This image provided by NSF NOIRLab shows NGC 6302, a billowing planetary nebula that resembles a cosmic butterfly. (NSF NOIRLab via AP)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new picture of a grand and graceful cosmic butterfly.
The National Science Foundation’s NoirLab released the picture Wednesday.
Snapped last month by the Gemini South telescope, the aptly named Butterfly Nebula is 2,500 to 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. A single light-year is 6 trillion miles.
At the heart of this bipolar nebula is a white dwarf star that cast aside its outer layers of gas long ago. The discarded gas forms the butterflylike wings billowing from the aging star, whose heat causes the gas to glow.
Schoolchildren in Chile chose this astronomical target to celebrate 25 years of operation by the International Gemini Observatory.
Butterflies aren’t just beautiful, they are also helpful pollinators that will help our gardens thrive. Attract them to your yard with this butterfly feeder project. It’s an easy DIY project that will help keep your garden flourishing all year long.
Butterflies are magical creatures that grace us with their beauty. Their bright colours are a welcome addition to any garden. As with bees, they are essential pollinators. In fact, a butterfly’s lifecycle requires them to have host plants and food plants for pollination. Butterflies will keep your garden thriving and add a pretty pop of colour to your space too.
How do you attract them to your yard? There are many plants that they love, but an easy way to attract butterflies to your garden is to make a butterfly feeder.
If you’re looking for an extra way to support the butterflies in your garden, then follow these steps to make a butterfly feeder.
Butterflies love bright, warm colours.
How to Make a Butterfly Feeder
This simple DIY will keep butterflies coming to your yard month after month. Plus, the butterfly feeder is a pretty addition to your yard too. Here’s how to make one, step by step.
Butterfly Feeder Supplies
Plate – Any type of plate will do. The plate I used is shaped like a hibiscus flower. There are notches where the “petals” connect, making it easier to fit in the macrame-style holder. If you plan to use a round plate, you will also need to get a wall mount plate holder.
Mason line or twine – I used mason line to hang my feeder. I used it because it’s made from a synthetic material that will not deteriorate as fast as natural twine. The feeder will hang outside in an area with little shelter and I wanted to make sure the rope holds through the whole season.
Washer (or another metal ring)
Beads – The beads are optional. I like the way they dress up the feeder. Butterflies delight us with their beauty, so I decided to make this feeder extra pretty for them.
Get an inexpensive plate from the thrift or dollar store.
Make it!
First, cut 5 lengths of mason line about 3 feet long. I used 5 pieces of string because I have 5 petal notches on my plate. If you are using a round plate with a wall hanger, you should only need 4 lengths of string. Loop the pieces of string through the metal ring and tie a double knot. Do not worry about the ends at the moment.
If you are using beads, add them about 12 inches from the top. Make sure the beads all line up evenly. Then, tie a knot underneath each bead.
The beads are optional, used as decoration only.
Tie all the strings together about 6 inches down from the beads. Cut the excess mason line a half inch from the knot. Use a lighter or flame from a candle to lightly melt the edges of the strings. I melted mine all the way back to the base of the knot. Do this to the knot that’s securing the metal ring, too. This will keep frays at bay and help keep the knot from slipping.
Melt the ends of your string with a lighter.
Set the plate in the holder and hang it up in a sunny place in your garden. Then, add some butterfly food and watch them eat.
I added lemons, melon, and flowers to my butterfly feeder.
What Do Butterflies Eat?
Butterflies feed on nectar (sugar from a plant). So, fresh fruits work very well as butterfly food. You can also make nectar from honey and water, but I think it’s less messy to add some fruit to the plate.
Butterflies are attracted to red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple colours, so keep that in mind when selecting fruit. If you are worried about ants getting in on the feast, you can add a bit of water to the dish as a deterrent.
Orange slices work great as butterfly food.
Tips for Attracting Butterflies
A butterfly feeder is only one way to attract butterflies to your garden. If you want to keep them really happy, you will need to have plants that serve the needs of all the life stages of the butterfly. Adults need nectar, a safe place to lay their eggs, food for their larvae and a place to form chrysalides (cocoons).
In addition to the right plants, butterflies like full sun, a place to rest their wings, and a place to drink. An easy way to create a butterfly sanctuary is to plant bright flowers that love full sun, add a flat rock to the garden for the butterflies to bask, and put a small, shallow pan of water out for them to drink. You can read more about how to make a butterfly garden here.
Include plants in your garden to sustain butterflies during each life stage.
