Butterfly Gardens for Wildlife Wednesday November 2019

It's Wildlife Wednesday and I'm bending the rules just a bit to go outside my own garden and bring you along on my garden club visit to The Butterfly Learning Center at Hardberger Park in north San Antonio.  Wildlife Wednesday is hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says..."

Designed by Drake White of The Nectar Bar for San Antonio's Hardberger Park it's designed to highlight "mostly" native plants that support butterflies.  Drake shared her extensive knowledge of how to support butterflies in our gardens.  One of the most important things I learned was that a caterpillar inching along on the ground knows where it is going and it's best not help them out.

It's a teaching garden designed for hosting butterflies.  Red flags indicate dormant plants and remind volunteers not to dig in those spots.

So where's the wildlife?  Drake holds up a Monarch caterpillar.  Monarchs generally make their fall migration without breeding but a few do stop and breed in our area.   Love her shirt!

Close up.

Butterflies need both nectar and host plants.  Plants in the garden are labeled with names of the plants and butterflies they host or provide nectar for.  I need this false mint in my garden!  Pretty purple blooms in the fall and nice, upright foliage.

A butterfly shaped garden but where are the plants?



No plants because it's a puddle garden.  "Puddling" is just what it sounds like and provides butterflies with moisture and minerals they need.

Drake checks seeds on a Swallowtail pipevine.  It's a difficult plant to spot because it disguises itself as grass.  I couldn't even find a definitive botanical name on this one though it grows naturally in Central Texas and I have seen it in my yard from time to time.  She has placed a net bag over the flower to collect seeds.  The seeds take two years to germinate.

We were mesmerized by the massive Passiflora vine taking over the fences.  It's Passiflora incarnata x cincinnata which is not native to San Antonio though it grows beautifully here.  Good to know because when the caterpillars are out they can decimate a pretty good supply of vines.

A beautiful host for several butterflies.



The Butterfly Learning Center is open by appointment only.  Contact The Nectar Bar for more information.

There are two additional butterfly gardens at Hardberger Park you can visit any time the park is open.  One is in front of the main park building off Blanco Road and the other is near the Urban Ecology Center which is where we are headed next.

Beautifully designed and maintained by Alamo Area Master Naturalists.



Maximilian Sunflowers are good for butterflies, bees, and birds.  The fence keeps out deer but not people since the gate is unlocked when the park is open.

I was captivated by all the Texas Broomweed (Amphiachyris amoena) in the garden.  It's so light and airy and covered with tiny yellow blooms.  I found a place to collect seeds in a field near my house.  Most of the information out there focuses on how farmers and ranchers can get rid of it so I might think twice before planting.  It provides good winter cover for birds among other benefits.

While there were plenty of bees and butterflies in the gardens we visited I found it a challenge to photograph them with a group.  That means we've only had one wildlife photo of a caterpillar so far. To finish up I'll borrow a Monarch butterfly photo from a visit to my friend Melody's garden the next day.

There, that's so much better than posting one photo of an anole on a screen which is all I found in my October photos.  Maybe I'll save that beauty for another time.

Be sure to check out Tina's blog for more Wildlife Wednesday

Wildlife Wednesday May 2019

It's Wildlife Wednesday and time to share my wildlife sightings from the last month or so.  Wildlife Wednesday is hosted by Tina at "My gardener says...." as a meme to share wildlife sightings from the garden on the first Wednesday of each month.

My monthly gif is a Giant Swallowtail enjoying 360 degrees of a Verberna Bonariensis bloom.

From our golf course correspondent we have mating monarchs in full public view!  A couple weeks ago I spotted a monarch caterpillar racing away from the garden after most of the milkweed had been consumed.  Today I saw a fresh monarch butterfly enjoying my garden.  I'd like to think those two events are connected.  San Antonio is a Monarch Champion City and we are proud to host these beautiful butterflies twice a year.

A softshell turtle on the edge of a creek along the golf course.  I don't know enough about turtles to venture a more specific guess as to whether this is a smooth or spiny softshell.  Looks pretty smooth to me.  I quit researching when turtle soup came up over and over.  These guys eat plenty of insects so carry on.

That's the round up of wildlife from my garden (and the golf course where my husband spends much time) over the last month or so.  Hey, I'm happy he enjoys observing wildlife along with his favorite pastime.  To share wildlife from your garden or see what other bloggers have shared be sure to check out the comments section in Tina's blog.  Tina has a fascinating take on "Lizard Brain" for you today.

Wildlife Wednesday April 2019

It's Wildlife Wednesday and time to share my wildlife sightings from the last month or so.  Wildlife Wednesday is hosted by Tina at "My gardener says...." as a meme to share wildlife sightings from the garden on the first Wednesday of each month.

A bright red male Northern Cardinal is a welcome sight any time of year but spring is especially fun to see them.  They are with us most of the year though they are brighter red in winter.  Very affectionate birds, the male often feeds his mate and I enjoy their cheerful and varied mating songs.

A female Black Swallowtail nectaring on Prairie Verbena.  Female identified by the bright blue dots on her hind wings.

Monarchs stopped by on their way north.  We haven't had much sun in March but they took full advantage of what little we had to offer.

Mexican Buckeye flowers.

Resting on a Pomegranate branch.

