What is this small butterfly on my Cephalanthus occidentalis (Buttonbush)? It's full of them. Also, what is the host plant? The bush is full of all these butterflies and it's pretty cool to watch them all, flitting from "button" to "button"!
Thanks,
Terry
It is a Red Admiral; http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1772
Hey Terry, I'm your neighbor! sorta!
My garden is full of these this year too. I just counted 22! I can't believe we have so many of them. Last year I hardly had a one. And it has been this way since the beginning of May.
That link frostweed posted will tell you that the hosts are:
Caterpillar hosts: Plants of the nettle family (Urticaceae) including stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), tall wild nettle (U. gracilis), wood nettle (Laportea canadensis), false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica), pellitory (Parietoria pennsylvanica), mamaki (Pipturus albidus), and possibly hops (Humulus).
I have some pellitory and false nettle here for them, but have yet to see any laying eggs.
Cool!! Thanks so much frostweed!!
Hey sorta neighbor!
They move too fast for me to count. They sure love the Cephalanthus occidentalis though. There's a lot of them on there. What plant do you have that they're enjoying? I read at the link they like milkweed. Mine hasn't started blooming yet though.
I've heard of the nettle family, but I don't know what any of them look like. I'll have to look them up and see what any of them are.
oh, they are mostly interested in the coneflowers right now, but I've seen them on the lavender and daisies. They also love rotting fruit or butterfly brew so I have lots of them on the watermelon rind along with Question Marks and Commas.
My swamp milkweed has just started to bloom as has my common milkweed. I've seen them nectar there, but they are on the coneflowers mostly. My butterfly weed finished its first bloom and is budding up for a second bloom now.
I always knew stinging nettle as "fire weed". It's that stuff that gets on you and then you itch like crazy for a while.
Here's the false nettle: http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/false_nettle.htm
and Pellitory: http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/pn_pellitory.htm
Coneflowers. Kind of fun now to walk out in the garden and have them buzzing around me. It's pretty surreal.
Mrs Ed, I have trouble growing coneflowers. I tried one once but it died. Can you share any pointers???
you know, I do not buy the fancy ones any more. I just have the pink ones. The other colors die on me. Although, I had a green one given to me last year and it made it through the winter.
I have no real secret. Most of my pinks come from three plants. One I bought is Ruby Star. The other two were starts from friends and family. Two are in raised beds with improved soil, and one is in cruddy sandy soil. They reseed profusely and I let them do so. I leave the tops on all year for the birds to eat in the winter, then cut them back in the spring. They are in full sun, that helps. That's it. Nothing special, just hardy stock.
I've had the indigenous coneflowers here at our home. Echinacea pallida (pale purple) and Echinacea paradoxa (yellow coneflower). They don't want to take either. The soil here is perfect for them also. It's weird. Same goes for Liatris. They grow beautifully the first year and then, nothing. So many different Liatris too. sigh.
Where did you get false nettle? Or the Pellitory? I've been reading today and my mind is going....lol....I can't remember if it was one of these plants that wants moist soil? I have moist when it rains. Mine is considered mesic. Is there an indigenous nursery up in Whiteside County?
I lost my Meadow Blazing Star Liatris over the winter. boo. Boy those butterflies loved it too.
The Pellitory and Nettles are both just "weeds". I have some pellitory here, but my Mom found some nettle on her property in Princeton. It's fairly sand soil there, but the nettle is thriving on the north side of the house along with ferns and hosta. Not particularly wet, but probably the most moist in the garden.
No native nurseries here. I go to the one in St. Charles ( http://www.thenaturalgardeninc.com/ ) I need to try a E. pallida, I love it but haven't tried to put it in yet. Some of my coneflowers have even com up in the space between my raised bed and the concrete! Now THAT's hardy.
Thanks Mrs. Ed. I bought another one to try today. We'll see what happens.
Mrs.Ed those are great looking coneflowers! I have had a hard time with them and any related fuzzy or hairy type plants here because of the humidity:(
Well now y'all have me feeling really lucky that they are growing so well!!
I am so glad I saw this post. I have the same kind of butterflies on my purple cone flower and was trying to identify them. I get a kick out of watching them zip around, they are fast and have a crazy flight pattern! Boy, do they love, love, love the purple coneflowers! Speaking of coneflowers, my are going like gang busters this year. My purple is 4 feet tall and beautiful and my whites are covered in blooms.
