It's so hot in Texas that not a lot is blooming, but thanks to the attraction of eupatorium gregii, the queen butterflies more than make up for the lack of flowers. The queens start to appear when the first eu blooms and they just keep coming. By this time there are clouds of them covering the hillside.
I have tried to get a pic of them in flight but haven't been very successful. If you look closely at this pic you can count around 20.
Here's a closeup of a queen. I would estimate that there are close to 300 of them in the backyard right now. We have almost an acre and I have planted clumps of mist flower (eu) all over. I have never seen one of their cats that I know of. I see them mating but that's it. I only have one small clump of milkweed and I know it hasn't been a host. We live on a river and it's kind of wild on the other side so maybe they're going over there to lay their eggs.
I can't pick a favorite, but I so adore the swallowtails!
Another...
Very nice pictures! I wish I had the land that you do :^)
This year the bordered patch is plentiful.
And from the looks of the cats, they're going to be almost as plentiful as the queens. We have lots of cowpen daisies and this year most of them are covered with bp cats.
Wonderful pics Sugarfoot! I dream of seeing a Queen someday :)
Linda!! what a pleasant surprise to see you here. I am so glad your garden is very successful and you are having such a great time wit the butterflies.
I remember when you were just getting it started.
Josephine.
Hello Sugarfoot!! I remember you also. I was the crazy lady that you brought your Gulf Frits to in Fort Worth in 2007. You brought me the first ones I had, they had eaten down to the stems on your plant and starving. They made short work of this PV, and I have fed many more GFs and others since then.
Love seeing your pictures and look forward to reading your posts. I especially love to see the border patch group that you have going.
Wonderful pictures! I hope you continue to post more. I wish I had more butterflies here but I'm content with my swallowtails - I feel the same way you do about them.
Nice pictures sugarfoot isn't it so exciting when your efforts pay off and you have all those wonderful plants for the butterflies good job!
I have so many in my yard this one boy next door won't leave them alone he keeps trying to catch them it looks like a butterfly haven here and looks to be that way there too great job!
Thanks for the kind words. Good to hear from you Josephine and Sheila. You have both contributed to my garden. I'm sad to say that our house is on the market and we will be moving back to Colorado when it sells. But we may never sell it.... everyone loves it but thinks that it looks like too much work. My big problem right now is figuring out how to make it look easy or to find a gardener. It rarely seems like work to me because there's no place I'd rather be. Sheila the gulf frits ate my huge pv down to the nub last fall and it had to come back from the roots this year. Didn't take them any time to eat the new shoots. They're coming back again and growing fast, but I almost feel like I need to put a net over them to protect them for a while. What a dilemma! Here's a pic of the pv before they ate it to the nub. It covered the far side of the bridge.
That looks just lovely Linda, I am glad you have been so successful.
That is georgeous Linda! You have really put a lot of love into the place, I am sure it will be hard to leave, but we do what we have to do. You know that the dirt and plants may be different there, but your enjoyment of creating something new will be awaiting you.
I have the blue crown pv that is evergreen, is yours? Since it is evergreen it does go a bit dormant but never looses all the leaves so it rebounds quickly. Since you plan to move you may not want any but I wanted to offer.
I am not familiar with the terms you are using. I have a lot of butterflies and a lot of Swallowtails in my yard. What are the cats, bp cats, etc. How do you tell a queen from the others. Just curious
Welcome and sorry Crit...
we just do that cause we are lazy and don't want to type something out! hehehe!
"Cat" is what we use for caterpillar. As for the initials those will usually be the butterflies that we are talking about. Like bp is the bordered patch that sugarfoot had posted a picture of a few posts earlier. Anytime you don't know what we are abbreviating, please ask, just like you did. We all have been there at one time.
As for the queen identification...it looks like a Monarch on the underside, but is much different on the top side. A good website to see butterflies side by side is this one.
http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabambc/frames-0species.asp
Just sellect bushfooted butterflies for the queens vs monarchs. Scroll down to the bottom select one, then click the other window and select the other the same way.
Glad you have STs (Swallowtails) in your yard, post some pictures if you take them. Even if you don't take pictures, look up the swallowtails on that site, maybe you can tell us which ones you are seeing.
