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[SquarePeg]

Such an amazing thing happened this morning.

I've been over-wintering two Black Swallowtail chrysalises. Late last fall, I brought my parsley plant indoors that still held some hungry, active caterpillars. They seemed on the brink of going into the pupal stage, and the temperatures were starting to get into below freezing territory. I brought the plant inside and put it into my butterfly cage and let the two fat guys eat until they went pupal, and have had two chrysalises all winter long.

One of the chrysalises ended up on the stem of the parsley plant. The plant wasn't doing well in the basement so in January I brought it upstairs and put it in the sun room where it rallied. I wasn't sure if the chrysalis was even viable; it was gray and shriveled looking, and I just watered the plant around it, figuring eventually I'd put it back in the cage around May.

You see where I'm going. It's only April! Came downstairs earlier to find a gorgeous female clinging to the sliding glass door. It's a sunny warm day, and will be even warmer over the next several days, so instead of running to the basement and trying to get her back inside the butterfly cage, I simply cupped her and went outside. She sat in a tree for about 5 minutes then fluttered to the grass, lots of dew and I imagine she wanted a drink.

Here's the baby girl:

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She flew off about 20 minutes later. I did bring up the butterfly cage and put the parsley plant in it to give the other butterfly somewhere to land when it finally opens. This one is more sensibly attached to the mesh, not on a plant that needed attention. I'm hoping that sitting in the sun room will encourage it to open, so I can set it free with its sister.

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I'm so glad the other one didn't fly up to a corner of the ceiling and become impossible to catch and release - and that a cat didn't find her first.

Fun times. Summer has begun for me, I don't really care what the calendar says anymore.

Amazing! I swear I saw a black swallowtail when I was walking Harlie in the woods last week. I was wondering what possible sources of food it could find up here at this time of year but I would imagine that they don’t hatch until they know that the temperatures are right for food for them right? Is there anything in Bloom your way? The only things we have in bloom up here right now are forsythia, tulips, pansies and some magnolia trees.

 

[SquarePeg]

 

[terri]

Amazing! I swear I saw a black swallowtail when I was walking Harlie in the woods last week. I was wondering what possible sources of food it could find up here at this time of year but I would imagine that they don’t hatch until they know that the temperatures are right for food for them right? Is there anything in Bloom your way? The only things we have in bloom up here right now are forsythia, tulips, pansies and some magnolia trees.

We have the same: lots of forsythia, pansies, and now some tulips and jonquils. I've also seen hyacinth (not mine yet), and several pretty little buttercup-like things in other people's yards. I don't know what a lot of them are, but at least they're open and a new butterfly shouldn't have to look too hard for something.

I wrung my hands over capturing her and keeping her indoors, but really had nothing to give aside from water - and we have tons out there already. A quick check of the forecast said it would be all right, plus the flowers and tree buds are opening every day.

Oddly, I could have sworn I saw a butterfly last week, too - something orange-y. I just discounted it because it seemed way too early.

 

[21limited]

The first flowers in our garden, the crosuses came up in one big bunch this year, I;m not sure what the cause might be, but based on 15 years in this location, it’s definitely unusual.
2025-04-17-Crocus Cluster by Norm Head, on Flickr

 

[Ihatemymoney]

 

[Jeff15]

Lily

 

[Digger...]

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What strains are growing? Harvesting my 2 outdoors atm, smells great...

 

[Ihatemymoney]

What strains are growing? Harvesting my 2 outdoors atm, smells great...

blue berry runts SKittles

 

[SquarePeg]

Lily

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Gorgeous but the scent triggers my allergies in seconds! I have to avoid.

 

[SquarePeg]

Things are finally happening in the garden here. We’ve had a week of consistently warmer days and everything is sprouting at once! I’ve been busy clearing out the dead stems from last season, trellising my clematis vines and protecting everything from the hungry bunnies… today I’ll be installing two new trellises and putting together a new dahlia bed. Life in the garden is good.

Here’s a photo dump of what’s growing:
Peonies (white with pink tips)

Pink Yarrow

Clematis Liberation

Salvia seedlings from a neighbor

Clematis Jackmanii

Blue False Indigo aka Baptisia australis that I grew from seed - excited for this one as it’s year 3 so should be first year to flower!

This is the Ivory Silk Lilac tree that I planted last spring.

Phlox that I couldn’t resist buying in flower at Lowes because I needed something in bloom. Love this color so much.

Major Wheeler reporting for duty!

Honeysuckle White Scentsation - usually the first perennial to flower

Red bee balm, pink phlox under the bunny buckets, pink bee balm

Bloomstruck Hydrangea and Clematis Warsaw Nike

Clematis City of Lyon

Clematis Ernest Markham and Comtesse de Bouchard and another in the middle that I forgot to label

Thundercloud Plum tree I planted 2 years ago

 

[Digger...]

Grevillea, the Wattle birds think its a candy bush.

Periwinkle i think, can't remember.

