Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY PICTURES #101, 4 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
Nice diversity there, shorthog. Quite a few butterflies I don't get to see, or rarely see in these parts.

What I do see is lots of Gulf Fritillaries and Zebra Longwings! This Zebra is on jatropha (as usual) but they also frequent the porterweed and now that it's blooming, the firebush, as well. I also have a Monarch that keeps resting on different things in the garden like this plant stake.

I also took a picture of a cluster of Zebra Longwing caterpillars. They stay a pale orange through the first few instars and only turn white as they get bigger, like in the photo. Thus, it's pretty easy to confuse them with Gulf Frits while they're still small.

I saw the hummingbird as I was pulling out of my driveway today. It was checking out one of my bromeliads. It's not in bloom, but the inflorescence is still on there and I guess it kind of looks like a dark pink sage in a way. The hummingbird flew away pretty quickly so he must have figured it out.

Melanie