Butterfly Garden for Christmas gifts

It's time to think of your gardener friends and loved ones! Give them the gift they will enjoy for years to come. Social Butterflies offers "Wing It!" kits for those who love butterflies and want to attract them to their yards. The kit includes detailed instructions on the requirements of butterflies, how to attract many different species, and 10 packets of free, organically-grown seeds guaranteed to entice lots of beautiful butterflies next season. Only $25.00, shipping included. Please see www.socialbtrflies.com/gardening.html for further information. You may also call Social Butterflies at 434.823.3666 to order.

Last Variegated Frit of the season

I released the last Variegated Fritillary two days ago. Two had formed their chrysalises over a month ago and they were kept in the coolness of the garage. Since it was a warm day with the promise of a few more warm days, I released it. There are still chrysanthemums blooming, so there are a few nectar sources left. The tropical milkweed and lantana has frozen. The passionvine is also about gone for this year. It has been a good butterfly season here in Central Virginia.

Monarch Watch wants school participation in space shuttle

Monarch caterpillars will be sent to the International Space Station on Nov. 16 in a small rearing chamber. This chamber will be placed in an incubator where the developing monarchs will be monitored. Still and video cameras will continually capture images, which will be made available online.

If a school or classroom (east of the Rocky Mtns) wants to participate, please contact monarch@ku.edu before 5 p.m. this Friday (Nov. 6). Monarch Watch will send a special monarch larva kit to participating schools. The kit costs $17.95 and the overnight shipping will be an additional $26, for a total of $43.95. The kit consists of (6) 3rd instar larvae on artificial diet and additional cups of diet. Three larvae will be loaded into the rearing chamber. Additional instructions will be provided regarding feeding. Material is included regarding monarchs as they face a nearly weightless environment of the ISS.

If your school is chosen, the students will be able to follow the shuttle mission to the space station and the development of the monarchs in space for at least two weeks. Contact Monarch Watch for more info.

A wedding butterfly release

Here's a blog that discusses a couple who released butterflies at their wedding:
heatherhelvey.blogspot.com/2009/11/wedding-butterflys.html

Social Butterflies' last monarch!

My last raised Monarch of 2009 finally emerged today. I will release it in two days when the sun returns and it is a bit warmer. I don't have any more tags left to tag it, but I will wish it adios and good luck on its journey to Mexico. I have conducted numerous Monarch tagging classes this fall and they are becoming more popular with library patrons, school children, and anyone who is interested in Monarch migration. I also gave a program at the Association For Butterflies symposium last weekend on migration and the attendees were able to tag their own Monarchs. Since it was chilly and overcast, I sent them south with one of the directors of the Association to release them where it was warmer. I collected common milkweed seeds yesterday in the field. It will be about 6 more months before I'll start raising Monarchs again.

Many Monarchs!

I have been raising Monarchs all season, but just in the past 2 weeks, I've been seeing a big increase of wild ones laying eggs on my Tropical Milkweed. I am overflowing with Monarchs now....feeding them 4 times/day, getting up in the middle of the night to cut more milkweed. The big ones aren't picky....they eat the Tropical, Swamp, and Common. They are definitely keeping me busy and Social Butterflies will benefit from having more monarchs to sell! Please see my website www.socialbtrflies.com to purchase your monarchs. My friends who have Tropical Milkweed are also reporting they have a lot of caterpillars to feed. There are many nectar plants in bloom also: Butterfly bush, Verbena, Goldenrod, Joe Pye Weed, and Lantana. I have several monarch tagging programs lined up in September. Butterfly season ends in Central Virginia around the middle of October.

The Association For Butterflies www.forbutterflies.org is holding its second annual symposium in October in Townsend, TN this year. Check out the website for more information. You don't need to be a butterfly farmer to attend. Townsend is close to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, some of the most beautiful places to see the leaves turn colors in the fall. The AFB will also be offering the online Monarch Tagging class again, beginning the second week in September.

My first Mourning Cloaks

I ordered some Mourning Cloak pupae from a butterfly breeder in CA. One emerged yesterday and it is big and beautiful. I have never seen one except in books. I've always looked for them when I take walks, but have been unsuccessful. Then, yesterday, as I was talking on the phone, I looked out the window and there was another one, clinging to the screen! What a coincidence! I now know that they exist around here. I'd like to raise some in the future and maybe try some in a butterfly release. I've heard they don't make good release butterflies because they tend to play dead instead of flying away.

First swallowtails of 2009

About a week ago, when it was warmer, I saw two Tiger Swallowtails in the yard. These were the first ones of the season and it was a foretaste of things to come! Also, as I walked into our garage, there was a newly-emerged Black Swallowtail, trying out his wings and getting ready to fly. He must have overwintered someplace hidden in the garage, out of sight. I helped him by taking him out to the rapidly-growing fennel and placing him on it. A few days later, I again saw him circling the flower area. At least there are flowers blooming now, including the lilac and candytuft.

