DAILY PICTURES # 111

What brilliant colors on both flower and butterfly. Thanks for sharing.

brendak, my apology for making confusion statements. The pink flowers above are really confusing.

One is a tropical/tender perennial, only hardy to tropical climate. The Mandavilla. The other PINK flower is actually an annual that a hybrid, I thought it looks like a petunia, but it maybe a hybrid 'million bell'? (it appears a little larger than the common 'Million Bell' that we often see in the market).

Neither of the Mandevilla nor the hybrid pink flower make viable seeds. The mable-like seeds are that of the "Love in a puff" vines. :)

vitrsna, welcome back! Haven't seen your posting for a while. Fascinating info. you're sharing about the Zebra longwings. So they are among a few butterflies that feed both on nectar and pollens. How neat!

I always enjoy reading along here ,, only one this past week today ,,
A Monarch , A Female . Another low flying Red Spotted Purple was back there at noon , hard to pic though , I missed again ,

Thanks for your welcome, Lily. It feels good to be back. It IS neat because the pollen allows the butterfly to live much longer and have fewer problems with predators.

J7, you did a swell job of the Monarch nectaring on Tithonia photo. What a beauty!

vitrsna , They will be flying near you soon , and nice to hear from you !!!
We don't get your Zebra longwings . Zone Jealousy ,,lol

Thank you J7. Did you get what you would consider a healthy supply of Monarchs this year? I am not sure they will be coming my way this year. Usually we have them from October through December and then they head for the hills. We have had very little wild life (except ants) since the end of November 2014 because the Colima volcano in our backyards has been exploding steadily since that time so i think most of the b'flies have gone and will go to the Biosphere near Minititlan which is acres and acres of protected land...i don't remember how many. It is huge and protected. I don't know how it differs from a preserve. Anyway, the volcano is an active one but hasn't been this active since 1913 (a 100 year event). It blew off its dome in January/February and built another one and blew it off in June/July. Of course it has been spectacular to see the unbridled force of nature up close and personal but a lot of nature has been destroyed in the process. It will rebound and replenish soon and i am getting ready with a host of new plants for the garden.

vitrsna ) Last year I saw maybe 30 , year before about 7 Frightening that was , This year since June , until this past two weeks , I had seen , 5 to 15 everyday , that with uncalculated or unseen and fly overs becomes about 1.000 this year ,,, Goooooooooood !!!! YES, !!!


Lot of Red Spotted purples here this year also ,

A few from earlier when talking about the male female numbers The vine milkweed the winning
host plant here this season

That's wonderful news J7! Is the vine milkweed native to the area where you live?

vitsna Cynanchum laeve (honeyvine) It is or has been here in North America for such a lengthy time, it is considered to be , For the Central North American states , it is the Kudzu of the North ,, But at least it has a good purpose ,

Here they are together

Awwwh, what a cutie. The reason i asked about the vine is that i've been thinking the most successful hosts will be the ones that grew wild in the long ago; i.e. are native or introduced in your area long ago. I am thinking there may be good reason for using the native milkweeds that have grown wild for centuries in any particular area. That's why i stick with tropical milkweed where i live and don't try to get fancy with a variety of species, although there are a couple of other milkweeds native to my area as well, but they are both huge. In my mind it makes sense...of course that doesn't make it true :-D

All I know is they love the vine especially where there is low blooming cover ,I let them grow on the trees , Some are pretty large now (the vines)
As long as the bring the butterflies (and I can ) I will let them grow ,



Micro moth ,,

Dramatic photo of the micro moth...looks stellar and intergalactic :-)

Ju and vitrsna, thanks for sharing such interesting info. regarding the various Monarch host plants. The natives MW from different countries, and how the BF found those 'old fashioned' MW - so to speak -- their main-stay diet. :))

This morning I've breaking news! Yep, I've 5 chrysalid about to eclose, yes 5 Monarch- to be! LOL

The photos below, the first 4 were taken this morning showing the darken chrysalid among the other siblings awaiting on the wings to say hello life! New life! The 5th pix was taken last evening showing two more 5th instars wandering about for pupation site. I'm delighted this morning! Good morning to all! :))

Ivy, congrats on your winning photo!

Kim, your BF nursery is looking more and more exciting! It looks like you still have some cats?

The pics with the lantern-looking things caught my interest because I had something similar that popped up in one of my garden beds about a month ago. I posted some pics on the plant ID forum and someone suggested it might be a plant called Chinese Lantern. Since that one is considered invasive in many areas, I decided to pull it, but maybe there is more than one plant with similar "lanterns".

