Guess what? I have a blue butterfly already!
I would have taken a picture for you to see, but he was drying his wings and he sort of looked like a dead flower hanging there. To have gotten a good enough picture I would have had to get so close, I didn't want to scare him. I must say, it took him a really, really long time to dry his wings. Over an hour. Is that normal?
Poor thing, the weather is tuning very, very cold on Wed for about 5 days. I almost put him in the plastic greenhouse, but who is to say that would be any better for him?
So, I am an official butterfly watcher!
Suzy
I saw my first blue butterfly of the year!!!
Hey, we love butterfly watchers here! Official or otherwise. Guess those overwinter up there, cool! And how long it takes them to dry their wings probably depends on how cold it is. An hour isn't unusual, in any case.
Congrats!!!
An hour isn't long...just depends on what the weather is like. When it's humid it takes a bit longer.
Any idea what kind of blue it was?
~ Cat
Congrats!!!
Those northern butterflies can survive some cold temps, they pump a chemical into their blood, kind of like antifreeze, and survive on stored body fat. Ain't I technical? lol
But, I would probably put him in the gh after an Id and some nectar plants are located.
Suzy - Congrats on seeing your first butterfly of 2007! How exciting!!! Sorry to hear that you are getting more cold temps. I have read that some butterflies hide in stacked firewood or other similar places to survive the winters. And Rox is on the ball about the stored fat to help them survive! ALL true!
Hopefully this will be the last cold front coming through your area and you will soon be seeing warmer days and many, many more butterflies!!!
LOL! Thanks for the energetic responses. In my defense, it's a big deal to see a butterfly this early. ")))))))) I have no idea what kind he was, just that he would be a blue because those are always our first ones. To be honest, I only saw the outside of the wings which were grayish-blue.
I have loads of places for him to hang out, lots and lots of flowers are blooming now, and I have others out that I'll have to bring in when it gets cold, but he should be ok. Catching him to put him in the greenhouse might be a little iffy, tho.
Becky, I'll be in Melbourne for a week in about a week. My oldest and dearest friend is moving there....too bad she doesn't like gardening, flowers, butterflies or anything to do with the outside, or I'd invite you over to meet her. sigh.
I will be hitting up a couple of garden centers to bring home things like Lantana and New Guinea Impatiens so that I can clip some cuttings. Might also get a fuschia for the hummers and whatever else I can carry on the plane. A oneway ticket was only $69.00, which I though was very low.
Suzy
Suzy - Oh! Awesome that you get to come to Florida to enjoy the nice warm temps we've been having lately....... just don't bring the cold weather with you! LOL! WOW ...$69.00 is cheap for a one-way ticket! What week are you coming? I work during the weekdays, but maybe we could get together for lunch one afternoon on a weekend or meet up at one of the garden centers. Just a thought. Of course, I don't know what my schedule is like at this time .... but thought I'd throw the idea out to you! :-)
Be sure to get one or two of the fuschia bushes from Lowes. I had never seen them before and I love the two I recently bought and planted! Don't know if the hummers will like them, but sure looks like they would by the shape of the flowers. Very pretty!
I definitely will be at Lowe's because I promised my friend that I would take all her old furniture, change out the knobs, and paint it for her guest room, ala Shabby Chic. I hope she heard the "Shabby" part , and not just the "Chic". LOL! If they don't have the Fuschias I will be broken hearted. For some reason I am expecting the plants to be a lot cheaper in Florida, but I know that won't be true. I think it's because our houseplants are your landscape plants and in Sept/October they sell huge houseplants for $10-15.00 here in tents. I will love carrying them through the multi-buildings of the Orlando airport. :))
The only weekend day I'll be there is April 15th, but I can send my cell phone number and we can see what's up closer to the date. At the very least I am hoping for the names of some good garden centers in the area, ok? :))
Oh, and my friend lives on a Nature Presever/Alligator swamp and I'd like to perk it up a bit with some native plants that are nicely placed. It probably just has a bunch of scrub now. Nothing says we can't have some native Butterfly plants, right?
Suzy
Suzy - The fuschia I bought was in a gallon pot and if I remember correctly was $5.99 at the Lowes store down here in Vero Beach. They had a whole shelf of it! There is a GREAT Florida native plant nursery in Melbourne that I love to go to when I get up that way. They sell native plants I can't find anywhere else.
Maple Street Natives in Melbourne. Here's their website:
http://www.maplestreetnatives.com/map.htm
And another fun nursery to go to is Rockledge Gardens Nursery. Here's their website:
http://www.rockledgegardens.com/
They are the 2 places I will make the drive to from Sebastian when I really, really want something unusual. Both places are very informative about Florida Butterflies and wildlife. You can get your friend all kinds of butterfly host plants at both of these places. Do go to the Maple Street Natives before you go anywhere else!!!!
I hope this helps in your great pursuit of plants! :-)
This message was edited Apr 3, 2007 9:38 PM
Oh, that is just perfect, thank you! Thank you!!
Suzy
Congrats on the Blue Suzy!! :-D.. Maybe you'll have the camera next time.
Hope you and Beckaroo can get together when you visit FL! How cool!!
Deb
Suzy - Be sure to check with the airlines as to what kind of live plants you can bring across state lines. Citrus is one plant that I believe you can NOT transport. There may be other plants as well.
The native nursery is not a fancy place and it is located in what appears to be an agricultural zone/farm area of Melbourne. It's a small operation, but very nice people and they grow most all their plants, not bought in large bulk from growers. I've always gotten what seemed like very healthy plants from them which always grew well in my yard. (Maybe it's a local climate thing.)
Rockledge Gardens is a big, fancy nursery right off US1 located north of Melbourne. They have a butterfly garden that is netted all around so that you can walk into it and get up close and personal with some of the local butterflies and see what some of the butterfly nectar and host plants look like full grown! :-) And they have a great selection of plants as well, though not nearly as many native plants as Maple Street Natives. Most are from growers from who knows where! :-) But their plants have done well in my yard, too!
Have fun shopping and planting for your friend! Lucky she is to have such a wonderful friend!!! :-)