DAILY PICTURES # 110

Hey Ju, the fly by....hope they are heading my way. I'm so ready to receive Monarch in my garden. Those flowers, are they Mexican sunflower? They seem to be monarch magnet!

This message was edited Aug 16, 2015 5:48 PM

I have had the Mexican sunflower before and you are right, they are monarch magnets. The last few times I planted them, the deer ate then all. Maybe I'll give them another try another year.

They can be hard to start , some years I fail , some I have success ,, Nature of things


Lily I hope some fly your way Too !!!

Photo #1 & 2 & 3 is taken in a wildlife food plot I planted in June this year. Since I had extra zinnia and celosia seed, I threw some of them in when planting and the butterfly are now enjoying the zinnia's especially. Photo # 4 & 5 is taken in a wet ditch area along the edge of a pond where the swamp milkweed has been allowed to grow and bloom.

brendak654 Looks very peaceful , comfy ,, Very Nice

Kim, that's a lot to put up with for those beautiful Brugs, but they are pretty. Congrats on the your new female!

Ivy, I wish I had room for 15 milkweed plants. We have a large yard, but most of it is shady.

Juhur, love the fly-by!

Grannyh, that's fascinating. Sounds like a different way to Winter Sow.

I plan to try some Mexican Sunflower next spring. I might have better luck in my yard with something like Fiesta Del Sol, which is much smaller, but I haven't decided yet.

Every once in awhile I lose this thread and somehow find it again. Wonderful photos, I always enjoy your butterfly photos.

grannyh, I bought some pink swamp milkweed at a native plant show two years ago, this is my first year to have blooms, but mine is not as deep pink as yours is. So far no butterflies have found it..but they love my pentas.

It's nice to see you have returned Sherri. Nice pics. Thus far I have released 7 BSTs. Saw a few Eastern TSTS both in black and yellow form. One single long-tail skipper. The number of Sulphurs has increased.

Very pretty sunkissed & Kim!

Are any of you familiar with a French Marigold called 'Safari Tangerine'? They had an article on it in the October issue of Garden Gate. It supposedly attracts both butterflies & hummers, is somewhat drought tolerant and blooms from summer to frost.

I may try some seeds next year, possibly even in containers.

Here are some screen shots. "Ctrl +" should blow it up so the print is more readable, but the text wasn't super clear on the pages from their back issue library.

Thanks for the heads up Nuts, Marigold does so well here and re-seeds just as good. I see butterflies visit my marigolds, but not hummers. The hummers are here year round, love love my Wendy's wish salvia, and the Hamelia patens which is almost a tree now.

Hi Kim, I have a Cassia tree and just today saw a nice sized orange sulphur deposting eggs on it. I love the cats, they are so colorful.

I've seen 'Wendy's Wish', but I'd have to grow it as an annual. After your hummer report, though, I think it's definitely worth a shot! I guess I'll have to add that one to my wish list.
Thanks!

Hi all, thanks all for the comments and tips. Who is raising BST cats. beside Ivy and myself? I've an observation to make. It's very unpredictable raising the cats. with store- bought parsleys. My first batch of parsleys appeared okay, but current batch? I've noticed some of my 3rd-4th instars after munching on them, they became sluggish, and a handful of the cats. indeed dried up & fell off. Last night, I had the final 4th instar, just a little bit ago, I found it on the bottom of the cage, motionless!. Grrrrr. I'm very disappointed, and wished I have planned better with my dills and parsley growing in the garden.

Next spring I'll be better equipped, I'll try to plant these herbs from seeds, and sow them in successions in order to provide these beauties with their needed plants to sustain themselves while being protected from predators outdoor.

Currently I've more than a dozens of chrysalis awaiting to eclose. No more cats; I can now, safely discard those toxic parsley!!!

pic, was taken this time last year.

[quote="nutsaboutnature"]Very pretty sunkissed & Kim!

Are any of you familiar with a French Marigold called 'Safari Tangerine'? They had an article on it in the October issue of Garden Gate. It supposedly attracts both butterflies & hummers, is somewhat drought tolerant and blooms from summer to frost.

I grow the French Marigold and other marigold and I don't recall that being something that the hummers visit. I can see the hummers visiting those pretty petunia growing just below the French Marigold that were in your picture. I don't see many butterfly visiting my marigold, either. What I do see is hummingbirds and butterfly visiting my zinnia and goldfinch coming to eat the zinnia seed..

Lily-love, I've had 11 BST's eclose but I'm still waiting for six more. Of these several of the chrysalis are green in color rather than brown. Normal ?
Also lots of monarch cats on the tropical milkweed and I have five hungry babies in a pillar house. Several days ago several of the cats quit eating and wandered around then started eating again yesterday. Is this an effect of molting and changing instar stage ?

Ivy yes, the color of the BSTS could take on the straw or green. Mine do that. About those little "wanderers" as I call them. Perhaps they were programed to refuel before pupation?

Thanks Lilly. New moma Monarch emerged this morning and still getting ready for flight. I've seen several Monarchs inflight this week apparently heading south which looks good for their future.,

Kim ~ so sorry about your cats. Is it possible to locate sources for organic or untreated parsley now so you'll know where to buy it next summer if you run low?

Thanks for the input, Brenda.
If I had more sun areas I'd love to grow "drifts" of flowers like Zinnias plus other sun-loving Hummer/Butterfly magnets. I tend to grow a little of this and that in my full-sun areas. But I've had great luck with plants that can handle some shade plus, of course, shade-lovers like Cardinal Flower.

I'm planning to re-do some of my flower beds this autumn and possibly enlarge some of my sun beds.

BST no.12 emerged today. A male. Flew to a nearby butterfly bush and nectared.

