Garden Dirt Diary

July 13, 2026

Our First Butterfly!

Early Thursday morning as the tropical morning rays were just beginning to peek through the pines, we got the first look at our new baby Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly, newly emerged from its cocoon, inside the Butterfly House.  Woo-Hoo!  It’s the 1st one.  I couldn’t help myself, my gaze turned loving, fully aware it’s an insect.  And, He, as we came to call it, as a name, would take us through a whole gamut of emotions.  At one point, I swore off doing a Butterfly House again, but it all turned out in the end, mostly.

If you’ve been following, you might recall the whole thing happened accidentally.  Me, personally, noticed a huge Black Butterfly fluttering happily through Our Garden.  I like watching them, the perfect break, and I whipped out the camera.  Generally, Butterflies land and at least pause when they feed.  The Ladies kind of continuously flutter, touching here and there, when laying eggs.  Most of my pics are of the 1st because the laying eggs photos are usually fuzzy.  Dang.  The Big Black Butterfly was laying eggs and all my photos and even the video I tried were fuzzy.  Dang.  We posted her anyway.

While trying to take pics of her fluttering the Dill plant, in a pot, I noticed there were flowers on the plant and took a mental note.  Those needed to go if we wanted to keep the plants.  Either at the end of that day or the next, I snipped the flower stalks and a little of the plant to flavor something.  I did not cut the area the Butterfly was fluttering.  The cuttings got dropped into a little jar of water in the window, and I didn’t notice the little eggs until I came back to wash it.  And, before we decided what to do, they hatched into little black caterpillars.  So, we got a Butterfly House and moved the whole Dill plant inside it because the ones I was now responsible for needed food.  There were more caterpillars freshly hatched on the plant.

Butterfly House

So, for the next few weeks we grew butterfly caterpillars, or as we like to refer to them, Ravenous Beasties.  You can find the updates here: Past Garden Dirt . As of last Monday, we had no caterpillars, only cocoons.  Then, on Thursday, He appeared.  Excitement abound.  There would have been a release party if you could plan these things with more certainty.  LOL!  But as excited as My Mom and I were to do a release, we waited about 5 hours for its little wings to fully dry and harden.  There were offerings of flower bouquets and pieces of fruit on a wet natural sponge, but we waited.

Then, with big fanfare, we took it outside and released it onto one of the Orange Cosmos plants in full bloom.  Lots of food, just in case.  And, it fluttered its wings, walking around on the plant.  Yes, walking.  He walked, flitted its wings, and did nothing.  So, we left it, figuring it needed more time.  When the rains started to come in, we gathered him up and brought him back in.  He couldn’t fly.  The next day was the same, and we noticed a wing seemed a little too loose.  We resolved that He probably wouldn’t fly, and I’m not going to lie, my heart broke a little. More so watching him flutter his little wings at other Butterflies who came and went. Yeah, I’m kind of like that with creatures.

Resolved, Then Surprised

Saturday morning He was still sleeping when I got up, and I left it there until I was coming in for the morning.  He was fluttering around, and I figured it wanted to go out and enjoy the day, visit with more winged friends.  So back out He went, but it didn’t seem to want to get off my hand and onto the Cosmos.  It took a few tries, and instead, He fluttered its wings and flew up.  He landed in the Ligustrum and immediately took off for the Box Hedge.  I started yelling for My Mom and went in to get her, returning just in time to see it take off, into the back, and disappear.  He flew.  Woo-Hoo! Relief of the best sort washed over me.  

This morning, #2 emerged.  We’ve decided a single day in the Butterfly House before release.  It’s wet and we’ve been under Heat Advisories.  So, best a day to rest, feed, and get those wings hard.  Our 1st was a Roller Coaster of emotions.  LOL!

Around Our Garden

In between checks on Our Butterfly, we actually did get some work done.  Early in the week we started cleaning up the Compost Area.  It’s been a mess since we put in the Pagoda.  It needs to be completely reworked into the new space, but the Dragon Fruit Cactus was reinfected with scale and needs to be addressed 1st.  We did get the fence reinforced and a Compost Basket was bagged for use.  It’s going to take some time to even make a dent.  Dang.

