All praying mantis eat butterflies, but South African mantis also eat New Zealand mantis. This means war.

Turns out there is lots going on at night in the garden. Possums are sauntering around.

A new trail camera helps me uncover the answers to the garden's great mysteries

I put chew cards out to test for predators. The rats let me know just how many of them were still in the garden.

A kaka comes to visit on Matariki and we watch it foraging for wood boring insects

Which butterflies visited in summer 2024/25? Which didn't?

Why winter gardening is not recommended. The heavy work to expand the butterfly garden means getting muddy.

Yellow admiral butterflies are eclosing daily, despite the winter weather.

Our not quite Insta-worthy dead hedge and definitely not butterfly worthy nettle bed is constructed

We finally plant trees in the garden - one each for our children - but with no placentas to plant underneath, we improvise.

Keep your eyes open for overwintering groups of monarchs and monarchs with "tags".

There are yellow admiral caterpillars everywhere, eating me out of house and home.

A guide how NOT to raise red admiral butterflies. Various disasters have hit my red admiral caterpillars but a few beautiful ones have made it to become butterflies.

The lomandra is finally gone, but there is plenty still to dig up.

A Rotorua visit proves that the common blue butterfly is indeed common. I enjoy seeing them in every direction.

A beautiful yellow admiral butterfly visits unexpectedly to lay its eggs.

My first experiences of dragonflies in the new Auckland garden, but it all starts with an unusual butterfly sighting.

A visit to Franklin Farm's butterfly house is AMAZING and I watch monarchs on the beautiful range of flowers.

English style flower gardens around Auckland to get inspiration from for my butterfly garden

I want to choose native plants that belong in this habitat, but I need to plant for erosion as well. Why I'm a native plant hypocrite.