Madame’s Journey Home is a sweet tale of a Monarch Butterfly’s journey. The vivid and delightful pictures, illustrated by the authors son, will reach out and touch your heart! This is wonderful book, an inspirational story of Love shared with the world…

From the Author, Mariosa: Madame’s Journey Home is a children’s book filled with a powerful message of love and transformation. It is a true story of a woman and her son that found a Monarch butterfly on the eve of a killing frost. They named her Madame. She lived with them for three months and became part of their community.

This is the story of an amazing journey and a very special circle of life.

Madame’s Journey Home is available through Amazon Books.

Gertrud Jekyll, Zepherine Drouhin and Reine des Violettes

Spring brings me a delicate flurry of butterflies and welcomes roses first blooms.

When I’m not tending to my butterfly obsession, I tend to my old garden roses which are blooming especially profusely this year. I wanted to make use of my heavenly scented old garden roses, something that would last all year long, something I could share with friends

I decided to make one of my favorite treats, Rose preserves.  To make this heavenly rose treat, be sure to use organically grown, heavily scented Old Garden, Antique, English or Heirloom Roses for the most divine rose fragrance and flavor. I use a combination of Gertrud Jekyll, Zepherine Drouhin and Reine des Violettes.

OLD GARDEN ROSE PRESERVES
3 1/2 cups rose petals (packed, white part removed)
2 cup granulated sugar
juice of 1 lemon or lime

Pulse petals in the food processor and slowly add the sugar and lemon. Add more sugar or lemon if needed.

The preserves are so flavorful and gorgeous, they will take your breath away! Spread on biscuits, scones, crescent rolls, shortcake and cookies, dab on vanilla ice cream, cheesecake or cream brulee.  Rose preserves makes a wonderful filling for donuts too!

Rose Preserves

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) on Pink Saliva

A male pipevine swallowtail attempts to flirt with a female as she lays her eggs...

I recently visited a grove where the Pipevine Swallowtail’s host plant, the Dutchman’s Pipevine, grew vigorously. Here, in this shaded and otherwise peaceful wood, there was a state of butterfly pandemonium happening.

Male butterflies zealously chased female butterflies hoping to strike up a romance. The maternally driven ladies ignored the amorous males advances, and instead, tirelessly their laid eggs.

Female Pipevine Butterflies Laying Eggs

Other winged chaps spent their time attempting to defend their precious territories. Boldly these fellows chased their counterparts about the treetops, creating flashes of brilliant blue which rivaled the skies above. Stoic females continued to cooly oviposit, again, dismissing out of wing, the males showy displays.

The forest was a frenzy of flutter! Everywhere I stood I was bombarded by the scuttle of a wing. It was courtship chaos where no basking perch, nectar blossom nor host tendril was safe!

Are these Pipevine Swallowtail ingesting their host plant or smoking it?

The pipevine butterflies exhibited crazed mating and reproductive behaviors, as if they had all gone wild with passion. In no other species have I observed the sexes acting out their respective roles in such a fervent manner.

Made me wonder for a moment, if these swallowtail caterpillars had actually smoked, instead of ingested their host plant, the Dutchman’s Pipevine?

This hardy vine does, after all, as it’s name suggests, resemble a Dutchman’s pipe. When in bloom it flaunts, amongst it’s green-hearted foliage, oddly shaped flowers which form in an appearance similar to that of a dutchman’s pipe.

Dutchman's Pipevine (Aristolochia gigantea)

Male Pipevine on Purple Penstemon

Whatever the motivation, pipes or genetics, what was going on in the grove that day was nothing short of spectacular to behold for the butterfly enthusiast. Pipevine swallowtails are indeed vibrant and entertaining creatures at every stage of their development.

Years ago, when less exotic planting choices where available at local nurseries, people commonly grew Dutchman’s Pipevine in their gardens. Often they used it to cover and adorn porches, arbors and fences. Pipevine swallowtails could then be found more frequently in populated areas, even in urban neighborhoods.

