The Garden Club of Shawnee

06/15/2026

Beckie's daylillies!

06/09/2026

The black swallowtail I've seen flying around the garden found something it liked today - tall verbena (verbena bonariensis.)

Red-spotted purple can be difficult to separate from any dark swallowtails if seen in flight at a distance. It does not have tails like most swallowtails.

06/07/2026

In The Old Shawnee Days Parade on Saturday The Garden Club of Shawnee's entry won first prize - again - and this time the award was a cash prize! It was Shana's first time heading the parade committee and she did a terrific job (in addition to making all the seed packets!) Greg's float creation of giant soccer balls inside wood sunflower frames was truly impressive and it fit the theme of the parade perfectly - "Kicking it in Kansas." The parade team showed up early to help put together the float construction and then walked a very long parade route, handing out hundreds of packets of sunflower seeds. Thank you to our tireless parade committee for all your work and for representing us at Old Shawnee Days and making the garden club proud!

06/05/2026

The overcast sky kept the setting sun from baking us at our picnic Thursday night at West Flanders Park.The food was fabulous; a wonderful assortment of salads, hot dishes and desserts-oh the desserts! We voted for our favorites and the winners got gift cards. We ended the evening with a challenging game of Mary's trivia. The Old Shawnee Days Parade is this Saturday and we'll be part of it, handing out packets of sunflower seeds. They're always a big hit!

06/04/2026

Almost fledglings.

06/02/2026

The annual Garden Club Picnic will be this Thursday, June 4th, at 6 pm at West Flanders Park, 55th and Nieman, in Shawnee. We'll be at Shelter #2 near the garden. Please bring a dish to share, either a main dish, salad, side, or dessert. The club will provide lemonade, water, and paper products. Hope to see you there!

06/02/2026

June is peak silk moth season. The largest, most spectacular moths in North America emerge this month — and most of them fly for less than two weeks.

Already flying since May: hummingbird clearwing and snowberry clearwing at the flowers during the day. White-lined sphinx hovering at dusk. Giant leopard moth with bold black spots on white wings.

🌿 Emerging this month:

- Polyphemus moth — five-inch wingspan with enormous eyespots on the hind wings. One of the largest moths in your yard.
- Luna moth — pale green, long tails, no mouth. Roughly a week to find a mate and lay eggs. That's the whole adult life.
- Io moth — bright yellow with eyespots. The caterpillar stings — the adult is harmless.
- Imperial moth — yellow and brown, nearly as large as the polyphemus. Emerging in mid-to-late June.
- Promethea moth — males fly during the day. One of the few silk moths you can see in daylight.
- Rosy maple moth — bright pink and yellow. The most photographed moth in the eastern US.

Most of them have no mouth as adults. They emerged to reproduce, not to eat. June nights are when it happens 🐾