Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 74, 1 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
The USF Botanical gardens had their spring plant festival last weekend and it was crazy! Lots of people trying to find good deals to replace all their plants that froze. The FL native Plant Society booth almost sold out; I heard a lady say it's never been like that before! Granted, some of those plants can be dug up from the side of the road, but if people want to pay for them, that's their right and at least it goes to a good cause.

Speaking of digging...I acquired some Blue-Eyed Grass and Spiderwort (Trandescantia spp.) one day after my psychiatrist appointment. It was along Dale Mabry Hwy which is a six lane major road in Tampa (the Bucs stadium is on it). Now, I was quite a bit north of that but I still found it funny that no one stopped to question me or even honked. Free plants rock!

For some reason the butterflies haven't been laying eggs at the museum, but I found lots at USF. Particularly, the sulfurs; I haven't seen a single egg at the museum but I liberated about two dozen cats from USF. I also "liberated" some Monarch cats. The aphids have been a real problem on the milkweed considering it's so early in the year.

Here's one of the many Cloudless Sulphurs I saw at the plant sale.