Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 37, 0 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
I wish we got more Red Spotted Purples here - they're so pretty. My MOSI boss saw one not too long ago but they're few and far between. I had a Polydamas on my plumbago when I pulled in but by the time I got the camera it was gone. In other news, my first Monarch should be eclosing tomorrow from the looks of it. Mom watched over the third one as he made his chrysalis today. She's naming them in alphabetical order like they're hurricanes. So far we have Alice, Mr. Big, and Chuckie. I had to show her how the head capsule and skin come off all in one piece. I don't know what she thought it was but now she's informed.

And in other news that I know will excite many of you, Mom has spotted a hummingbird. I didn't report it at first but she's seen it three times now and Dad has spotted it once. So now I'm declaring it official. In all cases it was spotted near the front door and Mom saw it feeding on - what else?- the purple porterweed. There must be the butterfly equivalent of crack in that plant. There's also a firecracker fern nearby and it would surprise me if the hummingbird was feasting on that. Dad saw a hummingbird years ago on the plumbago, but this is the first one he's seen in a while. Reports vary as to it's color and Dad's a little colorblind so he's not a reliable witness. I'll show them pictures and see what they say.

Oh, speaking of the purple porterweed, Mom saw a Zebra Longwing divebombing the Monarch to chase it away. At the butterfly festival next weekend I will be buying lots and lots of purple porterweed. Dad went to get the paper the other morning and saw a large moth that looked like a "furry butterfly" feeding on it. It must have been large because he said it looked almost like a bat. I've seen the butterflies land on the purple porterweed, then go to the blue (which is planted right beside it), and then go back to the purple. It's kind of bizarre!

Here's a pic from this weekend of the Gulf Frit coming in for a landing on my now infamous purple porterweed. You can see the blue mixed in with it.