Horace's Duskywing Skipper (male) on Orange Cosmos
Horace's Duskywing Skipper (male) on Orange Cosmos
Hi Ed. Great bunch of pictues. Are all these butterflies visiting your yard? If so, you have a good variety of visitors. Your pictures make this forum more interesting.
Art
Ed, do you have pics of your flowers/garden?
Yes. All the butterflies that I have pics of are visiting my yard.
I have some older pics of my gardens around somewhere but they are not anything I would want to post. My gardens are very "informal" which means that I just plant butterfly plants wherever I can find the room for them. AND I undoubtedly plant them too close together because when they reached maturity, they invariably all blend together to look like a thicket of tall weeds. My wife complains but I tell her that I am planting them for the butterflies not for the beauty of a formal garden. The butterflies love them as they are. I will try to post some shots made earlier which show some parts of my garden. Actually, I have 4 major beds in various parts of the yard where I have put butterfly plants and hosts.
Oh, believe me, I understand the "informal" garden that reseeds itself! lol Mine is a huge mess this year. I'd love to see what kinds of things you have. Have you noticed that most butterfly attracters are big plants?! I just got a Joe Pye Weed and am trying to find where to put it, since everything seems to need to go in back.
Most of the ones that I have make tall plants. Lantana stays fairly small but anything that is attractive to the larger butterflies does always seem to get some height to it--for which I am grateful. I am not nearly so supple nor in nearly as good physical condition as I was 40 or 50 years ago; so I prefer to take pictures of butterflies which are right on my eye-level or above me rather than trying to bend waaay over close enough to get a macro shot of a Cassius Blue or some tiny skipper. You don't have that gradation from creepers out front to short to medium to tall to gigantic way in the back, which allows folk passing by on the sidewalk to see all your blooms and oooohh and aaahhh over how lovely your garden is. But the butterflies like them even if most of the plants are tall and half of them (or more) are invisible from the sidewalk and it mostly looks like a green thicket.
I read an article just the other day from a Texas newspaper (Houston, I think) where this woman had planted her entire yard down in native plants to created a sanctuary for wildlife. Her yard had been cited as a wildlife sanctuary by 3 or 4 different organizations. BUT the homeowners organization and various neighbors about the area were very unhappy about the yard. They thought it was unkempt and overgrown and probably had snakes and had all sorts of weeds and they were making constant complaints. They wanted it to be like all the others. The police had been there several times because of the complaints. She had tried to get the requirements of the subdivision waived in her case and had offered to fence off her property so it wouldn't be in their view but that didn't suit them. I don't know exactly what the outcome will be but you would not believe the ignorant comments of the neighbors. You probably read the article yourself or have seen it already. If you haven't I will try to find it and post it here. It is really a hoot to hear some of the ignorant comments made by the neighbors but there isn't anything funny at all about the fines that she might have to pay. It was sort of frightening to me for I have been trying to do the same sort of thing that she was for two years now. I am not nearly as far along as she was towards the goal of creating a whole yard wildlife sanctuary from mostly native plants. But I can envision some of my neighbors making just the same sort of noises that hers are making.
Konkrete Blond:
Here is an URL to that article I was speaking of. I found it sort of frightening and at the same time almost unbelievable that folk could be so ignorant that they would be attacking her for something they should be honoring her for.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/page1/3241936
Ed, thank you SO much for that story!! You are so right, that some of those neighbors are completely ignorant about what she's doing. By her vocation, a special ed teacher, you can tell that she's loving and patient to nature and humans. What a shame that she has to go thru that, and more of one that people are so unable to tolerate something natural. I am going to post that link in our Texas Gardening forum on a thread we keep going about native plants. Our "leader" Frostweed will be very interested since she grows natives also and is certified as a wildlife habitat.
I look forward to seeing your garden. Anything that attracts the beautiful butterflies that you take pictures of must be good!
