Judi's Butterflies

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Beagles and Butterflies among Gomphria

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Wednesday April 18, 2012

A new milestone, and tales from the Relay For Life Butterfly customers

We’ve reached a new milestone in our project to raise money for Relay For Life: $1,100. And along the way, we’ve had stories from some of the people who’ve bought chrysalises:

A report from someone in the factory:

There’s a woman on my line who knew that her butterfly was going to hatch this morning, so she brought it to work and set it on her station. Then she went away for just five minutes to fill parts bins, and when she came back, there it was! So she missed it! But it’s so beautiful.

From an email message from Ronnie:

A guy was telling me yesterday that he had bought a chrysalis and brought it home and placed on the kitchen counter where he and his wife could keep an eye on its progress. He said that they came home after work on Monday and no chrysalis, in fact no container at all. He said that they were trying to figure out why someone would have broken into their house and only taken this item. They looked and found the container, which at that point now contained a butterfly, behind their couch in the living room. They put things together and figured out that the butterfly had emerged and its fluttering of wings had attracted the attention of the family cat. The cat knocked the container off of the counter and rolled it behind the couch. This guy said that the butterfly was unharmed and when they released it it flew right to his wife and landed on her chest before taking off for good.

A tale from Ronnie (note: story has a happy ending!):

You know Noreen bought two chrysalises for her granddaughters. Well, they emerged on the same day, and her daughter, the girls’s mother, took them outside to release. They opened the first container, and the butterfly flew away. But when they opened the second, the butterfly didn’t want to fly, so they got it on a finger and transferred it to a bush. They were admiring it when the family dog, a Labrador pup, suddenly opened his mouth and CHOMP!

The daughter grabbed the dog’s jaws and tried to pry them open, screaming “Give me back my butterfly! Give me back my butterfly!” She got the dog’s mouth open and removed the butterfly. She said the wings looked a little bent, but after a few seconds the butterfly took off and flew away, just fine.

From “Butterfly Greg”:

“Oh, and I’ve started to get calls from people asking if I’m the ‘butterfly Greg’ and wanting to know when they’ll be available again.”

Another report from Greg:

My phone rang. I picked it up and said hello, and a woman’s voice screamed into my ear, ‘I’M WATCHING A BUTTERFLY COME OUT. I’M WATCHING A BUTTERFLY COME OUT. OH MY GOD! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! I’M WATCHING A BUTTERFLY COME OUT.’ After a minute, she went on, ‘It’s out and hanging there. The wings are so tiny!’ I told her they would get bigger soon.

Later I received this email message from her:

Well, my little butterfly is on his way in the world. I let him go at lunchtime. He was nice enough to sit on my fingers for a bit before taking off. Very cool.

— posted by Judi and Greg · Comment · #

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I love the site and the information. The Garden is lovely and I look forward to my next visit. Fantastic job!

— Lynn Longenecker · Sat Jun 20, 05:16 PM · #

Wonderful picture of the Giant Swallowtail.

— Lynn Longenecker · Sun Jun 21, 09:42 PM · #

hi guys..i am enjoying your website. i am having touble though,with clicking onto the garden photos.
all so very interesting and beautiful!

happy fourth!
see you soon…barbie

— barbie dahl · Fri Jul 3, 03:21 PM · #

I went to the Butterfly Breakfast today and was fasinated with your demonstration. I learned so much. It was fantastic. I couldn’t wait to get home and check out your website. I love the pictures of the Caterpillar Chateau. I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you very much.

— Nancy · Sat Jul 11, 12:35 PM · #

I really enjoyed Breakfast With the Butterflies and am looking forward to your open house in August.

— Lynn Longenecker · Sun Jul 12, 12:02 PM · #

Hello everyone. Congratulations Judi on your 1,000th butterfly. That is fantastic. I am very excited, today I found my first gulf fritillary catepillars on my passion vines. Thanks to you and the Breakfast with the Butterfies I know what they are. I am looking forward to your Open House. See you soon.

— Nancy · Sun Aug 2, 02:56 PM · #

Greg,
You know I love you and that you are one of my favorite persons, but that might change after that terrible photo you posted of me!

— Judi01 · Sun Aug 9, 10:42 PM · #

Hello Judi and Company,
We had a great time at your open house in the butterfly gardens. They are so beautiful. You all have done a fabulous job. The new screen house is so cool and the number of butterflies you have is incredible. Oh, did I mention the lemonade? Very refreshing. Thank you so much for everything. Hope to see you again soon.

Nancy and Bob

— Nancy · Sun Aug 23, 05:28 PM · #

Thanks so much for opening your home to us, we all had such a wonderful time, you have inspired me to finish the landscape in my backyard. The kids have even more of an appreciation for the butterflies now, you showed them things that grandma missed. Hope to see you guys soon! Sandy, Sun Harbor Nursery

— Sandy Ball · Sun Aug 30, 08:45 PM · #

Hi Greg and Judi,
It was great to meet you the other day at the St Thomas Farm. I am so impressed and inspired by what you have done in your own backyard.
Thanks for the nice write up about the St Thomas Butterfly Farm.
Lets continue to flood the world with butterflies!

