bordered patch
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Moving My Spare Stones

The land here (a new developer lot) contains a lot of stones, introduced by the builder as the lots were graded and levelled. As I have dug into the ground here, I have saved all but the smallest stones for a variety of projects here. They are markers, boundary edges, channel drain fillers, soil erosion Continue reading
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Activity In The Front “Lawn” Frogfruit

There is Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) in the front lawn area, outside of the native flower meadow area. In that location, it’s mixed with Bermudagrass and lies close to the ground. There are a lot of blooms at the moment (they are short enough to escape the mower), and the quantity and diversity of insect visitors Continue reading
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New Butterflies

Bordered Patch butterflies pupate quickly! On June 18, 2023 I noticed that a Bordered Patch chrysalis had formed on an American Beautyberry leaf (the pale object under a leaf in the photo below). On June 19, a second Bordered Patch chrysalis formed on an adjacent leaf. Both chrysalises were a creamy white color. On June Continue reading
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Interesting Things Happening On An American Beautyberry

There is a young American Beautyberry shrub near the back door, so I see it every time I go outside. A few days ago I noticed a Bordered Patch caterpillar just curled up on a leaf, and the next day there was a chrysalis in that location. That’s the lighter object in the above photo. Continue reading
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Insect Poop Is Called Frass

One of the host plants for Bordered Patch butterflies, which I have seen here, is sunflowers and I do have an abundance of those. I wrote last year about observing Bordered Patch caterpillars, and I am starting to see them again. These caterpillars seem to travel around a sunflower plant as a pack, which surprises Continue reading
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We Need Caterpillars!
If you want your garden to be visited by birds or butterflies, then you need to be willing to accept caterpillars, and they will voraciously eat holes in the leaves of their host plants. Even before I’d had a chance to plant much of anything here, we were blessed with an abundance of volunteer sunflowers. Continue reading
About Me
Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.
I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.