Butterfly-Friendly Plants
You really cannot go wrong with any type of brightly coloured flower for butterflies. However, remember that the plants must support the larvae and cocoons as well. There are many butterfly-friendly plants, so the chances are you can find a few that will suit your growing zone. Here’s a list of some plants that will attract butterflies to your garden:
Butterflies aren’t attracted to blue, so include lighter shades of purple instead.
Find out more about why some butterflies love milkweed and how to grow it in your garden here. In addition to having a pretty flower garden, you can attract these lovely pollinators at the same time, a perfect garden partnership.
Now, don’t forget about the bees! Here is how to attract them to your garden (and a bee bath project that the butterflies will love).
Butterflies and bees aren’t the only beneficial insects you want in your garden! Find out about the 7 best bugs for the garden.
More Ways to Support Pollinators
How to Make a Butterfly Feeder
Keep these pretty pollinators active in your garden with this simple DIY butterfly feeder.
Cut 4 pieces of mason line into 3 foot sections.
Loop the pieces through the metal ring and tie with a double knot.
Add beads to the line about 12″ from the top, lined up evenly. Tie a knot under each bead to keep in place.
Tie all the strings together about 6″ underneath the beads, then cut the excess line about 1/2″ away from the knot.
Do the same to the knot that’s holding the metal ring too to prevent fraying.
Add your plate and hang it in a sunny place in the garden, topped with butterfly food.
Debbie Wolfe is a mom of two rambunctious boys, wife, and work-at-home mom from Georgia. In her free time (when there is such a thing), she is in the garden or hidden away reading the latest post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama! As interests, Debbie is an obsessive crafter, home chef, and gardener. She is a freelance writer, blogger, and is a co-author and photographer behind the garden blog, The Prudent Garden; a collection of tips, crafts, and articles that highlight home gardening.
Today’s post features some images I captured last week in the church butterfly garden that I maintain at our Ozarks church, the Silver-spotted Skipper.
This skipper butterfly is a common visitor to the flower gardens, and I always enjoy photographing them as they collect nectar, usually from the zinnia flowers in the garden.
Here are some images I collected last week:
Still waiting for more Monarchs to show up … should be seeing the southward migration soon!
Butterflies are beautiful to watch flitting about the garden. Plus, they are essential pollinators for a large number of plants. Many butterfly populations are dwindling right now, but with a few minor tweaks in the garden, we can help save these pretty pollinators and enjoy their beauty and benefits in the garden at the same time. Read on to discover which plants butterflies need during their life cycle, and what to grow to create the ideal butterfly garden.
I think we can all agree that butterflies are one of the best things Mother Nature has come up with. With colours as bright and beautiful as the flowers we grow in the garden, they provide so much joy to every person they pass by.
Not only are they providing us with beauty, but they’re also important pollinators for our garden plants. For many of our pollinators, it becomes difficult to live in urban spaces where pesticides and concrete run rampant.
Here’s how you can support your local butterflies and ensure you build a beautiful and ideal space for the little pollinators.
This post will cover…
West Coast lady butterfly (Vanessa Annabella)
Know the Butterfly Lifecycle
In order to attract butterflies, it is important to understand their life cycle and the specific needs that go along with it.
Egg: Butterflies begin as eggs laid on the leaves of host plants.
Caterpillar: The egg hatches into a caterpillar, which at this stage does nothing but eat! It eats its way out of the egg to gain nutrients and then eats its host plant, which is why it needs to be located on the right plant for that type of butterfly.
Cocoon: Once the caterpillar has eaten enough to grow to its full size, it makes a cocoon or “chrysalis.”
Butterfly: Inside the cocoon, it metamorphoses into a butterfly. Just a few weeks to several months later (depending on the species), it emerges as a mature butterfly. After just a few hours, the butterfly gains enough strength to begin flying and pollinating flowers.
Having the right host plants for native butterflies in your area is essential for supporting them.
Plants That Support the Butterfly’s Lifecycle
Their life cycle requires butterflies to have both host plants for the larval stage and food plants for mature butterflies to pollinate.
Because species in different regions have evolved along with the area’s plant life to coexist, butterflies need to have native plants available to them. It is important for butterfly populations to have spaces kept entirely wild, weeds and all, such as nature preserves.
From small urban gardens to fields of wildflowers, every butterfly-safe environment helps. Creating your own butterfly garden helps to offset any habitat that has been destroyed due to development or maintenance.
