Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Flutterbys

I raise butterflies, did you know that?
 At the end of this past autumn, 
I had a lot of chrysalis in my butterfly cages, at that time they were in the house.
I move them out to the garage for winter and they stay in that form all winter.
I have five cages, I did a chrysalis count, but I can't remember,
I know I had a lot.

In spring, they emerge, and that started happening on May 16th.
The first butterfly flew off and I was not able to get a picture.
On the 17th, 
2 emerged and they both hung around for pictures.
One female, one male.


This is a female,
the females have more blue.


This is a male, they have more yellow.
The butterflies come right to me, 
I often think it is because they don't know any different.
I use my hands to remove them from their netted cage, 
they often show their gratitude for life by hanging on for a bit.

I had another on the 18th that flew off immediately.




10 have emerged and been released so far this spring, 
I have 17 chrysalis that will hopefully emerge before the official start of summer. 

- trust the timing of your life -

17 comments:

Jim and Barb's Adventures said...

That is amazing!

eileeninmd said...

Hello, Debbie

Your are the butterfly whisperer. Beautiful photos, love the butterflies and the blooms. Take care, enjoy your day!

Sandi said...

Incredible!

Sometimes I send your photos to my mom. She doesn't get out much these days, but she loves to see beautiful things. I'll send her some of these.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

How gorgeous! I know it's an exciting time for you and I'm glad you share it with us!

Marie Smith said...

They are spectacular creatures and you are their guru, Debbie!

Changes in the wind said...

Exciting to hear your fist butterfly emerged on May 16th....my birthday. They are beautiful.

DrumMajor said...

Oh my! You're raising baby butterflies! They're beautiful. And you even have them trained to come to your hand.
Callaway Gardens south of Atlanta has a beautiful all-glass building with a jillion butterflies in it. Several will land on you when you walk through, and they have a nursery too. It's all on one level if you ever have a chance to be there. Linda in Kansas

Debbie said...

hi linda...i am going to add a sentence to this post, letting readers know this is something i do each year. i always assume people who visit know that i raise butterflies and have had much success with it.

this breed of butterflies are attracted to dill and parsley, that's why i plant those two herbs in my garden. they lay their eggs on it, evolve to caterpillars and then butterflies. the following website has all the information if you are interested.

https://www.joyfulbutterfly.com/black-swallowtail-butterflies-indoors/

also...i can no longer reply directly to your comments, but i want you to know that i read them all and always enjoy then!!

Soma @ InkTorrents.com said...

Wow! So amazing and gorgeous. Thanks so much for educating me about them and sharing these fabulous photos.

-Soma

BeachGypsy said...

Debbie your butterflies are beautiful!! I love seeing pictures of them! I think n k these are the best pictures of them ever--- so colorful!

Rian said...

Debbie, Those Black Swallowtails are so beautiful. I've done some raising of them myself, but not in a long while. Maybe with my parsley and dill planted, I will do it again. It's thrilling to do that... something magical about it.

The Furry Gnome said...

Incredible, as always!

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

Oh, what a wonderful way to spread beauty in the world and help the planet! Love this! The photos are amazing! xx K

Conniecrafter said...

So wonderful, such beauties, I really love the pics of them on the flowers, so nice they hang around for pictures!!

DeniseinVA said...

It is a wonderful thing you do Debbie. Our butterflies need all the help they can get. Gorgeous photos and thank you for the link above :)

Lowcarb team member said...

I felt sure I'd already commented on these beautiful photographs ... so this may be a duplicate :)
Google is still messing around with comments, a lot seem to end up in the spam folder!!!

All the best Jan

Elizabeth Edwards said...

now that is a cool hobby. what fun!! gorgeous colors. i love watching them. i had a weed in the front yard and it was holding on to it. didn't see a bloom but that butterfly thought it was awesome!! ( ;