July Heat and an Admiral�

2001-07-15

Not much actual gardening going on this weekend. Mostly just watering, trying to keep up with the heat. As quite a bit of my garden is in containers, watering is critical in the summer. I've laced the soil in the containers with water retaining crystals, and while that helps, it still can't keep up with the heat of July.

I had one of pupae in the butterfly box hatch on Saturday. Another admiral butterfly. I managed to catch a couple of pictures of it, with closed wings unfortunately, before it flitted on it's way. I saw it several times during the day, going about it's butterfly business. It always makes me smile to see them.

I found a very small, about 3/8" long, fritillary larva on the arm of my chair outside. I find them so often, there must be dozens I don't find. I think that the larva that are about ready to pupate fall off the vines on purpose, so they can find someplace less likely for the wasps and ants to find them.

I have six fritillary pupae in the box now. I check it every morning to see if one has hatched. They seem to hatch in the morning, maybe so their wings have time to dry out?

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