We did get the outside of the front fence line cleared.  We normally have a 5-6 ft open space to keep the vegetation from growing into the fence, but the electric company trimmed into it, both dead and living stuff they pushed into our fence.  Super nice.  Especially since we’d already done the pre-Rainy Season trim.  I guess it was too much to toss All of it into the chipper they had right there.  LOL!  We also got a few Scheffleras planted out there.  Just pulled them off the other plant and stuck them in the ground.  It is the Rainy Season.

And, we did take an easy morning in Our Garden.  A little light weeding, sweeping the newly mortared section of the Shell Circle.  It’s so much easier than the loose shell to keep tidy.  We finished by dropping some wildflower seeds, including Zinnias.  Never can have too many Wildflowers.  Well, you can, but we like lots.  LOL!

Flowers

Our Indian Blanket Flowers got the Feature, blooming almost all year.  When one plant dies, it’s replaced by others in a continuously blooming cycle.  Woo-Hoo!  Because we have so many all the time, we forget to shine a spotlight on them.  Fortunately, the sun doesn’t forget, making these wonderfully lit-from-within beauties with sparklies in the center.  Yup, the pollen kind-of sparkles in the sun.   They kinda seem like the perfect landing pads for Bees.  And, they are.  Good job, nature.  We have whole areas.

The Tiger Lilies are still going.  We thought they were done, but we got another spike.  Woo-Hoo!  The Cosmos in brilliant Orange are throwing bunches of new flowers all over.  It’s a good thing because we need them for the Butterflies.  Lots of easy pollen.  And, the Blue My Mind Morning Glories filled with the little gems.  Beautiful.  Enjoy!

July 6, 2026

Planting Frenzy!

Woo-Hoo!  There are few things we like better than spreading the green.  That absolutely includes Our Garden.  And it’s that time, past any chance of several dry days in a row, the sweet spot for planting tropicals.  Anytime after the rains start is good, really.  You just have to make sure they get watered on dry days.  It’s way too hot for a new plant to be without water.

Mostly, that sweet spot happens at the beginning of June.  Not so much this year.  The 2 Counties directly next to us didn’t even get to set off fireworks last weekend.  No One.  They are still in a Burn Ban from the severe drought and hard freeze.  Yes, that’s right, even raining every day.  Dang.   They still have a bit before their water levels are back to normal, that includes the plants, trees, and watering down all the dead stuff.  I imagine it was a very unpopular decision.  But, we’re no strangers to wildfires.  Our area has them every year.  The lightning is risky enough.  Luckily, Our Garden is damp and quite ready for new green babies.  Woo-Hoo!

It starts by gathering pots.  They’re everywhere.  Once the nursery fills up, we start sticking things in any shady spot with water.  Since we not only have a habit of sticking broken branches and bulbs overflowing the beds in pots, we have to trim, lots.  So there are always cuttings.  LOL!  We do enjoy making green babies.  For fun.  LOL!   We’ve also been specifically focused on Schefflera and Bougainvillea for the new landscaping wall.  There were many.

Around Our Garden

Yup, you guessed it, we used our extra holiday time to plant the inside of the tunnel.  Mostly.  Everything we had rooted.  About 40 Schefflera, 20 Bougainvillea, 2 Laurel Oaks, and 4 Queen Palms are planted and growing happily.  We still need to dig up several Hong Kong Orchid trees growing in the Traditional Veggie and Herb garden.  They can’t live there.   And we need to make about 10 more Bougainvillea cuttings.  You’d think 20 would have been enough.  LOL!  All planting holes are ready and waiting.  We just need the plants.  So, we know what we’re working on this week.  LOL!  

Because we’re talking about a continuous landscaping wall along the road, it’s a bit of a run.  We weren’t able to actually lay-out the planting holes until the tunnel was fully cut.  So, it was a pretty good guess with the number of plants we rooted.  We would have had already potted Hong Kong Orchid trees and more Bougainvillea, but it all died after the hard freeze.  Dang.  It’s okay, we have the young trees that need to be dug up, and we have lots of old growth Bougainvillea branches.  Those root well.  Woo-Hoo!