Butterflies, too, can be affected by pesticides, and ensuring we grow safe plants for them helps to provide a place for them to thrive year-round.
How to Make a Butterfly Garden
Don’t worry, creating a butterfly garden doesn’t mean encouraging a bunch of weeds (although if you do decide to let a few live here or there, butterflies will appreciate it).
Gardeners who want a manicured look, as well as a butterfly garden, have many options for pretty plants that attract butterflies and provide them with what they need throughout their life cycle.
But first, here are a few additional things you need to complete your butterfly garden.
A Sunny Area
Butterflies thrive in the sun. As ectotherms, they rely on external sources in order to stay warm. Before they can fly, they need to make sure their body temperature is warm enough.
You’ve probably seen them perched on a sunny leaf with their wings on full display. This is them soaking up the sun! So, on the next sunny day, sit back and watch your visitors check out their favourite plants and sunbathe.
Tree Nymph butterfly (Idea leuconoe)
A Butterfly Feeder
A butterfly garden needs the right plants growing in sunny areas and a safe place for mature butterflies to lay their eggs. You can make your habitat even more attractive by putting together a butterfly feeder for them to snack on.
Butterflies feed on nectar, which is sugar from a plant. Fresh fruit also provides this for the butterflies. This is a good way to add supplemental nectar to the garden when there may be fewer blooms or if you notice a ton of butterflies.
However, having native plants with lots of nectar throughout the season is the best source!
Use up old fruits that are about to go in the compost bin.
Mud Puddles
Did you know that butterflies adore mud? They congregate around muddy areas, which gives them salt and nutrients. You can help them out by placing a shallow pan of water out for them. They often avoid birdbaths and other pools because the water is too deep.
A shallow pan gives them access to water for drinking and puddling. Adding some gravel or sand at the bottom helps, as well as rocks for basking in the sun.
Common Butterflies and Their Host Plants
Choosing native plants or a standard butterfly seed mix will attract various butterflies that are native to your area, but if you are looking to attract particular butterflies, your best bet is to plant the specific host plants that species in your area use.
Here are some of the most common butterfly species and the host plants that they require for the larval stage.
Once butterflies reach the mature stage of their life cycle, they are attracted to brightly coloured flowers with flat tops, short flower tubes, or flower clusters.
There are many butterfly-friendly plants, so the chances are you can find a few that will suit your growing zone. Here’s a list of some plants that will attract mature butterflies to your garden as long as they have host plants nearby as well.
By the way, milkweed might be one of the most beloved butterfly foods!Learn how to grow milkweed and find out why they love it so much. In addition to having a pretty flower garden, you can attract these lovely pollinators at the same time, creating a perfect garden partnership.
Red postman butterfly (Heliconius erato)
Supporting Other Pollinators
Moths are often forgotten about, but they are also beneficial pollinators and can be very beautiful. To attract moths to your garden, plant night-blooming flowers such as evening primrose (Oenothera), phlox (Phlox x arendsii), and fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium).
Butterflies and bees aren’t the only beneficial insects you want in your garden! Find out about the 7 best bugs for the garden.
Just because they don’t have bright, beautiful wings doesn’t mean they’re not important pollinators, too.
FAQ About Butterfly Gardens
What is the most common garden butterfly?
The most common butterfly varies depending on where you live. The most common globally is the painted lady species, which is found on every continent besides Antarctica and South America. Other common butterflies include monarchs and swallowtails.
What is in a butterfly garden?
A butterfly garden supports butterflies at every stage of their life. This means it’s important to have the host plants for the butterfly to lay eggs on and for the caterpillars to munch.
Then, you’ll need flowers to provide nectar. Butterflies like bright flowers with flat tops, as well as short tubular flowers. When in doubt, plant some native species for the pollinators in your neighbourhood.
A butterfly garden can also include a shallow bath with stones for butterflies to safely drink and puddle from.
Where is the best place to plant a butterfly garden?
Place your butterfly garden in the sun, as butterflies are ectotherms and rely on the sun to keep their bodies warm. Also, consider placing your butterfly garden away from anywhere there might be pesticides and away from bird feeders.
Today’s post features some images I captured yesterday morning while working the butterfly garden at my church in the Missouri Ozarks.
This was the first Monarch that I have seen for a month or so. I’m hoping this is a sign that more will be moving through the area, as their late summer/early fall migration begins!
Today’s post features three images I captured yesterday morning as I worked in the butterfly garden at my Ozarks church.
