Finally, A Monarch

A Queen last year, Gulf Fritillaries and Zebra Longwings this year, and finally I find a tiny Monarch caterpillar on my pink swamp milkweed!

Not much going on in the garden. Long beans are producing another round, tomatoes are mostly done for the moment although blooming a bit, peppers continue to make a few fruit, herb garden has gone to blooms (basils).  The stinkbugs have been pretty bad.

I'm starting some native plant seeds.  I want to make a small native garden on the west side of my house.  Coming up so far are last year's seeds from the swamp hibiscus.  I filed each seed's coating off in a couple of spots to help them germinate.  Very high success rate!  Hopefully, they will survive over winter, though the above-ground foliage will die back.

Also planted: coneflower, blue-eyed grass, columbine, and liatris.  I replanted the coneflower cells today with fresh seeds off my plant to hopefully give them a better success rate.