Elizabeth's Secret Garden

Most of these pictures are from the brood of caterpillars I raised in March of this year. I released thirteen in our backyard. The fourteenth butterfly fell before it’s wings were dry so I protected it in my butterfly habitat. It lived a week. His name was “ED”.                     “Ed” A female Monarch butterfly drinks nectar from my milkweeds before laying eggs. The butterfly feels the Milkweed with it’s antennae before laying a egg. Then it touches it’s abdomen to the leaf to release a little egg. Each female monarch can lay 300 to 400 eggs! In warm weather it usually takes five days for a Monarch egg to hatch. When they first hatch they are grey with black heads. After a few days it will receive it’s familiar stripes. After eating so many leaves the little caterpillar will soon out grow it’s old skin and have to molt. This caterpillar will...

Elizabeth’s Secret Garden   The little bug on the leaf is actually a ladybug larvae. I just recently learned that ladybugs start out as larvae.   Ladybug larva eating aphid. When the ladybug larva is big from eating lots of aphids, it will become a pupa. Then finally, it will come out as a ladybug.            Ladybug Pupa   For aphid control, encourage ladybugs in your yard instead of using harmful pesticides. Sugar water is a great attractor. Craft Projects These are a male and female Blue Morpho butterfly. My mom and dad gave them to me for my birthday. They live only in Costa Rica. My sister, Andrea Mann , age 12, drew a picture of the butterflies. God has blessed her with an amazing talent that she continues to develop.   Knitting is one of my hobbies. My grandma taught my how to knit when I was eight. One d...

    For many, spring is here. If all chances of frosts are gone then you can start your own butterfly garden. You can have a garden anywhere. In the city, country, and even deserts. I have a garden in a big wooden box on wheels!     Butterfly gardens should include nectar plants to attract butterflies and host plants for the females to lay their eggs on. Pentas, Milkweeds, Zinnias, Lantana, Black-eyed Susan, and Milkweeds are all great plants for attracting butterflies. Once you have started attracting butterflies to your garden you will need host plants for them to lay eggs on. Each butterfly has a certain plant they only lay eggs on. If their host plant was all destroyed that butterfly would become extinct. For example if all the Milkweeds died so would the Monarchs. Monarch's host plant Milkweed These are Tropical Milkweeds. They are the host plant for Monarch caterpillars. Tropical Milkweeds are from Costa Rica, but grow well in Florida b...