Busy Ladies Book Club

 I am in a book club started by my daughter,  Gretel.  I am not sure how many members there are.  We meet on Zoom once a month. My other two daughters are in it as well as some of Gretel's coworkers and college friends. So far we read Radium Girls, by Kate Moore,  Ona out of Order  by Margarita Montimore, and The Book Lady of Troublesome Creek  by Kim Richardson. This month's book is The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich.  On my own I read Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance,  The Water Dancer by Ta-nehisi Coates and Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart.  It has been good to do some reading. The Book Lady and the Water Dancer were by far the best.  I haven't started the Night Watchman yet.

Crocosmia Corner

My son-in-law told me about a plant that attracts hummingbirds like a magnet: Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’. It is a relative of the Iris and also features erect, spear-like foliage.

In the autumn of 2018 I ordered 15 bulbs (corms, actually) from the internet. They arrived in mid-March of this year, much too early to plant. When I finally did plant some in a nice cozy location with a southern exposure, they did not come up. The day I bought two potted plants, I saw two of the three I had planted poking through the soil.

When I finally decided that I could not wait for the ground to dry enough for planting, I went ahead and planted 9 bulbs along with the potted plants in an area I am calling Crocosmia Corner. On a plant shopping trip the next day I found more at Telly’s nursery and bought 3 more.

So here they are in the corner plot of my “vegetable” garden; 5 plants and 11 bulbs. The observant reader will notice that I previously said that I planted 9 bulbs. As part of my haste to get the bulbs growing, I had planted 3 in pots. I de-potted two bulbs and found that they had not sprouted or changed in any way from when I planted them. So I added those two to the garden.  The remaining pot is a story for another day.

I am carrying on in the tradition of my parents. When I was young they had an enormous vegetable garden. As they got older they replaced parts of it with lawn and then perennials. Notice next to my Crocosmia Corner I have planted a section of Dahlias (I know Dahlias are not perennials but, ... whatever). 

A Late Bloomer

It has been an extraordinarily cool and wet May and June here in the Detroit Metro area. My little rain garden where I grow my swamp milkweed has been underwater much of the time. About 10 years ago we had a similar spring and I, in a fit of goofiness, planted cattails (they died out after about 2 years because the area was not consistently wet).

The swamp milkweed, in the best of seasons a late starter, is barely 1 foot tall. My wife, Miss Peggy, reported seeing a monarch flitting around these little plants last week. I am not even going to look for eggs as there is not enough plant growth to nurture caterpillars.

I would not normally do this but after the above photo was taken, I used a small submersible pump to remove the water so that the root area can be as warm as possible to encourage growth.

Robust Plants

I like plants that can stand up by themselves. I have been impressed with an Ironweed plant that I got a few years ago at a local plant sale. It is called ironweed because it stands tall and steady. I have ordered seeds to increase my planting of this beautiful "weed".

Another one that stands at attention is Autumn Joy sedum. I typically do not find sedum that appealing but this variety stays standing even after the weather turns cold providing some “winter interest” when most other plants crumble to a soggy mess.

Obviously, the bumble bees love it

For some otherwise desirable plants I will provide some help to stand up. This year I bought three “dinner plate dahlia” plants. They are spectacular and just keep producing. My favorite is this deep purple variety called “Thomas Edison”.

Unfortunately these plants are too big for their stems. Add some rain weight to the huge blooms and the stems split at the axils. I will plant these again next year but I will be quicker to add support stakes.

Pre-Flight Preparation

If you only expect to have 2 or 3 pupas, you can just take the shoebox cover outside when the pupas start to get dark. Mount it securely with nothing below the pupas to obstruct their normal coming out party.

There have been years when I did not see a single monarch butterfly or an egg on my plants. But this year has been crazy productive. I have already seen 15 of my babies fly away. Now I have 17 more pupas waiting to become butterflies.

In order to mount them on this simple dowel rack I carefully tie a piece of dental floss around the black stalk (called the "cremaster") from which they hang, slowly and carefully pull the pupa away from the shoebox top, and then simply tie them on this dowel rod.

I place the rack inside a mesh enclosure that I purchased for about $30. Target has a laundry hamper  for only $7 which can be used also.

Each morning I check to see if any are dark and look like they will emerge. I actually keep them locked in for at least two hours after emerging to help prevent any early departures before they are quite ready to go. Then I open just the top of the door so they have to do some walking to get to the exit.

Monarch Watch more fully describes all this and has all the other info you will need if you really get into raising monarch butterflies.

Raising Monarch Butterflies in the House

I have never seen a large monarch caterpillar in my swamp milkweed garden. One or another predator gets them early; sometimes when they are still an egg. In a tiny effort to help the numbers grow, I raise them inside away from most dangers.

Monarch females lay eggs on the underside of a swamp milkweed leaf. Periodically I examine these sites either by carefully turning over a leaf or using a mirror. When I use the mirror, I go out at dusk with a miner's head lamp so that the sky brightness does not overwhelm my view.

When I find a stem with several eggs I cut the entire stem (not just a leaf) and place it in a vase olive jar on my kitchen windowsill. This is the preferred method rather than bringing in just a leaf since an individual leaf will dry out in the 5 days the egg develops. When I do bring in just a leaf I watch carefully for hatching and then place the dry leaf on a fresh one.

The first thing a caterpillar does upon hatching is eat its protein-rich egg shell. Just by chance, I captured a new caterpillar doing this recently.

But I digress...

After the eggs hatch in the vase, I may let the caterpillars grow for a few days until the droppings are making a mess on our kitchen counter. They then go into a plastic shoe box were I continually add fresh leaves.

My use of plastic shoe boxes is imperfect because of the lack of ventilation. To overcome this shortcoming I open the boxes a few times during the day to get a change of air and release moisture.
Perhaps I will install screens next year.

When the poop gets heavy in the bottom, I carefully place the caterpillars (by lifting the leaves they are on) into a clean box and add more leaves as required.

To help with cleanliness, I have been keeping no more than 4 caterpillars in each box when they get beyond the tiny stage.

If someone is not home during the day, be sure there are plenty of leaves in the box before going to work.

So you just add leaves and clean out the boxes when they need it and wait. You may see them crawl up the side of the box and molt.

When the caterpillars get fully grown, they will go to the top of the box and attach themselves to the top, They will hang in a "J" form a a day or so before their final molt into a pupa.

Pupation goes very fast when it happens. A clue will be when the "antennae' hang haphazardly. Immediately before pupation the caterpillar will squirm and writhe.

Monarch Health Update

Whatever was killing my caterpillars has apparently moved on. I did see some mites in one box one day. I have been keeping things clean and ventilated and all seems well. I have at least 16 cats in six boxes right now. Many are about to pupate. I wonder if any will be going to Mexico.