My Io Moth emerged this evening!
Melanie
Daily pictures #99
Beautiful!
Congrats Melanie, fine job!
Oooooo....so good to see all the pics of the BF's!! I have so missed being able to get on here! My subscription expired back in October.....and with so much going on and having new responsibilities now I just couldn't justify spending the money. But today I received a gift of a subscription from someone and I am so grateful!!
Awesome photos everyone!!
Yay! Gift subscriptions are great. Glad to have you back!
Melanie
Awsome gift for sure!
Hey folks...not sure if many of you know Debnes_dfw_tx or not, but she used to be real active on this forum. Her husband Kevin passed away at home on New Years Eve. The memorial service is today. Just keep her and their kids in your thoughts and prayers today.
Yak, love the photos, you have such beautiful butterflies, and I saw a hummingbird the other day also, never happens in January, but then we've been having temps up to 80 for a good week now.
Mellie, nice Lo moth, I remember my pretty caterpillar last month...never see them in my garden. Good news about the longwings.
nanny isn't that wonderful, nice to see you back again. ☺
Shelia, how sad to hear someone losing a loved one, especially during the holidays. I do remember seeing her around the forums.
Just a few pictures from the museum today. I've got a Zebra Longwing, a Malachite, and a Monarch.
My boss finally has some green shrimp plant and ruellia cuttings in the flight cage, but I only counted two Malachites left so I think she's too late. While out with my net, I managed to catch two Monarchs, two Cloudless Sulphurs, and two Gulf Fritillaries. A guy in the parking lot said he'd never seen anyone actually catching butterflies before. That's one downside to the museum - having observers every time I go butterfly catching! When I miss one I feel really silly. Oh well, I'm sort of resigned to being eccentric anyway. On the upside I totally thrilled a five year-old girl by letting her hold a Monarch caterpillar. She behaved a lot better than the boy who kept shaking the plants and swinging his arms at the butterflies. It's weird how children can be so different. Parenting, I guess.
We've still got some Great Southern Whites (with plenty of food planted for them this time) and I saw a Julia in the flight cage. So the butterflies my boss traded for or ordered are hanging in there with these 80 degree temps. Melanie, however, is wilting. I had to crank up the AC and drink my ice water after chasing all those butterflies!
Melanie
Here's a few I just caught outside when I went to water my orchids. A Cloudless Sulphur (there were actually two of them) on pentas, and a Zebra Longwing on jatropha. About the only time those Zebras stop for more than a second is when they get on the jatropha. It must be their favorite.
Melanie
Love the Malachite pic! I have seen some and taken pics at the exhibit here...but only have it every two years.
I do remember Debnes_dfw_tx ....how sad it is to hear that news....will keep her in my prayers.
I too remember Debnes, the news saddened me, prayers are up for Debbie and her family.
I went to the memorial along with a good showing of our other DGers from this area. Got and gave a lot of hugs to her and the family today. I am sure she will appreciate the prayers as 2013 folds out.
So sorry to hear about Deb's husband. I think she sent me some butterfly plants several years ago. Prayers for her and family..
Do not know Deb but know the loss of loved ones around the holidays. -sigh-
The pretty pictures for the last week or so here are cheery tho' and welcome sight. NC had a couple of warm days, back to wet and cold, and tomorrow a winter weather watch for Thursday into Friday. Needless to say, no visitors here. The neighbors bees do come to the garden for the camellia when temps rise into the 50's.
p.s. I grew from seed the "Pride of Barbados" Jatropha. I brought it in for winter, it sure is finicky. Can anyone give me some growth tips?
Thanks.
A.
I was out playing with my new camera and walked over to photograph my Mexican flame vine and look who I found, was quite large...first one I've seen since probably Nov. Glad I had my camera in hand. ☺
Very handsome!
Excellent shots!
A Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) eclosed today and it is always such a happiness. Here are a couple of pics of the pre-flight and oh so fashion perfect beauty.
Beautiful.
Gorgeous butterfly and really nice camera shots.
Quote from shorthog :
Gorgeous butterfly and really nice camera shots.
That goes for both the Tiger Swallowtails pics. from sunkissed and the Giant Swallowtail pics. from vitra. Question for shorthog; do you get to see that gorgeous butterfly in Arkansas? Here I haven't seen them yet. Though I have kept some citrus plants (in container culture) around hoping to attract them beauties. This winter by far it's been fairly mild. I've risked a lemon tree outdoor, thus far it withstood some snow and survived. I may root prune the tree and plant it in the ground this spring.
Lily, you might try some Common Rue (Ruta graveolens) if you are talking about attracting the Giant Swallowtails. I'm not sure which of the swallowtails you are referring to. I have both a lime tree and Common Rue and the Giant Swallowtails show a strong preference for the Rue (at least in my garden). Also, I think the Rue may be more winter hardy although that is not something i have personal experience with, being in zone 10b and all.
Thanks for the "nice camera shots" comment Shorthog...it is much easier when they are pre-flight compared to being on the wing dontcha know :-D.
Common Rue will be fine there. It survives my winters here. I have never had a GST host on it, though I've had the Black Swallowtails enjoy it. I have not had a GST sighting in my garden for quite a while. I imagine they lost one of the host trees nearby
Mrs. Ed, when you are checking your Rue for swallowtail eggs, the Black Swallowtail eggs will be white and the GST eggs will be a dark yellow...but i expect you know that...but maybe some of the other readers don't. Just because you don't see them, they may be putting eggs on the Rue behind your back.