I haven't seen the common milkweed yet, because it's been too cool. We're due for a few warm days, and I hope this will help the milkweed. I can then start raising monarchs.

I do have some Painted ladies that I've been raising in cups. Some will be used in a memorial service butterfly release this weekend.

Celebrate The First National Butterfly Awareness Day!

The Association For Butterflies announces the first National Butterfly Awareness Day June 6, 2009. This day is set aside for all people throughout the United States to celebrate butterflies. "Social Butterflies" www.socialbtrflies.com will be releasing butterflies in Charlottesville, VA. We encourage people to not only release butterflies, but to consider planting a butterfly garden to help attract these beautiful insects. Students may want to release some at their graduation ceremonies. Studies of a butterfly's lifecycle will be encouraged. We want to make people more aware of butterflies and their importance as pollinators. Besides bees, butterflies are the next best pollinators, and as we know, we need pollinators if we like to eat! Releasing butterflies is a sound ecological way to help increase the population during the warm months. Celebrate nature's most beautiful creature on June 6, 2009. Tell your friends about National Butterfly Awareness Day.

Butterfly releases for weddings

Now is the time for brides to consider a butterfly release at their upcoming weddings! As a beautiful alternative to throwing rice or birdseed, releasing balloons, or blowing bubbles, a butterfly release will make your special day memorable. If the wedding is planned for the spring, summer, or fall months, the couple will be able to release butterflies because the temperatures will be warm enough for them to fly. An experienced butterfly breeder can be very helpful in assisting the couple to insure a perfect release. Butterflies are usually released following the wedding ceremony. The butterflies can either be passed out to the guests and/or members of the wedding party to be released individually from their protective envelopes or they can be released all at one time from a release cage. Either way, it is a wonderful way to celebrate the beginning of a new life together for the wedding couple.

Many churches are now releasing butterflies following their Easter services, also. Butterflies are symbolic of resurrection, new life and new beginnings and are perfect for the Easter season. Some church groups actually raise butterflies as part of their Easter curriculum. What a joyous occasion it is on a bright Easter morning to see dozens of colorful butterflies fluttering skyward! For more information on wedding butterfly releases or Easter releases, please see http://www.socialbtrflies.com/.

First butterfly of the season!

Finally! We have had a few days of spring-like warmth after a long and cold winter. Working out in the yard two days ago, I saw the first butterfly of the season...a Cloudless Sulphur. It was fluttering around, looking for nectar sources, which are few and far between so early in the season. There aren't even any dandelions popping up yet. I saw it land briefly on one of the early-blooming daffodils, but they don't seem to hold much nectar, so it flew off quickly. All we need is a little more warmth and some sunny days and we'll be seeing more early-appearing butterflies.

Soon I will be raising butterflies for release at weddings, memorials, parties, and other outdoor special events! For more information of photos of butterflies, please see my website: www.socialbtrflies.com.

Is spring here yet?

This winter has been unusually cold here in Central Virginia. I know that in other parts of the U.S. it has been, also. I have not seen any butterflies flying since the first week in November, unlike last year when I saw a few Cabbage Whites of Sulphurs occasionally. We do have robins in the yard finally, so it they portend the end of winter, that's good. We have lots of bluebirds, also. I would like to put up another nesting box for them soon.
This week I will be speaking at the Capital Home and Garden Show just outside Washington, D.C.
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/events/2413/
I will be doing two programs: Butterflies and Plants ~ An Essential Relationship and If You Plant it, They Will Come ~ Attract 10 or More Species to Your Yard Without Really Trying. I am looking forward to it. I want to incorporate the idea of having butterfly releases in my presentations, also. I have books to sell and the shadow boxes and bell jars of the butterfly vignettes I have worked on over the winter.
I am raising Painted ladies and have quite a number of eggs, which are just beginning to hatch now.

Waiting for spring

As we wait out the cold winter days, in the warmth of our homes, I keep thinking about how many more weeks it will be until we see some signs of spring. The grass is a light tan color, the daffodils are just starting to show some green shoots (NO! get back in the ground!) the butterfly bushes are sickly-looking and we crave some sunlight.
One way to help overcome this feeling is by taking a butterfly-related course. Check out the Association For Butterflies' list of courses: Disease in Lepidoptera, Monarch Raising for Teachers, Butterfly Releases for Event Planners and Funeral Professionals, and Butterfly Gardening (How to attract 10 or more species without really trying). I will be conducting the last class, beginning on February 23 for four weeks. This is an online class, where you can access the material at your leisure. If you complete the coursework and pass the quizzes, you will receive a certificate stating that you are a "Certified Butterfly Gardener." See www.forbutterflies.org for more information and a class syllabus.
Also, if you happen to live in the Washington, D.C. area, I will be a guest speaker at the Capital Home and Garden Show at the Dulles Expo Center on February 27-March 1. My topics? Butterflies, of course! See you there! Linda Marchman @ Social Butterflies