“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
~ Laurence J. Peter, The Peter Principle

Eight new chrysalides, of which four eclosed and were released Friday. Released sixteen so far this season.

The Xerces Society has published the "State of the Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Sites in California" report recently, which you can access here:

 

http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/StateOfMonarchOverwinteringSitesInCA_XercesSoc_web.pdf

The report shows a sharp two-decade decline in the number of monarchs which overwinter along the California coast and prioritizes the top 50 overwintering sites most in need of conservation and management attention. State of the Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Sites in California provides an analysis of western monarch population trends. A comparison of the average number of butterflies overwintering in California during the periods 1997–2001 and 2010–2014 shows a decline of 74% since the late 1990s, a figure that is comparable to declines documented at monarch overwintering sites in Mexico.

For those that have a penchant for Monarch butterflies, this report is a must read and worthy of keeping for future reference.

Let's not forget the potential downsides of  planting year-round milkweeds in our gardens. If possible, stick with native milkweeds, preferably ones native to your area. If you do grow perennial milkweeds such as Asclepias curassavica and wish to keep growing it, it's highly recommended to cut them way back each fall and winter to minimize unnatural overwintering of migratory Monarchs:

Another Damning Research Paper...

For some more exciting municipal government news, the City of Oakland, California has stepped up to the plate in support of our native butterflies and other pollinators through their system of city parks, via one of their employees, Park Supervisor Tora Rocha.

-https://www.gardentribe.com/

 Victoria 'Tora' Rocha. Park Supervisor, City of Oakland, California

-Google

Tora has been instrumental in introducing and cultivating pollinator plants in her parks with blessings from city management. Not only that, but the City of Oakland even allows volunteer citizen groups to help out in the parks. Not a new concept, but a very foreign notion to some municipalities; at least to the City of Laguna Beach, apparently.

-http://www.pacifichorticulture.org

 Garden volunteers at Oakland's Gardens at Lake Merritt.

For those that know me and have been following this blog for some time, I have been at odds with the CLB (City of Laguna Beach) management regarding planting for butterflies and the use of citizen gardening volunteers, ever since I was employed as a Parks Gardener there. Hopefully, citizen awareness and a grass roots movement may sway city fathers to reconsider their aversion to the concept.

For more information on Tora Rocha:

Talking With Our Tribe: Victoria Rocha

Tora Rocha Greens Up Oakland

Perhaps those LB warriors with like interests could contact Tora for some mentoring on how to achieve similar goals within their own borders.

Will someone please help take over this abandoned Laguna Beach butterfly garden? The current city gardener is doing his best maintaining and improving it, given the allotted time, resources, and management indifference he must contend with:

http://lagunadirt.com/2012/04/a-butterfly-garden-with-a-mission.html

"I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free."

-Charles Dickens

Blog readers Margot and Marion, both of Laguna Beach, California, have been keeping me abreast of their Monarch butterfly experiences in their own gardens:

Margot: "Well, it's official--the Davis house has Monarch butterflies. They--yes, more than one it seems--are on the patio from early morning until sunset, generally one but I have now seen two fluttering (flirting?) together. And just now our gardener Vivienne brought two more "real" milkweeds--one more for the patio and one for the front, plus another purple plant she says they love to eat. I have to be honest and say their fluttering disconcerts and distracts me a bit when I'm on the patio, but on the other hand, it's the first time I've had an intense interest in anything going on in the nature around our house for a long time. So that's a gift."

Marion now has two new milkweed plants and is anticipating the return of Monarch butterflies and caterpillars. Her original plant was reduced to stems after the caterpillars ravaged the leaves. No worries mate: they'll releaf! I also want to thank Marion once again for purchasing and contributing two milkweed plants for the defunct butterfly garden up at Alta Laguna Park.

Reports from other sources say that there are a few Monarch butterflies flitting about the park, especially in between the tennis courts. Marion also reports that Anthony, the new Parks Gardener for Alta is taking an interest in the butterfly garden and will devoting some time to working on it. Thank you Anthony!



Here's a nice little article on a Northwest Florida's garden club creating a butterfly garden on neglected museum property:

We Make a Garden



The Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly

Mid July is when we start to see more and more Cloudless Sulphur butterflies in the So Cal region.

More of a subtropical or tropical species, it doesn't present itself in greater numbers at this latitude until the weather sufficiently heats up for it to move up from warmer climes. The host plant for this butterfly and several other species of sulphurs are those belonging to the cassia, or senna family. If not planted locally, one won't see many - if any at all - sulphur butterflies except maybe a few passing through looking for host plants.