 

[Ysarex]

First Iris of the Season is blooming. The color is striking but I'm not real fond of the flower's shape. The bottom flower petals of an iris are called falls because they hang down, but these don't and it makes the flowers appear awkward rather than elegant. We have seven different varieties of iris -- this short blue and white one is always first. Fuji X-T2 w/90mm Macro Elmar.

 

[terri]

Amazing! I swear I saw a black swallowtail when I was walking Harlie in the woods last week. I was wondering what possible sources of food it could find up here at this time of year but I would imagine that they don’t hatch until they know that the temperatures are right for food for them right? Is there anything in Bloom your way? The only things we have in bloom up here right now are forsythia, tulips, pansies and some magnolia trees.

Here's the result of the second chrysalis - I meant to post this when it happened but forgot.

This one is a boy - and he emerged without ceremony while safe in the butterfly cage:

He's a little back-lit and was beating his wings furiously, wanting to get OUT. I carried the cage outside, cupped him and he stayed with me for a few minutes - it was sunny and nice - before taking off.

Happy that both chrysalises I overwintered actually opened with beautiful health butterflies. I now have Empty Butterfly Cage syndrome, which is similar to empty nest syndrome but I know all I have to do is put out some parsley and do it again.

 

[terri]

Things are finally happening in the garden here. We’ve had a week of consistently warmer days and everything is sprouting at once! I’ve been busy clearing out the dead stems from last season, trellising my clematis vines and protecting everything from the hungry bunnies… today I’ll be installing two new trellises and putting together a new dahlia bed. Life in the garden is good.

Here’s a photo dump of what’s growing:
Peonies (white with pink tips)
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Pink Yarrow
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Clematis Liberation
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Salvia seedlings from a neighbor
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Clematis Jackmanii
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Blue False Indigo aka Baptisia australis that I grew from seed - excited for this one as it’s year 3 so should be first year to flower!
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This is the Ivory Silk Lilac tree that I planted last spring.
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Phlox that I couldn’t resist buying in flower at Lowes because I needed something in bloom. Love this color so much.
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Major Wheeler reporting for duty!
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Honeysuckle White Scentsation - usually the first perennial to flower
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Red bee balm, pink phlox under the bunny buckets, pink bee balm
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Bloomstruck Hydrangea and Clematis Warsaw Nike
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Clematis City of Lyon
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Clematis Ernest Markham and Comtesse de Bouchard and another in the middle that I forgot to label

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Thundercloud Plum tree I planted 2 years ago
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Everything's coming up beautifully! I agree with you about the color - I call it periwinkle - it's hard to find for the garden, so congrats on those little beauties.

I'm jealous of all your clematis - the main one I've tried (a so-called shade lover variety) has died out every time. It (all 3 attempts!) keeps coming up in the spring, only to fizzle out later. It's in a north-facing corner but gets beautiful afternoon light starting in the spring, so I'll try something different. Thinking a climbing hydrangea, maybe. The trellis is already there and I'd love for something to work.

We had drenching/drowning rains all last summer - most of my Blue Princess Ilex bushes died. My side yard berm looks very barren and depressing at the moment, though I do have a landscaper coming to yank the last two dead ones out, and replace them with Emerald Green arborvitae. The purple coneflowers, bee balm and Cardinal flowers are all coming up. My Major Wheeler has a few buds on it, but the best looking one right now is the Scentsation honeysuckle. It even tolerated our -5 F spell over the winter - tough plant!

Still waiting for action around the Joe Pye weed, but it's still a little early.

 

[SquarePeg]

Everything's coming up beautifully! I agree with you about the color - I call it periwinkle - it's hard to find for the garden, so congrats on those little beauties.

I'm jealous of all your clematis - the main one I've tried (a so-called shade lover variety) has died out every time. It (all 3 attempts!) keeps coming up in the spring, only to fizzle out later. It's in a north-facing corner but gets beautiful afternoon light starting in the spring, so I'll try something different. Thinking a climbing hydrangea, maybe. The trellis is already there and I'd love for something to work.

We had drenching/drowning rains all last summer - most of my Blue Princess Ilex bushes died. My side yard berm looks very barren and depressing at the moment, though I do have a landscaper coming to yank the last two dead ones out, and replace them with Emerald Green arborvitae. The purple coneflowers, bee balm and Cardinal flowers are all coming up. My Major Wheeler has a few buds on it, but the best looking one right now is the Scentsation honeysuckle. It even tolerated our -5 F spell over the winter - tough plant!

Still waiting for action around the Joe Pye weed, but it's still a little early.

I’ve had good luck planting clematis in the fall. Scentsation is a gorgeous plant and smells so amazing!

I pulled up my Joe pye from the butterfly garden before it started to come back. It was in an awkward place and I didn’t love it last year. It was really blocking out the plants around it and got way too tall. Going to replace it with some zinnias this year and decide on a perennial to plant there in the fall.

Need a suggestion for an wvergreen shrub that gets no more than 4’ x 4’ and can tolerate full sun. Any ideas?