Category: Native Plants

Butterfly and Native Plant Resources and Images

I appreciate everyone who is giving monarchs and other butterflies a helping hand, and I want to support them however I can. One way to do that is by sharing resources I’ve created and photos I’ve taken.

For example, I managed to photograph a monarch laying eggs in our backyard in 2006, and the amazing transformations that occurred from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis and finally to a new adult.

I’ve recently added a web page with butterfly and native plant resources for educators and anyone interested in butterflies. It includes:

  • Monarch life cycle
  • How to create a Monarch Way Station
  • 25 Kentucky native plants – for beginners who want to attract butterflies

In addition to the PDFs, photos on my website may be downloaded for educational purposes. If you need higher resolution images for printing, please contact me.

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
Van Gogh

Solstice surprise

After an early morning rain, some of the backyard trees and shrubs glistened with raindrops. With camera in hand, I decided to take a closer look. I didn’t have much luck capturing images of the raindrops, but in the process I happened to notice the amazing colors in the wet bark of our baldcypress tree (Taxodium distichum).

trunk of bald cypress tree Continue reading “Solstice surprise”

Magical frost flowers – again

It was just slightly below freezing this past week, and I didn’t think the temperature was quite cold enough for “frost flowers” (ice formations). However, I looked out the window and saw something white. I immediately headed for the backyard, and sure enough, there they were.

Fost flowers backlit by sun Continue reading “Magical frost flowers – again”

Wahoo adds hot pink fall color

I’m thoroughly enjoying the hot pink pods of our Eastern wahoo tree (Euonymus atropurpureus). I especially appreciate it this time of year when most of our fall color is gone. When we find it in the woods, we don’t usually see such abundant seed pods. I’m guessing more sun makes the difference. Wahoo tree seed pods This is a small tree or large shrub that’s easy to grow. Ours is now about 15 feet tall, and makes a much bigger splash than it did in 2010. In addition to the autumn color, pollinators visit the small flowers in spring, and birds feed on the red berries that drop from the pink pods.

I’m glad to have this tree in our backyard. I wish it was better known, and planted more often.