While the Pfeffer-Beach Butterfly House is usually the best place to see butterflies in the Garden, visitors can look forward to seeing a lot of activity outside the Butterfly House in the Children’s Garden right now. In just one morning yesterday, we spotted the following:

• Giant Swallowtail
• Polydamas Swallowtail - They've laid eggs through the screen of the Butterfly House vestibule and there are now huge caterpillars on that pipevine
• Black Swallowtail - One of the biggest of this species we've seen yet! It was laying eggs on the fennel and parsley in front of the Cracker House
• Cloudless Sulphur
• Orange-barred Sulphur
• Common Buckeye
• White Peacock
• Monarch
• Queen
• Fiery Skipper
• Long-tailed Skipper
• Gulf Fritillary
• Eastern Pygmy Blue - One of the smallest butterflies in the world! Several of them were laying eggs on the white plumbago in front of the Butterfly House
• A kind of mothy microlepidoptera on tater Hill

Again, this was outside the Butterfly House; there are different species in there. It’s a butterfly bonanza at the Garden!

Summer has begun (officially on the 21st), graduation parties are in full swing, and families get to enjoy time together on vacations and getaways this month now that school is out.  In addition to all of the sun-soaked beach days and relaxing hammock swings, June also gives us a certain day to show some extra love to our Dads!

On Sunday, June 20^th Naples Botanical Gardens is hosting a Father’s Day Celebration that is going to be packed with awesome things for you and your dad to do! The Garden welcomes any male adult (aka Dads) for free and provides a range of activities (most of which are new to the Garden) from 9am to 12pm, including:

• Catch & Release Fishing (9am-5pm) – Be one of the first to fish in the lakes at the Garden.
• Fly Casting Demo (9:30am, 10:30am, 11:30am) – Learn fly fishing tips from an expert.
• Closest to the Pin (9am-12pm) – Win a prize by hitting your golf ball closest to the pin!
• Remote Control Boats (9am-12pm) – Take a turn driving one of a motorized boats around the Brazil pond.
  • Uplands “Survivor” Tour (10am, 11am) – Learn survival skills in the scrub with Chad Washburn.
    
        All of this to show our Dads how much we really care. So join us for this fun event. We'll also be posting any submitted pictures from the fishing to our Facebook page next week!

Have you seen our new signs in the Garden? We know that statistics say most people don’t read signs, but we’re just begging to challenge this. We happen to believe that our visitors want to read MORE about the Garden and its residents (plants). So we’ve been creating some signs with interesting factoids and tips. You will see them strategically placed here and there to tell you a bit more about a flower, or perhaps point out something about a unassuming tree you wouldn’t otherwise know.

These signs are just one more way that we’re trying to connect with our visitors and we hope you find them helpful!

We'll be adding more and rotating some of the signs to match with what's new in the Garden, so you should always have something new to read. If there is a plant that you want to know more about or you feel should have a sign, please let us know.

Whether you are an aspiring or master gardener, lover of flowers or appreciative of some greenery here and there, you’ll enjoy yourself at the 57th Annual Naples Flower Show. Presented by Naples Garden Club and Naples Botanical Garden, this event is one of the Garden’s largest annual events. This year guests will have the chance to enjoy live music by Barefoot Gino and Joseph Peuska in the newly expanded Gardens as well as see art exhibits in the Kapnick Auditorium and peruse vendors and stunning floral arrangements in the Mosaic or “Old Garden” near the administration building.

Some tips for the show:

• Wear comfortable shoes – Between the 2.5 miles of walking trails in the Garden and spread out components of the Flower Show, you’ll want to have the appropriate footwear on.
• Bring your camera – Between the floral arrangements, art exhibits, and wide variety of landscapes and plants in the Garden you’ll want to take pictures at some point.
• Take a program – Check out the locations of what you’re looking for and schedule of various entertainment and demonstrations so you don’t miss anything
• Look before you shop – Go see the exhibits in the Kapnick Auditorium and the Flower Show floral arrangements before you buy things, since you’ll want to take your time and not be weighed down with bags.
• Grab a bite to eat – Take a break and grab a bite to eat at the CaterMasters tent where they’ll be selling tasty snacks and lunches between 11am and 2pm.

