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Butterflies

Blue Morpho

English: The butterfly species Morpho helena S...

The butterfly species Morpho Helena Svenska Image via Wikipedia

English: Photograph of a Blue Morpho butterfly...

Blue Morpho butterflyMorpho peleides. Image via Wikipedia

The Blue morpho is among the largest and most beautiful butterflies in the world. It comes in several varieties or subspecies.

The photos here show morpho species in their  full glory with their wings open.

Notice, though, how they just  look like brown leaves with their wings closed. That camouflage helps protect them from predators while they are eating or at rest.

Blue morpho is my personal favorite butterfly for sheer show-stopping beauty and glamour. I started a full article on the species awhile back, but the WordPress editor mysteriously swallowed it. I’ll write another one one later.

Meanwhile, I thought you would enjoy these images of the gorgeous Blue morpho!

 

 

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Blue Morpho Butterfly
by DavidDennisPhotos.com under CC-SA
Tags: blue morpho, blue morpho butterfly species, Butterflies

Attitudes Toward Butterflies in Past Eras? Authentic Butterfly Decor

Many of us like to include butterfly motifs in our home decor. Some hang framed butterflies on the walls. Others use butterfly patterned fabrics or needlework. Those things make our homes appealing to other butterfly lovers. In fact, most people like butterflies even if they do not know much about them.

If you have an old house that is furnished with period antiques, however, you may want to be sure your use of butterfly motifs is authentic, that you are using butterflies in a way that fits in with the era of your furniture and/or your house. One way to do that is to learn more about vintage interior decoration.

Certain ideas and images were more popular or less popular in different eras. One place to find out more about what kinds of images, motifs, and colors are most suitable for your home is Period Living magazine, which specializes in not only historical information about decor of various eras but also tips for achieving an authentic period look that is compatible with contemporary tastes and lifestyles.

If the house you are decorating is a summer residence or second home, you may also want to pick up rental advertising tips to learn how to attract renters who will respect your property and take care of it. A magazine that features articles on high-value properties with fine furniture and period decor can is a good place to find tips on, for example, how to make money from your second home.

As a butterfly lover, you probably know the best places in your area to watch butterflies, where there are nearby butterfly gardens open to visitors, and which butterflies frequent your area and your own garden. Sharing such information can make your rental home very attractive to butterfly lovers from other regions.

Meanwhile you can find out the best ways to incorporate your love of butterflies into your own decor. What could be better than that?

 


Tags: period living magazine, antiques, second homes, butterfly motif, Butterflies

The Best Way to Watch Butterflies? While Lounging in the Pool!

What is the best way to watch butterflies? Outdoors, of course. So you can see them close up. But even better than that is watching butterflies will lounging in or around the swimming pool.

Plant butterfly bushes (buddleia) near your swimming pool and watch butterflies hovering around the blooming flowers on warm, sunny days. Butterflies often need a place to get a drink of water, so you can make shallow puddles for them near your pool, too, to keep them around you longer.

Be sure you also keep your own pool sparkling clean with well-chosen pool filters and pool chemicals, and everyone will have a lovely day outside. It’s easy. You can order them on line and have them delivered to your door, along with the proper instructions for maintaining your pool.

It is fun to have coffee, breakfast by the pool to watch butterflies in the early morning sunshine. Their colors just seem richer in the early light. Lunch by the pool with friends and family is just more fun with butterflies, too.

You may even want to stay out after dusk to watch their cousins the moths as the night-blooming flowers open up. Some moths, like the luna, can be spectacularly beautiful. And dinner by the pool can be delightful as the day cools down.

When your favorite species of butterfly are swarming, for example, when the monarchs migrate through your area, you’ll want to take advantage of the opportunity to stay outside with them as much as you can.

Just make sure that your pool is well maintained, as healthful and beautiful as breakfast among the butterflies.


Tags: moths, Butterflies, buddleia, swimming pool, butterfly bush, pool chemicals, Monarch butterflies

Florida Butterfly Gardening: A Complete Guide to Attracting, Identifying, and Enjoying Butterflies

Florida Butterfly Gardening: A Complete Guide to Attracting, Identifying, and Enjoying Butterflies

From the foreword:”This is a book to treasure and use. One can browse in it for a few minutes before heading to the nursery and selecting some plants to start a garden. Or one can spend hours going through it, devouring each delicious morsel of information on your favorite butterflies. . . . Careful planning with this book will make anyone a successful butterfly gardener.”–Thomas C. Emmel, director, Division of Lepidoptera Research, University of Florida”The first comprehensive guide to butterfly gardening in Florida and adjacent states . . . useful to anybody interested in butterfly gardening in Florida, but it is especially useful, even indispensable, for those who plan their garden to be an educational as well as aesthetic experience.”—Mark Deyrup, entomologist, Archbold Biological Station· presents 400+ color photos taken by the authors, showing every butterfly in adult, larva, and pupa stages· presents practical information on garden plants, installation, and maintenance·