Quote from Lily_love :
That goes for both the Tiger Swallowtails pics. from sunkissed and the Giant Swallowtail pics. from vitra. Question for shorthog; do you get to see that gorgeous butterfly in Arkansas? Here I haven't seen them yet. Though I have kept some citrus plants (in container culture) around hoping to attract them beauties. This winter by far it's been fairly mild. I've risked a lemon tree outdoor, thus far it withstood some snow and survived. I may root prune the tree and plant it in the ground this spring.
GST do showup in my area but I have yet to see one. Maybe I need some host plants in the backyard or at the River Valley Nature center. Thanks everyone for the host plant advice. Since I have limited space, container plants sound like a good approach for borderline plants in zone 7b.
Quote from shorthog :
GST do showup in my area but I have yet to see one. Maybe I need some host plants in the backyard or at the River Valley Nature center. Thanks everyone for the host plant advice. Since I have limited space, container plants sound like a good approach for borderline plants in zone 7b.
That's good news that they do visit our 'borderline' in zone 7b. I've kept citrus plants in pots for years. Some years I get fruits, other year I don't. But, with winter protection indoor, they do just fine. I may have to send out for some GST's eggs to get them started?
Thanks Marna, and vitrsna for your suggestion on common rues. I'll try to plant some in the future.
I can second the suggestion for Rue. I have Lime, Lemon, and Orange and they will only occassionally lay eggs on them; but my Rue plants are bombed constantly. The BST and GST will use it so it is definately worth growing. If you have a nursery that carries herbs they should have it. Wash the leaves before setting them out because it could have pesticides.
Quote from vitrsna :
Mrs. Ed, when you are checking your Rue for swallowtail eggs, the Black Swallowtail eggs will be white and the GST eggs will be a dark yellow...but i expect you know that...but maybe some of the other readers don't. Just because you don't see them, they may be putting eggs on the Rue behind your back.
Whoa! if Black Swallowtail eggs are white and the GST eggs will be dark yellow. So, looking at Sheila's pic. above; are
Thank you all for your helpful suggestions/comments. I'll def. look into some Ruta graveolens for the garden. Marna, if these plants are hardy in your zone, looks as if I can have tons of them here, especially they appear to withstand's Sheila's region in Tx. So both cold/heat tolerance of the plants is quite phenominal!
This message was edited Jan 22, 2013 10:05 AM
Ooooh, really nice photo Sheila! Beautiful to see those two eggs close together. Close to where i live is a town called Tecoman which is one of the world's largest producers of limes. The lime growers battle and destroy many Giant Swallowtail caterpillars using pesticides every year. I tell people they are wasting their money on pesticides and if they would plant Common Rue in and near the orchards, the butterflies would lay their eggs on the Rue and leave the trees alone. I don't know if anyone is listening, but my comments have been met with surprise at least and maybe curiosity.
This year I am trying to start some Choisya plants from seeds. They are also Rutaceae and i am hoping that the Black and Giant Swallowtails will use it in addition to the Common Rue. Right now, i have one little Choisya seedling and am hoping that it will survive and flourish. Soon i'll start more seeds.
They don't get very big here because of winter dieback, but are pretty darn dependable. plus have some cute yellow flowers
I'm sold on common Rues! LOL. Thanks Mrs. Ed. Just wanna close my eyes and dream of spring garden filled with common rues.
I agree. I was just looking through pictures to find this one and got so excited for spring. Last year with the drought, the garden and butterflies were just terrible. The year before I had such terrible milkweed aphids. So I'm going to re-do a ton this year I hope.
here are three stages of the Black Swallowtail from August 2011.
Mrs Ed...I've had Rue plants for five years that have never flowered...not even a bud. I agree, after seeing your photo, that the flowers are attractive. I wonder if you water them during the dry summer months? Do you suppose that i could be giving my plants too much water and fertilizer and that this has inhibited flower growth? or does it take a number of years before the plants will form flowers?
Boy I don't know. I neglect the heck out of that plant, so you might be right about fussing over it too much. Maybe it has life so good it doesn't think it needs to flower. But it is a bit older than yours, I'd say 10 years ish.
Mrs. Ed. The picture of the 3 stages of the BST is terrific! I noticed that you didn't have the copy right mark? May I copy that picture for myself please. Also, how much sun do you give your Rue? I've alot of dappled shade area in the garden to work on, but one that's full sun is scarce. I may consider container culture if they require lots of sun to thrive. Up until presence, I've had success with BST with Dills and Parsley in the garden.
In regard to aphids on milkweeds. I regularly hose them down, that method worked well for me. Also, I encourage ladybugs in the garden to counter act the aphids population. This year, winter is thus far relatively mild. Temp. hasn't dip down to below 20'ish F. So some of my milkweeds still show off outside awaiting for the Monarch migrating Northward, lol.
Sure Kim, copy away. I'll send you the original if you want. My rue is in full sun. Sort of. later in the year it competes with a shasta daisy, so I imagine some shading is occurring in the later hours of the day. Have you tried bronze fennel? It's a pretty plant and i've found cats on it. It is growing in some shade here and has been coming back for me for the past few years. I purposely have it away from the herb bed because I heard it can cross with Dill. Hence why it is in a shadier area. I also have some queen anne's lace but have never found them on there.
Wooohooo! Thank you Mrs. Ed. I've got the picture. The fact that Rue will cross with Dills, that's very interesting. That prompted me to read more about these herbs. Yes, I've grown bronze fennel, haven't yet found cats. on them maybe I've overlooked them? Will try to transplant some more fennels/dills into the butterfly garden this year. Many thanks.
I am just starting bronze fennel this year (with Swallowtails in mind) and the plant is about 10" tall now so it is encouraging to know you found caterpillars on your plant Mrs. Ed.
Kim, FENNEL will cross with DILL. Not Rue. Although the Rue produces seed for me, I have never found a seedling.