In the middle of winter...

Well, here I am, starting a butterfly blog in the middle of winter. I sat down to write today and thought to myself, this is crazy! As I looked out of my office window and saw bare trees and a dreary sky I just couldn't imagine what in the world I could possibly write about. So I thought I might as well start at the beginning...

I used to own a chocolate factory. Yep, that's right, just like Willy Wonka. It was a wonderfully fun family business. I invented the recipes and designed the packaging, my husband, Clyde ran the business end, my son & daughter did retail marketing, shipping and web design and my mom made her world famous caramel, pecan pretzels, for customers who lined up at the door.














But as things are in life, circumstances have a way of changing...My daughter had her second child and was ready to be a full time stay at home mom, my husband was dreaming of retiring & fly-fishing and my son was ready to move on to new challenges and I didn't want to run the business by myself.

So we decided to sell...

At first I thought, this will be great! I'll sleep late every day, loads of time to do whatever I want, no agenda, my days stretching out endlessly in front of me...bliss....

Yikes! [my thoughts come to a screeching halt]

Days and days of what?? I tried to think of what I would do, what I was interested in, however it seemed that my mind couldn't remember a time before chocolate...what did I used to like to do, before I was up to my elbows in gooey, chocolate every day?

I just couldn't remember...

Then on a whim, I bought a butterfly habitat kit with painted lady caterpillars for my then 2 year old granddaughter - when the caterpillars arrived, I was fascinated by them and decided to buy another kit for her later, and raise these myself (what a bad Nonnie, I am).

Well, I got sucked in to the butterfly world, a little at a time...my vegetable garden gradually got eked out with more & more butterfly caterpillar host plants and nectar flowers until suddenly it wasn't a vegetable garden any longer...it was a butterfly habitat!

Then last summer I visited the Shady Oak Butterfly Farm in Florida and learned to identify the different species of Butterfly eggs. An entire new world awaited me! Suddenly I could spot the tiny butterfly eggs that were everywhere in the garden and in the "wild" areas on our property.

It became an obsession...I couldn't stop looking...every time I left the house, my eyes were scanning the foliage for butterfly eggs...Passionflower vines for Fritillary , Tulip trees for Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Willows for Red Spotted Purples and and Thistle for Painted Lady's.


In the garden, I would spend hours scouring the Fennel & Dill for Black Swallowtail eggs. My magnifying glass, collection container and camera always in hand.

Before I knew it, my back deck was becoming a nursery for tiny eggs and baby butterfly caterpillars & chrysalis. Screened enclosures everywhere...it was out of control! But somehow amid the chaotic mess, I had found something...my passion!

That was last summer...

So, here I am...in the middle of winter, on a bleak and dreary day, thinking about the possibilities of spring and looking forward to my butterfly garden of summer.

I hope you will come along with me, on my journey and keep me company. It's going to be an amazing year of butterfly gardening and I'd love to share it with you...

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