Hemlady (fellow Michigander) -- I buy my perennials at one of the local nurseries at the end of summer, when they put them on sale for a song. Like Mrs Ed, I have not had much luck with the newer coneflower varieties (Sunrise, Sunset, Lime, etc.). I have great luck with the old standbys, Purple and White Swan.
This message was edited Jul 1, 2010 9:18 PM
THey ARE fast! Sometimes at about 6:30pm to 8ish, they put on a show for me. They pair up and "dance" in the yard. Sometimes in groups of 4s even. Then some go and hover above the air conditioning unit. It's the funniest thing to watch. I tried to video it, but the magic gets a little lost.
Mrs Ed, The Natural Garden is pretty hard to buy from now. Really ticked me off when I got there little pamphlet telling about going to only wholesale, but they'd still sell retail pick-up on Sat. only. It's a long drive for me to be there that early in the morning. I also wouldn't know those "weeds" if it bit me! lol...☺ Your mom lives in Princeton? Our worlds are getting smaller....
My butterfly weeds flowers are being chomped off by something. I don't know what. I see no bug on them. I saw bees, but I don't think bees chomp off the flower heads. And it's only the heads, not the leaves. Anyone have an idea what's doing it? Usually it has those milkweed bugs on it, the orange and black bugs, can't think of what they are, except milkweed bugs. They're nowhere to be found though.
Oh, man, I did NOT know that about them. Darn!
Can't imagine who'd want to eat that since it's supposed to be so distasteful. All I can think of is that you have a monarch caterpillar in there somewhere, and that's great news! They eat all parts of the plant. I had one eating a seed pod once. Of course if it's an older one, it has probably already left the area to make it's chrysalis. Well, keep an eye out anyway!
Hello Zinnia1. I just purchased a purple one again the other day at Home Depot. It kind of is a red/purple. I hope it does better than the last one I had. I planted it Wednesday and Thursday I already had a Red Admiral and Monarch fighting over it, lol.
The butterfly weed flower head is the only thing that's getting eaten. No other part of the plant is eaten, just the flower head and part of the flower head you can see all shriveled up on the ground below. I don't have a clue what did it. I thought maybe the japanese beetles were doing it, but I haven't seen them on the plant either. I'm at a loss.
I take it you followed your link and read about The Natural Gardens? They talk about "this year". Is it only "this year"? I can only hope.
Weird. Sounds like cut worms, only higher!
I bet they are not reopening at all, just transitioning to wholesale. Maybe they just weren't getting much business. Odd. Well I suppose if i really need something I can do a phone order. I'm kind of out of space though! LOL.
I just bought some natives from a plant sale in Utica. I have totally forgotten the name though. I'll have to see if Mom remembers.
I look every time I go out and there's nothing on the plant. It's weird.
Every time I've gone to The Natural Garden, there's a lot of people. I would say it wasn't for lack of customers. Even on the hottest of days when I've gone, there's still customers.
Utica, really? I went on a garden walk there a couple years ago. No native nursery there then. Odd. Find out for me though, will you? You know it was pretty neat to see how the people of Utica had re-built their gardens after the terrible tornado that ripped through the town back in '04. Really impressive. I've always loved the town though.
This wasn't a nursery in the town. they had a craft and plant square in one of the lots and there was a vendor there.
Here's a list… maybe one of these is them.
http://www.plantnative.org/nd_idtoks.htm
I have a feeling I know what lot you're talking about. There were craft vendors set up during the garden walk on probably the same lot, but no native plants. I wouldn't have a clue who the vendor was. Is there a stick in the pot with a name on it? A receipt with a name? I also didn't know Tampico had a native nursery. I'll have to check it out. I know the guy in Tiskilwa. It's marked wholesale only, but he comes and does the work for you....just an FYI☺
I had hoped that the plant ID sticks would have a name, but I didn't find any name. boo. Meanwhile, I emailed the garden club.
I was there on the sunday of the walk. They said that the day before was really bad weather, the guy who had the native plants had his tent destroyed! Nice that they hung in there. Bought a few things, purple milkweed, toadflax, white prairie clover.
