A Couple of Caterpillars

We had my family over for a lovely barbeque last night, and located a few new visitors during the stroll through our garden.

I had to look this one up in my little caterpillar book. This appears to be an American Lady - difficult to photograph.  It was happily chewing away in my planter, eating some plant that overwintered in the pot.

American Lady

Monarch caterpillars have arrived, and are dutifully munching on my common milkweed.  Many gardeners wouldn't understand why I would allow milkweed to grow, but it hasn't been too bothersome... yet!  I like the little red bug next to the caterpillar - no idea what he is though!

Monarch, making good progress on the milkweed

We have had a baby American Robin in the yard, learning to fly under close watch of its parents.  Look at this nest location on my neighbours' house!

With the lovely weather we've been having, I've been sitting out on our deck in the evenings.  Baby robin made it up onto the deck and sat right next to my chair. A parent was out in the garden, chirping. The parent had a worm and seemed to be bribing baby to fly off the deck! Baby robin rather clumsily flew off and joined the parent under my oak tree.


A few new plants are blooming in the garden this week. This is Elderberry. I planted it as a small shrub last year and it has really taken off!  Birds (and humans) enjoy the berries.

Elderberry Sambucus canadensis

Gray dogwood is growing well in the other corner of the yard.  It also produces berries that songbirds are supposed to like.  The Native Plants and Trees website tells me that it is also the host plant for the larvae of the Spring Azure butterfly, though I haven't seen any of those around.

Gray Dogwood Cornus racemosa

The Carolina or Pasture rose also seems to be doing well.  It is a native species that should produce rose hips that creatures enjoy eating later in the year.

Rosa carolina

Finally, my Tall Coreopsis is living up to its name - already the height of my fence! Should be a great summer :)

Our Garden

So, May was crazy - in a good way.  My husband and I started birding about a year ago, and this May marked our first spring migration as *real birders*.  Bird watching happened after work, all weekend, and even before work!  Sleep, housework and yardwork were all neglected.  I don't have a single picture of a bird to share, as I have enough trouble finding them with my binoculars (let alone a camera)! My husband, who happens to be a much better birder and photographer, may eventually share some photos on his blog.

Anyway, May long weekend arrived, and I decided to abandon Point Pelee to do some much-needed gardening.  We moved to this house, with its suburban-sized backyard, about 1.5 years ago.  Since learning about native plants and wildflowers in university, I have wanted to have them in my yard.  Originally, I just wanted native wildflowers, but then we got interested in birding, and so the gardening evolved to include plants that birds are supposed to like... butterflies too.  Here's what has bloomed so far this year!

Canada Anemone
My idea for this plant is that it eventually forms a ground cover around the front of my garden. One patch is doing really well - the other 2 get full sun and are slow-growing. This has been blooming for several weeks now!

Canada Anemone Anemone canadensis

Arrowwood
I can never remember the common name for this shrub.  It is a viburnum - Viburnum dentatum, so named for the finely toothed leaves.  Birds are supposed to like the berries that it should produce later in the year. We shall see!

This lovely Nannyberry was very kindly given to us by a gardener that we met through the Naturalized Habitat Network.  It bloomed earlier in the month and I didn't get a picture. It is another viburnum that should produce berries for the local birds.

Nannyberry Viburnum lentago

This small tree continues to amaze me!  My mom gave me a chunk of creeping jenny ground cover to plant last year.  It was full of maple keys from her yard, and one took hold.  This tree has grown 5 feet tall in less than one year!!  This is supposed to be my sunny wildflower garden, and I don't really want a maple tree here, but it is doing so amazingly well that I don't have the heart to move it!  Besides, I love Silver Maples, and it will be many years before it produces any real shade (and I will have long since moved on).

Silver Maple Acer saccharinum

Here is my beautiful wild columbine.  I'm still waiting for it to attract some hummingbirds... I would probably need a much larger crop!  To date, I've seen one ruby throated hummingbird in our yard this year.  He ignored the hummingbird feeder, tried to drink from the oriole feeder, got spooked by a house sparrow and flew away :(

Columbine Aquilegia canadensis

My newest edition to the garden - wild ginger and its sexy little flower!  I have very little shade in my yard, so I'm not sure how it will do.  Hopefully, it will make a nice ground cover under the weird fancy willow-type tree that the previous homeowners planted.  Hmm, pollinated by ants or flies,  I think - I don't know too much about this one.  I believe that it is edible as a ginger substitute!

Wild Ginger Asarum canadense

Another favourite of mine - the pretty little flowers of the blue-eyed grass!  Seems to be doing well so far!

Sisyrinchium augustifolium

And finally, one that I'm not even sure is native - my evening primrose.  This is from my mother's garden, so I'm not sure if it's the native variety, but I like it anyway.

Evening Primrose ?Oenothera biennis

All in all, it looks like my garden should do well this year!  I lost track of how many native wildflowers I planted last year, but it was many!  If (when) we move, wildflowers will surely take over the yard if the new owner is not a diligent gardener, hehehe! 

For anyone interested in birds, bees, butterflies or gardening, I highly recommend planting some native plants.  Look into what plants do well in your environment and give them a try!  My prairie wildflowers are largely drought tolerant and will bloom well into the fall!

Most of my plants came from 2 awesome local businesses - Native Plants and Trees and Wheatley Woods.  Both websites have great pics and info about plants native to my area (Southwestern Ontario).

Happy gardening!