It's another stormy weekend and the wind is re-sculpting the landscape. The big winds and whiteout of Jan. 28 left behind drifts to my hips on the south side of the house.
When it got dark that night, I turned off the lights and lit a candle in the living room. With the town streetlight turned on across the road I sat with the curtains open and watched the snow blow. What a treat to see —— snow, snow and more snow. I was more than grateful to be indoors.
Looking outside the following morning the corvid community seemed to be adrift in a sea of snow, clamoring for a turn at the birdfeeders. I've been content to curl up with a good book on these snowy, blowy days. My friend Matt Twomey gave me a book written by Scott Shalaway, and the subject matter was butterflies. This insect grows in four stages. First is the eggm then the larva, followed by the pupa and finally the adult butterfly. To attract butterflies to your yard you need to plant the foods that the butterfly eats when it is in the larval stage, or when it is a caterpillar. Monarchs eat only milkweed, Orange Sulphers munch on alfalfa, vetch, lupine and clover and Wood Nymphs treat themselves to grasses. The Buckeye enjoys snapdragon, verbena and plantain while the Red Admiral prefers nettle and hops. The Painted Lady chows down on thistle, aster, hollyhock and mallow while the American Painted Lady consumes pussy-toes, thistle, lupine and sunflowers. The Milbert's Tortoise Shell finds its favorite food in nettles and the Mourning Cloak fancies elm, poplar and willow. The Great Spangled Fritillary feeds on violets. The Grey Haistreak, with its yellow blossom at the tips of its wings, feasts on a huge menu of legumes, corn, oak, mint, strawberry mallow, cotton, pine and milkweed. The Spring Azure that we often see here is a pale blue specimen having a liking for dogwood, sumac, cherry, meadowsweet, apple, oak and legumes. If you have these plants growing nearby providing food for the caterpillars, you may also see the butterflies in your yard. Besides feeding the caterpillars, you must provide nectar for the butterflies or they will leave. Just as the caterpillars have favorite foods, so do the butterflies.  Monarchs savor milkweed, clover, zinnia, daisy and aster. The Orange Sulpher chomp on dandelion, teasel, ironweed, thistle, goldenrod and mud. Wood Nymphs gobble up sap flows, rotting fruit, dung and nectar and the Buckeye's food sources are clover, Queen Anne's lace, sunflower, milkweed, ironweed, aster and mud. The Red Admiral gorges on sap flows, rotting fruit, milkweed and cosmos. The Painted Lady dines on thistle, ironweed, aster, clover, zinnia, marigold and joe pye weed and the American Painted Lady picks out daisy, burdock, mallow, yarrow, zinnia, milkweed, clover, dandelion and goldenrod.  Milbert's Tortoise Shell favorites include wildflowers and sap. Mourning Cloaks ingest meadow flowers, rotting fruit and animal dung. The Great Spangled Fritillary is partial to milkweed, thistle, joe pye weed, ironweed and dung. The Grey Hairstreak chews on wildflowers while the Spring Azure has a food group of redbud, serviceberry, spicebush, blackberry, milkweed, clover, dung and mud.  So there you have it —— just a few of the butterflies that visit our area and what to plant to keep them around.