Recently I watched a clip on CBS Sunday Morning about Monarch Butterflies. I knew about their migration. One year when visiting my sister in CA we visited one of their stopovers and marveled at their beauty.

But, this clip is breathtaking, and reminds us all that not only that their beauty is free to us to see, but is ours to protect, and it knows no nationalities.

Here’s that clip: (Sorry about the front-end ad… comes with the clip, but only lasts a few seconds)

Interested in having a butterfly house ( or two ) in your garden. Check out his one: Heritage Farms Butterfly House

Or build your own, perfect for project for the whole family.Butterfly House Kit

One of my favorite books about butterflies! Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds to Your Backyard: Watch Your Garden Come Alive With Beauty on the Wing (A Rodale Organic Gardening Book)

I didn’t watch this clip until after I had written an article about attracting butterflies from a spiritual perception. If this interests you, you can read my article here..

For over a week we had summer weather here in Northeast Ohio. In fact the last time it was this warm here during early April was in 1929.

I lucked out this year when I told my husband Del it would be an early spring. Plus we had a little bet going. In February I told him there would only be 5 more snowstorms that would accumulate over 2 inches. When the big one hit at the end of February it was also the 5th one. “That’s it,” I said, “The last big snow of the season.”

Who knew that would be true?

The thing about Spring, we wait and wait for it, and then it comes so fast that if you blink you will miss it. That is especially true this year. Given the warm weather we are almost 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

Trees, flowers .. everything is either blooming or getting ready to bloom. That means we must be very diligent to not miss a single thing. If you are a gardener you already know this. You have to go out and stand in front of a lilac bush and brush the buds with your fingertips to get the full extent of the power of a bloom when it is on it’s way.

The hostas are bursting through the earth and my hyacinths grow inches one day. Have you noticed that nothing smells like spring as much as a hyacinth?

Although I have always loved gardening, there was a patch of many years where I just enjoyed other gardens as I had neither the space or the inclination to plant my own. Other tasks were more important at the time.

However, once we moved into our home (my first in 30 years) just two years ago the property called for plants and more plants. The hands-on gardener in me returned. It’s the properties fault after all because no matter how many I put into the space, there is room for many, many more.

When the warm weather started I was truly hit with spring fever and out I went to plant. My daughter Lara sent us three plants and when they arrived they were the first to find a new home. She sent, and I planted, Echinacea Flame Thrower, Wisteria Frutescens Amethyst Falls, and Salix Alba Britzensis (a willow).

Plus more plants like Liatris Spicata and Arbovitea were added. I stopped counting half way through the week.

To top it off, I started some seeds of many plants and put them in the rolling “greenhouse” I purchased from Lowes.

No matter that right now big snow flakes are falling. Besides, it’s temporary, they melt as soon as the touch the ground. It’s April after all.

What matters is the joy of being part of a cycle of seed to bloom. It doesn’t matter if you are the gardener who plants, or the gardener who enjoys gardens vicariously.

It is the appreciation of the garden that counts. And for any of you who are not planting right now because there are other things to attend to, don’t worry, I am planting for you just as the millions of gardeners are planting for me, and for everyone who enjoys a garden.

To find many of these plants I mentioned visit White Flower Farms or any of the other garden links you can find on the right of this page, or on the bottom.

Let me know how your planting is going for you!

Hummingbird: Messenger of Joy

The last few days here in Ohio have been as beautiful as anyone could desire. I have managed to get in a few hours of computer work before being pulled out into the beautiful day to clean up the garden, and plant some spring bulbs.

But, most of all get ready for the hummingbirds which must be here any day now. It doesn’t take much, just hang their feeders.

Let me recommend the best hummingbird feeders ever. I have tried quite a few, but although pretty and functional at first they all failed in a few ways except for one.

If you have ever hand ants or bees visiting your feeder, then this the solution.

I have used this feeder for three years now. They are a snap (literally since the lid snaps off) to fill and clean and ever since I started using them I have never had a ant or bee problem again.

I have also seen many a hummer sitting on the feeder just resting. It comes with bee guards, put them on! They are easy to use, and last a long time. In fact this year I bought new ones for the first time.

As for the mix. In other blogs and forums I have heard people recommend a 3 to 1 mix. Don’t do that, it is way too sweet for them.

Use instead a 4 to 1 mix. I heat a cup of hot water in my microwave until it is almost boiling and then add a 1/4 cup of sugar. Stir and cool before adding to the feeder.

There is no need to buy a mix, or to add food coloring. And for those who think the hummingbirds need those little yellow circles on other feeders to find the food, they don’t.

Enjoy your hummingbirds, they are simply amazing! Hummingbird Hummzinger Ultra Feeder