Butterflies In The Garden
Who out there gardens with the idea of attracting butterflies, how successful are you in accomplishing this task, and what butterflies are you attracting?
I've consciously tried to attract them for a few years, accelerating my attempts in the last two. This year has been a moderate success; numerous white sulfurs are always about, and there's been a few monarchs, as well. There seems to be a new arrival: a small orangey butterfly, only about an inch-or-so across, that flits about the yard quite rapidly, compared to the sulphurs. The hyssop is the most sought-after plant in the garden, though their flowers are beginning to wane. Will they rebloom if I cut them back? I think they came back last year, after such a treatment. I believe they are Hyssop officialnalis, if I'm not mistaken, a wonderful little spreader which requires almost no watering, and stayed evergreen under a cloak of snow, this past winter.
Yours, Gardenerbob.
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(post #7634, reply #1 of 671)
I try to garden to attract birds and butterflies. I'm not good at identifying butterflies, but I do get quite a few monarchs. This morning there were several small white ones and a small bright yellow butterfly out there. I also have seen some dark, almost black butterflies. Most popular plants for butterflies are, buddleia, phlox, joe-pye weed, asters, and salvia. Oh, and, uhm, darn, what are they called...the tall, spikey purple flowered perrenial...this heat if turning my brain to mush.
The hummingbirds love the columbine, weigela, beauty bush, lonicera, monarda, and lobelia. I've seen them at the delphiniums on occasion.
The gold finches like the salvia (nothing like seeing a bright yellow gold finch on a purple salvia!), rudbeckia, and echinacea.
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #4 of 671)
were you thinking of laitrice??? they do seem attracted to it in my garden, beautiful little butterfly...
(post #7634, reply #2 of 671)
After I posted the previous message, I looked out the kitchen window to see this little guy flitting amongst the echinacea and rudbeckia. Don't know what species this is, but it's cute. :-)
The butterfly season in my garden is really just starting. I don't have much in the way of early flowering butterfly plants. I'll have to get some hyssop next year and see if that attracts butterflies for me sooner.
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #3 of 671)
That is a neat photo! I have been noticing more flutterbys the past few weeks, just from a distance so I don't know what kind they are yet, they seem mostly white and yellow in color. Also a small nest of paper wasps under the porch overhang. My century plant which bloomed is almost finished, the flowers are dropping off but bees are still visiting. Hummingbirds and finches visited often while the flowers were in full bloom.
New Mexico home organic gardener
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson
(post #7634, reply #5 of 671)
I'll do a little looking and see if I can ID the little critter on the Echinacea. Does anyone out there know a good butterfly ID site?
The sulphurs have been around since late May. In June, they most liked the salvias and the Lychnis "maltese cross". They kind of liked the various geraniums in flower as well.
Your "tall, spikey, purple-flowered specimen is a bit of a mystery. When does it flower, and how tall does it get? Is it an acid-lover, like so many of your Massachussetts plants? I hope it isn't purple loosestrife, in any event.
I have three-or-four goldfinches which have started to visit the yard again, for the second year in a row. They like to feed on sunflower plants, some which have already flowered. Funny, they stay away from the sunflower seed in the bird feeder; they only seem to like the fresh seeds still on the plants.
I haven't had hummingbirds in a couple of years, now. They're always nice. I really like dragonflies, and damsel flies, especially the very flourscent ones, but I guess I just don't have enough small, flying insects (most specifically, mosquitos) to attract them. I have lots of honey bees around now. And I'm feeling a little guilty because there are significantly fewer wasps, since I wiped out a couple of there nests, the other night. Still, there are four-or-five varieties of wasps making the rounds. In reasonable numbers, I can tolerate them.
Another late season attraction for butterflies is caryopteris varieties. They are as much a magnet as butterfly bush is.
Yours, gardenerbob.
(post #7634, reply #6 of 671)
Purple liatris, thanks Tricia, that's the one I couldn't think of! It's just getting ready to bloom here now. No, I wouldn't have purple loosestrife here--it's decimating the natives in this state.
That's interesting that the goldfinches will eat the sunflowers direct from the flowers. I have several feeders, some with whole sunflowers, some with just the hearts. The finches will only eat the shelled sunflower seeds.
I have hundreds of dragon and damsel (is there a way to tell the difference???) flies. I figured they were beneficial but didn't know they ate mosquitos. I like them even more now--I have thousands of mosquitos and those tiny little black gnats, so that must be what attracts the dragon flies. I love the different colors.
The honey bees like all my flowers, but they especially love the malva that's in bloom out there now. They are all over it. I love going out there to deadhead and listen to the hum of the bees. :-)
The hummingbirds will try to chase me out of the garden, especially now that the monarda is in bloom.
I have some fruiting bushes--virburnums, dogwoods, and hollies-- and a Hawthorne tree that I got hoping to attract berry eating birds, but so far I don't see much activity from those. The berries seem to end up rotting and dropping off. At least I enjoy the bright red berries on the hollies and Hawthorne. :-)
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #7 of 671)
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm
Veni, vidi, velcro I came, I saw, I stuck around.
