Biodiversity for Birds, Butterflies, and Bees (And More)
Adding biodiversity to your yard and garden means an increase in all types of life. But what do I mean by “adding biodiversity”?. And what is biodiversity? Biodiversity is defined as the variety of life in a habitat or ecosystem. And you add to it by adding what you life you can. For gardeners this […]
How To Protect Monarch Butterflies with Gardening
Recently classified as an endangered species by the International Union For Conservation of Nature, the monarch butterfly is one of our most recognized insect species. For decades, gardeners, biologists, and entomologists have been watching the decline of these butterflies and pushing to get them on the list. But what does it mean to be on […]
Swallowtail Butterflies in Your Garden
Attracting swallowtail butterflies to the garden is something many gardeners strive for. Why do we love swallowtail butterflies? It is because these butterflies are large, showy, and fun to watch. Even as a child I watched the large yellow and black striped Eastern Tiger Swallowtail swooping and landing on the garden phlox in my grandmother’s […]
Meet the Pollinators : Spring Flying Butterflies
I have done many a post on attracting insect pollinators, butterfly host plants, and pollinators. But I have not grouped when the pollinators are out. What are the spring flowering pollinators? Which butterflies overwinter as adults in the leaves and landscapes? All this and more I will cover in in this post. Let us meet […]
Meet the Pollinators : Skipper Butterflies
What are skipper butterflies and why are they separate from other butterflies? Skippers are often termed as an intermediate group between butterflies and moths. What does that mean? It mean that they have characteristics of both groups within Lepidoptera. Skipper butterflies have furry bodies similar to moths, but fly during the day and sit at […]
14 Common Butterflies of Northeast Kansas
Butterflies are one of the most looked for insects in the landscape, Their colors and flight patterns are observed by amateurs, professionals, and children alike. Everyone loves butterflies. I have a number of field guides for butterflies and for caterpillars, but none that show both caterpillars and butterflies together. There is a decided lack of […]
15 Host Plants for Butterflies
Butterflies are the flying flowers of the garden. Everyone notices them and everyone loves them. To attract a wider range of butterflies to your garden, you need to have a variety of host plants and nectar plants, and even a variety of ecosystems would be helpful. The best butterfly populations are going to be common […]
Top Perennials for Bees & Butterflies – August
August is here with the dog days of summer. The cicadas are singing their wings off in the trees each night, but the pollinators are in full force across the summertime perennials. I have seen the many more monarchs in the past week than in the the previous months combined. With all these pollinators buzzing […]
Top Plants for Bees/Butterflies: June-July Part II
Welcome back! The glorious Independence Day is over and summer is bearing down upon us. I am always so busy getting things done for the holidays, that I hardly have time to put posts together. The second half of the season has started and we need some flower power to steer us through. The second […]