To ensure the survival of this species be sure to plant Dutchman’s Pipevine somewhere in your yard. Keep Mother Nature’s show going! Support her dramatic and colorful productions. Then just sit back under your vine shaded porch, sway gently on your swing and enjoy the show… and your Pipe?… vine too! KD

Male Pipevine on Yellow Yarrow

Click the  Pipevine’s Wing below to learn more about this swallowtail…

Pipevine Swallowtail Wing

Fast Food Joint

Hold The Mayo, Extra Butterflies!

Tiger Swallowtail on Plumbago

You don’t have to go far to experience the wonders of Nature, because, whether you notice them or not, they surround you everyday! I was reminded of this recently as I frequented one of my favorite fast food joints.

While sitting in the drive-thru, dreaming of french fries, I noticed a delicate tiger swallowtail sailing by. She glided carefreely past me and landed somewhere within a large patch of Plumbago.

Plumbago Blossoms

As I watched the swallowtail disappear into the foliage, the sweet n’salty fantasy of fries drifted from my mind and I began to think about where the butterfly had flown off to. What other creatures might be found hidden amongst the sapphire hues of the Plumbago plant?

Male Marine Blue

I mused over how many times I had sat in this same line, driven past this delightful spot, which was teeming with butterflies and other winged creatures, and had not even noticed it. Did others, who idled here, waiting to order their burgers and such, ever see it, I wondered?

With curiosity driving me, I cruised the drive-thru, parked my car, ate lunch, grabbed my camera and proceed to climb down a small slope to a spot where I could further explore this newly discovered smorgasbord of Nature. I was not to be disappointed!

Lady Bug

Waves of Marine Blues swirled about on afternoon breezes mimicking ocean currents. Opalescent n’ indigo males moved with soft n’ fair females. A Violet Dancer cut in. Blue-gray blossoms of Plumbago complemented the performers charming display of ebb and flow.

Violet Dancer Damselfly

A youthful praying mantis played camouflage with me. He turned his mysterious gaze my way for just a moment then vanished back into the verdant jungle from which he came.

Fiery Skippers quenched their thirst with candied nectar from cool blooms. The blazing red lady bugs who appeared failed to alarm them. Itty bitty Marine Blue caterpillars munched away at sea-colored petals as if to pay tribute to their namesake and an alabaster butterfly floated in like a tide of innocence.

Female Marine Blue

What appetite could not have been satisfied here, in Nature, where such a feast of diverse beauty was being offered? Having my fill and feeling most content, I began to head back up the hill towards my car, when one more irresistible course was served.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Out from the meandering Plumbago arose the lovely swallowtail that had first caught my eye. She gracefully circled, then set down briefly upon a branch to rest.  As she affably perched, revealing her magnificent wings, I could not help but think of how she was reflecting back to me the delicious banquet of creation I had just been blessed enough to enjoy.   KD <

Young Praying Mantis

Skipper Sipping Nectar

Marine Blue Caterpillar

White on Plumbago

Big Mac,

Filet-O-Fish,

Quarter Pounder,

French Fries,  Icy Coke,

Thick Shakes,  Sundays &

Apple Pies….

Hmmm.. think I will take “Nature” the healthy choice instead!

Click the fast food clipart to learn more about California’s Butterflies,

(including Marine Blues) and download informational PDFs for free.

Bon Appetite from OWB!

Did a Butterfly save two Miners’ lives in Chile?

“In the countryside, our grandfathers, who were peasant farmers, knew it was a good omen to come across a white animal in the dark of night”

The white butterfly who appeared to guide two fortunate Chilean miners to safety, became a symbol of faith, a heaven-sent angel, for those praying for their loved ones still trapped in a collapsed mine. As the confined miners and their concerned families awaited a rescue, they could hold on to the Wings of Hope provided by this tiny bright flier.

(click on the white butterfly for the full CNN story)

I took a stroll through a local nature reserve and found myself being courted by this handsome male monarch.

At first he seemed like the shy and lonely type, as he circled me from afar, drifting alone on the quiet afternoon breeze.

Pink n’ plush Indian Milkweed helped set the mood, softening the landscape with billows of sweet and creamy cotton candy blossoms.