While weeding, this Fritillary butterfly continued to float around the garden, seeking nectar. After flitting around the garden, he almost always continued to migrate back to the cascading butterfly bush. Here are some images I captured:
Taking a break from working on more total solar eclipse images, today I’m featuring an image I captured yesterday as I hiked Fiery Fork Conservation Area, in the Missouri Ozarks.
While photographing wildflowers, I ran upon this Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly as it collected nectar from White Beardtongue (a Penstemon species) wildflower:
Stay tuned for more spring wildflower images that I captured yesterday.
Fresh from his incandescent performance of “It Never Went Away” at the 96th Academy Awards, the highly acclaimed, multi-talented Jon Batiste heated things up, then tore them down at NYC’s Beacon Theater on Tuesday, March 19th.
The 5-time Grammy and Oscar-winning musician and former bandleader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is in the middle of his first North American headlining tour to promote his latest album, World Music Radio. Jon Batiste’s “Uneasy Tour: Purifying the Airwaves for the People” kicked off on February 16 in Portland, Oregon, will span the US and Canada, and culminate in Miramar Beach, Florida on April 27.
Batiste aims to create unique experiences even in smaller venues. As he recently told USA Today: “We are designing these performances to be catalysts to bring people together, raise awareness for things I care about, and inspire change in this country, and the world.”
These are fine days for Batiste. Last year, he was nominated in six categories for the 2024 Grammy Awards. His nods included Album of the Year for World Music Radio, Record of the Year for “Worship.” His other nominations include Best Jazz Performance for “Movement 18′ (Heroes).” Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for his appearance on Lana Del Rey’s “Candy Necklace,” and Song of the Year for “Butterfly,” (also nominated for Best American Roots Performance).
Sadly, “Butterfly” didn’t win the Grammy but it sure was a winner with the audience.
Jon Batiste – Butterfly | Deezer Sessions, Pariswww.youtube.com
Batiste transfixed the crowd with this heartwarming song of childhood. Almost a lullaby, it’s incantatory. There’s a repeated set of triplets – Oh-oh-oh, whoa-whoa-whoa, oh-oh-oh . . . that Batiste urged the audience to sing together, saying:
“Everybody put your lights in the air. It represents the soul light.”
All around the Beacon Theatre people’s phone lights flickered as they sang along.
“Light that’s been with you since you were a child – Since the day you were born. You can never-ever lose it. All of us have it.”
“We can win, we can win, we can win, we can win.”
“Now you see I composed this melody, this healing melody . . . And the more you sing it with friends and family and complete strangers – The more the healing properties take effect – So sing with me this lullaby, this butterfly-healing-melody – first composed for my beautiful wife, Suleika.”
And, as the audience continued singing, Batiste was joined onstage at the Beacon Theatre by Suleika Jaouad, the author of the New York Times Best Seller Between Two Kingdoms – a chronicle of survivorship (Penguin Random House 2021).
Diagnosed with a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia in 2011, Jaouad was given only a 35% chance of surviving. She survived and has written and spoken extensively about these medical challenges. At the end of 2021, Jaouad announced the recurrence of her cancer.
Batiste and Jaouad have been a couple for a decade, but they officially tied the knot in February of 2022 a day before she underwent a second bone marrow transplant.
In the recent Netflix documentary American Symphony, a doctor advises Jaouad that although she’s technically in remission, chemotherapy might have to continue for the rest of her life.
American Symphony | Official Trailer | Netflixwww.youtube.com
As the audience sang to the couple, showering them with love, There were tears, laughter, joy, and smiles. This was no sentimental wallowing – Batiste achieves what he’s set out to do: encouraging people to seek peace and happiness.
Batiste is worth the attention he’s receiving – as anyone who saw him at the Beacon last night will attest. For the better part of the two-and-a-half-hour show, Batiste was playing and singing – dancing wild and free. Over the course of the evening, he demonstrated his mastery of the piano, melodica, drums, synth, and more.
Truth to tell, when you take an outstanding composer, voice, band, and a packed-out, loving audience then meld it with Batiste’s positive message about the power of humankind to effect change, you leave the venue with the feeling you can change the world.
And who knows? Maybe you can.
Want to catch Jon Batiste in the act? The singer will make stops in Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto, New Haven, New York, Dallas, and more, on the 23-date run of shows.
Head to Ticketmaster, but be quick about it – many shows are sold out!
Today’s post features a few images I captured over the weekend while working in the church butterfly garden. Once you see Monarchs arriving in numbers, you know summer is coming to an end!