The link is from PlantFiles. The pics below are from my garden bed.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1894/#b


This message was edited Sep 29, 2015 8:56 AM

Vitrsna ~ Welcome back! I always enjoy your info, pics and stories about butterflies and plants from your tropical area. Fascinating info about the Zebra and beautiful shot! The Mexican Flame Vine is another plant I'll have to admire in pictures, only.

Great pics, Ju! I agree with vitrsna, that micro-moth shot is very dramatic-looking. How are your Zinnias holding up?

Congratulations Lily! Good work...it looks like your little guys are on the road to butterflyhoodl

Nuts et al, thank you for the warm welcome, it is so nice to see you all here.

Just briefly for me now, got to run, talk to you later :-)

Nuts there is a chinese lantern growing next door ,
As for the zinnia and some things ,

Also a monarch at noon today , only one ,,
#4 a white zinnia I don't get many from mixed saved seeds ,every few years one happens ,
#5 a three inch moth followed me in last night , I know the name , although it escapes right now

And : Lily , I am looking forward to seeing those new Monarch butterflies

Humm, I typed an entry, and poofs - it vanished. Okay everyone. Here comes the hot news, rolling off the hot press. lol.

vitrsna, please keep your eyes peeled for THESE monarch coming from Central Alabama. LOL


To Mexico with love! It's over cast outdoor, temp. in mid 70's F. I hope these little ones will "warm up" and take on their journey. Wish them well everyone!.

Pleast stay tuned. Pix will be uploaded next.

Oh, NAN, I'll talk more about the "lanterns" thingy at a later time. Right now, my 'heart - a - burstin' (pun intended for that's another common name of a charming plants -- and seedpods that we Southerners enjoy this time of year, down here). Grins. Oh, let's me clarify why; Heart-a - bustin- with joy for these little winged jewels, the Monarch, the next generation.!!!

@vitrsna, "NUTS et al ...."; I'm so delighted to be in a part of the community here on our little DG BF garden. I hope there will be more to join us in a, not to distance future.

Kim, a gardener in Central Al.

The next generation Monarch. One gotta love nature. Don't we all?

OMG...they're gorgeous!!!

Congratulations and Thank You for helping to increase the Monarch population!

Lily Pretty !!! More for us next year too !!! I'm selfish ,,, lol

Yikes another moth

Congratulations Kim on your wonderful Monarch success. It really is a special thing to be part of the process...how lucky we are! It looks like you live on a lake? Your location looks so beautiful! Especially with the Monarch decor :-)

Thanks everyone for sharing the joy of my small contributions to the Monarch population this year. I'd like to also thank the many DG members that havet inspired me to -- simply enjoy nature appreciate its beauties.

Congrats Kim on all the new monarchs. Your patients and being prepared paid big dividends. I saw lots of migrating monarchs flying across the interstate 40 and Cherokee turnpike yesterday in Oklahoma. Sadly some flew into the pathway of vehicles which makes me wench and curse every time one gets hit.
Juhur, that large moth is a Large Maple Spanworm moth.

I got to observe a Brazilian skipper at the Ray Harral Nature Center in Broken Arrow on Monday. I noticed cannas the host plant but saw no damage on leaves or frass (cat poop) so I started hobbling down one of the wooded trails and in a sun lit clearing was a large skipper, basking on vegetation. Lucking me, a stray from the Gulf, a Brazilian skipper in central eastern Oklahoma which is far north of its homeland.








9cat poop)

Ivy Thank you for the ID . The other I have in the files somewhere ,

Today at noon

Thanks Ivy, I released another 10 Monarch today. I'm very pleased. Ju, great pix.

Thanks Ivy, I released another 10 Monarch today. I'm very pleased. Ju, great pix.

Well Lily
I think that is Wonderful !!!
I think that is Wonderful !!!
You have done beautifully at raising Monarch !!!
You have done Beautifully at raising Monarch !!!
and Thank you Lily !!!
and Thank you Lily !!!

10 exclamations to you Lily !!!!!!!!!!
10 exclamations to you Lily !!!!!!!!!!

lol ! Definitely a 10 ^_^

Ju, that's so very sweet of you. You certainly gave me a big smile this evening. Thank you.

NAN, I have been wanting to raise that "Chinese lanterns" for quite sometimes, but woooo, it's invasive all the way to zone 2-3? Woooo.

According to DG PF, "Love in a puff" only classified as noxious to zone 8 and above. Maybe those of us gardeners from zone 7 and below can enjoy them?

I've no problem with these whatsoever. Since I've them confined in containers, and they're so fragile a vine that can be easily pulled up if they stray. Not like anything as Kudzu or certain Ivy vines.

