Hiya ! I am so glad to be able to report several first bf sightings this week. In addition to the cabbages and sulphurs, i saw an admiral yesterday. OH, and i saw my first hummingbird of the season this morning! yay! Last year was my first year for BF and hummer gardening. This year I am better informed and prepared. I started several dill,parsley and milkweed plants during the winter as well as some passionflower and (thanks to amandaesq for the seeds)rue. Marigold,zinnia,cosmos,catnip and anise hyssop are all easy to start from seed and were popular with the BFs last year. Lantana is a big hit,so it will have a bigger role. And last but not least, my bee balm has finally gotten established so I am hoping for more than the 3 flowers i got last year.
I cant wait to get out there and watch the show of natures beauties!
Daily pictures #100!
Scarlet, sounds like you'll have a great butterfly garden this year. Excellent plant choices!
I went to the USF Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Festival today and bought some orchids, bromeliads, and I found a guy selling native milkweed! I still have to look up which kind it is. There's a photo below in case any of you know offhand. Also, saw a Monarch while there and got its picture. Those I didn't get pictures of include Cloudless Sulphurs and Zebra Longwings. Dad surprisingly saw a hummingbird at the gardens! I've got my feeder out ready for them. Finally, when I got home I took a picture of the Gulf Frit cat and Duskywing below.
Melanie
By the way, the gardens at USF have a very large purple firespike http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62195/ It's always attracting butterflies and people were commenting on it a lot today. Oh, and I forgot to say I saw a Spicebush on it! Just a suggestion for those of you who have the room.
Melanie
I have the Spicebush , the Firespikes won't grow here , I will have to be satisfied with Zinnia , All the SWT's like them ...
Neat pic's love the cat's , The Milkweed pic#2 is it white swamp , or tropical?
I think the milkweed is this one http://www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=3198 They call it swamp milkweed. I'm just glad I have a little more to feed the cats. I'm taking my extra Monarchs to the museum tomorrow because I have way more than I can feed and the museum doesn't have many at all. Strange how that works sometimes.
Melanie
Leaves looked similar to my Red incaranata http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/539/
Also I was wondering if it was variegata (the white bloom ) Link does not show the leaves...
Maybe because the cat's don't like some of those who are watching them (experimenter's) museum taxidermist's and jar preservation) I know , bad joke , lol Your's just like you ,Like pets with some of us . all have their preference ..
Here's a Zebra Longwing that was nectaring on tassel flower. If you look close, you can see the pollen gathered on its proboscis. Zebra LWs eat pollen as well as nectar so they live a lot longer than most butterflies - as long as six to nine months. I guess the added nutrition really helps.
Melanie
LOL!! I guess it does !! .I have heard that about nutrition ,,, Well time fo for to watch and be silent from my jealous corner ,, We don't get those here . Next phase of Global Warming ,,Maybe?
Just starting to see butterflies here. None close enough to identify for sure. Got a pic of this one on Wednesday though. Is it a Gorgone Checkerspot? or a Silvery? or something else? This is my second year keeping track of the butterflies I see in my yard and trying to get pics of each one.
beclu727, lots of new butterflies should be emerging in your area for the first flight of the year. Enjoy them and the flowers they are nectaring. By the way, your butterfly is a Pearl crescent.
Went to the museum today and got to release three Giant Swallowtails and three Zebra Longwings. I also caught two Checkered Whites and three Gulf Fritillaries. So the flight cage is looking pretty interesting. I took my Monarch caterpillars in so they can have enough food to grow up and pupate. Of course, I came home and found another caterpillar but I left him on the plant. He should have enough if it's just him. I also spotted a Buckeye and a Painted Lady. Now, if I could just start finding swallowtails - or them find me and my host plants! Oh, and Dad found two Monarch chrysalises - one on the hose bib and one on the hose itself. I brought them inside with the others.
Here's a Giant ST at the museum, me holding a bunch of Great Southern White eggs (laid on pepper grass), a male Monarch basking in my yard, and that pesky Monarch caterpillar I found.
Melanie
Shorthog, thanks. I missed seeing that one in my book. I'll add it to my list (a very short list so far.)
Ha ha haa - Melanie why is that Monarch so pesky?
Nice snaps everybody - I've been hearing everybody all over the country saying they just saw their first hummingbird. I guess I'd better get my feeder(s) out tomorrow!!!
Um - Melanie, I'm not the expert on MW, but I do grow about 6 kinds. It sort of looks like A. incarnata - I forget what the white cultivar is called. Ice Ballet? hum...