Several baby Monarch caterpillars munched on the Tropical Milkweed.  Tropical Milkweed has been the subject of controversy but so far it's the most reliable host plant in my garden so I keep it going or add new ones each year.  The caterpillars were quite tiny, not much bigger than the diameter of a phone charger cable.  Their appetites were good though as they had already eaten quite a lot of the leaves.



I purchased this pretty sign from Texas Butterfly Ranch after registering my garden in the 300for300 list of San Antonio Pollinator Habitats.  Monika Maeckle drew on her experience in public relations and marketing to design an attractive sign to let your neighbors know why your landscape looks a bit different than a typical lawn.  That's not a problem in my neighborhood but I still enjoy displaying it in my circle garden.  If you live in the San Antonio area consider including your butterfly garden on the list.

Those are ants in the bottom right corner!

A beautiful Crested Caracara doing a pretty good Hawk imitation.  When it circled back around I saw the white markings on its head.  Caracara most often hunt by walking around or waiting on a branch so this was a treat to see it soaring high in the blue sky.

Blue skies this time of year are nice, but now we need rain again.  We are honored these magnificent birds also known as Mexican Eagles choose to spend time in our neighborhood each year.

The Whitetail deer herd has plenty to eat outside the fence this year.  We have started leaving fresh water out for the deer and other wildlife since there was no rain in March.  New fawns will arrive soon and the herd will grow.  While they do have outlets to migrate and spread out quite a bit along a system of interconnected creeks and parks which run throughout much of north San Antonio there is still quite a bit of pressure on available plants in a neighborhood like ours.

That's the round up of wildlife from my garden over the last month or so.  To share wildlife from your garden or see what other bloggers have shared be sure to check out the comments section in Tina's blog.

Wildlife Wednesday: All in a day for November

I rarely plan my Wildlife Wednesday posts in advance so this one is an exception.  It just happened that one day in late October the garden was busy with so many different and interesting forms of wildlife I decided to show you just one day, "a day in the wildlife" you could say.  Wildlife Wednesday is hosted on the first Wednesday of each month by Tina at "My gardener says...."

My day started with observing what appears to be a female black chinned hummingbird on a small branch.  It is fascinating how their head, and entire body for that matter, never stops moving.  This one might be waiting to dive bomb and chase other hummingbirds away from the feeder.  Oddly, the chasers rarely visit the feeders.

A few minutes later I spent about an hour (off and on) convincing two Carolina Wrens to leave the screened porch and that's when it occurred to me I could make "a day in the Wildlife Wednesday".  The two birds had somehow found their way in and were clearly enjoying exploring their own private aviary.  It was time for them to go out before they made a mess of the furniture and plants.

When I tried to get them out they kept flying up to a cubby near the roof.  It's apparently easier to get in than out.  Here's a bit of the excitement:

When they tired of trying to fly up to the roof they dropped to the floor and began exploring so I just shooed them out the open door.

Meanwhile out the garden, fall-blooming White heath asters were fairly buzzing with activity.

Carpenter Bee

Bug eyes!



I think this is a paper wasp.

No idea.  It looks like a giant fly but I couldn't find a single redheaded fly in the images I searched.

While all the stingers and buzzers were busy in one part of the garden, over in the Gregg's mistflower patch butterflies were everywhere because it's a magnet.

Monarchs are migrating through.

Their cousins the Queen butterfly are here much of the year.

They get along well it seems....sometimes.  

And a Gray Hairstreak posed just right on the Augusta Deulberg Salvia.

Bright on bright with a Gulf Fritillary on Gomphrena 'Fireworks'.



A female Whitetail deer dropped by for lunch

and a nap

All in a wildlife day in my garden.

Tina's garden is all aflutter at "My gardener says..." and you'll find more posts from gardeners to follow in the comments sections.

Wildlife Wednesday: December 2017

The first Wednesday of December brings Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at My gardener says.... which provides an opportunity to show some of my garden visitors during November and early December.

Fox in the garden!  Of course one of our favorite sightings are the gray foxes which live in the wooded area behind the house.  Unfortunately, these photos turned out a bit blurry due to incorrect camera settings but still worth showing since they don't give me that much time to grab the camera and properly set up when they quickly skirt along the back property line usually in the early mornings.

Umm, well anyway...

Monarch butterflies continued to cycle through.  These are at the Healing and Therapy gardens for wounded soldiers where I volunteer each week which is about 20 minutes south and usually a bit warmer than where I live.

Queen butterflies caught mating near the Chromolaena odorata or fragrant mistflower.

This goes on for a while.



They even jumped up into a nearby Live Oak Tree

A Milkweed Bug, which feeds on milkweed seeds, is distinguished by the orange and black "X" pattern.

I tried to ID this unusual white caterpillar but could only conclude it's probably a moth.

Today's movie is a ringtail cat getting a late-night drink.  They are common here but totally nocturnal and very hard to catch so we resort to surveillance cameras.  The best part is right at the beginning where you can see the fluffy ringed-tail.

A Whitetail doe grazing on garden plants.  Those plants are supposed to be deer resistant!  

Now she's looking for more plants!

Trying to avoid this highly attentive buck.

We just went through the "deer rut" or mating season where deer are running all over the place.

I thought these two might get into a fight so stayed well back.

May the best antlers win!

You wanna do what!

That's the wildlife news from my neck of the woods this December.  Check out more wildlife posts  at "My gardener says....".