Here here. Lets see them pictures Ed. You are doing a great job so far.
By the way, this week Dave started a Florida Gardening forum just for us Floridians. I know I speak for the rest of the Floridians there, we would love to have your photos there too.
Here is the link.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/524893/
Art
Konkreteblond:
Here are pictures that I have taken of my plants and butterflies, moths, walking sticks, wasps, bees, katydids, rainfrogs, snakes, dragonflies, anoles, birds, caterpillars, beetles, and other wildlife which has visited my yard during the past year. There are 1150 pictures here altogether. If you click on numbers down below, it will take you to a new page of thumbnails--ten to the page. If you click on the thumbnails, it will give you and 800 X 600 pic. There are a few pictures in here which were made at other places in the neighborhood and for almost every one of those, it will say "growing in my neighbor's yard" or some such thing which will tell you that it isn't from my yard--like the hibiscus plants and the banana tree and an excursion I made down along a drainage canal near here about Christmas. The best way is to start at the beginning (Page 115) and go all the way through. The reason I am doing this is because you can see some of my plants in bloom as well as my visiting critters. If I took pictures of my flowerbeds as they are now, you would just see mainly a thicket of greenery. There are only a few things blooming. This is sort of like a diary of my gardening efforts or a Blog I think they call it. The only person who ever comments upon my pictures are my brother Bill who lives in Nashville. (But since you belong to ImageShack, you may be able to comment. Feel free to do so.) He teaches Architecture and knows a lot more about photography than I do.
http://www.myimageshack.com/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/147
Ed, I have not had a chance to go thru your pics yet, just cruising thru here quickly. But I will!!
One of our TX forum members went by this lady in Houston's home. She took some pics. (Scroll down to the bottom)
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/523112/
I've had the chance to look at some of them. Can't wait until I get home from work, so I can go through them, more throughly. They are just beautiful!!
Great pics Ed! I only got to pg 38 and then saw there were 115 or more. Looks like I'll have to come back. You have such beautiful flowers and many beautiful tropicals. I saw one that I recently saw at a butterfly exhibit and loved, the Shell Ginger. I also love the Lion's Ears, or was it Lion's Tails? The roses are beautiful too. I especially liked the "Cocktail" one. And I do love that Spanish moss! When I visit friends in New Orleans it's one of my favorite things to see. It gives me such a feeling of going back in time, especially at the old plantations. I love the Porterweed too! I had a huge coral one last year. This year I have a "blue" one, but it doesn't seem to be growing near as fast so I'm not sure it gets as big.
I just reread your post...I was wondering about that canal, if it was near you. And should I have started on page 115 and go backwards? Oh well...lol
I checked it out too. Awesome photos, Ed!
I am working my way through the 5 sets of pics you sent along--I have gone through set 5 and set 4 so far. I see an occasional plant that I recognize (like Wild Petunia and Elderberry) but you folks grow many, many plants that we do not grow here.
I like the Varigated Shell Ginger also but for some reason my wife hates it. I think it looks VERY tropical with the striped foliage and big weeping leaves and the blooms are just beautiful beyond belief.
There are many different kinds of Porterweed. I have a red which is a dwarf and only gets about 2 feet tall. A Purple and a Coral, both of which may be Stachytarpheta mutabilis. The butterflies and bees love them. They get over 6 feet tall. I have two types of blues. One is a purplish-blue Stachytarpheta urticifolio which is not native but is well liked by the butterflies. The seed stalks are considerably thinner and there are many more of them on S. urticifolio than on the Coral and the Purple. It gets about 4 feet tall and is very weedy looking. I have several plants of the light blue ground cover variety (which gets about 18 inches tall). It is native. I think it is Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
I grew Lion's Ears (or Lion's Tail as it is sometimes called) for the first time this year. I have yet to see a butterfly on it. SO, although it is attractive in full bloom, I will be discarding it next year for something else. It takes up WAY to much room. A very large plant.