Scarlet/Jessica! My dear - so good to see you back. I think of you everyday and wonder if this plant that has appeared is the M. bradbury after all? I thought I'd killed it. I haven't started my rue yet. Still scared. I am behind you of course as always. I don't know how people with cats can get ANYTHING done. :/
A.
The pesky Monarchs are pesky because they've eaten my milkweed to nothing! I thought I had taken all of them to the museum but found three very small caterpillars in my critter keeper tonight. I just need them to give it a rest for a few weeks.
Dad saw the first hummingbird while we were at the USF Plant Festival. I have my feeder out ready for them!
Melanie
Hiya everybody! Yesterday I saw my first tigerstripe Swallowtail of the season. Yay! This was the yellow one,and it was small in size..do they get bigger? And, are the paleblue/white striped ones the same variety but just a different color? I tried to catch a photo of it but i was scrambling around the yard,running into the bushes, almost ran into the road, and it just fluttered away...much too speedy for me. About Mourning Cloaks...I get quite a few in my yard, but have never found a caterpillar. What would be good to attract them? Also, 2 years ago, I found a Monarch caterpillar on my grape vine. It was pretty big, but there is no MW near the grapes....Any ideas anyone?
I can't seem to get my bronze fennel seeds to germinate...I may have to buy it. I lost my Salvia Guaranitica 'black and blue' to the winter cold, even though i gave it a lot of mulch...i will have to buy that also. It is not too easy to find here, i drove almost an hour to a native nursery to get it last year. I am a cheapskate, so i don't like it when i have to re-spend. It is always worth it, though, because I get so much enjoyment from the garden and all the wildlife that comes to the yard.
Looks like it is gonna be a lovely day, so i need to get out there soon.
Yikes, both of those are blurry! oops.
BTW...Amanda, let me know if you want the Monarda bradburiana....I am transplanting it this coming weekend, so it will be now or never ,well at least a while..before i take divisions. -Jessica
Scarletbean, you have animals, zebra and tiger. Your first pic is a Spring form Zebra swallowtail and the yellow one is an Eastern tiger swallowtail. In general the first flight of Spring butterflies tend to be small. They are both lovely butterflies and brighten our days.
Thanx for the clarification shorthog. The zebras are not as common a sight for me as the tiger.
I am in for the afternoon, the sun is blazin' already...temp says 87...I guess i have winter shell shock still, i know this weather will seem cool in a few months, but for now I am going to have to take it in shifts and come out later in the early evening to finish up my garden chores. I saw quite a few cabbages, sulphurs, admirals while outside. I am getting a couple of hummer regulars..I put up 2 more feeders after i saw the one the other day. I am impatient for flowers...i think the hums and Bfs are ,too!
I think we are all getting a bit impatient, though my plants are now growing like weeds. Black & Blue Salvia is an annual here & I really like it. I had some before. I may get one and put it in a big pot this year. I now have 2 feeders out for the hummers. They should be along any day now!
I'm generally pretty impatient, but last year's drought and dismal numbers have left me a bit numb when it comes to the garden. I have some serious reworking to do, especially since the new member of the family is a digger. Well he's also a lounger. Right in the middle of my herb raised bed. Sigh.
But he's so cute.
Anyway, I'd love to see a good turnout for spring Red Admirals like last year. After that it was all downhill!
Mrs. Ed...What a beautiful dog (or is he still a puppy?)...what breed is this? Maybe by digging and laying in the herb bed he is trying to tell you something like, "we could use a new plant just here" and "get busy, this herb bed needs work"...d'ya think?
I had wondered about that being a problem!! lol
He is a Great Pyrenees/shepherd mix. Wouldn't it be great to train him to dig on command so he could help me with planting!!! Wonder what he will do when I finally get outside to start ripping out one of the raised beds. I think I'm considering just putting Zinnias in there for the butterflies. Well, will leave the coneflowers too.
Ha ha! what a lovely dog! He looks very handsome with the scarf. He is gonna be gigantic! Great pyrenees are big and shepherds are, too! Both are smart, loyal and eager to please.
My neighbor's dog is a beagle/hound mix and he is quite the digger ! The idea of trying to get him to work for me doing the heavy digging has appealed to me. Sadly, digging is his art, and he only gets going when and where his muse dictates. Hopefully the raised veg. beds will be uninteresting to his fine sensibilities. We are great friends, me and this hound dog. His favorite game is stealing my plastic plant pots and dumping the contents, then tossing it up and chasing it around the yard! I have always wanted to have terra cotta pots, so maybe I can justify buying them so that Buddy the hound can't destroy them and leave the contents strewn about the yard. I don't have the heart to scold him for the plastic pot game, as he is just the utter embodiment of dog joy when he is engaged in it. Ears flying, jowls swinging,tail wagging, slobber slinging...it is quite the sight to see.
