Hi! I'm Jo and I live in the greater Houston area. Last year, I planted milkweed and a few nectar plants for monarchs, and I'm hooked. I'm really diving into butterfly gardening this spring.
I've got several children, two grown and out of the house, and a second grandchild on the way.
For years, I loved growing roses - having about 40 or 50 plants, but I gave that up a few years ago when I just couldn't deal with all the pesticides, anymore.
Anyway, I was wondering where you all get your plants, especially plants that are hardy in zone 9. It's awfully hot and humid here. :)
I've purchased some seeds for various nectar plants, but would like to buy a few plants, as well. I'd really like a vine, but nothing that will take over the yard.
I hope to learn a lot here. Any and all info and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Jo
New here! An introduction and question
Hi Jo and welcome to DG. I've been slowly creating a butterfly garden too (just love to watch them). My climate may not be quite as hot as yours but it's pretty darn hot and humid over here! I have some Stokes Aster that the butterflies love so much I added more just last year. Butterfly weed (asclepia tuberosa) is a must too and it doesn't even need rich soil (High Country Gardens has real nice healthy plants). Coneflowers are a good choice too. This year I'm adding a Mexican Flame Vine (I have a couple of rooted cuttings coming from another DGr who lives in FL--nice and humid there too). I've researched for quite a while to come up with a vine that won't take over my yard and this one sounds like a good choice. It has beautiful orange flowers, it's evergreen and blooms profusely. From what I've read so far, it may shut down blooming in the real hot weather but will pick back up in the fall when it starts to cool down a little. It will tip root if you want to let it or you can keep it pruned to make it behave. I will probably let some tips root so I can share it with friends and fellow DGrs.
Welcome Jo! We have lots of Texans in this forum; I'm sure they'll chime in soon. I've always heard the climate in Houston is a lot like Tampa (where I'm at). My best nectar plants are porterweed, plumbagos, and blanket flowers. As for a vine, if you want a host plant, some of the passion flowers don't go too crazy, but maybe a Pipevine would be a better choice. I'm also growing duranta up a tree; butterflies love that plant. Oh, and a lot of things you might think of as "weeds" often attract butterflies. I've learned to let some lantana and Spanish Needles (bidens alba) grow near the road because the butterflies love them so much.
I get a lot of my plants from the USF Botanical Gardens. They host some big plant festivals throughout the year, and the month of July is their Butterfly Festival. Maybe you have a botanical garden in your area? I also like ordering from www.mailordernatives.com Garden clubs and Master Gardener programs also tend to host plant sales throughout the year as fundraisers. It's also great if you can find a local nursery (as opposed to he big box retailers). I've got one near me and last summer the place was covered in butterflies. I was at Home Depot this weekend and they had milkweed for sale - and not a single egg or caterpillar on it. In contrast, last time I went to my local nursery, they were bemoaning the fact that the butterflies had discovered the dill and laid eggs all over it. That always makes it crystal clear to me which plants have been smothered in pesticides. A milkweed without a caterpillar is just not normal! : )
Welcome to the addiction!
Melanie
Hi Jo,
I live in Houston too. Melanie is spot on about the portersweed, plumbagos, porter weed, pipevine and passionflowers. I would add pentas too. They're just so easy and butterflies and hummingbirds love them. Some of my pentas have also been host plants for one of the swallowtails with the fake giant eyes. Sorry but I can't tell if the eyes are bulging or not to identify which one! My neighbor's Cassia has been a host for Cloudless Sulphers.
As for the vines, if it is vigorous, you're not going to care if it's eaten by butterfly larva. In fact, last year, I actually would take Pipevine Swallowtail larva and move them to parts of the vine that I wanted trimmed. I bought a passionflower that is supposed to be less overwhelming than the others. I believe that it is a slower grower, but I'm still going to cut it back this spring. It has small pink flowers. There are hundreds of varieties. I saw an entire hardcover book on passionflowers at Another Place in Time which is one of my favorite nurseries. I bought a good butterfly book there too called "Butterflies of Houston & Southeast Texas" by Joh & Gloria Tveten.
