Yesterday I was overjoyed to discover this monarch caterpillar in the Butterfly/Bee/Hummingbird garden! He was quite big and munching on the butterfly weed. Today he is gone, so I hope that means he is making his chrysalis somewhere. There have been very few monarch butterflies this year, so I am delighted one chose to raise her offspring in my garden.
This garden is buzzing with honeybees, bumbles and other native wild bees. The hummingbirds and hummingbird moths make regular visits, too. It is so rewarding!
Obedient plants.
Phlox up close.
The hens keep pulling out the petunias from the bottom pot of the tilted tower of flowers and settling in there. I give up.
The turkeys prefer patio furniture.
I had totally forgotten I planted a couple of high bush cranberries on the north side of the garage a few year ago. This year they are loaded with brilliant berries.
Wild grapes along the driveway are starting to ripen.
So many more to come.
A cuke growing in a flower bed by the barn, trying to fit in.
The alpin strawberries I started from seed last spring and transplanted into the aquaponics towers a few weeks ago have decided they like it there and are loading up with blossoms and berries! Alpine strawberries are tiny, but so tasty.
Tis weekend we finally hung gutters on the fish gazebo and filled with gravel for another aquaponic growing experiment. (Below the gutters is a drain-and-fill gravel bed full of tomatoes basil, and other miscellaneous plants. They are thriving on the fish water.)
Last week I found four rather sad strawberry pots on end-of-the-season clearance. I pulled out the 28 everbearing strawberry plants, washed the dirt out of their roots, and set them into the gravel in the gutters. I hope they like aquaponic life and begin producing bountiful berries like the alpine strawberries.
Summer is winding down, but the show isn’t over yet!
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