Fun and engaging pet entertainment, non toxic mulch, and precautionary steps for your pet’s safety, are some things to consider if you want to make sure your pets have a safe and functional place outdoors. Do some research online to become familiar with some of the many plants which are poisonous to pets, without ignoring those plants which are edible vegetables for us people, but some of which are hazardous to the health of our pets. If you have a large property, it may be unpractical and expensive to fence off the entire yard, so you might be forced to fence off a portion of the property and let the dog play there safely. Don’t rely on a fence as being 100% effective, because some dogs particularly love the challenge of digging below the fence to escape, whilst others can easily squeeze through a narrow gap in a picket fence. 

Barbara Finn’s adorable Gucci, looks perfectly at home in this garden environment.

Pets get from point A to point B in the garden similar to how we humans navigate. We prefer a walk or path. So do pets. If you are trying to keep pets, especially larger dogs from causing too much damage to your shrub beds, you’ll have to be sensible by planting trees, shrubs and perennials of at least some decent substance, and avoid tiny little plants which are likely to be trampled. Consider keeping annual flower beds off limits to dogs.

Unsightly brown spots on lawns which are caused by high concentrations of nitrogen in male and female urine can be avoided by flushing out the area with water, which will solve the problem, but will become a chore if it has to be done every single time. If you have dogs who love to dig in the garden, let them have a small area where they can dig in the dirt, or as a last resort consider a small sand pit for the very persistent digger, but be mindful that this could be an open invite for other cats from the neighborhood to come and dig too.

Have a fenced area like above where your pets can go “potty”, keeping your outdoor space clean for you and your guests.

The best way for keeping a garden where both animals and people can interact together is to have a designated area where dogs can do their business. A dog run, or fenced area is a good approach in this regard. This is a great technique which can be taught to your dog, not just reserved for puppies. You can, with a little persistence, train your dog to go potty in even the smallest of designated areas. When it’s time for a bathroom break, bring your dog outside to the chosen area and say in authoritative voice “Empty!”, or “Go Pee”. After a successful attempt, give a treat and lots of praise. If they don’t do as required, bring them back inside for 1/4 of an hour and then repeat the process. Continue this for two to three weeks until they’ve fully learned the process. If they are a little resistant, like on rainy days, don’t scold, just reinforce the technique until it is second nature.

The pet industry is an enormous $43billion in the U.S. People care a great deal for their pets, for many a good reason. Some of us even prefer our pets to some less favorable relatives. There is estate planning, and holistic practitioners for pets. We even design gardens, complete with underground explorative tunnels, and areas in which pets can be self entertained with interactive water jets which provide hilarious activity and so much fun opportunities for home videos of your pets playing. We’ve designed a pet garden for the brand new Camp BowWow, a day care facility with overnight boarding which recently opened here on Mercantile Ave in Naples. The garden will be a simple green space for doggies and owners to chill when they check in or check out. The walls will be adorned with colorful climbers, dog and people seating, a natural, decorative water feature which also acts as a drinking fountain, along with artistically designed plantings. Camp BowWow is the latest and greatest in doggie day care, with web cameras for curious owners, specialized camp councilors, indoor and outdoor play areas, comfortable kennels for 50 overnight borders and 100 day care dogs. However, there’s more. They even have an overnight suite, log cabin style, with plush bed and separate web cam.

Come to the all new Naples Botanical Garden twice a month to walk your dog with other like minded pet lovers for an opportunity to enjoy the splendid gardens, visit www.naplesgarden.org. For a limited time only, your dog can be a founder dog, funds from which help support the garden. For commercial entities, enquire about the various sponsorship opportunities available which offer more value than traditional marketing, and also support this worthwhile nonprofit.

