buzzingblossoms

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Let Fall Begin (Soon)

It’s only the first week of August, and anyone who lives in Florida or south Georgia knows, this is NOT fall. When you wake up and make your coffee and see that the windows are clouded with humidity and perspiration, you know that the outside world is going to be a formidable steam room. Daytime temperatures are in the mid 90s. Sometimes the temperature approaches 100. Days and possibly weeks of…

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July is the Month of the Polka dot Wasp Moth

Ok, so July isn’t officially the month of the Polka dot Wasp Moth, but if I had any say in the matter it would be so. This is my favorite insect. It’s a lepidoptera (moth) but it is diurnal (daytime flier). It loves the Sweet Almond bush in my front yard and lightly bounces from one flower to another. All the while, I try to pet it’s beautiful blue wings with white spots. It has a lovely little…

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Phaon Crescents Seen Amongst the Grasses

I love seeing a new species of any insect in my garden, but I really get excited over the lepidoptera. A new butterfly or moth is something I like to shout from the rooftops. So, let me shout, Phaon Crescents are flitting in my garden! Ok, so now that the shouting is done, exactly what is a Phaon Crescent? From out of the corner of my eye I thought I had seen a small Gulf Fritillary, but it’s…

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Skippers are Returning

In Florida, there is hardly a day without monarch butterflies. They don’t typically migrate from Florida, so we have them all year round. The next most commonly seen butterfly in my yard is the Gulf Fritillary. They aren’t in the yard the whole year though. They  start showing up in late February and stick around until early December. It’s May now, and I’m waiting for the skippers to show up. So…

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Monarchs Don't Love All the Flowers in My Yard

The Monarchs are super active in the front yard these days. This week there have been 3 active Monarchs, 2 males and a female. One of the males looks like he is coming to the end of his time. He is pale and ragged looking, rather washed out as if he has gone through a hot water wash cycle in the laundry. But he is active and doing his best to impress his lady friend and fight off the other…