The photo is of my Chihuahua, Scarlet who is a great garden companion and chaser of butterflies, squirrels, and a few impertinent birds.
They are here so get ready up North with flowers and milkweed. I have sighted Monarchs in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Finally,today one settled on wild verbena long enough for a picture. Even saw a Cloudless sulphur as well as a black female tiger swallowtail. The wild purple vebena has become a butterfly magnet.. A fantastic Spring.
Mrs. Ed...I had guessed the shepherd part but couldn't figure out the other part. Looks like you have a great dog there. Shepherds are very smart and i'm sure if you speak very nicely and quietly to the shepherd part (i'm not familiar with the pyrenees part) and maybe show him his own place to dig, he will understand. :-D
Thanks All! I did not mean to hijack the thread with my new "son". He's just a part of my whole pessimism about my butterfly garden. Ha.
There is just something irresistible about that dog Mrs. Ed. I'm sure you'll get your butterfly garden mojo back again.
mourning cloak this afternoon
peachy huh?
The year before, I had terrible milkweed aphids, then last year the drought and heat. So it was terrible. It was not just my yard, the grasslands where I monitor for butterflies had low counts too, as did others in Illinois. And we were all expecting such a great year with the mild winter we had. So I don't know what to expect here.
And so that I can add a picture… Here are the Red Admirals from last year. This was APRIL 21, 2012. Crazy. I'll be lucky to see any butterfly by then.
Went outside to water the plants and spotted a Monarch and a Zebra Longwing. Also found two more small Monarch cats but left them on the plant for now. Found these two Gulf Frit caterpillars bugging each other on my passion vine. Thought this picture was too cute!
Melanie
Lol "youngster under foot'"
I'm sitting here watching the ball game when I look over and see a butterfly had emerged! My last Polydamas Swallowtail has come out after a winter of hanging out in my house. I'd get a picture, but this guy can fly and was flitting around the critter keeper like mad. I'll let him go in the morning when it's safe.
The Polydamas eggs I collected earlier this year all turned out to be duds. : ( I still have lots of pipevine so I hope I'll get some more visitors.
Melanie
Headed up to Ozark National Forest and visited Haws Creek Falls for butterfles. Large numbers of Zebra swallowtails and Pipevine swallowtails as well as blues and duskywings. Great time. Hope to go back soon. .
This message was edited Apr 17, 2013 11:57 PM
Oh my goodness, Shorthog....Those are all some of my favorites..I would have passed out from butterfly overload! This is in the wild?
or is it an enclosure?
Great pics everyone. Adorable boy MsEd, sorry about the raised bed. Looks like that one is his, give up and move on. LOL!
I know last year we had very few butterflies in the north TX area due to the weather and fires in Mex and down in south TX. This year maybe we will come back some. Stephanietx gave me a bunch of BSTs to raise for her. She is a veggie gardener and plants dill and fennel. There were around 37 babies but lost count around then. I put 7 or 8 on a plant in the yard and separated the rest into 4 large cages. I was able to switch the wee ones over to Rue and about 15 have pupated so far. Hope the Monarchs find my MW that is up and waiting. So far I have seen no adult or eggs. I have my Monarch Waystation sign out too! LOL!
Scarletbean, all those beautiful butterflies were in the wilds of the Ozarks. It was interesting to see several species mineralizing together by the creek. My first time visting this area and I'm looking forward to the next visit.
Zebra swallowtails were everywhere. This large population is probably because of the numerous Pawpaw trees in the area which is the host plant for Zebras
Beautiful short hog!
oh Shorthog, I'm coming to your house. I would love to see zebras like that.
I've seldomly seen a Zebra swallowtail . But, I've recently planted two Pawpaw saplings in the garden. Thank you shorthog for sharing that the pawpaw is these beautiful butterflies' hostplant. Hahaha, Mrs. Ed. Maybe we both can visit with Shorthog some of these days. I've various other hostplants/flowers for the butterflies in the garden. I've seen more Sulphurs, Occasional Tigerswallowtails but no pics. So please folks, keep those pics. coming. I really enjoy them.
Happy Spring everyone.
