Hi, everybody--
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1115/index.html
I have read that the Golden Hops vine, often thought of in terms of beer brewing, is a larval host vine for the Red Admiral and a few other butterflies...one web page said it was an excellent cover for an arbor or a fence and that is has interesting flowers, yet I haven't heard of anyone on DG at least, using it in their BF gardens....
Does anyone have any experience with growing Hops? Some say it is invasive, but the Royal Horticultural Society gave it it's presigious Award of Garden Merit a few years ago. (I think it is propagated best by using rhizomes.)
So, does anyone grow it for butterflies? (Which butterflies) And is it worth it?
Thanks. t.
I know the red admirals use it http://www.brickfieldspark.org/data/redadmiral.htm
Golden Hops 'Humulus lupulus': A Host Plant Vine??
Hmmm, that could explain why some of the b'flies I see fly so erratically... (grin). Thanks T, that's one I surely didn't know about yet.
~Sunny
Well I was all set to use it, but noticed that it doesn't grow this far south. Darn. I know the red admirals do exist in southern Florida so they must eat something else there. Will investigate.
Red Admiral host plants (in Florida) are: Herbs in the Nettle Family (Urticaceae). False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica), Burning Nettle (Urtica urens), and Pellitory (Parietaria floridana).
I bet Pellitory is what many people grow in their yard for these butterflies. Good Luck!
Thanks Becky, will get right on it. Karen
Karen,
I didn't know what the Florida Pellitory (Parietaria floridana) looked like, but found a photo at:
http://www.griffin.peachnet.edu/grf/dept/cropsci/turf/weedcontrol/images/PARFL1.jpg
When I looked at the photo, I realized that I get this in my garden ALOT and have been pulling it out because it is a weed. Didn't know it is a host plant for the Red Admirals. Guess I need to leave a few in my garden afterall! LOL!
Sort of like clover which is a host plant for another butterfly. (Can't remember which one.)
I grow both the species Hop (Humulus lupulus) and the gold 'Aurea' cultivar, as well as Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia durior/macrohylla). I've not seen a butterfly on the Aristolochia (and probably won't, looking at the species of butterfly it hosts). I have no conclusive evidence, but I saw butterflies that I assumed to be painted ladies leaving my hops last year. I joked that they were getting sloshed with the finches but I haven't seen what they were really doing. They may ahve simply been roosting for the night. I have not seen any skeletonizing that is not from the occasional earwig.
Sadly, we just don't have many butterflies around here, thanks to the invasion of the European paperwasp- more voracious than the local sandhill paperwasp- and in turn eats more than its fair share of caterpillars.
We do have abundant Swallowtails that feed on the globe willows, and occasional Monarchs that are specifically on abundant milkweed.
I think divesity is the key to wildlife, and Variety is the spice of life!
Kenton
Becky, I tried to find Pellitory all over the place on-line and was unable. Do you think you could eventually spare some??? Thanks, Karen
Karen - If the plants (weeds) I have growing in my yard are truly Florida Pellitory (Parietaria floridana), you are certainly welcome to some. I am not sure about how to harvest them. Because I had been pulling them out as weeds, they never got very big. I just weeded a week ago, so I'll have to look around to see if I have any sprouting again. What I get in my garden are very small, delicate plants. I don't know how well they would do if I tried to transplant them into pots. I'll have to experiment and get back to you. (Please d-mail me your request so that I can contact you that way.) You have sparked my curiosity. I can honestly say I don't think I have seen any Red Admiral butterflies in my yard. But then maybe I haven't been looking for them. Or maybe I am wrong about the plants that are sprouting in my garden. (Maybe they really are weeds and not a butterfly host plant! lol!) I'll definately check it out now!
Karen - I d-mailed you! :-)