Monarch cats are gluttons and very difficult to keep fed. Thank goodness, lots of fresh roadside milkweed available.

Here is a female Monarch ,, She looked to be laying eggs , late for that , only still a couple weeks to go until they all fly south ,, Been seeing little caterpillars this past week , guessing Wednesday though Saturday of the coming week I may be seeing new Butterflies as Migrators

juhur, those females are trying to make up for losses. Hopefully the offspring will emerge and head south before the cold Indiana winter sets in. Of course they love hanging out at your butterfly haven.

Congrats juhur & Ivy!!

Ivy Weather says it is suppose to be a long fall , if it is and those still doing that , a good migration number of Monarchs should happen , Hoping for bunches of Female Migrators ,
That one in the pic is older and a little tattered .
I am guessing they will see 8.5 to 10.2 million Monarchs this year in Hibernation . Game I like to play , Maybe next year 25 million their number that should be , if there is still room for them . ?
Plains states have seen excellent numbers , it is as to the Northeast and How many that migrate through here , Those are usually later arrivals at the Hibernation forest .
Only Eastern Swallowtails here this year . Lot of Red Spotted Purple . Seeing some Hackberry Emperor and Buckeye ,

Thank you Nuts !!!

Real dilemma, monarch cats have eaten most of the tropical milkweed (35 plants) and a couple of female adults showed up today. Laying eggs began immediately, even with 2-3 big cats on each plant. No room left in the pillar houses so I placed wild common milkweed in containers nearby.
This is my first year growing tropical milkweed which is an annual here. Does anyone know if it will regrow leaves and flower / seed after being denuded by hungry cats?

Looks like a better year for Monarch than in a decade ,

Got this a few days ago a Black Swallowtail only one this season so far here .

Wow, that's a lot of cats, Ivy! Sure hope there's enough food.

Kim, do you move your Tropical Milkweed indoors? Are they growing in containers?

Very pretty, juhur!

More red Orange , and no white dots on this one , Maybe above a Spicebush Swallowtail , and this a Black Swallowtail today ?


2 is a Pearl crescent that got argued with ,

N.A.N. I grow many tropical (tender perennials/tropical) in the garden. My tropical MW seeds happened to have dispersed in large containers, and they became "companion planting" specimens for my Monarch over the years -- which is like a bonus for me.

Ju, I have been looking for monarch, but I haven't seen one single one yet here. One of my neighbors told me this morning that he saw a few of those "Butterflies" and thinking they were Monarch. I wasn't sure, if that's the case. Because, without seeing those orange colored butterflies in close up, I myself have mistaken Gulf Frits. for monarch before. lol.
1. One of my "tender perennial" in the garden. The brugmansia.
2. An old picture taken back in 2011, where Monarch was here on August 30th. They're late this year. LOL

Lily The Monarch are still pupating here , when larvae emerge , about maybe four weeks from now , you may begin to see some . working their way to Florida or Texas when you see them , or those populations that stay south ,

Monarch , May of seen about 12 Today , here are a few
Lily , so you get to see Monarch , Hope they show in the coming month for you

On a one day trip that became two. Arrived back home this afternoon to find three new BST adults ready to fly. Which they did as soon as I released them. One circled around and landed on Joe Pye weed for nectaring.
It got sunny and hot while I was gone and sadly I lost a couple of the monarch cats due to heat exposure. Next time I will make sure they are shaded. Live and learn.

Ivy ,, That is pretty !!!

Ivy ,, That is pretty !!!

Cats , good thing is , There will be more !!!

Ivy, that photo is very nice. My Joe Pye weed color isn't as bright and vivid as that of yours. Mine is a very subtle pink, more to a straw color. Looking at that beautiful purple it's kind of reminding me of another native, iron weed? (or something like it?).

Yesterday I thought I saw a Black Swallowtail in the garden. But, something didn't look quite right! I thought of posting it on DG and ask for friends here to help out. Then, it dawned on me! There is something familiar about the butterfly. But I have to dig deep on my fragile memory bank! It wasn't a stranger in the garden. I've raised a couple of cats in years past. Please don't ask me what year. LOL

Picture will follow -- gotta down load it from my "smart" phone. brb.

Oh, btw, I released another BST #8 for the year, I think. It was a female. Thanks Ivy again, for having reminded me how to differentiate the male/female of the beauties. What a friend's for!

I'll be posting both the Spicebush Swallowtail, and the BST that I just released earlier today.

Female Black Swallowtail newly emerged, It wasn't the least interested in flowers, it promptly took flight. I can't find my Spicebush pictures... will post it at another time.

By Jorge! I saw my very first Mornach today while visiting my neighbors. Also discovered 5 small Sulphurs larvae on a plant that I mistaken for peanut. Actually it must be wild senna that was brought here by birds (?) These cats were seen earlier during the day, and they are still here.

This message was edited Sep 3, 2015 5:38 PM

On the way home this morning I saw two Monarch butterflies passing by. I'm pretty certain I found some Monarch eggs on MW flowers? They look to be elongated but while and not yellow? Time will tell. Below is a picture of a well comouflage sulphur cat!

On the way home this morning I saw two Monarch butterflies passing by. I'm pretty certain I found some Monarch eggs on MW flowers? They look to be elongated but while and not yellow? Time will tell. Below is a picture of a well comouflage sulphur cat!

Thanks Lily that is an ironweed. I seem to get them confused. Glad that you are getting Monarchs in your area. A good sign.

Thanks Ivy, early this morning I saw some pin size holes on some of my tropical MW. Instinct tells me I've got Monarch cats. And I was right. There were more than 5 or 6 of them tiny newly hatched cats. But to my disappointment by noon I couldn't find one of those little 1st instars. Where as my Sulphurs cats seemed to have escaped spiders and wasps thus far....