Where are all the Butterflies????

Every summer we have Monarchs laying eggs on the milkweed and butterfly weed. I've planted tons of it so they have lots of food. I also had hubby help me build some hatchery boxes. Monarch eggs have a tough time. They have many predators from wasps to mice.  So taking the eggs to a protected place gives them an almost certain chance to make it to the butterfly stage. On their own it's only 1 or 2 in 10 eggs that make it!
These are pics from 2 years ago when I released over 200 Monarchs! :D

But this year, I only see one flitting around occasionally. And I've yet to find a single egg. No caterpillars, nothing. :(  What happened? Was it the hurricane while they were migrating back up north? I hope they show up soon so I can  raise some more. My granddaugher Zoe likes to help. She says they tickle when you hold them.

The butterfly weed is in full bloom. A few bees have found it (another thing that seems in short supply this year).

Do you have any Monarchs in your gardens?

Grow grow grow!!

A few pretty Iris pictures since I'm too busy to get fresh ones! And I didn't think pics of me sitting at the computer would be very interesting!

Wild Angel

Abstract Art

Diva Do

Footloose

Lupine volunteers!

Judy Mogil

Compare rose and purple

Strawberry Swirl

Whispering Spirits

The iris are growing and the weather is warming up again. yeaa! I finally got thru the cleanup of the spent stems, and too-happy weeds. Now I just go out each day and take my hoe for about 30 minutes and attack the aggressive ones. If you have purslane where you are, you know what a feeling of "never going to win" weed it is. 

I'm frantically trying to get all my iris counts updated. Please accept my apology if you order and I'm out of stock. Orders are coming in steady -THANK YOU :) - and sometimes it's hard to keep ahead. And there is always the occasional iris fan flop-over (dead)  loss :(  

 Plus my Etsy shop is busy and I don't want to delay those orders. So I work from about 8am to 9pm daily. I used to be able to work to 1am, but I gotta have my sleep to get any work done, now that I'm old!! 

Two weeks till I start to dig orders.YIKES! 

 In that time I HAVE to finish listing them on ebay, (my goal is by friday this week), and updating counts on my web site. AND I have this HUGE pile of craft "stuff" (a nicer word for crap) in the garage that I must get sorted. It's taking up half the garage! It's either going to the trash or goodwill, or maybe I'll save a pile to de-stash after Iris season. But it's in my way for packing iris! So it has to be dealt with now too. Oh my, I do need those 3 or 4 clones right about now. eeep!

Maybe more chocolate would help! :p

Hubby and I are talking about peeling off another big chunk of yard and spreading out the iris into long rows. Hopefully easier for tilling (and my back), and to be able to increase them quicker . They love to have room!

Plus, he won't mind a bit less to mow of our 3 acre yard! He only said "NO MORE trees or bushes, too many circles already!"  Good thing he has a zero turn mower! 

Still working on the cleanup

Ok, so I have about 680 iris clumps, say an anverage of 3 bloom stems per clump = 2,040  stems to cut off.  (I think that may be low, more like 5 probably ) No wonder it's taking me so long!!  I decided to let them finish blooming all they way and then clear the stems. There are actually still a few just opening, the later ones. The plants will now take off growing new leaves and roots and hopefully fattening up. We could use a little more rain. But no wind!

Now I will do some listing on ebay and on etsy. So you can choose your favorite place to shop, but my web site is quick and easy.  No auctions to bother with, cheaper shipping too. And all the iris are already listed, it will take me a couple weeks to get them up on the others. One thing I do like is the pics are larger on ebay and etsy.

Here is a pic of last year's dig results. I had this big idea that it would be easier on me all summer, if I just took ALL of my iris to a huge flea market (in Elkhorn WI) and sold them there. Well, I dug them all in 3 very lonnng 14 hour days, took me two days to trim them and sort. Then we packed up and went to set up. I had a great looking set up, but of course the weather decided to be nasty and the show was basically rained out. The few people who did come had nothing but great comments, and we sold quite a bit to those few. But no where near enough.  So, if it had been a nice day, it would have been very hard work, but worth it. I won't chance it again until I have a crew to help.

Sunday I decided to till up one bed by the gazebo and plant my spindly zinnia seedlings. I had them in the greenhouse, I don't know why they are so flopsy. Maybe this is why we don't find them at the garden centers very often. And they are so brittle! I must have broken a couple dozen of them off!  Well.... of course the tiller decides it's NOT going to work on Sunday. So I ended up hand turning the entire bed. Ohhhhh my back! It took me all day but it's done. They better shape up and bloom real pretty now!!

I have etsy felt orders to catch up on too. Help! I need three of me! No wait, make that 4, one to just goof off all day!

We had fresh strawberries this week. Yummmmm  I love to pick them off the vine and eat them. Can't get any more fresh than that. :)  My raspberries are looking a bit ragged and flopsy. I think I should have cut them off and put in that fence to tie them on to. ......next year...

And then it was all blown away!

Well, we did need some rain. But I think we got more wind. Nothing major or anywhere near as bad as others have had. But did pretty much finish the iris bloom. I'll clean them up this afternoon. I think they will look pretty bare.

 Happy and GoLucky had a bad night too, I found them like this, huddled together on the straw..

GoLucky felt so bad he couldn't show his face, his rake had injured Happy permanently.

I set them back up on their post, but they were pretty shaken I could tell by the stunned frozen looks on their faces.

In the rest of the yard there was evidence of the winds.
My pretty little flowering Pear tree snapped.

The pool umbrella lost it's parts into the pool.

Half of my big lilac lay across the path.

And a branch from one of the willows fell BETWEEN the gator wagon full of pumpkin seedlings and the greenhouse wall of windows. Thank you thank you!!

The gardens are at full bloom!!

I won't say much, too busy editing pictures!(and scratching my bites. there must be every type of biting bug waiting for me out there.those evil little gnats, and those flat flies... OW! *scratch scratch)
 Just wanted to show you some views of the gardens. A long way from those first pics a couple months ago.

These are my guardians, Happy and GoLucky. They always seem to have a private joke.
 Proly laughing at my bottom in the air!

More blooms every day!

The buds will be bustin out like crazy now. And with next week calling for 80's they will be HAPPY!!
Here are just a few new ones today. Look closely in the background at the thousands of buds waiting for the heat .

Charlie was "helping" me take pictures.

You can see here they are just starting. (no that's not our house, everyone asks!)

My Angel Iris is watching over her rainbow!