Cassia and senna are synonymous when referring this group: both are taxonomic references that taxonomists (I believe) like to bandy about in order to justify their grants and livelihoods. Don't get me wrong; their role is vital in creating cosmos out of chaos, but the seemingly constant changing of genus species in the taxonomic world does smack of job security to me at times.

I've seen "sulphur" also spelled "sulfur" bandied about. I tend to bounce between the two. If I'm feeling rather Continental, I use sulphur; if I'm feeling a bit randy, sulfur is used.

Google

 Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae

A medium sized butterfly, it is striking to behold! When at rest or feeding on flowers, the wings are normally folded above its abdomen, but in flight, the beauty of a Cloudless Sulphur's sulfur yellow wings are a delight to behold. If any of you have seen the mineral sulfur in its elemental state and have had the opportunity to study one of these creatures up close, one would have to concur that the colors are remarkable.

They are fairly easy to approach when visiting a cassia plant if one takes their time to advance slowly. In flight, sulphers are fast and flighty, zigzagging through the air in a seemingly excited state. For those visiting Alta Laguna Park, I planted two Cassia species. The one located at the entrance to the tennis courts is a stellar attractor of sulfurs during the summer. Hopefully, it's still there and thriving!

UPDATE: received a timely email from Marion stating that it's still there.

The caterpillars are of interest, as they are dimorphic in coloration. Cassia flowers are generally yellow, the leaves being green. Those caterpillars feeding on leaves are green. Caterpillars feeding on flowers are yellow. This allows them a greater chance of survival against predation.

Google

 Green phase

Google

 Yellow phase

The chrysalides, or chrysalises, are variable in color too, ranging from a straw brown through a reddish brown, to green.

Google

Cloudless Sulphur chrysalis. This one is exceptionally colored.

From my observations, Cloudless Sulpher cats tend to pupate on their host plant. I've never found a chrysalis anywhere else but on a cassia. However, other butterfly species will move off their host plant, even if hosting on trees.

The cassia family is represented by individuals  from midsized shrubs to full grown trees. For shrubs, Cassia bicapsularis is very popular in the nursery trade here in So Cal. This is the one that was planted at the Alta tennis courts entrance.

Cassia leptophylla is a beautiful tree that provides nice shade and beautiful flowers in the summer. As Parks Gardener, I planted two C. leptophylla; one by the park entrance and one close to the butterfly garden. They were too small before retiring to notice any benefit to sulfurs, but by now they should also be attracting them.

For those of you who are familiar with the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach, California, their grounds feature several C. leptophylla, both inside and outside the grounds. During July and August, one can sit under the shade of them at the food court left of when you enter the grounds. Usually, there are at least several Cloudless Sulphurs flitting about the tree canopies. Some years when these butterflies are plentiful, one may see dozens in the cassia trees as people eat at the tables located below them.

C. leptophylla is increasingly becoming more of a street tree. The city of San Diego has planted quite a few on their streets and in their parks.

Cassias are relatively pest free and easy to grow. Be careful not to plant the species Cassia alata in Southern California, as it is considered an invasive species here. C. bicapsularis and C. leptophylla are not classified as invasive species in So Cal.

“The butterflies have flown away, like my ignorance and youth.”

-Eileen Granfors

I wish to resume flogging the dead horse. Maybe I was a S&M dominatrix in a previous life... who knows. Here is a citizen all volunteer park renovation project in National City, California where they took neglected city property and turned it into a mini oasis of life.

Aired April 22, 2013

The City of Laguna Beach wouldn't allow the volunteer maintenance and upkeep of an already existing butterfly garden within Alta Laguna Park that was not so grand in scope as National City's or the Gibbs Butterfly Park in Huntington Beach, California.

Due to its location along a coastal ridge on top of a hill that bisects two distinct biomes: coastal and intercoastal, a relatively immense amount of various butterfly species visited the site. Off the top of my head, I can remember seeing at least 19 different species, and there were more I couldn't identify. Being on a hill gives Alta Laguna Park the added bonus of "hill-topping": articles here and here.  Shortsightedness on the City of Laguna Beach management's part, as the infrastructure is already in place!

This edition of dead horse flogging is complete.

More flagellation later, maybe...

 "Love is like a butterfly: It goes where it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes."

-Author Unknown

Went on a little photo safari to the San Diego Botanic Garden (formerly known as Quail Gardens) in Encinitas, California on the 1st.

It's a beautiful little jewel of a well maintained garden that is chock full of plants collected from many lands around the globe. Being blessed with the fantastic weather we enjoy here in SoCal - especially along the coastal strip - the variety is enormous. In one little section of the grounds, personnel installed a small butterfly and bird garden next to the children's garden section.