I would say that one of the best nurseries around here to get plants and particularly butterfly friendly plants is Joshua's Native Plants on 18th street. He has much better prices than many of the other nurseries too, and there's a big barn with antiques to add to the fun! Last year, he had a monarch pupae hanging from the cash register. Can't beat that!
Thanks for all the responses and ideas!
I had a few of those - like pentas and milkweed - but I'm not sure what's going to come up by seed. And my duranta is looking great right now.
Jo
Don't forget Cassia/Senna for the Sulphur butterflies and Nasturtiums for the White butterflies!
Jo,
After this discussion, I became obsessed with getting a few paw paw shrubs to try to attract a Zebra Swallowtail. My book says that they really prefer forests, but it's worth a try. Anyway, I was looking on the net and found Caldwell's in Rosenberg, http://www.caldwellhort.com, that would be closer to you I think. I've never been there but it looks great and they have a whole list of plants that they carry that attract butterflies. Have you been there? If so, what did you think?
I have some butterfly weed in my garden. Last summer (very hot & dry), I kept
noticing these super-tiny orange bugs on the leaves. Surrounding plants didn't
have them. I'd cut the leaves off (& discard them), but the critters would come
back. They were so small, I couldn't tell exactly what they looked like. Any ideas?
Is there some bug that butterfly weed is particularly susceptible to?
Hi Carol,
Yes you are playing host to the dreaded milkweed aphid. The bugfiles have some great pic if you want to be 100% sure. You can cut off the infected parts, but as you found, it is a losing battle. I usually will fill a bucket with soapy water and go around wiping off the infected leaves and seed pods with my wet hand, smashing the little critters as I go. Disgusting isn't it? You can't use a pesticide because you would hurt the Monarchs and their caterpillars which are the reason why, I assume, you planted the milkweed in the first place. As long as you keep the aphids under control, if there is such a thing, the Monarchs will ignore them. Trudi
This message was edited Feb 18, 2008 2:23 PM
I agree with Trudi3--I use her method to get rid of aphids that get on my milkweed. I probably don't get all of them that way but at least I'm not killing my butterflies. It's just an unfortunate fact that the aphids love milkweed as much as butterflies :-(
Another thought for Jo, since Becky mentioned Cassia. Pop over to: Seed Trading forum, the "ID needed, pls - - I have zillions of seeds to offer". The seeds are Cassias, from a DGer in Texas. Anyone who doesn't already have a Cassia might want to take a look.
Would someone please take pity on me and tell me how to do a hyperlink or where I can look to see how? I admit, I am computer handicapped ;-( Trudi
If anyone needs Cassia seeds, I have some I can share.
Also about the aphids. I get aphids seasonally. They are around for a few weeks and then gone. Whereas the dreaded Milkweed bug stays forever! Grrrr .... The Ladybugs come looking for those aphids. Maybe they can smell them or something. LOL! But they do a pretty effective job eating them and ridding my plants of them!
Now if someone can tell me how to get rid of the Milkweed Bugs once and for all ... I am ALL EARS!!! (Major frustration!! They literally kill my milkweed!)
OH NO!! I've been babying my milkweed for the last two years (started out real tiny). Hope they don't come get mine. I'll be cruising around the net to see what I can find becky. I will sure share if I find anything.
I hate aphids! What purpose do they serve? I read this tip in a magazine last year & found that it works well: Put a little Kirk's Castille soap in warm water so that the soap melts (use a cheese grater on the soap to speed the process a little), let it cool, then put it in a spray bottle. Then spray the heck out of the plants. The next day, the aphids are dead and brown and the cats are munching happily. Fortunately, the cats don't seem to mind the taste of soap! :-) I don't think there's really a "recipe" for the spray - just however soapy you want it. A little soap really goes a long way. I get Kirk's on the bar soap aisle at the grocery store. Its usually on a high or low shelf (not at eye level with the expensive soaps). Its in a white wrapper with blue & red lettering.
