BlizzardNole

Wow those are some awesome caterpillars! I had to look up Regal moth to see what they look like. I got a Luna moth to lay some eggs in a paper bag a few years ago, and read up on how to raise 'em. I released about 12 Luna moths that summer. I have two monarch chrysalises that will hatch next week while we are in Ocean City. So, they are going and will be launched from a 6th floor balcony to be beach butterflies.

Well got about 0.2 which is pretty good rain for us.

Wow at Odenton -- looks like 4 or 5 different cells just coalesced over top of them. Gonna be wild there for a bit.

I am going to run the sprinklers hard this evening. I am convinced it will not rain at all here today or tomorrow. My yard was dusty and hard as rock when I cut the grass yesterday.

There will be some places that get very heavy rain, but I fully expect to be out watering my hardpan, parched gardens tonight. I am looking forward to lower temps starting tomorrow.

If we are driving to Ocean City on Saturday, do we need a fanboat? Cutting the grass right now. It is HOT!

A very nice setting you have there! After 20 years we are tiring of being in a tight development with houses 20-30 feet away. I mean, the back walls of the houses behind are literally in our face. With so many yards close by, it's a rule that at least one lawnmower fires up as soon as we try to enjoy the deck in the evening. Being a federal employee and looking at much more telework in the future, I am eyeballing Carroll County!

Amazing. Imagine what that looked like coming down. I remember hearing about the unbelievable rain that Maria dropped in this town in Puerto Rico, including 40 inches in 24 hours. Hurricane Maria dropped 14 inches in one hour on Caguas, Puerto Rico

Nothing at all after two days of flood watches. Good thing I got 1.85" from Isaias because I think yesterday was the last chance for rain for a long time.

Yup. That big storm last night sat 5-10 miles from me for a couple hours. Heard the thunder but missed. I knew today would be a shutout.

Got 0.00 yesterday evening and expect the same today.

Wow that must have woke you up. I heard thunder around that time but only got 0.2 here. I hope no heavy rains today for my beleaguered relatives in Calvert County.

Butterflies have shown up big time. Lots of tigers especially. It's funny how they seem to show up at once.

Nothing overnight. It's so dry here I am even doubting the big rain they are advertising for Tuesday.

Thanks for pointing out the new CoCoRaHS map. Check out the one-day for George Town, Bahamas.

Very nice! The lack of butterflies is really weird this year; hopefully we'll see more soon. Next year I want to add some plants to try to get black swallows. I am glad that my hummingbirds are always reliable, arriving end of April and staying until September.

I got a butterfly garden started about 12 years ago and have been raising monarchs every summer since then. I used to do the whole deal bringing in eggs and small cats, and raising them all the way. One year I must have raised more than 100. That can be a lot of work! The last few years I've been mostly letting them do their thing outdoors and bring healthy chrysalises I find in. I usually grab a few cats to bring inside. Butterflies are late this year. I finally have a couple tigers hanging around.

I got a butterfly garden started about 12 years ago and have been raising monarchs every summer since then. I used to do the whole deal bringing in eggs and small cats, and raising them all the way. One year I must have raised more than 100. That can be a lot of work! The last few years I've been mostly letting them do their thing outdoors and bring healthy chrysalises I find in. I usually grab a few cats to bring inside. Butterflies are late this year. I finally have a couple tigers hanging around.

That is tropical milkweed. I usually buy seeds and start indoors and treat as annuals (I've never seen them in garden centers). They grow to 3-4 feet tall and bring in lots of monarch caterpillars, and other butterflies and hummingbirds love the nectar. They look best in clusters. Rabbits and deer will not touch it. I get lots of chrysalises from late July through mid-Sept, and find them hanging on fences, siding, tops of doorways, etc. They are like clock-work once they make the chrysalis, almost always hatching 10 days later. I usually bring chrysalises I find outside in so they can hatch safely. I've gotten good at getting them down -- I wait until they've hardened a little (couple days), and spray them with a little water, then carefully pull off with the webbing material they attach with. I also sometimes I'll bring in a dozen or so cats to let them make their chrysalises inside. Oh and lantana is a great butterfly attracting plant. Low maintenance and deer/rabbit proof. Here are some pics from last year: Just hatched on the deck: Bunch of chrysalises in an aquarium: Tropical milkweeds in a cluster:

Got a couple monarch caterpillars -- pretty good size already.

Butterfly garden is looking good. I've seen a few monarchs around so I should have caterpillars soon. The hummingbirds really love that tropical milkweed (tall, orange-flowered). Sometimes they even bypass my feeders for that stuff.

They've confirmed those darn Asian Giant Hornets (aka "murder hornets") out in Washington. One bee keeper out there found thousands of her honey bees decapitated. I killed a European hornet the other day. Mean looking thing!

Still raining with thunder in Germantown with clear blue sky to the west. Was pretty wild for a couple minutes with torrential rain blowing in sheets.

Main line is approaching and I'm hearing lots of thunder with this one.

Really pouring now, but no thunder. Darn gutter is already clogged again.