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
help to provide free mammograms for women in need
(post #7634, reply #10 of 671)
Thanks Jean! I think it's the black swallowtail caterpillar that's eating my parsley! :-)
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #11 of 671)
Interesting that purple loosestrife is also a problem in central Mass. It was, perhaps, the most reviled plant in existence in wetland parts of Ontario, about fifteen years ago. I think the active eradication program was somewhat successful, as I don't see as much of it in the bogs today.
Damselflies are a smaller version of dragonflies, and are close relatives. They are a larger family than I had first envisioned, as I have seen numerous species this year. At least three had colourful, flourescent markings on their wings, so bright they seemed to be their own energy source (positively glowing). Up north, at the old family cottage, the Ministry of Natural Resources released hundreds a number of years ago. They still tirelessly patrol the lakeshore constantly, making it very pleasant to sit down by the lake, even at the height of mosquito season (June). They can be as vivid an addition to the garden as butterflies.
I'm glad to see a positive ID was done on your Echinacea-fixated butterfly. Also, great to read of butterfly-inducing plants in Carolina. I've seen the swallowtails up here, but so far, haven't attracted any to my place. The white ones at your place might well be the sulphurs I have at my place. If you get a chance to look at the wings closely, you might see a little black dot on the wing - a tip it is a white sulphur, for sure. I don't know what larval food they like - I see no indication of any of my plants being eaten. I don't know there life cycle, but would think they overwinter in the cocoon state, and emerge in mid-spring as the adult. Maybe the larval stage (next year's butterflies) are eating now, but it doesn't look as if I have any host plants of note.
Maybe I'll ask for Peterson's guide to butterflies for my birthday, along with my Tilly hat.
Yours, gardenerbob
(post #7634, reply #12 of 671)
I don't know if all butterflies do the same thing, but my first summer here (4 years ago) I had the good fortune of finding two monarch caterpillars as they were going into their cocoons. I checked the chrysalis every day and actually saw one emerging. This was sometime in September, so I assume those butterflies migrated south. But, do they must lay eggs here before the migrate which turn into caterpillars next year? I'll have to read Jean's site in more depth.
I'll try to get a closer look at the white butterflies.
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #13 of 671)
The white ones are probably cabbage butterflies, if that helps.
Veni, vidi, velcro I came, I saw, I stuck around.
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
help to provide free mammograms for women in need
(post #7634, reply #63 of 671)
But, do they (monarchs) lay eggs here before they migrate which turn into caterpillars next year?
No, the monarchs that emerge in the fall head south. In the spring Monarchs start north, laying eggs along the way. The butterflies that develop from those eggs head further north, so the Monarchs I'm first seeing on Long Island may be third generation for that year.
check out http://www.monarchwatch.org
also http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat/planyourhabitat.cfm
Selling plants from an orange box, and doing a bit of design on the side- LI NY, Zone 7ish...
Selling plants from the Orange box, and doing a little garden work on the side.
LI, NY, almost zone 7, but it's been warmer of late :)
(post #7634, reply #80 of 671)
AnnL......the Monarch eggs are laid early in the season, take two weeks to hatch, then the larvae eat for two weeks, then go into the caccoon (or is chrysalis the proper name?) for the period you observed. Or something like that; I might be a little hazy on the exact life cycle, but I think I'm close.
(post #7634, reply #81 of 671)
chrysalis or pupa will do, but cocoon is reserved for the struture built by some caterpillars (usualy moths) in which they pupate. Chrysalis usually refers to a naked pupa attached to the substrate (leaf/twig) via either a silk pad, loop of silk, or both. A pupa within a cocoon or earthen cell or laying on the ground is just a pupa...
Selling plants from an orange box, and doing a bit of design on the side- LI NY, Zone 7ish...
Selling plants from the Orange box, and doing a little garden work on the side.
LI, NY, almost zone 7, but it's been warmer of late :)
(post #7634, reply #85 of 671)
Now I am really confused. :-(
Eroomgardener, Zone 6 or 7 depending.
(post #7634, reply #253 of 671)
I planted white Ice Ballet butterfly weed last year and this year I watched closely, there were yellow eggs on the leaves first, then the small yellow/green black and white striped larve, they grew quite large eating the leaves, spun cocoons, and are now emerging as Monarch butterflies, wings curled around their bodies. We are on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Deb
(post #7634, reply #254 of 671)
Oh, isn't cool to see them emerge?! I only saw it that one time. I need to plant more larval food plants. Next year dill and parsley are going in the herb garden, plus butterfly weed and more milk weed, as I don't have much out there this year.