As far as a butterfly garden is concerned, it is very nondescript; more of a garden suited for young children whose parents would like their progeny to wander around a bit and possibly learn some gardening, bird, and butterfly lore.

It contains a small vivarium that houses several potted milkweed plants for the benefit of showcasing Monarch butterfly larvae and adults. The vivarium was devoid of any insects while visiting, the poor milkweed plants in sore need of some TLC. I'm sure when the weather gets warmer, the garden will refresh the milkweed and place Monarch cats on them for viewing. As a dedicated butterfly garden destination: fuggetaboutit, but as a botanical oasis, Quail Gardens is a gem of a place to visit. Bring a picnic lunch!

As for butterfly sightings, I noticed only one butterfly the whole time I was there, but it was my first swallowtail sighting of this season. It flitted by very fast, but I believe it was an Anise Swallowtail.

Vivarium, and actually most of the butterfly and bird garden.

I was in Laguna Beach visiting friends Wednesday, and had a chance to stop by the Alta Laguna Park Butterfly Garden. It hasn't been tended to, and since the last time I was able to work on it before my shoulder injury, it has steadily and rapidly gone down hill.

BUT, I was rather surprised at how well it has withstood the test of time. My biggest anticipation was seeing how many - if any - milkweed plants survived. Lo and behold, there are vestiges of them sprouting up through that tough, nutrient poor, poor excuse of a soil. As the days get longer, sunnier, and the ground warms up, there is hope that more will pop through that crap of supposed dirt. With a little bit of attention they could be coaxed into surviving, and even thriving.


Remember:

1. The Butterfly Festival in El Cajon is on Saturday the 5th.

2. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is hosting their annual Butterfly Jungle exhibit April 5 - 27.

"Women, don't get a tattoo.  That butterfly looks great on your breast when you're twenty or thirty, but when you get to seventy, it stretches into a condor."
-Billy Elmer

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park (formally known as Wild Animal Park) outside of Escondido, California, will be hosting its annual Butterfly Exhibit April 5-27. If you're planning on visiting the park, March and April are the optimum months to visit, as the weather is Goldilocks perfect: warm and balmy coupled with a refreshing afternoon breeze. Come in April and you can see the Butterfly Exhibit!

It's been a while since I flogged the dead horse, so here goes:

I'm still pissed off with the City of  Laguna Beach for not allowing volunteers to maintain the Alta Laguna Park Butterfly Garden, and for allowing it to go to pot; no, they didn't turn it into a dispensary. On the other hand, the City of Huntington Beach has been quite gracious in allowing Leslie Gilson to successfully spearhead efforts to create a butterfly garden in one of their city's parks. Kudos to local gov't. and volunteer efforts in turning what was basically an abandoned community park into a maintained and viable butterfly habitat.

Norma Gibbs Butterfly Park

HB Trees:  Gibbs Butterfly Park

The City of Laguna Beach had an existing butterfly garden already in the process of maturation. Its positive effect on the local butterfly populations was dramatic, plus those who happened to stumble upon the garden derived much pleasure out of it. What at one time was a biotically sterile monoculture slope of prostrate acacia ground cover, was transformed into a viable butterfly habitat that was diverse for other insects and birds to boot.

I haven't laid eyes on it for over half a year now; it didn't look good then, and I'm sure it doesn't look any better now. No one who knows the garden and me (Me? Myself? I? The butterfly dude? English grammar sux.) has commented on its status, so it can only be assumed that nothing has been done to it to improve it, let alone maintain what may be left of it.

There. I'm done.

For now.

“Hundreds of butterflies flitted in and out of sight like short-lived punctuation marks in a stream of consciousness without beginning or end.”
-Haruki Murakami


Now is the season to view Monarch butterfly overwintering sites along the California coast. The season starts around October and lasts until March. Peak season is December through February.

Below is a short little video taken at the Ellwood Butterfly Reserve in Goleta. If you're traveling up past that way in the next month or two, you may want to stop by and see the Monarchs overwintering in the eucalyptus trees. What a sight!

Ellwood Butterfly Reserve from scottinojaivideos on Vimeo.

May you have a blessed Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

“When I was a girl I would look out my bedroom window at the caterpillars; I envied them so much. No matter what they were before, no matter what happened to them, they could just hide away and turn into these beautiful creatures that could fly away completely untouched.”
-Patch Adams


OCR article showcases a Girl Scout creating a Monarch butterfly habitat in Crown Valley Park. This one little girl is helping to make a difference! I could have used her butterfly gardening talents up at the Alta Laguna Park Butterfly Garden. *Sigh*

Local scout makes garden for monarchs

© Marsha Roark

Amanda Roark working on her Girl Scout project in Crown Valley Park, Laguna Niguel, CA.