A Coastal Alabama Garden: Monarch Caterpillars

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Monarch Caterpillars

I saw a monarch butterfly early this spring, hanging around the covered patio where I had placed some cuttings to root in pots. Sure enough, these little caterpillars showed up not long after!

Welcome!

I'm a lazy gardener located in a coastal county of Alabama, within a short drive of the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay.

My garden is in zone 8b (sunset zone 28), which means we have mild winters, hot summers, and a long growing season. Rain can (and will) fall any/every month of the year, sometimes by the bucketful, and humidity is a way of life.

We can grow a wide range of plants, including subtropicals, but anything that needs a good winter chill is out, and some plants just can't abide our delightful combination of relentless summertime heat and humidity. (Can't say that I blame them, to be honest...)

My gardening style is informal and eclectic. I love old-fashioned plants (and gardens)-- cottage gardens-- and exuberant, jungly plantings. I'm always in search of plants that are tough enough to survive my imperfect gardening practices-- but I'm trying to do better, year by year.

My husband (Donald) and I dabble in vegetable gardening, but it's not a passion. We share our large, fenced yard with two Eskies (American Eskimo dogs) named Trixie and Luna.