Gathering his courage the brave king of the butterflies flew in closer, alighting upon a lovely coneflower. He spread his wings and basked proudly, as if to eclipse it’s beauty.

This was such a majestic display and there may have even been a little romance, had I been a female monarch! Sorry fella. Thanks for the memories, but you had better fly off now and look for love in some other faces, starting with your own species! KD

Ascelias eriocarpa is a species of milkweed known by the common names of Woollypod Milkweed, Indian Milkweed and Kotolo. It is native to California and adjacent parts of Neveda and Baja California. It grows in many habitat types but thrives in sunny, dry areas. The female Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) uses this plant as a host and the males of this species can often be found fluttering around it “looking for love”…

Nevermore will a flying flower drift by you unnoticed
~K. D’Angelo

Divine creation can be seen painted on the canvas of a butterfly’s wing
~ K. D’Angelo

No garden truly blooms until butterflies have danced upon it
~K. D’Angelo

Butterflies are a breath of beauty fluttering by, they are mystery chronicled upon wing, they bring forth the grace and wonder of this world to our eyes everyday
~K. D’Angelo

Awaken to the universes simple gift of the butterfly. Watch with fascination and joy as a jeweled treasure glides by and gently touches your soul
~K. D’Angelo

A minute spec of life is set upon a leaf, out crawls a miracle a butterfly to be
~K. D’Angelo

Master magician, munching to and fro, a caterpillar works illusions til’ the end of his show
~K. D’Angelo

A self made sanctuary, a place for change and growth, a chrysalis is created in anticipation of both
~K. D’Angelo

Butterflies are God’s confetti, thrown upon the Earth in celebration of His love
~K. D’Angelo

Butterflies dance on the whisper’s of romance, alight upon their wings sun-kissed, joyfully soaring into Loves’s sweet bliss
~K. D’Angelo

Tremendous beauty can be found in the tiniest of things… for who has ever thought to rival that of a butterfly’s wing
~K. D’Angelo

All over the world butterflies soar into the hearts of man, they sail boundless and free, speaking the universal language of beauty
~K. D’Angelo

Butterfly flutters tickle the drowsy heart, awakening imaginations, curiosities, wonders and dreams. Where will you fly once touched by a Butterfly’s wing?
~K. D’Angelo

You are to me, as a butterfly to a flower
~K. D’Angelo

One could spend a lifetime lost in a butterfly’s wing
~K. D’Angelo

and now some of my other favorites…

Two great things you can give your children: one is roots, the other is wings
~Hodding Carter

Everyone is like a butterfly, they start out ugly and awkward and then morph into beautiful graceful butterflies that everyone loves
~Drew Barrymore

One can never consent to creep, when one feels an impulse to soar
~Helen Keller

The butterflies…What an educated sense of beauty they have. They seem only an ornament to society, and yet,

if they were gone, how substantial would be their loss
~Phil Robinson

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you
~Nathaniel Hawthorne

His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly’s wings. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred
~Ernest Hemingway

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man
~Zhuangzi

I would like to think that the singer is the butterfly, and the drummer was just the little grub in the ground, working to become a caterpillar
~Robert Wyatt

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly
~Richard Buckminster Fuller

Is it sin, which makes the worm a chrysalis, and the chrysalis a butterfly, and the butterfly dust?
~Max Muller

Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to t

he sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine
~Jeffrey Glassberg

“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.”
~Hans Christian Anderson

A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly
~Andre Gide

Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time
~Deborah Chaskin

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough
~Rabindranath Tagore

Kristen is a freelance writer, blogger and photographer.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine. In addition to her writing, Kristen is an active member of the Orange County Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) and my business partner in Obsession With Butterflies.  - Vickie Cole

Kristen D'Angelo

If you’ve enjoyed Kristen’s quotes, please explore some of her others writings: The Butterfly Dimension- A Butterflies World, Butterfly Dreamin’ – Butterfly Gardening in Southern California and How to How to Photograph Butterflies – Capturing the Beauty of Butterflies

Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour

Each of these gardeners has generously consented to share their passion for gardening with us and I urge you to attend as many of the gardens on the tour as you can.

