Postcards from the Woods

Around the Garden: Late June

Well, the only thing that's got me out taking pictures lately is my garden. Small blessings.

Here's what's around the garden this week. This wet, wet, wet week. My tomatoes are rotting. My zucchini is thriving. My hair is frizzy, but by golly if the garden doesn't look green!

Feed Me, Seymour

Feeding time at the zoo

Bengal Tiger

Bronx Zoo, NY

Postcards from NYC

New York Harbor

Statue of Liberty & Skyline

I chaperoned back-to-back field trips to the Bronx Zoo and Ellis Island this week. All I can say is, "God bless teachers." Gorgeous weather for both trips, the kids were good (no one vanished) and everyone had a great time.

Ellis Island

Immigrant Wall of Honor

Listening to History
The Registry Room

A View of the Skyline from Ellis Island Main Floor

Lunch with a View

Immigrant Ancestor and NYC Skyline

Lady Liberty

Bronx Zoo Butterfly

Julia

Butterfly Garden

Bronx Zoo

The best thing at the Bronx Zoo is most likely the smallest thing at the Bronx Zoo. The Butterfly Garden has metamorphisized since its inception as a temporary spring exhibit into the most intriguing and gasp-inducing 100-foot exhibit there. Now in its permanent home up the hill from the popular Congo Gorilla exhibit, the Butterfly Garden houses over 1,000 butterflies from nearly 55 species of butterflies.

The butterflies seem to be at home in the exhibit, and with the visitors, occasionally landing on kids' hats and shirts. Kids can check off their sightings on the butterfly chart supplied by the zoo. We spotted 17 out of 45 on the chart, including this Zebra Longwing.

Inside and outside the exhibit are actual butterfly gardens with native NY plantings that attract butterflies. I have a few in my own garden. Purple coneflowers, bee balm, hydrangeas, coreopsis, lilacs, daisies, butterfly bush, rosemary, hibiscus (until it died this spring) and verbana. I managed to attract a Swallowtail recently and that was before everything was blooming. Hoping I get a lot more winged visitors and the time to relax and watch them enjoy my garden.

Swimming Lessons

There was enough room for everyone at the pond on a recent Sunday in Lagrange. Canadian geese gave swimming lessons to their young not far from where we were fishing with the kids. Red-winged blackbirds perched on cattails in the boggy edges of the pond. The sun was shining and the fish were biting wherever we cast. Small-mouth bass, blue-gills, sunnies. All thrown back, of course, but their brief company was appreciated.