The last week in September, I stayed at my mother’s timeshare in Provincetown. It is a small unit but beautifully situated right on the beach with a  spectacular view. I love having the time to observe and savor each moment when there are no distractions.The week usually falls around the jewish high holidays so it is also a time of self reflection. This year I was recovering from shingles and lyme disease which had invaded my body at the same time.I was still low energy and it was painful to hold my camera for long periods of time so I dedicated the week to writing. It was a good...

  All of these photos were taken on August 31st, 2015. It is not the date that is important but the fact that the photos were taken on the same day which is quite remarkable to me.I have received so much joy from my garden this summer.I have had two broods of painted lady caterpillars and have had black swallowtail butterflies lay eggs in my courtyard as well. I had a Giant Swallowtail butterfly which I never had in my Lakeville garden and  are pretty rare in Massachusetts. We have had many beautiful sunny days and I will often think I might like to go to the beach or take a day trip to Cape...

On June 17th I noticed tented painted lady caterpillars on my licorice plant (helichrysum petrolatum).The licorice plant is a larval plant for the painted lady butterfly.The painted lady is one of the most widespread butterflies in the world.It can be found in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Butterflies always have particular larval plants that they feed on such as milkweed for the monarch butterfly. They instinctively lay their eggs on plants that the caterpillars will eat.The painted lady is not as particular as most and it has several host plants including  thistle, mallow,...

        It has been a beautiful fall with many glorious days in the courtyard. When I have no motivation or energy to tackle even the simplest of chores, I retreat to the garden. It is my haven. I am drawn to it by the dreamy sound of the bubbling waterfall and the allure of new buds and flowers each day. I feel Dick's spirit there and it fills my heart. I love the sunlight streaming into the courtyard, providing me with a special hot spot where I can watch a parade of visitors from my chair. October was a mild month and I enjoyed a variety of visitors that I didn't expect. The monarch...

      I was thrilled to have some butterfly visitors this summer. Most of the larval plants, which the butterflies seek out to lay their eggs on, are weeds so I chose not to introduce them into my new garden. I did, however, plant a large pot of parsley and dill in the hopes of attracting the eastern black swallowtail. On July 19th, I spotted a black swallowtail flying in the courtyard. I grabbed my camera and got some photos of the butterfly ovipositing on the parsley plant. I found this greenish-yellow egg on the parsley after she flew away. The caterpillar chews it's way out of the egg in about...

The swallowtail family of butterflies are my favorite.Their large wings, graceful shape, and colorful markings lure me into the garden. The butterflies are lured into the garden by various larval plants, each specific to their species.The eastern black swallowtail favors parsley, dill or fennel as its host plant and we have had caterpillars on all three.A few years ago the Tripps from Windy Hill Farm gave me some bronze fennel plants from their garden. They are very sturdy plants which reach 3 feet in height.  Probably due to their prominance in the garden,  I now find most of the black swallowtails...

On these crisp, sunny, fall days we have had a dozen or more monarch butterflies hangin' out in our backyard .They prefer to cluster on the purple buddleia bushes, which this late in the season are more like  trees. We have really been enjoying the dance of the monarchs as they flutter overhead before they head off on their miraculous journey! Through the years we have participated in tagging the monarchs in the fall season through the Monarch Watch program sponsored by the University of Kansas. Researchers use these tags  to track the butterflies migration to Mexico. We've also raised monarch...

A few years ago we visited the Magic Wings Conservatory & Gardens, a butterfly aviary in South Deerfield, MA. We enjoyed viewing and photographing an array of tropical butterflies. However, the highlight for me was stopping at their nursery on the way out. As I had hoped, they sold many butterfly larval plants. We decided to add to our collection and purchased a hops (humulus lupulus) plant, which attracts the question mark, red admiral and grey hairstreak butterflies.   To increase the butterfly population in your garden, you need to provide food for the caterpillars. Each species feeds...