Beautiful Butterflies: My Butterfly Garden

I have my own little butterfly garden with sweet alyssum, african daisies, sunflowers, purple coneflowers, zinnias, dill, sage, and rosemary (and chicken wire because the dog dug up the first one). Some of the zinnias have already opened up. Already a few butterflies have come to the opening sweet alyssum (carpet of snow) and who knows what else? As more and more butterflies hear about it, it will get busier and busier... and who knows what will happen?

Caterpillar Update: Frizz's Chrysalis

Frizz made himself a web for his cocoon! It is made of his settae (or hairs). And it is transparent, so we can see inside to watch what happens over time! Over time, Frizz is developing - he curled up and made three little colored bean-looking items. Maybe they are food! Nature is so mysterious... So that's why he didn't go eat the lettuce on the bottom. Now I'll have to leave him alone for a few days until he turns into a butterfly. I can't wait! Here's another picture that I found on google.

Word Of The Week, 6/20/10

Our word of the week is:

vo-ra-cious

1. Having a huge appetite

Frizz is a very voracious caterpillar!

2. Excessively eager

Ashley is a voracious gardener.

Caterpillar Update: Mr. Hungry

Our caterpillar ate the lettuce we gave it down to the STEM!!! We named him Frizz and put another few little pieces of lettuce in for him to munch on. Now we know what he eats!

About My Dog, Buddy

I have a cute little dog named Buddy. He is an Australian Shepherd/German Shepherd mix, so I call him a double shepherd. He is a very friendly dog, while sometimes even while he is playing he bites my leg, and sometimes when he is jumping around I get scared because I think he is going to bite me (ouch!). But most of the time he is very friendly. He was born on May 17, 2009. I adopted him October 2009. Here is a picture of him on his first day here.

Plants From the Garden

Mom and I just went to our garden and picked yellow squash, cucumbers, peas, green beans, and lettuce. We found a caterpillar among the peas. We googled it and found out it was a yellow bear caterpillar. I first thought it was a woolly bear caterpillar, which turns into a white moth with black spots. A few of them came into our house. I can't wait to watch the caterpillar transform into a butterfly! We put it in our butterfly habitat with a piece of lettuce. We tried to take some pictures, but they didn't come out clearly, so we found one off google. Nature is so amazing!