Every wildlife garden needs water, but its going to take a lot more work until I get it right.

It's February and there are cicadas everywhere! Their songs are definitely the sound of summer!

This week was I Love Butterflies week and the Big Backyard Butterfly Count. See what I spotted!

A visit to West Lynn Gardens butterfly house, filled with tropical planting and monarch butterflies

Success! Monarchs finally arrive in the butterfly garden and I note which flowers are their favourites.

I see a stick insect for only the second time and hope it won't be as long until the next sighting.

Cabbage whites are the only butterflies around and I begin to appreciate them.

A tui nest is discovered in the garden and we watch them grow to fledglings

Parasitic wasps wipe out a generation of red admiral butterflies.

New Zealand has a range of native nettles, which admiral butterflies need for food and which I'm incapable of growing.

How I found out what introduced predators are in my garden and why they are a problem.

Lomandra defeats all the planning and clearing the site for the butterfly garden stalls

The garden is filled with pest plants and we needed help. I also manage to talk butterflies, 'cos that's how I roll.

Step 2 of the project plan is to monitor moths and butterflies. Each month I trap moths to see what's nearby.

Introduction to the garden & planned projects for butterflies & wildlife. Start reading here.