April 15, 2004
Throughout landscape history, beautiful gardens have been the re-creations
of profound natural settings. True garden masterpieces are full of the sounds
and movement of life. They still have wildness and mystery, and are rarely
contrived or restricted.
For outstanding gardens, especially butterfly habitats, the elements of a
successful natural environment must be understood. Unlike plants, butterflies
are free to choose where they go. If we do a bad job of planning and managing a
plant's habitat, a plant will die and a butterfly will go somewhere else.
Butterflies have a short life and do not choose to spend it where conditions
are not favorable.
The right nectar plants are good for butterflies,
and the host or larval food plants for caterpillars are essential for success
and a continuous population. So, if you've spent your gardening life killing
"worms" on your parsley, dill and passionflower, and even milkweed,
re-educate yourself and plant some for the butterfly babies and some for you.
Eaten leaves are a sign of plant health and successful butterfly gardening. A
good well-drained stand of parsley and dill, especially the variety
"ducat," will bring black swallowtails and their larvae. Some host
plants are common garden and native plants while others are very hard to find.
They can be found growing in the wild, in mail-order nurseries or from plant
trading, or even at the Victoria County Master Gardener plant sales. The next
one will be held in conjunction with the Annual Garden Tour on May 1. These
plants may provide exactly what your heart and favorite butterfly desires.
Other features - such as effective shelter from wind and rain, a brushy area
or stacked branches, damp spots imitating salt-laden edges of rivers or lakes
(called puddling areas), the right organization and
mix of plants and garden features for height and especially wind protection,
and record keeping - add up to habitat success for butterflies.
Although butterflies rarely nectar on large, showy flowers (they are
designed to attract humans, not butterflies), it is important to arrange the
plantings in groups. Butterflies will stay around longer if there is food,
water and protection provided.
Also by planting the right kind and height of trees and shrubs for nesting,
and providing nesting materials, food and shelter, certain birds can be enticed
to your yard.
While touring the butterfly habitat at the Master Gardener Victoria
Educational Gardens (VEG) at the airport during next month's garden tour, detailed
information and handouts will be available on how to best attract butterflies
in this area.
The gardens of Richard and Laura Nolen, for instance, possess features to
attract wildlife birds, hummingbirds and monarch butterflies. Other interesting
features include elements of sustainability such as composting, and a daily
garden journal to note daily visitors to the yard.
The gardens of Donald and Pat Plowman highlight fragrance, an aspect that
attracts certain butterflies and is pleasing to humans. Night-blooming cestrum,
an easy care semitropical shrub that is traditionally planted under a bedroom
window, as well as butterfly gingers in the Plowman garden and VEG, can be good
nectaring flowers for certain moths and butterflies,
and have a sublime perfume. Piper auritum, a relative
of black pepper and kava kava, known by Anglos as the
Root Beer plant, is also a host plant for certain swallowtail butterflies that
may venture into the region.
The milkweed family, seen at VEG, contains a number of plants suitable for
monarch caterpillar hosting as well as nectaring.
Monarchs as well as queens are able to consume this toxic plant as a
caterpillar and store the plant toxin in certain areas of their body, rendering
both the caterpillar and butterfly distasteful to most predators.
The true butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, is a perennial native plant in northwest
The milkweed commonly sold in area nurseries is the tropical or Mexican
milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.
It is hosted on readily by butterflies, but is not native to this area. In
fact, its native habitat is more than 250 miles south of here. It is possible
the occurrence of this plant as an ornamental far north of its natural
territory may affect monarch migration. The native with orange flowers and/or
the new silky gold variety can be planted in multiple plant clusters of five to
nine plants for a striking full bush effect. Pruning will increase the bushy
appearance of this plant.
This year, monarch caterpillars were found hosting in VEG in mid-February,
indicating a year-round non-migrating population has already been established.
Monarchs have now been found all over the world - even in
Buddleja, commonly know as butterfly bush, are
temperate perennials. These are good nectaring
magnets that can grow quite large, and all but lindleyana
require January pruning. The varieties found to do best during our hot summers,
and attract the most butterflies, appear to be white
and gold varieties. Sungold, petite snow butterfly
bush, and dwarf blue stay relatively small (less than 5 feet). Lindleyana can grow quite large, up to 35 feet, or can be
cut back. They have drooping blue blooms and look better hanging down from a
larger bush. Other areas have had nectaring success
with black knight. It is a good idea to mulch these plants well to keep the
roots cool.
Various, but not all passifloras make good host plants.
The following varieties seen at VEG will attract Gulf fritillaries and
spectacular zebra long-wings to your garden almost year-round. Three native
varieties are: Passiflora foetida
var. gossypiifolia (the native variety Corona del Christo); Passiflora suberosa or the cork-barked passionflower; and Passiflora incarnata known as the
May pop. The former two are less invasive and less showy, but easy to grow.
Passionflower varieties not hosted on - and not recommended - include the red
passionflower and the incense passionflower.
These are only a few of many interesting plants to be seen the first weekend in May on the Annual Garden Tour at selected local homes and in VEG on May 1-2. For further information call 575-4581.