I didn't realize that I had Spanish Moss in the pics but you can't very well avoid here if you have Live Oaks in the yard. My house used to sit back under several large live oaks but they have huge horizontal limbs which overhung the house. AND although we have lived here 30 years without incident, we lived in mortal fear last summer when two hurricanes passed very closely to the South and to the North. If you could see what they did to the 100 year old Live Oaks in Arcadia it would make you weep--Ripped them out of the ground and threw them around like confetti. SO, my wife insisted that before this season started, I must have the overhanging limbs removed from over the house. It cost a small fortune but I have just had that done. The trees look as if they were butchered but they will survive and hopefully we will be somewhat safer if we should happen to be hit by a hurricane. The season is underway and one could possibly hit here this weekend but most likely the track will lie considerably to the West of us in the Gulf of Mexico. I certainly hope so. I will be looking at the remainder of the picture sets you sent me soon.
Yes it is a major drainage canal which begins way out to the East of I-75 but happens to pass about 2 blocks away from where I live on its way to drain into Phillipi Creek which drains into Sarasota Bay (or the Gulf of Mexico). I haven't been back down to the canal since around Christmas but there are lots of wading birds and interesting plants down that way. I entered by a public access route but someone whose yard borders on the access route has a Pit Bull in his yard and the Pit Bull thought that I was invading his territory by walking down the public access ramp to the canal. He got so excited that he jumped their fence and was coming down to check me out. I had a huge walking stick that I carry and was pretty sure that I was going to have to defend myself with it. The teenage son of the owner of the dog finally came down to retrieve him. My wife thinks I should now stay in my own yard to avoid being eaten by Pit Bulls.
Be watching for my favorite of the creatures that I have seen in my yard so far (not the prettiest perhaps) but one of the most interesting: The Walking Stick.
I am working my way through the 5 sets of pics you sent along--I have gone through set 5 and set 4 so far. I see an occasional plant that I recognize (like Wild Petunia and Elderberry) but you folks grow many, many plants that we do not grow here.
I like the Varigated Shell Ginger also but for some reason my wife hates it. I think it looks VERY tropical with the striped foliage and big weeping leaves and the blooms are just beautiful beyond belief.
There are many different kinds of Porterweed. I have a red which is a dwarf and only gets about 2 feet tall. A Purple and a Coral, both of which may be Stachytarpheta mutabilis. The butterflies and bees love them. They get over 6 feet tall. I have two types of blues. One is a purplish-blue Stachytarpheta urticifolio which is not native but is well liked by the butterflies. The seed stalks are considerably thinner and there are many more of them on S. urticifolio than on the Coral and the Purple. It gets about 4 feet tall and is very weedy looking. I have several plants of the light blue ground cover variety (which gets about 18 inches tall). It is native. I think it is Stachytarpheta jamaicensis.
I grew Lion's Ears (or Lion's Tail as it is sometimes called) for the first time this year. I have yet to see a butterfly on it. SO, although it is attractive in full bloom, I will be discarding it next year for something else. It takes up WAY to much room. A very large plant.
I didn't realize that I had Spanish Moss in the pics but you can't very well avoid here if you have Live Oaks in the yard. My house used to sit back under several large live oaks but they have huge horizontal limbs which overhung the house. AND although we have lived here 30 years without incident, we lived in mortal fear last summer when two hurricanes passed very closely to the South and to the North. If you could see what they did to the 100 year old Live Oaks in Arcadia it would make you weep--Ripped them out of the ground and threw them around like confetti. SO, my wife insisted that before this season started, I must have the overhanging limbs removed from over the house. It cost a small fortune but I have just had that done. The trees look as if they were butchered but they will survive and hopefully we will be somewhat safer if we should happen to be hit by a hurricane. The season is underway and one could possibly hit here this weekend but most likely the track will lie considerably to the West of us in the Gulf of Mexico. I certainly hope so. I will be looking at the remainder of the picture sets you sent me soon.
