Food Plants? Newbie here

Hello everyone!

I have a fairly new butterfly garden (started planting last fall). I live in Southeast Virginia. So far I have planted, 2 butterfly bushes,2 butterfly weed plants,2 bee balms,2 black-eyed Susan plants,3 purple coneflower plants,2 Shasta Daisy plants,3 yarrow plants,3 salvia plants,a couple coreopsis,some phlox, 2 New England Asters,Zinnia,and scabiosas.

Along with these nectar plants, I have some fennel,dill,parsley,sage,and carrotts. How much of the garden should I devote to food plants? I am running out of room in the garden area,and do not want to overly plant something that will not be needed.

Thanks to everyone for any help on this.

This message was edited May 1, 2006 5:04 PM

Hi Slider...

I find that I have to plant several plants each of the host plants and I start seeds again several times a year to replace those plants that the cats devour down to the ground. I've never planted sage here as a host plant.

Hi MzMunchken! Thanks for answering. I think I will need to plant a few more of each. I'll play it by ear and see what happens this spring and summer.

I planted the sage because I read somewhere that it is sometimes a food source for various cats. It was on a web site that I can not even remember now. I haven't seen this on any other site. Plus, a few people that I have talked to locally have said they never heard of using sage(other than types of salvia,but this was for nectar,not a food source). So I have decided to leave it for now,and see what happens.

This message was edited May 3, 2006 3:57 PM

Slider,

I know it's hard - I wanted to planty everything I could to attract butterflies. I've narrowed down my choices and try to pick out the top nectar ones for this area and plant those in my yard. Every year I swap out extras that I like and even devote small flower beds to strictly one type of flower like salvias, zinnias, monarda and herbs. I literally flood those areas with seeds and season items.

I live in the quad-county area of south Texas known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley. This area is #4 on the list of having the most butterfly species (Texas is #1, Arizona and New Mexico are #2 and #3) - yeah,this little area beat out all the other full states :o)

Anyway...since we have a large variety of butterflies I try to keep my larval host selections to attract the ones I'd really like to have brood here. I planted larval hosts to attract those specific butterflies so I could see and photograph the butterfly life cycles in my own yard.

Last year I had:
Marius Hairstreaks on Duranta
Giant Swallowtails on orange and tangerine trees
Black Swallowtails on rue, parsley and dill
Monarchs and Queens on milkweed
Gulf Fritillaries on passion flower
Pluto Sphinx Moth on firebush (hamelia patens)
Gray Hairstreak on hibiscus
Sulphurs and Whites on cassia and beans

This year I planted hops (Question Marks), aristolochia (Pipevine Swallowtail), paw paw (Zebra Swallowtails), snapdragon vine and ruellia (Buckeyes), sassafras (Spicebush and Palamedes Swallowtail), more passion flowers (Gulf Fritillary, Mexican Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Zebra Heliconia, Julia Heliconia), asters (American and Painted Lady) and I have some cherry trees growing in pot (Tiger Swallowtails)

Now...some of those butterflies like the Palamedes, Tiger and Zebra Swallowtails don't get this far south...but I can still hope!!!

I also put out butterfly bait for the American Ladys, Leafwings, Emperors. The butt-bait is a puree of mashed bananas, brown sugar and Guinness Stout beer :o) I also put out cut up fruit for them too.

~ Cat

ps...by the way, considering how the Monarch, Queen and various Swallowtail caterpillars eat...you can never have too much milkweed, rue, parsley, dill etc.!!! I planted 8 dill plants and the Black Swallowtails stripped them - had to go buy more - and also tossed out more seeds for next season's caterpillars :o)

TeaxasPuddyPrint,


Thanks so much for the great info. I will try the "butt-bait". The only thing that worries me about putting out rotted fruit or the such is also attracting ants. Has this ever become a problem for anyone else? If my garden wasn't near my home,I wouldn't care as much. I surely don't want those critters in my home lol.

Also, I have planted two Monarda "Jacob Kline" in my garden about 2 weeks ago. I have noticed that on one plant some of the leaves are starting to get black spot on them. It's perhaps 10 or 12 leaves. What could be causing this?

Thanks,and happy gardening!