August GBBD and Where Are all the Monarchs?

Monarch Butterfly on Tall Verbina

 I am extremely excited because I saw a monarch butterfly on the tall verbina today! It is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day (celebrated on the 15th of each month by gardeners around the world  -- thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens) so I went outside with my camera to see what is blooming. Why would one little butterfly excite me so much? Because it is the first and ONLY monarch I have seen this year!

The little darling fluttered between the verbina in the entry garden and the buddleia in the cottage garden and I followed it around for nearly an hour and took dozens of pictures.

Monarch on butterfly bush, buddleia davidii

As you probably know, monarch butterflies are unique because they migrate from north to south like birds. Each fall, hundreds of millions make their way from the Eastern United States and Canada to the mountains of central Mexico, where they pass the winter. New generations of monarchs return north between April and June. It's now the middle of August and until today there was no sign of them in my garden. It's normal for the monarch population to vary from year to year -- click to read what MSN news says about the steep decline this year. The Boston Globe reported: 'Scientists say the exact cause for the monarch’s decline is hard to pin down, but it probably stems from unfriendly weather patterns caused by climate change, as well as overdevelopment of the butterfly’s natural habitat, including the destruction of milkweed, the only plant on which females lay their eggs.' I grow milkweed in my garden, specifically to attract monarchs, but this year they have not yet found my plants. Usually there are several monarch caterpillars on my milkweed at this time.

One of five milkweed plants in my kitchen garden

 There are no monarchs, but lots of other insects on my milkweed, including a hummingbird moth.

Hummingbird Moth on Milkweed

The bees are enjoying my August blooms, especially the sunflowers and the purple cone flowers. I planted a row of sunflowers near the rain barrel in the kitchen garden. I wished they had their faces turned towards me as I enter the garden from the west, but sunflowers always face the rising sun.

Sunflower, Del Sol Hybrid

Note the raindrops on the sunflower below -- we are experiencing a lot of rain this month.

The purple cone flowers are beginning to fade now, but they are still bee magnets.

While many of my perennials are fading, or have been beaten down by rain, the zinnias are putting on a fabulous show in the kitchen garden.

Zinnias outshine my vegetables.

The zinnias in these pictures are Cut and Come Again Mix. Every spring I start zinnias from seed indoors, and this year I also grew Pinwheel and Raspberry Lemonade.

See the hummingbird on the top-right flower.

Another female ruby-throated hummer

Going from the kitchen garden to the cottage garden, in the pond the tropical canna's blooms are very vibrant ...

Canna leaves making a bold statement.

A frog and two water lilies.

The perennial sunflowers are beginning to bloom in the pots flanking the new arbors that leads into the shade garden. The old arbor had a boxwood on each side. I lost both boxwoods this spring, probably because that area becomes very wet after a storm, so I decided against planting in the ground. The perennial sunflowers are quite aggressive, so I prefer to keep them in planters anyway. I over-winter them in an empty vegetable bed in the kitchen garden, then transfer them to pots when it is time to plant my vegetables. Their height works well with the tall trellis...

 

Helianthus (perennial Sunflower)

Nearby, one of my favorite blooms today is that of my pannicle hydrangea. The blossoms started out white with little pink specks, and progressed to deep pink.

Hydrangea pannicle

This hydrangea was new last year and is growing nicely behind the patio fence.

 I am happy to see several rose bushes are showing a few blossoms. My favorite is Peace ...

Rosa "Peace"

Before finishing my Bloom Day walk, I picked a few vegetables, including the last cabbage. Cabbages aren't usually growing this late, but we had very cool (below normal) temps. this month.

 

I have many more blooms today, but I am exhausted from chasing that wonderful monarch butterfly, so I'll keep those pictures for another posting. Are you seeing monarchs in your garden, this year? Or if your garden is not in the monarch butterfly's range, are other butterflies declining in your area?

Wishing you a happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Do check out May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming around the world!

Pamela x

~~ I love reading your comments. I hope you leave one so I’ll know you visited!

I look forward to visiting your blog in return.