Here's pix of the green and ripe seedpods, and the green and ripe seeds. The last pix shows the seeds next to a tropical milkweed flower for scale.

Kim ~ Congrats on today's Monarch release! I love your last pic of the Monarchs on the Tropical Milkweed.

Re: Chinese Lanterns - I suppose I could have taken time to learn more about the Chinese Lantern that showed up in my garden before getting rid of it. Most things that pop up in my yard out of nowhere end up being invasive and the reports on PlantFiles didn't sound encouraging. Maybe if I had seen your pics and read what you said about it, I might have transferred it to a container. It is a very unusual-looking plant.

Ivy ~ that's very interesting about the Brazilian Skipper.

Ju ~ Beautiful Monarch pics!

NAN, I really don't have any experience with the "Chinese Lanterns" that popped up in your yard. For zone 5 and the seed strayed, I'd be cautious for its invasiveness, however. It's the 'Love in a Puff' stuffs that I'm referring to is, to me such a "Love". :))

I've a native plant that recently identified by a fellow DG member as noxious weed to our Southern regions. But its flowers were so delicate in appearance, and the blooms are orchid-like. It popped up in my bog plant container. There it will stay for I haven't seen it behaving rambunctious in any way. That said, I'm cautious and try to be careful not to spread noxious weeds into the environment. Birds and wild life, as well as the winds will do the spreading naturally without our help.

Pix below to share what my butterfly house was used for last year in early September. Also, just to share with you and others, those exotic looking tropical flowers can be raised successfully -- with little special care, and frost protection in colder climate. Such as the 'Queen Emma' crinum as shown.

Happy BF gardening all.

As of now, 7:30 central time. I've 3 more Monarch freshly eclosed. Pix will follow after I get my morning errands done this morning. Have a good day everyone.

Before lunch hours here. I've five Monarchs. Temp. outdoor is rather cool and windy. I'll watch and see how long does it take for these lovely butterflies to take flight. Yesterday, we'd quite a bit of sunshine -- temp. went up to the 80F, but the spot that I've chosen to release the butterflies stayed shady until the afternoon hours. I noticed some of the butterflies hung on to their "training wheels" for hours -- which was all good. That enabled me to take more pics. to share. Grins.

Here is one that was just released. 4 more still are drying their wings in the butterflies house.

Ooops, as I typed, the 6th monarch just eclosed!

FYI, due to temperature fluctuations. 3 out of 6 Monarchs that I released today took flight. The remainder 3 hung on to the tropical MW where I left them earlier in the day. 🍎 I'll share more info on these in the morning.

Lily, that is a beautiful looking cat house but i've only seen sections of it. Is it all glass? How is it ventilated to allow air to pass through? Lovely pics everyone. I love the hummingbird Brenda.

I now have my tropical milkweeds growing in containers. I find it easier to control the predators when the plants are in containers and generally have better caterpillar survival rates. The one problem i do have is that there are no hiding places for the caterpillars when they are sleeping during the day so i started putting odds and ends of vegetation (not interesting to predators) at the base of the plants. This photo is an example of a Jatropha multifida leaf that i put in a container. A couple of Queen caterpillars moved from sleeping on the bottom branches of the milkweed to underneath the J. multifida leaves almost as soon as i set them in place. Can you see the Queen hiding on the underside of the leaf? The predators did not bother the pillars at all there. Now i am thinking of planting some sort of bushy green plant in the same containers the milkweeds are in. Something bushy and green that would not attract other caterpillars, i.e. not a host plant or nectar rich plant so that the pillars will have more natural hiding places. I just need to find the right plant to use. I think this will add even more protection and better improve the survival rates.

@vitrsna, the glass house is perhaps designed for a terrarium setting. Being an avid gardener, I first bought it for some of my indoor houseplants from a local nursery. :) I figured if the ventilation was adequate for plants, it would support wild life in general. I however, I did not fancy that Monarch larvae will spin their silk atop the glass house, that's just a happy incidence. :))

A few things that I paid particular attention to is that, being all glass, it will conduct heat, that's why I don't leave the pillar house outdoor. I only brought it outdoor to release my butterflies. Indoor, I chose a location where temp. is evenly distributed. I avoid misting the interior of the pillar house for fear of condensation and mold growth? I carefully replace my MW fresh, those that wilted, I promptly replace them -- it yields big dividend as one is prepared as Ivy already mentioned above.

Here we go! The mentioned 3 monarchs I released yesterday. They're still holding on to my MWs as the weather is cool and misty with light rain drizzle outside this morning.

Have a great day gardening everyone.