The autumn monarch butterfly migration is underway. I think word finally got out on the Migration Superhighway, and the word on the street is that we have fantastic nectar snacks for the road--the lantana is a huge hit with the monarch butterflies! We've got more butterflies this year than we've ever had before, even though we've had the lantana for years. I am always one to look for omens and signs (seems like a bad habit I should stop), so I cannot help but wonder what the butterfly bonanza means. Of course there is all the symbolism of change and rebirth, which may certainly have a role in my life these days. But I was actually thinking of more of a weather type of thing. I love the cold and rainy weather so much that I'm always looking for signs of impending heavy weather--lots of walnuts on the tree? Check. Fluffy tails on the squirrels? Got 'em. So lots of butterflies...they need to get out of town en masse because of the coming harsh winteriness? I can only hope. But look at these flowers--if I was a butterfly I would certainly stop by--they're gorgeous. 
I strongly recommend planting lantana here in Vacaville. It does have a rather pungent scent that some people don't like (I have grown to like it because I love these plants, and when I can smell it I know pool time is coming), but as long as you don't crush the leaves, you won't smell it. Butterflies and birds, especially hummingbirds, seem to adore it.
My gardening philosophy is that the strong will survive. I'm not a big fan of gardening, but I do want the yard to look nice. Our lantana thrives on my benign neglect. It grows in full blazing sun, gets minimal water (a deep drippering about every week, even in summer), and comes back after being "killed" by the frost. Some years we cut off all the dead wood left after the frost (the plant turns brown and black, looking as though it caught fire), and sometimes we don't. Doesn't matter. It comes back thick and lush every year. The lantana loves it here, and we love the lantana!
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