Yes it is a major drainage canal which begins way out to the East of I-75 but happens to pass about 2 blocks away from where I live on its way to drain into Phillipi Creek which drains into Sarasota Bay (or the Gulf of Mexico). I haven't been back down to the canal since around Christmas but there are lots of wading birds and interesting plants down that way. I entered by a public access route but someone whose yard borders on the access route has a Pit Bull in his yard and the Pit Bull thought that I was invading his territory by walking down the public access ramp to the canal. He got so excited that he jumped their fence and was coming down to check me out. I had a huge walking stick that I carry and was pretty sure that I was going to have to defend myself with it. The teenage son of the owner of the dog finally came down to retrieve him. My wife thinks I should now stay in my own yard to avoid being eaten by Pit Bulls.
Be watching for my favorite of the creatures that I have seen in my yard so far (not the prettiest perhaps) but one of the most interesting: The Walking Stick.
...just replying quickly here...what 5 sets of pics are you referring to? ones on the forum link I posted? The ones of the ladies house in Houston is on that thread, which is part 6, in the middle. There are 4 or 5 pics of it.
O.K. I am embarrassed. I did not read your note well enough and I thought you were just sending me some threads of pics to peruse. So I was going through the 6 parts of the thread you sent along--I had done parts 4 and 5 already (believe it or not!) I now see that you were trying to send me some pics of that house in Houston that was referred to in the article. I found them and they are most revealing. I had no idea that she had allowed her yard to go absolutely wild. My comment would be that it looks exactly like abandoned homes that I have seen out in the countryside. The newspaper article was too kind to her and the pictures that someone published on the Butterfly Gardening Forum of "another" gardening group on the web were not NEARLY as revealing as the pictures your friend took. I realize that my garden would not even be classified as a "garden" by some folks right here in this extremely ordinary subdivision BUT I don't think I have a thing to worry about in comparison to hers. My wife would kill me before she would allow ours to get that wild. I do think that with a lot of tender loving care and hard work the lady could make her yard look MUCH tamer and still have all the flowers and shrubs that she desires. If she just put them into beds with a little walking room between, it would not have that jungle thicket sans the hand of man look. I fully agree with the comments you and your friends made about the garden.
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Edited Comments from the thread--
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All I can say is, that is really a wildscape if I ever saw one.
I guess there are all kinds of habitats, I prefer mine a little more tame.
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I believe this person could easily have all natives, still have all her certifications, and at the same time be more considerate of her neighbors. It is possible to have all natives and still maintain a neat appearance.
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From just what I can see, it doesn't look like things were intentionally planted, but just sprang up, thus making it look like weeds. I think there is a difference to being natural and looking unkept.
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we are entitled to our own opinion and mine is I am glad I am not her neighbor.
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I live in the boonies and I expect my yard to be better kept than that...I think she is being terribly unfair to her neighnors...
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Thanks for the pictures and the comments of your friends.
Take care.
Edfinney@comcast.net
8:56:55 AM
Thu, Jul 7, 2005
I'm sorry Ed! Oh well, maybe you saw some nice TX wildflowers. lol I was quite disappointed in that woman's yard also. I had hoped to see something I would envy.
I must admit that I do not envy her "wildscape."
John
Konkrete, Frostweed, Maggiemoo, anyone else interested: Here is an URL showing more pictures posted by the Lady in Houston (Kelly) with the Wildscape Garden. She has comments beneath the pictures if you see them one at a time. There are no comments if you do the slideshow. Many of the slides show other houses in the neighborhood which have yards which are as wild as hers but receive no citations. Still hers is as Wild as I have ever seen--I still think as someone said previously, "I am glad that I am not her neighbor."
http://photobucket.com/albums/v418/tzuhouse/Kellys%20wildscape/
It does seem that she is being singled out. I like how she pointed the city's problem with maintenance on their easements. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
John