Butterfly Babies

Certain plants are planted here at My Garden Path to be larval food for the many butterflies that add their beauty to the garden.

Dill, parsley, and rue were planted to attract the Black Swallowtail butterfly.  So far, dill has been the favorite choice.

When this chrysalis was formed the dill was alive and green.  Now, the bright green chrysalis really stands out against the brown seed head.

This beautiful butterfly is a favorite of mine.  I love the way they just seem to float in the air.  I am always amazed that each type of butterfly has its own favorite plant for larval food and the female of each species finds that particular plant for egg-laying.

How this Monarch chrysalis ended up attached to a leatherleaf fern I have no idea.  The milkweed that is the larval food for the Monarch caterpillar is at least 30 feet away.  Other chrysalises were attached to the fence right next to the milkweed. 

There are many reasons I love gardening.  Sharing my love of nature with the grandchildren is #1.

Natural Pest Control

While walking around the garden the other morning, I noticed that the bed of pentas I have planted just outside the screen of the back porch had been chewed to the stems.  These pentas came through the winter very well and were already blooming.  Not anymore.  There were four of these cartoonish looking caterpillars chomping away on the pentas in this bed. 

These are the caterpillars for the Tersa Sphinx Moth (Xylophanes tersa).  It's one of the hummingbird type moths that come out around dusk to nectar on its favorite flowers, pentas.  After starting out bright green, they turn a drab brown color before burrowing into the leaf litter and pupating.  Now, I have learned that pentas are the host plant for this particular moth.  I am letting these particular cats go through their life-cycle unhindered by me.  I'm really hoping that this won't be a constant occurrence.  If it seems to be, I will plant some pentas around the side of the house and use it as a "caterpillar relocation center."

I have to say that I think these are really the most interesting caterpillars I've ever seen and the grandkids think they're great.  So, for now, we are enjoying them. 

Uh-oh.  We aren't the only ones enjoying them.  Perhaps they will be easier to control than I first thought. 

Something Just Caught My Eye

When I took my morning walk along My Garden Path, a few things drew my attention.  This Butterfly Bush, Buddleja davidii,  is constantly producing blooms and what is truly amazing, it is healthy.  I buy one of these bushes every Spring only to watch it wither away.  This year's bush has been different - in a good way.  I don't know the cultivar name, it was simply labeled as "purple."

The Blackberry Lily, Belamcanda chinensis, is actually in the Iris family.  What I noticed on my walk was the seed pods forming.  This is exciting stuff!  It means I will have more of these beauties to spread around My Garden Path and to share with other gardening friends. 

Look at this!  The Red Firespike, Odontonema strictum, is starting to bloom.  These spikes will get much larger and open up into many tiny trumpet shaped blooms that the Hummingbirds love.  Last year, this was the number one plant where I could count on seeing a Hummer sipping away. 

 

Another favorite with the Hummingbirds is this Firebush, Hamelia patens.   This particular shrub was planted this Summer to replace the one that never returned from the winter freezes.  It has been planted in a shady area in hopes of the big oak giving it some winter protection.  The shade has not diminished the blooms,  I'm happy to see.

 

Oh Look!  The Celosia has a bud forming.  I bought this plant for $1 from the County Jail Horticulture program.  I've been taking cuttings and rooting them without realizing I was keeping it from blooming.  I just love the red foliage.  I guess I'll stop cutting it and let these buds blossom.  I have learned since planting it that it re-seeds so if I want it next year I need to let her bloom. 

Oops, those aren't blooms on the Milkweed!  Those are Monarch caterpillars.  Yay! 

The Sweet Almond, Aloysia virgata, has been really blooming of late.  The sweet scent is so nice in the garden.  I've read these can get 10 feet high or more.  I can't wait for my little sprawling bush to grow up and really fill the air with the perfume of many more blooms. 

There are a couple of things I noticed about these Mexican Petunias, Ruellia brittoniana.  First, they are staying in a neat clump and not taking over the world.   These are a sterile cultivar that are more upright in form than the type I have planted (and regretted) in the past.  They really are staying in one spot. 

Another thing that caught my eye was the fact that the Bamboo is weeping over on top of the Mexican Petunias.  That side bed is going to have to be widened.  But, it's definitely a project for a cooler time of year. 

The Bug Expedition

(click to enlarge picture)


We have been bug hunting.  We have been unable to ID the bug on the rose petal in the upper left corner.  Can anyone help us out?  A resource we like to use is BugGuide.  We haven't been able to make a determination on this guy though. 

We had a great time watching dragonflies flitting about, letting the ladybug crawl up our arms, observing the intricacies of the orchard orb weaver's web, and gently 'petting' the cloudless sulphur caterpillar. 

No bugs were killed on this expedition. 

Creatures in the Garden

Now that the weather has warmed, many creatures are populating my garden again.  I am always happy to see a green anole hanging under the screen that covers the rain barrel. 

The passion vine has been growing by leaps and bounds after a long winter sleep underground.  The Gulf Fritillary butterflies have already found it and have begun laying eggs.  This is the first caterpillar I found munching away.  Fortunately, this is a very hardy vine and it survives and grows even while hosting these hungry caterpillars.  Watching them grow, form a chrysalis and then hatch is of great delight for me and the grands. 

The other morning while doing my garden "rounds" I discovered this little guy just hanging out in a bromeliad.  I haven't seen one of these green tree frogs in several years.  We have been inundated with Cuban tree frogs and the greenies have virtually disappeared.  But, this winter I found many dead Cuban tree frogs apparently frozen to death.  That cold weather may have done a big favor for our native lizard and frog populations. 

These creatures I have come to truly hate.  If I don't destroy them at this stage they get really ugly fast.  They have a voracious appetite for Crinum lilies, Amarylis, Canna and other broadleaf plants.  Here you see Eastern Lubber Grasshopper babies gathered on my bamboo.  Yikes!  I usually wear my garden gloves on my morning check up of the garden just so I can squish these guys.  I just can't do it bare handed.  This group of baby lubbers was about four feet off the ground and I couldn't reach them.  I don't like to use pesticides or other chemicals but.....

I admit I ran into the house for the can of Raid.