails.   This forest habitat is home to many animals. Including wild turkeys, deer, bear, birds, and many others. We need to protect this habitat God has made us stewards of. It was sickening to find litter along the trails thrown out by careless people.   Fungi is found everywhere. It grows in your backyard and on hidden logs. Fungi is v...

Ladybugs lives are full of adventures. These two twirling ladybugs used my milkweed as a tightrope. After watching this video you will see why my ladybugs should join the circus. Have you ever wondered how a ladybug starts its life? Ladybugs have similar life cycles to butterflies because they start out as tiny eggs, hatch as larva, make a pupa, and emerge as an adult with wings. The orange ladybug eggs are oval shaped and laid in clusters. It takes 2 to 5 days after eggs are laid for the ladybug larvae to hatch. The eggs above hatched into tiny ladybug larvae. Ladybug larvae look different then their parents. During the larvae stage they have no wings and crawl over plants in search for aphids.   The ladybug above is sucking juices out of a aphid. One ladybug larva can eat 400 aphids before reaching the pupa stage. Each time the ladybug larva outgrows its skin it will molt. Ladybug larvae molt four times and with each molt they become bigger. After the ...

  While out in “Elizabeth's Secret Garden” Detective Joshua noticed that butterflies don't have a mouth like people. Instead the butterflies were using a long straw to drink nectar. Detective Joshua learned that a butterfly's drinking straw is called a proboscis. When not in use the proboscis is kept curled up.   As the butterfly flies to each flower it inserts its proboscis into the flower (or fruit). Bees pollinate flowers by caring pollen on their bodies, but butterflies pollinate by collecting pollen on their proboscis and moving it as they fly to each new flower. Butterflies drink from other sources besides flowers. Detective Joshua was surprised to learn that butterflies drink from rotting fruit, dead animals, and animal waste. A few butterfly species prefer rotting fruit to flower nectar. Red Admirals , Red-spotted Purples, Commas, and Mourning Cloaks are the butterflies who often feast on fruit. Fermenting fruit actually contains a natural alcohol. If to ...

This week I was interviewed By Amy Tobik from The Seminole Chronicle. I was very excited to show her my “Secret Garden”. Today Ed Rjping took professional photographs of my garden  and a Gulf Fritillary butterfly resting on my arm.  I will let you know when the article is published. After catching a giant wasp in my hand made butterfly net, the photo shoot was able to continue. That wasp had been killing my innocent caterpillars and it was time to put a stop to it!

When my five White Peacocks emerged from their chrysalises, I placed them inside my butterfly pavilion that my parents built me. To see the measurements for my butterfly pavilion and how it was built visit http://elizabethssecretgarden.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-new-portable-butterfly-pavilion.html . I created this video about my pavilion so you can see the butterflies I am breeding inside. My butterfly breeding was successful! I discovered a cluster of eggs inside my pavilion laid by my White Peacocks. Now I will wait and see if they hatch. My Butterfly Poem “Heavenly Wings”   Heavenly Wings Up to heaven a butterfly flies Carrying with it silent cries Flapping wings to dry the tears And bring hope to those so dear On its wings it carries love As a gift to those up above Now that its journey is done Healing hearts has just begun Author: Elizabeth Mann See my poem on Shady Oaks web site. http://www.butterflyfunfacts.com/poemcont...

  Giant Swallowtail     Detective Joshua wonders how butterflies and caterpillars protect themselves from predators. What keeps them so well hidden? Grab your detective gear and we will take a closer look. The first creature Detective Joshua has discovered is a Giant Swallowtail caterpillar hiding on a Rue plant. It has the appearance of a large bird dropping. This disguise has protected it from becoming lunch for a bird or other creature. When creatures blend in with their surroundings we call it camouflage. Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar While searching for more hiding caterpillars and butterflies Detective Joshua found a strange snake. After a closer look he realized it was the caterpillar of the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly. When small the Spicebush caterpillar looks like a small bird dropping, but when it gets bigger it molts (sheds skin) to reveal a new snake like skin. The large snake eyes are fake and are used only as camouflage.   Buckeye but...