These have all been on my Lantana 'miss huff' this week. I need to get a book on FL butterflies :)
Pic 1
Butterfly id's please
second pic of above butterfly
Next one
and this one
The first 2 pics are of Gulf Fritillary, the 3rd pic is an Eastern Black Swallowtail and the 4th is a Common Buckeye.
Nice pics fleurone!! Now send them over towards Weeki Wachee LOL
Lisa
Thanks Lisa that is fantastic, oh poor 4th one is beautiful , common indeed :)
lol I wil share but I am going to plant more lantanas!!!!
Great pictures!!!
If you plant their larval host plants you can watch the process from egg....to caterpillar....chrysalis....to butterfly!!
The Gulf Frit will lay eggs on Passion Vine as does the Zebra Longwing found in your area. The BST will lay eggs on Parsley, Dill and fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, & Rue. The Buckeye would use Toad Flax, Frog Fruit, Snake Herb and other items. These are just a few of the host plants you can draw butterflies to your yard with. Don’t use pesticides on the plants and you will be blessed with loads of butterflies!
Here is a great link for you in Florida. http://www.thebutterflysite.com/florida-butterflies.shtml
Also at the top of the Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening forum is a "sticky" that has loads of links and info on raising butterflies if you are interested.
Sheila_FW
Thank you Sheila, up to now I have just been putting in plants that are butterflies and hummer attractants, lol not having a clue which butterfly likes what!. Thought I would learn once they start appearing :0)
I have a passion vine, and loads of fennel but none of the others yet. Will work on it. I don't use pesticides.
Thakyou also for the link that is wonderful
There are a lot of Dave's members in your area. I am sure that there are plant swaps down there or at least seed exchanges. Don't go buying until you check out the local FREE opportunities! ;-))
I will :0)
Don't forget milkweed for our monarchs
Did I mention natives like duranta & firebush?
This message was edited May 10, 2008 10:24 AM
Also, the porterweeds will bring in many, Use the sennas for sulfurs.
Hi budgie I have milkweed , which is flowering great right now, haven't located any porterweed yet though and I will check out senna. I thought porterweed was blue?
It comes in salmon, purple, red and blue. The blue is more of a trailing dwarf and I believe it's considered more native than the larger ones. I have all but the red, I had it but didnt care for it,
Purple porterweed
Thank you budgie for the info , I will get some :)
I have seen it at Lowes but if you have a problem I can send cuttings.
fleurone,
A good place to look if you haven't already is the Nursery that is at the Outlet Mall on 19. They have alot of nice plants and the prices are great! The owners name is Natalie and if there is something you would like and she doesn't have it there she will try and get it for you. Last year she got a purple passion vine for me. I have bought alot of plants from her and have been very happy with all of them. She is also very knowledgeable about what plants butterflies like so she can also help suggest things.
Another place to look is the Nature Coast Botanical gardens which is right off Spring Hill Drive on Parker Ave. http://naturecoastbotanicalgardens.com/default.aspx
The website gives a map in case you aren't familiar with where it is. The spring Hill garden club runs it and they have a nursery there which is open on Monday's & Saturday's where you can purchase plants. They are also very reasonably priced and can also suggest things for a butterfly garden. They just had their spring plant sale a few weeks ago and I picked up some zinnias for 50 cents a piece , some Milkweed and other things at a great price.
The Hernando County Extension Services also has a Master Gardeners program and they also have plant sales a couple of times a year . http://www.hernandocounty.us/County_Extension/
They also just had a sale a few weeks ago and I picked up some stuff there as well. I don't think I spent over $15 and I came home with a bunch of plants.
Being as there is no longer a Butterfly club here in Hernando County I belong to the one in Citrus county which is the Beverly Hills Butterfly club. They meet one sunday a month. There is no fee to go to the meetings and they are very informative! They also have a raffle at the end of the meetings and that is where I have gotten the majority of my butterfly plants. She sells raffle tickets ( I think I pay $4 for 6 tickets) and she uses that money to do things for the club like get guest speakers, give out literature etc. If your interested let me know and I can give you the details. The next meeting is Sunday the 18th.
If I think of anything else I will let you know!
Lisa
Thanks budgie appreciate the offer , I will try and get to Lowes and see. I am not too good at cuttings yet.
Great information Lisa thank you so much I didn't know that place was there in Spring Hill. Don't know where that Mall is either .
I have bookmarked the links