Which cosmos do the butterflies visit for you all? I tried them for the first time this year. I have picotee and sensation mix. They are blooming like crazy right now and the only butterfly action I've seen has been one Monarch touch it with it's feet, and instantly must have decided it wasn't any good because he moved right on to something else! I love hoe easy they are and they are doing extremely well in my dry sand soil, so I thought I'd try a different variety next year to see if they get more interest from the butterflies. I can't be wasting space on plants the butterflies don't love! lol : )
Best Cosmos For Butterflies?
That's the attitude that I developed "If you don't perform you are wasting my dirt". lol I've never had a problem with any type of cosmos attracting butterflies but thinking about it I think maybe it's usually smaller ones. It could be that it's just been a slow season for butterflies too. Don't give up on them all just yet but you might put another choice out next year and experiment. You can never go wrong with zinnias so you should try them too! The Monarchs love them!
I haven't had loads of luck with the cosmos, either. Mostly I planted (in the past) Cosmos 'Bright Lights' and other bright orange cosmos. This year I have very few cosmos in the garden.
I did find this blog that lists 'butterflies observed nectaring' and it seems like the butterflies on the cosmos were small varieties of butterflies, not monarchs and swallowtails. At least in his garden...
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3FW2iC-msUYJ:mysite.verizon.net/vze8fvo3/id14.html+butterflies+cosmos&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=17&gl=us
Lol koncreteblond you know how I feel then! And yes, I've been seeing lots of posts about the poor butterfly season many have been having. Here I've had my best butterfly season so far. I think it's because I have so much more for them than before. I can't say how good the Monarch season has been yet, because they will take another month to all form chrysalis and hatch and begin their southern migration. So far I've had a lot of them as far as the northward journey goes. I have monarch cats on every milkweed in the garden. : )
I do have zinnias and they are pretty popular right now. Thank you for the suggestion. : )
Tab, that link is pretty cool. How did you get it to highlight cosmos, I don't think that happens when I do a google search! I love that website, I think I found it before from one of your other threads. You always have the good links : )
I checked to see what type he(she?) was growing and it said sensation which is the ones I'm growing. He has spicebush as a visitor, they are very elusive in my yard. I know they come around more than I think because I am on my second batch of spicebush cats.
I think the reason I wanted to find cosmos they like is because they are perfect for my yard, I don't have to ammend the soil for them like the zinnias and most other plants I have for that matter. Plus I heard they reseed easily, and I have a giant brush pile that can't be mowed and is filled with weeds, and I thought the cosmos would be awesome there if they reseed every year and take that area over. It would be much nicer than just the burnweed, smartweed, weed grasses, and other various weeds that are there now!
Ooh. That's a good idea for cosmos. You are being so sensible! I too am trying to find xeriscape butterfly friendly plants for the 'outback' part of our lot.
I was hoping to make a sort of little meadow-like strip for the butterflies at the back of our lot where we have a brush pile and a smidge of sunshine. I was thinking of putting in Ironweed, milkweeds, and maybe cosmos would be a good addition!
Let's see, I got the yellow to 'highlight' the Nectar flower list by using the 'cache' search on Google and copying the resulting webpage address onto my post. I like that fellows website, too. So much valuable information that he has collected and shared!
Yep, that's what I thought - smaller ones. I always have some form of cosmos and they are usually getting some action from bees, skippers and things the size of Bordered Patches. They do reseed quite abundantly but it beats having to buy more!
That's good to hear that you are having a good season for bflies! I'll be waiting for your Monarchs to come my way soon! I did have 2 today but they wouldn't sit still for me to take pics. That's ok, they are my favorite to watch fly.
Tabasco, you are always planning and thinking! My brain gets tired just knowing you (not me) are doing it. LOL I started off wanting it planned but then decided the cottage look was good for me.
I have the orange cosmos - got the seed from the vet's garden 2 years ago so I don't know what kind it is, but there is a orangey-yellow; orange and an orange with red streaks. The butterflies love it along with the zinnias. It reseeds abundantly and I have to keep reminding myself that the plants need to be 12-18" apart - at least. I have pipevine, black and anise swallowtails that visit it along with several others that I never can remember the names of.
Fiberholic, thank you for sharing : ) I wonder if you have the sulphurus type? When I looked cosmos up in the plantfiles those were the ones that had lots of comments about attracting butterflies. I think I will try them.
Oh my...I don't think I'll ever get rid of orange cosmos! lol We do have a love/hate relationship at times. Buckeyes, Crescents, Bordered Patches all use them.
Ut oh, why do you hate them? Please tell me if I will regret them : )
They reseed prolifically here - almost become a weed. But they are easy to pull. You probably won't have so much of a problem with the cold you get.
Oh thank you for the warning though! I think you are right about the cold here. I find lots of stuff that is thuggish in warm areas, barely grows for me.
I wish our cosmos would reseed a little. I have the darnedest time trying to get them to grow.
When they do, they are so cute, though. Especially those orangey ones. I bet they are great with the zinnias.
Right now my cosmos Sensations (the white ones) are languishing in the garden, and I thought they would be so cute waving in the breeze with my hibiscus plants! Oh, well....
Just had to share this...now if I can just remember how to add the photo
Fiberholic thank you for sharing the wonderful picture! I have a pipevine planted for the Pipevine Swallowtails but I doubt I will ever see one. At least I can enjoy yours! Will you have seeds available for trade at some point? I really want to try some of those now. : )
Ooo, I need to get some of that orange cosmos next year!!
Oh, yeah, I have seeds. Dmail me with an addy and I'll get some in the mail to you next time I deadhead which will be in a couple of days. I'll have lots by the end of the season so ....
I don't very often get pictures like that cuz the butterflies don't stay still long enough for me to get it together and snap the picture. That was a real blessing to get that one.
you have mail!