Sharon
Manager
The Butterfly Farm St Thomas

— Sharon · Wed Sep 2, 02:28 PM · #

Thanks Greg and Judi for the wonderful write up of the Curacao Butterfly Garden and the beautiful picture. Now I want to go there!

— Lynn Longenecker · Thu Sep 10, 09:59 AM · #

Nice posts there – thank’s for the interesting information.

— Oleg · Wed Sep 30, 07:04 PM · #

Excellent posts, thank’s.

— Gard · Thu Oct 1, 04:51 PM · #

Map of Julia distribution shows that you had seen every one in the region. Exaggerated, but not greatly.

This accompanying statement : “Adults forage along a set route of nectar sources each day in a behavior known as trap-lining”
perhaps explains their non-visitation of your garden.

It may be that the neighborhood will have to link to the route.

— phix · Sun Oct 4, 05:51 PM · #

Nice posts there. Thank’s for the interesting information.

— Hunter · Mon Oct 12, 05:45 PM · #

Congratulations Judi on raising and releasing 1700 butterflies. The new Hummingbird Garden looks lovely ….can’t wait to see it in person.

— Lynn · Mon Mar 15, 11:36 AM · #

Hello Judi, Greg and family,
Sorry it took so long to write. We just got back from a trip. Wow, the Open House was fantastic. We were so impressed with how your gardens came back (with a lot of hard work) after our harsh winter and of course, Butterfly House. You have so many more species this year. We were very inspired. Thank you all so much for the wonderful experience. We are looking forward to your next Open House. I encourage everyone to return. There is something new each time. Many thanks.
P.S. The website is great. We love the Photo of the Day.The Zebra Swallowtail is AMAZING!!! How did you do that?

— Nancy and Bob · Sun Jun 20, 08:43 AM · #

Judi…Thanks for the fantastic photo of the Pipevine Swallowtail. That must have been a difficult shot to get….you are an excellent photographer. Thanks Again!

— Lynn · Sat Jul 17, 09:15 AM · #

Hello to everyone,
As always we are so surprised at what we get to see at your Open House, but not surprised at the great job you all do. We are huge fans of the Zebra Longwing and to see so many at one time was a joy. You all do a magnificent job and we want you to know that we appreciate your sharing your gardens with us. We can’t bear to miss one Open House and are looking forward to next year already. (Can you take some time to rest first?) Thank you very much for everything. N & B

— Nancy and Bob · Wed Sep 22, 04:44 PM · #

I wish we had Butterflies like this in Reno, Nv.
David from Puerto Rico

— David H Calhoun · Mon Nov 29, 07:43 PM · #

Judi and Greg were wonderful tour guides. They took us through their fabulous butterly kingdom and educated us while we were enjoying all of the sights. You guys are doing a great thing and hopefully your passion will illuminate everyone you touch.

— Dahria and Chris Chasmar · Fri Apr 29, 02:29 PM · #

Butterfly not butterly :)

— Dahria and Chris Chasmar · Fri Apr 29, 02:31 PM · #

I can’t make the Open House. Please let me know when the next butterfly event is planned.

— Lucy Serody · Wed Jun 1, 06:11 PM · #

Dear Friends,
We had a fabulous visit to your garden yesterday. As always we learn so much and are so inspired. The new pond is a perfect addition. Thank you so much for everything: the great tour, the delicious cake (so cute) and thirst quenching lemonade, the lovely gifts and of course- the Great Southern White caterpillars. They are happily munching away. We appreciate your hard work and dedication. Thanks for sharing your garden and again for the wonderful experience.

— Nancy and Bob · Sun Jun 5, 11:46 AM · #

Congratulations Judy on raising and releasing 3900 butterflies. Wow!! Great job! Looking forward to the Open House next weekend.

— Lynn · Fri Sep 2, 11:55 PM · #

Really enjoyed your open house. Picked up a few nice plants as well. It was a very informative tour with beautiful surroundings.

— GWEN CHRISTOPHER · Wed Sep 28, 02:10 PM · #

<url>http://dennisssblegh.com|dennis</url>

hi
love your site!

— dennis · Tue Jan 31, 01:53 PM · #

Hi Judi:
What a wonderful way to help the Relay For Life program…by donating chrysalis’s to benifit the fight against cancer. I am sure that everyone who has purchased a chrysalis has enjoyed the experience of the butterfly emerging. Way to go JUDI!!!!

— Lynn · Tue Feb 14, 11:13 PM · #

I was gifted one of your Monarchs and love watching the changes in the chrysalis….even bought milkweed, parsley and dill for more. How do I purchase more to release??

— Nancy H · Wed Mar 14, 09:41 PM · #

Hi Judi:

As a member of The Port Malabar Garden Club, I want thank you for allowing us to visit you on Friday 4/27.

What a wonderful expierence, real enjoyment. We need more nice people like you.

— Merle Orlowski · Sat Apr 28, 02:33 PM · #

Hi Judi:
CONGRATULATIONS ON HAVING YOUR BACKYARD CERTIFIED AS WILDLIFE HABITAT.

— Lynn · Wed May 16, 09:02 AM · #

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