I have Variegated Frits too!

I'm not nuts! I knew these cats were different! A month or so ago I found some weird looking eggs on my passionvine and even when they hatched I couldn't tell if they were GF's. I had so hoped they would be Zebra Longwing's, but they ended up being GF's. So this time when I noticed these cats were different, I just ignored it. I thought "you're just hoping it's different". lol

Well, this morning when one made it's chrysalis I knew it was different but still kept thinking I must be imagining it! There's just no mistaking that this beautiful thing is not a plain 'ole GF chrysalis. It was weird to look at it and think I was looking at the eyes of the butterfly! The first thread I saw this morning was Cat's and remembered she thought that too.

I am so happy that I did the 2 year old happy-clap!

These cats have silver on their sides that makes it look wet in pictures. They have long antennae, which is what I noticed first.

I'm so happy to know I was right! :) I just can't wait now for them to eclose!

What a beautiful chrysalis! And cat!

Guess I need to make some room for a passionvine.

Would you mind showing a picture of the pv it's been on? I've read some posts where there weren't any cats on a certain kind, it's confusing as to which pv to get.

This is my vine. It was originally planted towards the right of the pic where the lattice on top of the fence starts. This year it popped up way down to the left so I had to stear it toward the other and it met. This is my son's (messy) garden in front of it. The pv comes up in runners all in it. I pull them out and root them. I have this vision of that vine running all over underground! I'll find or root you a piece and you can either plant it or keep it in a pot. I'll look for a pic of the bloom.

Found an old one

oh Paige you are so lucky. Send some my way lol

I'll try, by my suggestion would be to just start imagining you have something different and it will eventually happen. lol

WOW, Paige! I love your garden! I also really like Passion Flower Vine, but am wondering the same thing about what's going on underground! lol! I expect my house to be lifted up off the ground one day by a giant "Jack in Beanstalk" Passion vine! LOL!

Lol......I think I'll keep it in a pot....that's huge! I wonder if even then it would be controllable, but it sure is pretty.

KKB, that's FANTASTIC! I'm so happy for you! Those VFs are cool!

That is so beautiful!! I planted a maypop about 6 months ago and it is doing just OK. It is mostly in sun. There are a lot of branchs from the ground but not as many leaves. I hope it is OK. I have had lots of frits lay eggs, but the eggs get eaten by something or other.

I bet it takes off next year, in more than one way! lol Mine was scraggly at first too. I have the same problem with predators (spiders, assassin bugs, wasps) so I never see any cats. It's pretty thick so there could be some hiding but I would think I'd see leaves eaten or the vine shrinking but I don't. The only chance they have is if I bring the eggs inside.

I didn't bother looking for eggs most of this season but once I did I had to bring them inside. (It's impossible to leave a butterfly egg outside once I see it!) I went out today and immediately started spotting them and brought in 19. I hope some of them are this VF. What I'd really like is to see the mom!!

I would bring the eggs in except I don't have enough vine for them to eat. I am hoping that if the vine takes off, I can start a piece in a pot and save the eggs that way.

I haven't thought about it, but I guess that is one advantage to my not having so many cats eating the vine, I've got plenty of it. But the only reason I planted it was for the cats so I don't mine cutting it up.

I tried propagating the maypop by cuttings both in water and in soil and neither worked. What do you do?

I've rooted them in just water but I do think it takes a little while. It's because I don't care and you do. That's the way it works. When you want something really bad, you work hard and sometimes get it. If you don't care about it and ignore it, it grows! I swear!! Every time I have a plant that is annoying me and I get frustrated with it and threaten "I'm going to pull you out tomorrow!" it starts to bloom!! lol

how true, lol. I will try again. Do you cut the older or the newer growth?

I think that the newer growth will root faster in water. Just ignore it. Don't look at it! Make it jealous and work for your attention. LOL

Nice Paige!
Those VF make some very amazing looking chrysalides, don't they...

and you showed my favorite view of your back garden. I have a pic of that I took while I was there with Sheila. I love it!


Deb

This is part of the scene in the pic above, only a tad bit closer up

Paiges PV and Milkweed section>>

I have a pic of one of your blooms Paige,,,

Here

This is from Paiges Passionvine>>>

Here's a pair of them, another angle..

I am so so glad I got a little plant of this from ya, it was sort of a silent prayer and then you had one left over...:o)


Once again for everybody From Paiges Pasionvine>>

I'm glad it has a happy home now. That's actually the crummy corner of my son's garden, next to where we put the compost bags. That huge grass in the corner is lemon grass that I got at a swap last year. That's an Elderberry tree behind it that started out as a tiny little cutting. It's getting huge and the PV wrapped itself all in it. I tried to get it off but it was too much trouble and there were too many wasps around it so I figured I'll just have to cut them both back soon. There is a Coral Honeysuckle vine on the fence pole and growing up the PV. I'm trying to see if I can root it too.

This is off-topic...Debnes, I was looking for a pic and ran across these of my front bed. I kept telling you and Sheila how AWFUL my front bed looks, and still does. This is how it did look in May.