I seem to have enough seed plants (echinacea, sage, rudbeckia, liatris) that the gardens attract lots of finches and juncos and other seed eating birds. I have hummingbird plants from May until October, which is when the hummingbirds are around up here. Now, I need to add more berry producers. The other day I had a family of Baltimore Orioles hopping around in my rose bushes. They were investigating the large hips, but I don't think they were ripe...also probably too big for them. I have a couple of cornus alba bushes which produce a few berries. One of my virburnum has some berries that are red, starting to turn blue. The other one doesn't seem to want to produce berries. I will add a couple of other virburnum. I have some dwarf ilex bushes which are loaded with berries, but they don't ripen until winter, which is the same as my Hawthorne tree. I need more summer berry producers. Suggestions anyone? :-)
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #256 of 671)
AnnL, you can't go wrong with elderberry which has berries in the late summer, early fall (Sambucus nigra spp. canadensis); I also have a Lonicera tatarica which has red berries in the summer BUT it is listed as an invasive species for some states.
Syl
Zone 6b Shenandoah Valley
Syl
Zone 6b Shenandoah Valley
(post #7634, reply #260 of 671)
Thanks, I'll have to look into the elderberry. I do try to avoid the invasive species, though I have a couple of lonicera, but I don't think they are invasive.
Earlier today there was a hawk perched on my picket fence. He perched there for a minute or two, looking intently around at my bushes and the tangle of clematis that covers that section of fence then flew off. I went outside right after he left to check on the chickens and a dozen or so assorted birds flew out from the cover of the bushes and the thick clematis vines! My feeders have been hunting grounds for hawks before, but I'm glad to know that the bushes are providing cover for the birds. :-)
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #263 of 671)
I'm planting a serviceberry this fall, for berries (Amelanchier canadensis).
(post #7634, reply #265 of 671)
I can never find Amelanchier in the nurseries. <pout> Perhaps I need to find a mail order source. There are lots of amelanchier growing in the woods around me, so this should be a good area to grow them. Just have to find them.
Transitions Farm
Gardening, cooking, and riding in Central Mass.
Ann
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too." Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota Sioux
(post #7634, reply #271 of 671)
There must be some native plant nurseries in your part of New England that have Amelanchier canadensis. There is also the Saskatoon Berry, which is just as nice, and even hardier (Amelanchier alnifolia, if memory serves - please correct me if I'm wrong). I think there must be a lot of interbreeding between the various species, as the distinctions between them are often blurred. Methinks the nurseries in your area sell huge numbers of ericareous plants, such as Pieris, fothergillia, clethra, cornus florida, etc., and might not have room for some other deserving natives, such as the Amelanchiers. They're relatively common here, and the best thing about them is that they are pleasing in all seasons; never hugely showy, but always subtly attractive.
(post #7634, reply #18 of 671)
Damselflies alight with wins up and together. They are slower fliers, and more delicately built. Dragonflies alilght with wings flat horizontal, are large are very fast, agile fliers.
Tom
(post #7634, reply #19 of 671)
I was watching a ?damsel fly ?dragon fly hovering over my fish pond earlier this week and as it landed was briefly sticking it's tail in the water... was it drinking???
(post #7634, reply #82 of 671)
tail dipping is usually egg laying
Selling plants from an orange box, and doing a bit of design on the side- LI NY, Zone 7ish...
Selling plants from the Orange box, and doing a little garden work on the side.
LI, NY, almost zone 7, but it's been warmer of late :)
(post #7634, reply #21 of 671)
Yes, the dragonflies manoeuvre just like little helicopters, don't they - though the motion of their double wings is quite a bit different than the motion of a copter's rotors, the result is about the same. I agree they're agile, but a little clumsy at times; they fly right into me, occassionally.
(post #7634, reply #22 of 671)
I captured one of the many small, orangey butterflies, that I was talking about earlier, and, as I suspected, it wasn't a butterfly at all but a moth! That's a first: I always thought moths were creatures of the night, but not these. There are even more around than when I first mentioned them, a few days ago. They're not really orange, at all but brown (they have a bit of an orangey hue in the sunshine). They have the telltale "hairy" anttenae common to all moths. They are really annoying - they seem to fly everywhere, in helter-skelter fashion, with no apparent reason - they certainly don't appear to take nectar from any of the flowers, the way the more leisurely butterflies do.
(post #7634, reply #23 of 671)
I've got lots of paw-paws and therefore lots of zebra swallowtails. Lots of tiger swallowtails too, but I don't know what their caterpillars feed on.
BJ
(post #7634, reply #25 of 671)
Larval food can vary w/geography. For Tiger Swallowtail, I've heard Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) and Tuliptree/Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), among others.
Edited because the razzafrassin Netscape is goofy and please imagine the Latin in italics. Thank you.
Edited 7/21/2005 11:29 pm ET by PLANTLUST
Thanksgiving - a holiday for side dishes.
(post #7634, reply #29 of 671)
Thanks, PL. I was hoping you'd pop in here on BFs. I've got loads of p. serotina and l. tulipifera. No wunner I've got so many tiger swallow tails.
BTWm I've stopped trying to use Netscrape on this forum. Prospero doesn't like Nutscrape. (That's what Luka called it)
BJ