Bleeding Heart

A bit of history about the Mary Lou Heard: In 1985, Mary Lou Heard opened Heard’s Country Garden Nursery, a magical nursery tucked away on a seldom traveled road in Westminster, California. The gardens were full of unique and often old fashioned annuals and perennials such as “Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate”, “Bleeding Heart” and “Four O’Clocks”. These, along with whimsical garden art, English and old garden roses, scented geraniums, herbs, vines and small trees made the nursery a delightful and special place to visit. In the center of the pebble-dusted paths was a small quaint old wooden “cottage” filled with gifts, books, potpourris and small bags of the finest organic fertilizers available. In the far back of the garden was another old wooden building, it too, filled with antiques, gifts and more home décor….it was for me, a gardeners’ shabby chic shopping heaven.

In 1993 Mary Lou came up with the notion of a garden tour, “real gardens by real people”. This is a self-guided tour, where you drive from home to home at your leisure to view the gardens.  The Heard’s Garden Tour was an instant success, bringing in over 800 garden lovers the first year and in later years, drawing in thousands of visitors. In 2000 Mary Lou Heard was diagnosed with cancer and two years later she would close her beloved nursery, and in her final Heard’s Country Garden Newsletter she wrote. “Though there are still many more gardens in my heat that have to be planted – the body is calling for a rest. Saying good-bye is the hardest thing I have had to do.”

The annual garden tour continues today, thanks to the Mary Lou Heard Foundation.

Anise Swallowtail Caterpillar Munching on Fennel

For those of us who had the pleasure of knowing Mary Lou Heard, this memorial garden tour holds a special place in our hearts. And for me, it’s especially significant, because it was at Heards Country Gardens Nursery, where I found my passion, butterfly gardening! Immediately upon attending a butterfly gardening class at the nursery, I was forever obsessed with butterflies. I was so fascinated with every detail of the butterfly class, taking notes and asking questions, that I could hardly wait to get home and start “gardening for the benefit of butterflies” myself. I especially remembered waiting in line to purchase a chrysalis from the teacher, Cathy, the “Butterfly Lady”, but to my disappointment, by the time I made my way to the front of the line, Cathy was out of butterfly chrysalises. She did however have a couple of caterpillars, and upon assuring her I was growing pesticide free fennel in my garden, she sold me one of her Anise Swallowtail caterpillars. I ever so carefully took it home, fed it, fretted over it, until finally that memorable day came when my Anise Swallowtail Butterfly emerged from it’s chrysalis, I knew I was hooked.

Wood’s Wildlife Wonder

This story brings me to tell you about one of the gardens on the Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour, it’s at the home of Helen and Ken Wood. The “Wood’s Wildlife Wonder” is filled with plants and trees selected to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Helen is a master gardener, her garden is certified as a  North American Butterfly Association certified butterfly garden, Monarch Way-station and Native Habitat. Last summer I had the pleasure of attending a “butterfly tea” at her home and was amazed at the number of butterflies visiting her garden. If you live in the Orange County area, I urge you to take the Heard’s Garden Tour, and don’t miss stopping by the Woods Garden, I’m sure Helen would be happy to talk to your about butterfly gardening. Be sure to bring your camera!

Mary Lou introduced me to the world of butterfly gardening,  I hope to inspire others to take the tour and begin gardening for the benefit of butterflies. ~Vickie

I SAW A LITTLE BUTTERFLY

I saw a little butterfly flying atop.

I said, “Please, Mr. Butterfly, won’t you stop”.

He flapped his bright wings and had no word to say.

And before I could get near him, he fluttered away!

One could spend a lifetime lost in a butterfly’s wing- K. D’Angelo

As you set out to photograph butterflies, whether it is in your own backyard or out in the field, the number one rule to remember is that there are no rules, save to enjoy yourself and to delight in your subject!

More important than any equipment, setting or technique is the photographer’s desire to capture and share their passion for nature. The best images are those which reflect the beauty that the eye of the photographer sees.

To learn more about photographing butterflies visit

OWB’s Photography Page