Dutchman's Pipevine: OK to grow or no?

I thought this plant was safe for the butterflys, but I see in the Plant FIles that it is not. Can anyone advise?

Thanks! Jennifer

It's safe for the Polydamas Swallowtail (if you get those where you live), but I find that the Pipevine Swallowtails don't do as well on non-native pipevines. I believe the toxicity of the non-natives is higher in the non-natives. Also, Polydamas are known in tropical regions and would eat some of these non-native (to the U.S.) whereas the Pipevine ST is pretty much limited to the U.S. region and therefore would only have eaten those native to the U.S. I grow Aristolochia trilobata http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55366/ which is suitable for either type of caterpillar.

Melanie

Thank you Melanie for the helpful info. Hello Jennifer.

Thanks for the great info. I thought we were not supposed to have swallowtails, but I saw two last summer, so was planning on planting aristolochia trilobato this spring. I was planning on treating it as annual here in zone 6. Make sense? How much growth should I be prepared for?

A. trilobata is fairly slow-growing compared to other pipevines. Mine is on an obelisk about 5 feet high and is wrapped around it a couple of times. Of course, I don't fertilize it or anything and my soil is sand so it might do better if nourished a little more. : )

Melanie

Hi LilyLove! Thanks for the great input everyone :)

Namaste250 - try growing it in a warm sheltered spot - like a south-facing wall. I haven't tried one, but supposedly they will occasionally winter over (& attract Butterflies) in Zone 5 Colorado. Neither the plant nor the Butterfly is supposed to be in Colorado.