We've been having really warm fall weather and the butterflies love it! Front coming in tonight, so that should change things. I discovered today there were more than a dozen Queens around my place. Lots of snouts, Bordered Patches, checkerspots and sulfurs, etc. I saw 4 or 5 Monarchs today. All nectaring like crazy all day!
I think this is a faded VF. All these were on Frostweed in the dry creek.
More Queens, they were all over the place. In spite of the Queens and Monarchs, I haven't seen any eggs on my milkweed around here. They're probably just passing through.
Well Linda, I would say that those pics qualify as a plethora!! That's why I really wanted that frostweed. I don't think they've used mine as much as the Mist Flower tho.
I've had quite a few too. They love this weather. Is it my imagination or does it seem to give them a little more zip? I've had Monarchs, Queens, and GF's and spotted a big Sulphur and a large white today. It was gone before I could get out there tho.
Well, they are also using the White Mistflower, Velvetleaf Mallow, Cosmos, Mexican Milkweed, lots of others. But there's a lot of Frostweed around that dry creek (I think butterflies like creeks in the fall for some reason)...many are going to seed, however, so they're fighting over the rest that are still blooming. Yesterday, I was trying to remove all the seed on the Velvetleaf Mallows and the bees and butterflies were all over them, since they're blooming a lot right now. They didn't want me interfering with their nectaring, that's for sure!
Do you have pics of this Velvetleaf Mallow? I've never heard of it but it sounds like I want some. I think I saw your White Mistflower on another thread. I've never seen that either. Do they like it as much as the purple?
hmmm....does bloom color have anything to do with the nectar? or the color just attracts them? I was just wondering if the white produced as much (or more) nectar as the purple.
I've never seen or heard of many of those plants either. Please do post some photos!
I saw a Queen today. She was laying eggs on some of my milkweed next to the screened porch. I haven't seen Queens since this summer. I wonder if most of the butterflies are seasonal. I can honestly say that I have seen a LOT more butterflies recently (Fall) than any other time of the year! I don't know if it's because I have more plants or if there really are more butterflies out and around in my area this time of year? It's still pretty warm here. I saw a Tiger Swallowtail flying by, a Black Swallowtail on my dill, a Giant Swallowtail getting nectar from my Cape Honeysuckle, the Large Sulphur laying eggs on the Cassia, several Monarchs that were flying from one cluster of milkweed to another, a White Peacock that was hanging out on my fence, several Gulf Fritillaries all over the Maypops, the Gold Rim Swallowtail that's been feeding on my porterweed, a Zebra Longwing on the same Lantana plant every day, tons of Skippers, lots of tiny little butterflies, and the one Queen all over my milkweed. That was just in one hour I was outside moving stuff around so my son could mow the yard in the late morning/early afternoon. I don't know why, but there seems to be more and more butterflies cruising through my yard at this particular time. Perhaps they are seasonal?
This message was edited Nov 10, 2006 10:52 PM
Velvet-Leaf Mallow is a Texas native. I don't seem to have a pic anymore, but here's a link with pictures.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/113173/index.html
It's a nice plant, pretty flowers and a velvety feel to the large leaves. It can make lots of seed and spread too much that way...which is why I try to remove the seed, because I have enough plants. Good questions, don't know about the color thing. I know that the Queens and Monarchs like the Gregg's Mistflower. But mine doesn't have much blooms right now and the White Mistflower has quite a bit. With so many butterflies around this week, it's a good thing that there's quite a few blooming plants!
This message was edited Nov 10, 2006 9:57 PM
Well, I use native Texas plants quite a bit. White Mistflower, Eupatorium havanense, is one of them. Here's a pic of a Monarch on one plant. It gets a bit tall sometimes, but I don't worry about that at all.
The white is beautiful. Do you have it and the purple mixed together? ...and throw in some yellow! :) I have several patches of the purple because it's my guarantee that I'll have Queens. It became a huge bully this year too. I'm going to have to cut it back with the Indigo Spires next year.
I just found a pic of that Mallow in Butterfly Gardening for the South. I had never seen it before, and I can never find things in the plantfiles. Did you know that it is a host to several kinds of skippers? Another reason to have it.
I just read too that the Variegated Frit mainly uses Flax as it's host in Texas. ? (that reminds me to throw out some Scarlett Flax seeds)
wow Linda. Harvest us some of the velvet mallow seeds. That is beautiful
Boy,how do ya'll manage to get such great pictures? I can't get close enough to one to see what it is much less get a picture.
P
Just move slowly and stand still for a bit. When they are hungry they usually will ignore you. We like to think they really like us too. :)
I think those yesterday were in a sort of feeding frenzy on those flowers. Perhaps they knew a cold front was coming? Still, it isn't easy. I have a sore foot, but the sight of those many butterflies nectaring together was too much, I walked down to the creek bed and lurked there and kept snapping pics...most of the pics were really terrible because I couldn't take time to focus, with them constantly moving and flying around between flowers. I just clicked away and out of many pics some came out okay.
Donna, I haven't yet thrown out the mallow seed. D-mail me your address and I'll send some. But it can reseed easily, so keep it in check. If anyone else wants some, I have plenty.
lol, I stand so still in my garden taking photos, that my flying flowers will actually land on me to rest... :) Really special when that happens... :)
I'm loving all of these butterflys, Linda...isn't it amazing? I watched a Sulphur emerge from its chrysalis and fly away today. *sigh* Wonderful :) It had actually attached itself to a plant marker for my Vick's Plant that dogmansis gave me at our swap at Nada's...lol
Melanie
