Flight of the Butterflies

We spent Thanksgiving with some dear friends in the Washington DC area and were able to take the kiddos to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  I jumped at the opportunity to see Flight of the Butterflies at the Johnson IMAX theater there. It was AMAZING! It is a stunning and inspiring film about the discovery of the monarch butterflies' epic migration by Dr. Fred Urquhart. I would definitely check it out in a theater near you!

Butterfly Pumpkins

Happy Halloween! I know I'm a day early but I wanted to share these Butterfly Pumpkins from our friends at Birds and Blooms magazine with you - just in case you haven't carved your pumpkin yet!

Photo by Birds & Blooms magazine

You can read more about these beautiful pumpkins here. Have fun!

Giant Swallowtail

The variety of butterflies that I've been able to attract to the garden at our "new" house verses our "old" house still surprises me. I recently found a Giant Swallowtail for the first time flying about my Meyer Lemon tree and sipping from the Lantana.

To my delight, she laid some eggs!

The Giant Swallowtail is commonly found all over Florida. Well, Florida IS known for its citrus and this is the Giant Swallowtail's host plant. You may have heard of the "orangedog?" This is the common name for its caterpillar which is sometimes considered a pest to citrus growers. Large citrus trees can tolerate loosing some leaves to orangedogs but young, smaller ones might have a difficult time.  It is a large yellow and black butterfly averaging 5 1/2 inches wide. Note it's yellow body in my photo above.  

In case your wondering, her caterpillars did not do much damage to my lemon tree at all - there were definitely enough leaves to share!

References: 

McAuslane, H.J. (2011).  Giant Swallowtail, Orangedog, Papilio cresphontes Cramer (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in134 .

Places: Pollinator Garden, San Diego Zoo

We recently travelled to San Diego for a family wedding. What a beautiful city! I loved seeing the Pacific Ocean, roses in bloom, succulents in lovely containers, and fuchsia bougainvillea.  Yes, the weather is perfect there!

We made our way to the San Diego Zoo and it was amazing!

I was delighted to find this garden there...

Bees, Butterflies, & Hummingbirds (Three of my favorite things)

There were brightly colored nectar plants like butterfly bush, pentas, zinnias, lantana, and coneflowers.

And lots of milkweed growing in the greenhouse and in front of it.

Wow, I would love a greenhouse full of milkweed!

The garden has plenty of winged visitors like this monarch.

For more information about the San Diego Zoo, click here! Happy gardening!

Nemo?

So I logged in to Facebook and I see a new posting from my brother (not a gardener, but he is a great photographer): "Anyone wanna tell me what this is that I found on my porch screen today?"

Photo by Jason Cordoba

I knew it was a caterpillar and I was so jealous because I have never found one of these in my garden (or any garden)! He received responses like "corn snake," "it's so cute," and my favorite, "you FOUND Nemo!" Well, this is a Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar. I love it's dramatic color and "eyes." This caterpillar is a great mimic and uses this talent to ward off predators. In it's early stage, it resembles a bird dropping. Then as it molts, it develops a green color (later orange) and eyes to resemble a snake.

I'm going to check out my brother's yard and look for the Spicebush Swallowtail's host plants: Sassafras, Spicebush, Camphortree, and Red Bay. Maybe I can steal a few cuttings for my garden ;-) .

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly by bobistraveling via Flickr

References: 

Butler, J. & Hall, D. (2000).  Spicebush Swallowtail, Papilio troilus Linnaeus (Insecta:  Lepidoptera: Papilionidae. Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN32500.pdf .

Audubon Butterflies App On Sale Now!

The National Audubon Society is celebrating the Monarch migration by having a sale (99¢) on their app, Audubon Butterflies! It is a beautiful guide about North American butterflies that includes photos, maps, and detailed descriptions. You can even keep a personal journal and document your butterfly sightings! This app is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android and Kindle Fire. Act quickly - sale ends on 8/27.

Photo by pendens proditor via Flickr

Landscaping for Wildlife & Butterflies

 Our local extension office is hosting a butterfly gardening class!