Hi all,

I'm new to your site. I just wanted to add that I'm doing a very basic growth test of MiracleGro as compared to an organic plant food called Better World Plant Food. I've been blogging about my results he
The Great Plant Food Challenge: chemical MiracleGro versus organic Better World Plant Food
And I'll add my posts to this site as well, as soon as I familiarize myself with it.

Thank you.

On 06/25/2011 01:12 PM, Billy wrote:
In calnet,
wrote:

Billy, me thinks you best take your medicine now.....
Ay, lad, I need all my strength for the hard day's work I have in front
of me, but I can't find the fookin' bottle opener. How can a man become
bellicose without his pint? It frees the body from the tyranny of the
mind, don'cha know.

Methinks that you may wish the boon yourself, after your orthographical
faux pas with the word "methinks". Not from around here? Don't beat
yourself up too much about it. I understood what you meant;O)

Today I'm off after butterfly plants, but I'll take my sack and club
with me, just in case I, perchance, come upon a beastie.
---

The female butterfly searches for specific larval food plants on which
she must lay her eggs. Some butterflies, like the Monarch, will lay a
single egg on the leaf while others may lay clusters of eggs together.
Here are the larval plants of some common California butterflies:
Aristolochia californica - Pipevine Swallowtail
Asclepias species - Monarch
Ceanothus - Pale Tiger Swallowtail, California Hairstreak, California
Tortoiseshell
Eriogonum ŒGrande Rubescens' - Acmon Blue
Lavatera& Mallow sp. - Painted Lady, West Coast Lady and Common
Checkered Skipper
Mimulus sp.& Penstemon heterophyllus - Common Buckeye
Quercus - California Sister, Gray Hairstreak& Mournful Duskywing
Salix sp. - Mourning Cloak, Lorquin's Admiral& Western Tiger Swallowtail
Sidalcea malviflora - West Coast Lady
Spiraea sp. - Spring Azur

Common Nectar Plants for Adult Butterflies
The following plants provide a food source to a variety of adult
butterflies year-round. Providing nectar plants in early spring is
important for the early emerging Pipevine Swallowtail, while the Monarch
and Skippers benefit from the late season bloomers. Many larval plants
perform double duty as great nectar plants for adults.
Achillea sp. (Yarrow) - Spring/Summer/ Fall
Aster sp. (Aster) - Summer/Fall
Bidens sp. (Bur-Marigold) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Buddleia sp. (Butterfly Bush) - Summer
Ceratostigma sp. (Plumbago) - Summer/Fall
Convolvulus sabatius (Ground Morning Glory) - Summer
Erigeron glaucus (Seaside Daisy) - Spring/Summer
Lantana sp. (Lantana) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Lavandula sp. (Lavender) - Spring/Summer
Leucanthemum maximum (Shasta Daisy) - Summer/Fall
Limonium sp. (Statice) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Origanum sp. (Oregano) - Summer
Salvia sp. (Sage) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Scabiosa sp. (Pincushion Flower) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Sedum ŒAutumn Joy' (Stonecrop) - Summer/Fall
Solidago rugosa ŒFireworks' (Goldenrod) - Summer/Fall
Verbena bonariensis, V. rigida (Verbena) - Spring/Summer/Fall
--

With this drought I doubt there will be many butterflies or their
offspring this year. The southern, southeastern and southwestern
United States and even Northern Mexico is dried out so bad hardly
any new growth is available for any type of living creature to
thrive on. No insects for the Mexican Free-tailed Bat can crash
their populations. Dear, Bear and Mountain Lion are invading cities
and towns looking for food.

The Monarch Butterfly has to travel right through the worst part of
the drought and barely any will survive if conditions don't change
for the better soon. There is a prediction of rain coming from the
Gulf Coast around the end of the month, but I'll believe it when
I see it.

Desert West Texas
--

On 06/25/2011 01:12 PM, Billy wrote:
In calnet,
wrote:

Billy, me thinks you best take your medicine now.....
Ay, lad, I need all my strength for the hard day's work I have in front
of me, but I can't find the fookin' bottle opener. How can a man become
bellicose without his pint? It frees the body from the tyranny of the
mind, don'cha know.

Methinks that you may wish the boon yourself, after your orthographical
faux pas with the word "methinks". Not from around here? Don't beat
yourself up too much about it. I understood what you meant;O)

Today I'm off after butterfly plants, but I'll take my sack and club
with me, just in case I, perchance, come upon a beastie.
---

The female butterfly searches for specific larval food plants on which
she must lay her eggs. Some butterflies, like the Monarch, will lay a
single egg on the leaf while others may lay clusters of eggs together.
Here are the larval plants of some common California butterflies:
Aristolochia californica - Pipevine Swallowtail
Asclepias species - Monarch
Ceanothus - Pale Tiger Swallowtail, California Hairstreak, California
Tortoiseshell
Eriogonum ŒGrande Rubescens' - Acmon Blue
Lavatera& Mallow sp. - Painted Lady, West Coast Lady and Common
Checkered Skipper
Mimulus sp.& Penstemon heterophyllus - Common Buckeye
Quercus - California Sister, Gray Hairstreak& Mournful Duskywing
Salix sp. - Mourning Cloak, Lorquin's Admiral& Western Tiger Swallowtail
Sidalcea malviflora - West Coast Lady
Spiraea sp. - Spring Azur

Common Nectar Plants for Adult Butterflies
The following plants provide a food source to a variety of adult
butterflies year-round. Providing nectar plants in early spring is
important for the early emerging Pipevine Swallowtail, while the Monarch
and Skippers benefit from the late season bloomers. Many larval plants
perform double duty as great nectar plants for adults.
Achillea sp. (Yarrow) - Spring/Summer/ Fall
Aster sp. (Aster) - Summer/Fall
Bidens sp. (Bur-Marigold) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Buddleia sp. (Butterfly Bush) - Summer
Ceratostigma sp. (Plumbago) - Summer/Fall
Convolvulus sabatius (Ground Morning Glory) - Summer
Erigeron glaucus (Seaside Daisy) - Spring/Summer
Lantana sp. (Lantana) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Lavandula sp. (Lavender) - Spring/Summer
Leucanthemum maximum (Shasta Daisy) - Summer/Fall
Limonium sp. (Statice) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Origanum sp. (Oregano) - Summer
Salvia sp. (Sage) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Scabiosa sp. (Pincushion Flower) - Spring/Summer/Fall
Sedum ŒAutumn Joy' (Stonecrop) - Summer/Fall
Solidago rugosa ŒFireworks' (Goldenrod) - Summer/Fall
Verbena bonariensis, V. rigida (Verbena) - Spring/Summer/Fall
--

With this drought I doubt there will be many butterflies or their
offspring this year. The southern, southeastern and southwestern
United States and even Northern Mexico is dried out so bad hardly
any new growth is available for any type of living creature to
thrive on. No insects for the Mexican Free-tailed Bat can crash
their populations. Dear, Bear and Mountain Lion are invading cities
and towns looking for food.

The Monarch Butterfly has to travel right through the worst part of
the drought and barely any will survive if conditions don't change
for the better soon. There is a prediction of rain coming from the
Gulf Coast around the end of the month, but I'll believe it when
I see it.

Desert West Texas
--