As for where I get my plants - I have 2 local garden centers that I frequent (1 of which is dedicated primarily to native plants). I don't buy at the box stores unless I know what I'm getting, as I find that their employees sometimes answer questions with whatever sounds good. I spend enough time at the 2 garden centers that the employees think they know me, and point me to sales, new plants, etc. The trick to finding good butterfly plants while you're shopping is to take the time to see which plants the butterflies are drawn to (assuming you're at an open air garden center), and then buy those plants. Oh, and I now REFUSE to shop at the garden center where an employee pulled cats off of milkweed right in front of me with the intention of destroying them because, as he so eloquently put it, "they will make the plants look raggedy and no one will buy them". WHAT?? I told him anyone buying a milkweed expects and wants cats. They know they will look raggedy. He didn't believe me, so I rescued the cats from his grubby little hands and brought the little fellas home! Honestly!!
Ah, jodiorchid, you are a true Butterfly Warrior, bless you!
You can tell a lot about a garden center by how they treat their "bugs." Gotta love the local guys that move the little cat out of the way of the hose while watering... My favorite place had dill & fennel plants covered with BST cats, with a handwritten sign: "Free Butterflies- SOON!"
Cathy
Jodiorchid - Boy, does your story sound familar! Been there, done that! :-) I have been known to move all cats I find onto the host plants I purchase. I witnessed a man (who seemed a bit intoxicated) several years ago who was pulling the cats off and stepping on them. Freaked me out!!! I now try to rescue them. I always tell the the cashier I am buying the cats and the plant comes free with them! LOL! :-) And if anyone asks and comments about all the caterpillars on my plant, I nicely explain to them what they are. Most folks that ask, don't know that those "bugs" are going to be beautiful butterflies soon! :-)
Cathy - I love the sign "Free Butterflies - SOON!" Now that is a respectable nursery!!!! :-)
Do you guys also relocate cats from the totally chewed up plants in your yard to the ones that have numerous leaves left? My hubby thinks I'm crazy and my co-workers tell me I treat the cats like pets. Is that so wrong?
Jodi :-)
Heck NO!!! That's what folks do that love butterflies! We help them make it to the adult butterfly stage. And if you hadn't noticed ... many of us raise them in capitivity and release them too! :-) Tell your dh and co-workers that it is the new environmental protection movement going on here in the USA! :-) :-) And it is growing! Tell em to get on board before they are left in the dust. LOL!
I talk to mine - usually baby talk. I like all of them but I'm especially attached to my zebra swallowtails. In my house, we're all allergic to pretty much anything with fur, so we've had some strange pets over the years. Caterpillars really aren't that much of a stretch for us.
Melanie
JO.....
Welcome to DG!!
As for where my plants came from...my friends on DG mainly. I have attended several of the swaps and round-up and participated in some of the seed swaps too. I have bought very few retail plants since I have been a member.
Keep an eye on the 'sticky' (stays there) at the top of the Texas Gardening Forum. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/524147/
Take a look at some of the events that have happened in your area in the past. Right now there are only three listed for 2008 but more will be popping up I am sure.
We swap plants and seeds at the get togethers. But there are always gardeners that don't want anything, just love to share with new gardeners what was shared with them somewhere along the way.
Hope to see you down the road!
Sheila_FW
This message was edited Feb 21, 2008 7:51 AM
This may sound stupid, but here goes - will the milkweed aphid harm any other
kinds of plants? I had some salvia & a butterfly bush nearby that didn't seem to be
affected. I can put up with the pain of soaping the little buggers occasionally as
long as they don't destroy anything else.
Carol - My aphids usually show up for a couple of weeks and then disappear. They only seem to do damage on the very young new growth. After they leave (or are eaten by the ladybugs), the plants recover quite nicely. I so wish I could say the same about the investation I seem to constantly have of the Milkweed bugs. Now they will actually kill my MW plants! Horrible nasty bugs!! Grrrr...
I don't do anything with the aphids on my MW, I am afraid I may kill the ladybug larva, they are so small and blend right in. The MW bugs are another story. I keep a cup of soapy water with me when I go out and thump their little tusshies off and into the water...and they are goners! Occasionally I get to dunk an assian bug too. They feast on my butterfly eggs and ladybug larvae like the MW bug.