All those cats are sooo cool!!
which cats nanny?
Thanks Sheila. I have the Tiger Swallowtails (blk & yel) and the Pipevine ST's (blk w/ blu on tail). They love the Mimosa in my yard, as do the Hbirds. I have quite a few other 'flys in my yard. They love all the flowers & bushes that I have planted around.My hubby wants to cut it down because it makes a mess on the deck and the pool. I told him he could cut the 2 big ones that overhang there and leave the rest. LOL We just moved here in December and there was NO landscaping. So I am having a great time building on flower beds and such.
I took a pic of my zinnia's but there was only one little skipper 'fly and a bumble bee there. Too hot right now, 100+, maybe tonight I can get them. Sometimes the zinnia's are covered with them.
Nice Crit, you have a green thumb and a desire; you will have Monarchs coming through soon and they love Zinnas and the West Texas Mistflower. You should have Queens already. Next year try to plant some milkweed for them and the monarchs to lay eggs on.
Love these pics! Thank you for sharing!
I think I probably have queens, just didn't realize it. I thought they were Monarchs or another butterfly that the name escapes me, that look similar but don't have the black lines.
Thank you very much. I hated leaving my little back yard in town. Had lots of flowers and 32 rose bushes, plus my vegatable garden. But, I have a bigger yard now and away from town. I have SUCH PLANS for my front, back and side yard.
More....
Viceroy .... that is the name of the one that looks like a Monach, only doesn't have the black lines.
My roses. Had lots of butterfly's in my yard there. This pic is from before the zinnia's came up in front of the roses.
Sorry nanny....doh! There were a bunch of the Gulf Fritillaries, and it didn't take them long to devor that bunch of PV (passion vine) that I had cut for them. A lot made their chrysalis very soon after they had gorged themselves.
Crit.... Nice shots of your previous yard plantings. We look forward to seeing what butterflies you draw with your new blank slate.
Well I am having a heck of a time with my queen cats! I had brought in about a dozen that I found on the mw (milkweed) about a week ago. Some are doing ok for now but about 5 have died, just hanging limp like they do when they are parasitized; other have seemed to dry up. I hope this isn't going to hapen to the Monarchs when they arrive. I have had some stragglers but none laying eggs as yet.
I guess I will need to get out and inspect for eggs and bring them in earlier. Must be some parasidic flies out there.
I have had some of that too Sheila, very strange.
butterflies form maryland
More butterflies form maryland
Nice Tigers there Maryland!
Nice pic of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, bobgoestodaves. I have these and the pipevine and what I call the "Bright elusive butterfly of love," the giant swallowtail. I have several around but I can't get a picture of one to save my life. If I take the camera out they are not there or won't settle down to let me get a pic. If I don't take the camera out they are there posing beautifully!
I did manage to get a pic of a gulf fritillary feeding on my Pride of Barbados. This one shows one of the upper wings.
Here's one that shows the underside of the gf's wing. I think it is as beautiful as the top.
Sheila, I would love to see a pic of the queen cat. I really want to figure out where they are laying their eggs.
Here's a pic comparing the underwings of the queen on left and the monarch. The size is a little out of proportion because the monarch is larger.
Nice pics there sugarfoot
Peg.....This is two monarch first instar cats, not Queens. I will show them in the next pic, however if you will look closely at the two sets of black spots where the "feelers" will come in. The Queen cats look pretty much the same but will have a third set. So even in the first instar you can tell which they will be.
This picture is a Queen cat that has just shed it's head cap and outer skin.
I can't believe that I don't have any other Queen cat shots. I guess I need to get a few of my one survivor.
Thanks, Sheila. I may have seen these cats once or twice but the queens I have a definitely not laying their eggs in my yard. The mist flower seems to attract them like a magnet though. Even though we're moving, I'm still trying to garden like we're going to be here forever. I would love to have a start of your pv if you have some rooted. I haven't had much luck getting them started - probably because I've just transplanted shoots instead of potting them up and letting them get established before putting them in the ground. I don't know what to do to let the one I have recover except maybe to cover it with net so the butterflies can't get to it.