Credits
Brendan Moran the garden artist, of Gardens By Brendan designs gardens, writes and lectures here in SWFL, the U.S and internationally, and lives here in Naples.

I’m sure many of you have seen the movie or theatre production of “Little Shop of Horrors”. Well, have I got a plant for you! It doesn’t eat people, or bugs for that matter, but it’s loaded with spines, opens at night and is incredibly beautiful!! I’m pointing my finger at the Amazon water lily! We currently have the Victoria amazonica and Victoria ‘Longwood Hybrid’ (which is a cross between V. amazonica and V. cruziana). Both are just spectacular in size and appearance in the Brazil Garden water feature.

One interesting fact about the lilies is the entire underside is armed with spines! From stem, to underside of lily pad, to the flower…everything has spines. I must wear gloves in order to trim off old flower heads and leaf pads. They have been blooming non stop since they’ve arrived at the garden. They bloom at night, and the flower is white and scented. The second night, the flower is pink, and then it’s done.

Caring for these plants is a labor of love. Weekly, I fertilize with a pellet fertilizer…this is the easy part. I simply punch the pellets into the soil around the plant. The real fun comes in the form of injecting a mixture into the soil. Using a liquid combination, which includes fish emulsion, it is pulled into a syringe and injected into the soil. With proper feeding the pads continually grow. The record is 106”! I don’t think ours will get that large, but hope to come close!

These plants were started from seed by Ken Mayberger of Roseglen Nursery last spring and moved to the Garden in August – you can check out the movie at this YouTube Video...

Come out and wander in the Brazilian Garden to see these amazing plants!

When I wed my sweet Irish colleen, Sandra, in Hawaii after a short ten year courtship, it seemed obvious that Sandra would be adorned with Plumeria leis of Hawaiian fame. We were married on the beach, shoes off, beneath a blazing orange sky, with even more Plumeria in full bloom adjacent to the beach. I always remember landing in Honolulu, the airport filled with people assembling these flower leis of impressive colors and varying fragrances. The hotel we stayed at in Maui, had a member of staff dedicated to sweeping up all the fallen blooms of Plumeria from the pool area, and the properties pathways. We marveled at the sheer abundance of these gorgeous flowers growing everywhere throughout the islands. Back then, we were living in Boston, and I often envied people living in the tropics who could grow Plumeria at will, in their gardens. Well here we are in Naples, and are just blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful flowers.

Plumeria, commonly referred to as frangipani is native to the tropics of the Caribbean, C. America and Venezuela, but now have far reaching homes in Hawaii, and many other tropical regions. Their fragrance is unmistakable. Their range in color is equally impressive, the delicate flowers born in white, yellow, pink, red and combinations of the same called rainbows. However, it's one of the easiest plants to grow. In fact, it's possible to cut a stem from a tree and literally stick it into the ground. It will happily take root on its own, soon to become another Plumeria tree. In Ireland we do a similar thing with Willow. There is even an art form of creating intricate woven fences from live Willow stems, which eventually take root and become the most unique hedge you've ever seen.

The Gardens have recently signed an agreement with the Plumeria Society of America to host about 350 different cultivars of the popular Plumeria. The Plumeria Collection will be among the most comprehensive in the world. What's even better, is that you can get involved to be part of this great legacy, by participating in the world's first public registered Plumeria collection. For details on how to participate please visit the Society's website and to learn more about these great flowering plants www.theplumeriasociety.org

Here's a brief of how you can become part of this collection. You can donate a "registered" Plumeria to the Plumeria Society of America (PSA), and have your name on the botanical label or sign which accompanies each plant. The society will provide a plaque such as this, for each plant. Naples Botanical Gardens have already got about 85 different cultivars, and the collection is growing, managed by Carolyn Miller, curator of collections. If you wish to contact Carolyn about getting involved, she'll welcome your emails at cmiller@naplesgarden.org

See you in the gardens.

Brendan

Credits
Brendan Moran the garden artist, of Gardens By Brendan designs gardens, writes and lectures here in SWFL, the U.S and internationally, and lives here in Naples.