And More Plantings

Also planted, along the new Rock Path.  My Older Brother and his Girlfriend brought some pretty colorful Plumed Cockscomb or Celosia for my B-day and My Son and Hannah had brought over some new bigger flower variety of Canna for Mother’s Day.  Both went in along the path with some bunches of White African Irises and a ton of compost we pulled off the undeveloped lots and from our yard piles.  In fact, we spent a whole morning cutting up a pile, using the cuttings for mulch along the dry detention and digging up the compost for the new plantings.  There are still 3 more piles.  Dang.  

Then, there was a shape problem.  We had a round pot of Cannas, but we wanted a line of them.  So, we pulled the root bound bunch from the pot, inserted the gardening knife to carefully separate and open them up like a book.  Line of Cannas to plant, check.  We finished everything off with Mulch, a necessity this time of year to help hold the moisture in the soil.  The whole stretch looks really nice.

Also on the agenda for last week, a soapy bath for the Florida Peach tree that has been battling some insect infestations on its trunk.  It’s just what it sounds like: a big soft sponge and a bucket of soapy water, like washing the car.  We use the regular Dawn dishwashing soap.  First, we cut all the fishing line out of the branches.  We only install and leave it there while the Peaches are growing.  Don’t want any of the fishing line to restrict branch growth.  Then, we trimmed the Lumquat or Japanese Plum and Oak trees.  Yeah, we’re partial to the Peach tree, want it to have lots of room to grow.  LOL!  And then, the bath.  We’re hoping this time does it.  Stupid insects.  Finally, we reset a new 2×4 stake.  It’s very stable and looks good.  Fingers crossed.

Butterfly House

It was another week of Ravenous Beasties.  They really are cute and mesmerizing with their little rolling leg shuffle.  Despite being worried about providing enough food, we found Parsley.  You can buy lots of fresh Parsley at the store fairly cheaply.  That was important because Caterpillar food is specific to each variety.  

Ours, found on the Dill plant, are Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars.  They like food in the Carrot family like Carrot, Dill, Fennel, and Parsely.  Since they like the thick stalks the most, they didn’t quite like the Parsely as much as the Dill or Carrot.  This is based entirely on the rate of devouring, not any scientific data.  But we ran out of stuff from Our Garden, it is the Rainy Season, and the veggies are dying.  Luckily, the cute little things started disappearing.  The last one, not cocooning, was seen yesterday, not this morning.

There are a few visible Cocoons and one actively Cocooning in plain sight.  The rest are just gone, probably down inside the pot.  There are leaves and other brown stuff there.  We’re hoping they’re just good hiders, and we’ll have plenty of Butterflies beginning this week.  Hopefully.

Flowers

The Feature went to the ever lovely Pink Rain Lilies.  As one of the most photogenic flowers in Our Garden, it’s hard not to feature them more.  LOL!  Some flowers embrace sunlight, hug it tight, and throw it back out into the world more beautiful.  The light sparkles and dances off the light pink petals attracting pollinators with such amazing iridescent accuracy.  They do this in whole areas, again and again, after the heavy rains.  As a place that gets some rain, Woo-Hoo!

Also going crazy, the White Dendrobium Orchids.  We have whole fences and trellises of them.  Long, ever blooming, stalks are replaced again and again. The Orange Cosmos is also looking quite lovely on its large plants, calling in brilliant orange to the Bees and Butterflies.  In purple, we have the Coneflower or Echinacea and Zinnias to round everything out.  Just Lovely.  Enjoy!

June 29, 2026

Slow Burn

As the Summer settles into its slow sweltering burn, we’re checking the weather much less.  Unless there’s a storm, what’s there to check?  It’s going to be ‘fry an egg on the hood of your car hot’, the UV will be extreme, the humidity will soak your skin and clothes, and it will rain, most likely a severe thunderstorm.  LOL!  While one would believe needing to know when the rain will hit would keep us glued to our screens, nope.  Rain, here, moves in bans.  Unless you have a reporting station at your house, the info on the app is coming from somewhere else, and it’s probably wrong.  LOL!  Live and learn.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve raced the afternoon storm home.  It pours, and I mean pours, it feels like being at a car wash and someone is literally throwing buckets directly onto your windshield, while driving.  The sun clears the clouds about 2 blocks from our house, and I have just enough time to grab my stuff and run inside as the giant drops start to spill.  Sitting here chuckling.  Life in the tropical zones.