Sale Price:$19.70

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Tags: Guide, Complete, Butterflies, Gardening, butterfly, Attracting, Identifying,, Florida, Enjoying

Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden

Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden

The colorful presence of butterflies adds charm to every garden. This beautifully illustrated volume, focused on temperate climes around the world, provides all the information necessary to create a backyard haven for these delightful insects, including butterfly lifecycles, foods, and preferred habitats for breeding and hibernation. A bonus chapter on the art of photographing butterflies will turn even the most dedicated gardener into an enthusiastic

Sale Price:$10.92

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Tags: Attracting, Butterflies, Your, temperate climes, Garden

Gardens for Birds, Hummingbirds, & Butterflies (Black & Decker Outdoor Home Series)

Gardens for Birds, Hummingbirds, & Butterflies (Black & Decker Outdoor Home Series)

The spectacular color and motion of hummingbirds, songbirds, and butterflies adds a breathtaking dimension to any garden. This book will show readers how to design and maintain a landscape that will attract these “moving flowers” to the yard. Unlike similar books, which are mostly just catalogs of bird and butterfly species, this new entry to the Black & Decker Outdoor Home series focuses on designing, planting, and caring for a landscape that will attract and sustain birds and butterflies. Also unique are the more than two dozen building projects, such as a post-mounted bird house, that will stimulate retail sales of lumber and other building materials. Gardens for Birds, Hummingbirds & Butterflies includes identification photos of dozens of species of common birds and butterflies, and the plant encyclopedia includes 60 plants that are guaranteed to attract birds, hummingbirds, and butterflies. It also lists trees and grasses attractive to birds and butterflies as sources of

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Tags: Series), Home, (Black, Outdoor, Decker, Hummingbirds, Birds,, Gardens, Butterflies

Butterfly Spiral

Butterfly Spiral

Butterfly spiral adds shimmering serenity to your garden. Laser-engraved butterflies bend and refract sunlight in an ever-changing display of radiant colors as they spin in the breeze.

Sale Price:$7.98

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Tags: radiant colors, Spiral, Butterflies, butterfly

Attracting Hummingbirds and Butterflies to Your Backyard : Watch Your Garden Come Alive With Beauty on the Wing

Attracting Hummingbirds and Butterflies to Your Backyard : Watch Your Garden Come Alive With Beauty on the Wing

In her newest book for Rodale, the irrepressible Sally Roth zeroes in on one of North America’s best-loved backyard birds-the hummingbird-and on the beautiful, delicate insects that are all the rage among nature enthusiasts-butterflies. Becoming a dual hummingbird/butterfly watcher couldn’t be more natural for backyard gardeners and nature lovers because both of these types of winged creatures are attracted to beautiful nectar flowers. Sally Roth is a passionate gardener, and she shares all her best recommendations on the perfect flowers to plant to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. She has even included her original garden designs especially appealing to hummingbirds and butterflies, including an herb garden for butterflies, a red-hot garden for hummingbirds, and a $10 garden for butterflies (you can plant it for less than $10). And, of course, all of Sally’s advice is all-organic! There’s lots more you can do to attract and preserve butterflies and hummingbirds besides plant

Sale Price:$11.45

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Tags: Your, Hummingbirds, Alive, Butterflies, Watch, Attracting, Come

Butterflies in the Garden

Butterflies in the Garden

Swallowtails, sulphurs, and skippers. Brushfoots, whites, and gossamer wings. So many different kinds of butterflies!In her highly praised Style, Carol Lerner shows you how to lure these winged beauties into your garden. She vividly depicts flowers that attract hungry butterflies, as well as plants where they leave their eggs. Her clear text explains what butterflies eat and how they grow — from caterpillars to full-grown fliers.Every bright butterfly inside this book also appears on the endpapers. Can you match them all? With some practice, you’ll soon be able to identify those that come to your own butterfly

Sale Price:$14.02

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Tags: Butterflies, carol lerner, Garden, gossamer wings, different kinds of butterflies

Garden Butterflies of North America: A Gallery of Garden Butterflies & How to Attract Them

Garden Butterflies of North America: A Gallery of Garden Butterflies & How to Attract Them

The successful Garden Butterflies of North America is now available in a softcover edition, making the vivid color portfolio of 40 of North America’s most treasured and colorful garden butterfly varieties more affordable. Each of the individual butterflies is beautifully photographed in large-format, four-color images that are accompanied by natural history vignettes of the species and information on how to attract them. Illustrated instructions on how to design and manage gardens and backyards to attract butterflies comprises the remainder of the text. Numerous charts and plans for all types of gardens, from a container garden to a full-sized formal garden, specific details on plants that attract butterflies, how-to diagrams for building a butterfly hibernating box, and water sources such as ponds, fountains, mud baths, and waterless ponds are also included. Rick Mikula is the founder of the Hole-In-Hand Butterfly Farm where he’s been breeding and selling

Sale Price:$6.42

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Tags: North, Garden, Attract, America, Gallery, Them, Butterflies

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