Paige - OH MY GOSH! That is just mind-blowingly beautiful! Seriously! I'd take your garden on it's worst day! LOL! It looks great even then! :-) :-)

Thanks Becky! But you should see it now. Ugh, it's a horrid mess. I just couldn't pull anything out so it got just too overgrown. The coneflowers are cut back and yucky looking, the cosmos spread but got leggy, the yarrow fell flat, the scabiosas got smothered, the phlox layed down, etc. There were some mums underneath stuff that just never did anything so I pulled them out and they left huge empty spots. blech! it's obvious that I hate empty spots! lol

After going thru such a drought, then finally getting rain, I had 2 salvias that just bit the dust almost overnight. Then my Autumn Joy sedums fell open and flat! It's the weirdest thing! (If I can find the pic I'll start a thread about what I discovered with the sedums)

Even my steppingstones were totally grown over.so I need to raise them up and maybe overhaul this whole bed. I'll have to do it before spring tho because once I see seedlings I won't want to.

Yeah I hear ya Paige,
I know how we see it isn't how you see it.. You are your own worst critic, lol. When someone has as many wildlife specimins for hosting and nectaring...~ Well, they are going to go through some ragged times. What we see though, are the plants themselves, and your arrangements, and they are beautiful to us, really! What I see are the plants you provided for the creatures to live off of, and again it's beautiful. Personally I am not a landscape architect designer, (you do have a knack for that), however I try to keep a certain natural appeal to my yard, and it is a whole lot more casual. The compliments I get are not from the upper crowd, they are from people who appreciate balance & function.

In Garden circles today the last thing most people want are crawlies chewing on their plants, but we are a world away..to a fuctioning garden teeming with life. Caring for the creatures instead of eliminating them. As far as being on topic, imo we really aren't because we are still talking about what brought that beautiful Varigated Frit to your place. If someone has an emaculate lawn, and kiills all the creatures in it, it's all for show without any regard for them...well that ain't purdy at all to me!
Your an excellent steward Paige, and a super gardener! Many of us in here are begining to think like butterflies, and hummers. We just love what you've done with the place!

Deb

OK, Paige I think the bed was georgeous in your picture above fromMay.
BUT......
I think any of us would be equally pleased with how it looked in September after our drought. I wish mine looked a tenth as full and colorful as Paige's did here in this picture "at it's worst" when I took this pic of her and Deb!

Even the side of the house is colorful ....in September in TEXAS!!!

And 1 of three more of the backyard!

2 of 3 more ...Paige's backyard

3rd and final backyard pic. What butterfly or hummer wouldn't want to hang out here???????

Sheila your sucha good picture taker :) You seem to have captured my good side rofl!


Yep all the hummers and BFs want to go there for sure!

Deb

Paige, your yard is just beautiful....you definitely have a knack for placement and color.
That must be why I'm not seeing very many hummers and bf's...they are all in your yard! lol

Since we didn't see any pics of the 'yucky' parts I believe there aren't any. You know what they say...'the proof's in the pudding'. Isn't it funny how you can say a phrase a million times and then you write it and it doesn't look right?

Shelia - THANK YOU for posting all of Paige's gardens! WOW, WOW, and Triple WOW! I am not only inspired but have a zillion questions to pick Paige's brain about. I just wish I could tap into her knowledge by ESP or something! lol Very, very impressive! Can you see my little brain just clicking away? lol

Paige - My first question ..... how did you get into such amazing butterfly and hummer habitat gardening like that in the first place? Inquiring minds want to know!

Deb - I agree. If it isn't a habitat for living creatures then I'm not impressed at all. I am soooo over Palm Trees and manicured yards with sculptured shrubs and no color - just green, green, green ...... Pleeaasssseee. Ugh!

This message was edited Nov 5, 2006 1:27 PM

Nothing to add to Becky's comments except Wow, what a beautiful garden!!

If the pictures inspire you, can you imagine how awe inspiring it is in person? I could have sat there and looked at it all day! The monarchs, were just floating from flower to flower, and it wasn't even the time for migration!
I filled out some silly questionaire the other day and it asked, "what inspires you?" Without hesitation, and with Paige's garden in mind, I answered "fellow gardener's yards!".

Congrats on the VF!!! They are such gorgeous butterflies!!! The chrysalids are really something to look at...all those metallic colors on it makes me feel like I hit the mother lode!!!

~ Cat

Oh my gosh..thanks everyone! I'm surprised to come back to all of your compliments! I am really my worst critic. I'm a visual-perfectionist, which means if it looks wrong to me it stresses me out.

My beds started out very structured and assymetrical. I like big things in the middle and matching things on each side, in equal numbers. (I hear you laughing) I could not plant things in groups or just anywhere. Things started to reseed on their own and I found myself not wanting to move them because they were creating their own natural look. That relieved my internal pressure for perfection and order and I learned to love what I think of as "chaotic" and some think of as "cottage". lol

Last fall I did the craziest thing a concrete/sequential/visual/perfectionist could do... I just walked around and threw seeds of all kinds of things everywhere! Trying to start things indoors from seed was too stressful so I just decided that the natural way seemed to work for nature so I would try that.

I plant things where there is an open spot and if I don't like it there I move it. I don't cut much back during the season so I'm ready to get out there now and start cutting things down, cleaning it up, and organizing it a little again. I will put out mulch and compost for the winter but only put out fine compost in the spring so the seeds can come up.

So now you know my secrets. :) What inspires me? The world of little things living out there that I knew nothing about. There is such order and purpose in it. It reminds me that God is in control.

You nailed it Paige!
Well put to a t, very honest~ That 'crazy thing you did sounds like something I would do, lol.
Yaaaaaay for Cat, all those surprises so late in the season. I am so slap happy for both of you!!
It is so sureal the first time you see one in your yard that you've only studied and hoped to know first hand. :o)))).
All is right in our little world!
Deb