I am starting a small butterfly garden for our hospice in-patient unit. When the larvae are eating the plants, it can't look awful or make a huge mess. A local butterfly expert recommended we cover the pergola just outside the door with aristolochia. I can just picture someone standing there with frass falling on their head and all about them;-)
This brings me to wanting to pair an edible passiflora with one they will ignore so that the plant/support never looks naked. Will the Frits & ZLWs lay on the wrong plant? If they do, will the larvae try to eat the wrong one and spit it out or will they eat it and get sick? Got ideas for any other parings? Ultimately I'm sure we'll be allowed to use a fair amount of space but the pilot will have to look attractive and go well.
Thanks,
Maggie
Pairing passifloras
Maggie,
Wow, a wonderful project that you're working on. On Passifloras, from experience, I've the native passi with edible fruits. Those are favorite host to the Gulf Frits' caterpillars in abundance number. But then, I've 3 other hybrids passi. one is purple, blue/white combo. (evergreen vine - in my zone) and red (Lady Margarete) these for some reason, I don't see many capterpillars if any on them.
Hi L-L, They ate my LM to the GROUND!!! That's why I'm aqsking- YMMV!
Maggie
These NOID passi, though doesn't grow very big in my zone, I've this vine for several years, I've yet seen any caterpilliars on them.
BTW; I can't decipher those abrevations about LM? YMMV? :-)
LM- Lady Margaret
YMMV- Your milage may vary- an ackknowlegegement that those were not my results but they they were what I got in my particular circumstance.
Maggie