An adult Monarch collecting nectar from a Mexican Sunflower:
A Monarch laying an egg on a milkweed leaf:
A Monarch laying an egg on a whorled milkweed plant:
A couple of Monarch caterpillars checking each other out:
Today’s post features a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail butterfly that was busy collecting nectar from some of the zinnia flowers in the church butterfly garden recently:
Today’s post features some images I captured over the weekend of a White-lined Sphinx Moth, in the church butterfly garden. While weeding and deadheading the flowers, this rather large guy flew in and worked on the cascading butterfly bush for some time, allowing me to grab the camera out of the car and catch a few images.
The Sphinx Moth is also know as Hawk Moths, and there are about 50 species found in Missouri. Sphinx moth caterpillars are often called hornworms, because they usually have a stiff, pointy horn on the rear end. They often rest with the thorax raised into the air and the head tilted downward, which reminded people of the posture of sphinx statues from ancient Egypt and elsewhere.
Here are a few of my favorite images:
As I await the Monarch migration (should start soon), I’m enjoying all the other nectar-seekers that are visiting!
Today’s post features an image that I found while editing older images … immediately, I got spring fever!
This image of a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly collecting nectar from a thistle plant, was captured on a Missouri prairie a few years ago:
Another sure sign of approaching spring is the wonderful display of woodland wildflowers that are now beginning to appear. I spent some time yesterday in the Ozarks woodlands … hope to have some early wildflower images ready soon!
HONGHE, China, June 16, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Honghe Butterfly Valley, in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, has witnessed hundreds of millions of butterflies emerge from chrysalises since June, with a worldwide rare ecological spectacle presented, according to the Honghe Daily.
“Butterfly explosion” refers to the seasonal natural and ecological spectacle formed in May and June every year, in which a large number of Stichophthalma larvae pupate in a short period of time and then transform into butterflies. They pile up and flutter all over the sky in the woods, beside streams and mountain trails.
In June, the Honghe Butterfly Valley, in Ma’andi Township of Jinping County in Honghe Prefecture, has already witnessed over 100 million butterflies emerge, with a total of 150 million expected, according to researchers, adding that there are only two such phenomenal “butterfly explosions” in the world, and the other one is in Mexico.
To date, over 400 butterfly species have been identified in the Honghe Butterfly Valley, which is famed for its all-year-round warm and humid weather. The area enjoys a forest coverage of 70 percent, rendering it a complete monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest and other vegetation types, an ideal ecological environment suitable for butterflies, and has the most abundant butterflies resources around the world.
Contact: Sasa Guan Email: tongguan@xinhuanetus.com
LOS ANGELES, March 14, 2018 (Newswire.com)
– Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? Jesse is an intelligent, sensitive, yet socially awkward kid, who has a vivid imagination, a hard time fitting in, and desperately needs help making friends. Facing the added pressures of fifth grade, his whole world changes when his teacher brings caterpillars to class.
Find out how Jesse uses their magical shape-shifting metamorphosis – from humble earthbound creatures to graceful, winged beauties – as a lesson for life, love, tragedy, and healing in “Jesse and the Caterpillar Who Got its Wings.”
Braxton, who wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed and internationally award-winning solo show, “Did You Do Your Homework?” is no stranger to social commentary about the trials and tribulations of diverse youth, growing up in urban communities, and experiencing self-doubt and transformation. “I grew up poor, in an abusive household where I saw my alcoholic father throw my mother down a flight of stairs and my manic stepfather put a lock on the refrigerator door,” says Braxton. “I was told daily by my stepfather that I would never amount to anything, but I kept telling myself differently.” Braxton’s novel, “Jesse and the Caterpillar Who Got its Wings,” is about inspiration, finding the greatness inside, and allowing it live. “I used to take profound, often painful experiences from my past and make them a basis for inspiring my students. I told them that everything worth achieving is only accomplished through hard work and perseverance and that by purposefully directing their energies positively rather than negatively scattering them, they can be far more productive. I want to continue to be an example of my convictions.”
Hailing from Roxbury, MA, and growing up in Santa Rosa, CA, the former Los Angeles Unified School District educator, who holds a BA degree in Speech Communications from San Diego State University and an MA degree in Education from the University of Southern California, now calls Los Angeles his home.
“When there’s greatness inside you, who says you can’t fly?”
Aaron Braxton’s, “Jesse and the Caterpillar Who Got its Wings” is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and all major book outlets!