It’s one of the reasons we get such lush, thick growth.  In addition to water feeding growth, it’s also harsh.  The planties put their energy into sturdy stems and thick leaves that hold up in the downpours.  That’s awesome for the Zinnias, not so much for the Pepper Bush.  The good news is Pepper Bush is much easier to maintain than it is to cut, and we finished the tunnel through ours last week.  Woo-Hoo!

Around Our Garden

As a reminder, we planned a tunnel running parallel to the main road through the Pepper Bush on our undeveloped property.  It goes Road, Right-of-Way, Wall of Pepper Bush, tunnel, thick Pepper Bush.  We’ve started planting the inside of the tunnel.  The goal is to get lots of new, better plants, well established by the end of the Rainy Season.  Eventually, the landscaping will get large enough for us to take out the Wall of Pepper Bush.  The problem is screening.  We need the vegetation there for noise, and to keep people from wandering up.  It’s a big project.  The tunnel was the hardest part.

Being in the woods is a happy place for me.  Clearing Pepper Bush is not.  And the final push was 30 feet of a monster tree, trunk way bigger around than me, growing almost completely on the ground sideways.  Boo-Hiss!  So much more had to be cleared around both sides than intended in this 1st push.  Blah!  But it is done, and now, lots of new plants.  Woo-Hoo!  That’s the fun part.

We also worked on removing any Dragon Fruit Cactus sections with scale.  Even though we’ve spent a year getting rid of the infection, some came back.  Best to get it out of Our Garden completely.  Being vigilant is important.  That made the fence up front lighter, and we got it propped up correctly with a new support.  Dragon Fruit Cactus is heavy, 10 pounds each before they bloom, support is important.  Check out: How to Grow Dragon Fruit.

Butterfly House

We’re switching our Harvest section for the next couple of weeks to updates on the Butterfly House.  Since we only have Tomatoes coming in, it makes perfect sense.  If you’re missing the veggies, join the club and maybe try: How to Grow Your Own Tomatoes or How to Grow Common Beans & Peas.  

The Caterpillars are happily munching everything in sight.  The original dill is just sticks.  They’ll occasionally go back to it, after they’ve devoured anything fresh and green added.  Ravenous pooping Beasties.  LOL!  So yes, we’re adding fresh food regularly.  The final Carrot plant, a bit at a time.  We’ll also be picking up some fresh Dill tomorrow.  The amount they eat has been the biggest surprise.  And, how mesmerizing they are to watch.  Everyone finds themselves wandering out and losing time.  It’s the slow munching and little sectioned feet rolling along.

Another surprising event, they whack each other, like siblings.  Some of them do.  If one of them is on a stick and another approaches, even just to move past, the one will defend its position by lifting its little head and front legs up and falling down on the other.  LOL!  “Mom, he’s touching me!”  So funny.  They’ll keep doing it until the other moves past or goes back the other way.  Mostly, they share, and you’ll find one on the top with another on the bottom of the same stick.  No cocoons, yet.  We think this is their last feasting week.  Dang.  Although it’s probably a good thing, we don’t want to run out of food.

Flowers

The Buttercups got the Feature with their dazzling yellow.  Last year, we started a new bush along the back fence in the front.  We hope it grows big and strong, constantly seeding in the cinder block planters.  The 1st few flowers emerged slowly in the Spring.  We’ve been in a drought.  But last week, it came alive with color.  The bright yellow sparkles into rich golden in the morning sun.  So pretty and plentiful.

We spent some time deadheading the wildflowers and the Orange Cosmos threw out a bunch of new flowers.  Woo-Hoo!   We got another big round of Pink Rain Lilies, and the Tiger Lilies are still going.  So pretty.  We caught the 1st few rows of newly emerged Comfrey flowers on their tiny spirals, and the Butterflies were still visiting in force.  Check out the show: What’s Bloomn’  Enjoy!   

Check out the What’s Bloomn’ slideshow for more flowers or visit Garden Dirt for the latest around Our Garden.