I started butterfly gardening last year and I only had the passiflora incense as my host plant. I did get a lot of cats and eventually my front yard is full of fluttering gulf fritillaries and it was a sight to behold. I have never seen so many butterflies since i was 9 and that was so many moons ago lol
This year I have done a lot of reading and made sure i have other host plants to attract other butterflies . Planted some fennel, dill and parsley and added 2 more passion vines incarnata and incense but there's no butterfly not even a single one on sight :-(.. I do have nectar plants as well .. as you can see I did plan well for this year...
when are they suppose to be coming this way? I live in Zone 8a of the Florida Panhandle ... I can't remember when i first saw the butterfly in my yard last year. But this year , I have yet to see one ... on the good side of it, my passifloras are getting bigger so hopefully there will be enough to feed a hoard of hungry caterpillars. Last year they did eat it to the ground... I didnt mind I am growing it for them...
Eileen
where are the butterflies????
Keep your head up, the GFs are some of the first to show and look out when they do. Maybe a passion vine in a shady spot for your zebras and a few milkweed and you are well on your way. Much luck!!
thanks viceroy - I do have milkweeds the orange and white one - did you say passion vine in the shade? which one? i have an extra incense that is on the pot that I can move around but i hardly have a shade in my yard. I have a full sun both morning and noon. backyard gets the morning sun and the front yard gets the hot afternoon sun.
I have the same problem not much shade. I have had success with maypop and incense but no matter what your longwings will prefer more shade. Just fyi my incense ran like crazy.
speaking of going crazy - i have mine growing in a pot so i have yet to see it go crazy, my problem right now is some leaves of the incense is wilting and drying for no reason. I have been watering and still it doesnt seem to perk back up.
The Incense PV seems to be a very deep rooted plant when in the ground. Maybe your pot is root bound, it grows so quickly it needs a lot of space and water. They take full hot sun in TX, it does wilt in the afternoon but bounces back and still grow by leaps and bounds. I would encourage you to put it in the ground.
Sheila_FW - that vine will never see the light of day if it was on the ground - hubby would have whacked it with a weedeater or mowed over it... it is safer in the pot lol... last year it didnt even grow that huge since the caterpillars ate them all up and before it could recover, it was already fall. It did grow a bit bigger this year but there are still no butterflies
to lay eggs on them
I saw an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and perhap a Monarch these past few days. In Albuquerque NM. Perhaps, some 'Great White' (?) bfs. but not many. Back home in the SE I saw a few but not many bfs. as of now. No GFs yes yet and my passies are growing strong and healthy even begun to put out flowers.
This message was edited Jun 12, 2010 7:07 PM
Well it could be that I have a evergreen passi ('Blue Crown') and GFs are always around when it is warm and sunny. They lay eggs constantly and the cats are still eating well into the fall, then they overwinter in the pupa stage. My Incense has more of an opportunity to get large before they find it.
Eileen -
I am not far from you in Gulf Shores and have been bf gardening for several years. Like you, I always got concerned because they seem so late in coming. I finally made a note last year that they don't start using the host plants - particularly the passion vine - until late June or July. I have had some eggs on my fennel, parsley, and I think on my citrus (orange) so far this year. Oct. is my favorite b'f month - my yard is teeming with them then, and I know your yard will be, too!
Lucy
thanks Lucy - I am beginning to think they have forgotten about me ... my dill,parsley and fennel have all been overgrown and flowering and i guess will soon die out if no cats will eat them up . still no signs of winged fairies anywhere
Around here, the number is gradually picking up. I've seen a Great Spangled frit the other day. TST too, then yesterday and today a repeat visit of the Red Spotted Purple. I'll share pics. when I get one. :-)
We've not seen many to date this year. Mostly likely due to the field behind our house being sprayed with round-up prior to a soy bean planting. The field is normally wild grass growing 3 foot high. We have seen a few Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, cabbage whites, frittiliaries, common buckeyes, and gray hairstreaks. Not many of either, but a few. The most abundant has been the silver spotted skippers. Thankfully, there have been many bees for pollination.
That's a beautiful photo Hindernone.
Thank you Lily_love!