Butterfly Host Plants

I have been planning my 2011 flower and veggie garden. Last year I had so much fun raising black swallowtail and monarch butterflies. So much so that I have made it a point to add more host plants to my garden this year. Below is my list of plants that I will have in my garden to feed their hungry little caterpillars.
BUTTERFLY (and Moth) HOST PLANTS

Dill, Fennel, Carrots: Black Swallowtails
Asters: Pearl Crescent
Coneflowers: Silvery Checkerspot
Pentas: Tersa Sphynx moth or hummingbird moth
Milkweed: Monarch
Cleome: Cabbage White
Snapdragon: Common Buckeye
Blueberry: Summer Azure
Oak: Red-Spotted Purple; Imperial Moth; Polyphemus Moth; Red-Banded Hairstreak; Dusky Wing Skipper; White-M Hairstreak
Clover: Eastern Tailed-Blue; Gray Hairstreak; Clouded Sulphur
Peas: Eastern Tailed-Blue
Viola: Great Spangled Fritillary; Variegated Fritillary
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I enjoy having them visit so much. The least I can do is serve them dinner. :)

A Morning Hike

I took the kids on a short hike this morning by a local creek. Trying to find some milkweed since my monarch cats don't like the Asclepias tuberosa. Look what I found. Once I popped off a leaf...the stalk oozed white sap. I found milkweed! I brought it home and the cats have been devouring it ever since. What a relief!Can you find the caterpillar below?
It was huge! An Imperial moth caterpillar!
Can you find the two caterpillars below?
Polyphemus moth caterpillars!
It's experiences like this that make me want to rush right back out the door to see what I can find!

Garden Critters

Swallowtail in three different stages. A maturing cat, a young cat, and an egg (upper right) are all within this picture.My cleome was filled with critters. From bugs to butterflies. Another variation of a harlequin bug.
Check out all the Harlequin bug and babies below. They were covering the cleome. Looks like these two bugs were working on making more as well.
On the underside of a leaf, there were eggs deposited. Black with white stripes. This cluster had some of those and ones that looked like they were hatching.
Tiger Swallowtail.
I have to look this one up.

Potatoes and Garden Treasures

Yesterday I let the kids help me dig up most of the potatoes we planted this Spring. The Russet Burbanks. I admit I was terrible about watering them. Terrible. In fact, I'm surprised they survived the heat and drought. We yielded about 7 pounds of potatoes from 4 of the seed potatoes. I know it would have been more if I watered regularly, but it was still worth it after seeing the smiles on my kids' faces when they pulled them out of the ground.There were a couple interesting finds as well.
This little female ruby-throated hummingbird spent quite a while hanging out at the feeder, clothes line, and in the holly tree. It was like she wanted to me to refill it with fresh nectar. You don't have to ask me twice! I'd do anything to keep her happy.
A clearwing hummingbird moth on my Pink Delight butterfly bush.
A cicada clinging to a tomato stem.
A black swallowtail cat that I found in the garden the other day! The first time I ever found one here!
Only two days later...
I also found these two eggs! The one on the right is blurry.
It's a great butterfly year!

Swallowtail Cat and Tomatoes!!!

Today's Tomato Harvest....sans the ones my daughter ate. :) The green ones are just Isis Candy tomatoes picked too early by my two year old. In the mix are two Kellogg's Breakfast, one Brandywine, Celebrity, Jet Star, and mystery small red tomatoes that were supposed to be Cherokee Green.After picking these I took a quick stroll through the garden. Wondering what is worth planting again next season and what wasn't. That's when I came across the fennel. I thought, "I planted fennel last season too and never had a black swallowtail use it as its host plant. Here we are again. No swallowta.....Wait! What's that? No way. NO WAY! A black swallowtail cat! Holy cow. Kids! Come look at this!"
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He's just over an inch long. On the smallest of the three fennel plants. The second my husband got home I dug up the pathetic fennel plant and transplanted it into a pot. Cat still on it. Placed it in my InsectLore butterfly house. I can't wait to see him metamorphasize into a beautiful black swallowtail. I'm way more excited than my kids. I've been planting asclepias tuberosa, parsley, and fennel. Never found a cat before. Never any damage to the foliage. Today was my lucky day! Below is the best picture of him that my camera would allow. It always wants to focus on something else. It thinks it is smarter than me. Ugh.
Here's his new home for the next couple of weeks. I still need to get some sticks for him to climb up and hang from.
He has just guaranteed that the fennel WILL be back next season.

What's Happening in the Garden?

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus')
The first coneflower that has opened this season and it's a beauty. The butterflies, bumblebees, and goldfinches are going to be really happy this season.

Asclepias Tuberosa

I started this plant from seed two winters ago. I love it so much that I planted three others that I started this winter as well. This is a host plant for monarda butterflies. Every once in a while I run out to see if there are any munched leaves, eggs, or caterpillars. Nothing yet, but I hope to get some activity once the season progresses. Even if I don't, this is still a beautiful, native flower that has earned a place in my garden.

Shade Lovers: Hosta and Heuchera

Eskimo Pie Hosta- I absolutely love hosta that are primarily white streaked with different shades of green. This hosta fit the bill. I purchased this plant last fall from Jung Seed. It is a sloooooooow grower. This is what it looks like as of this month. But don't be mistaken. It's variegation is gorgeous. Streaked with both dark and apple shades of green. No signs of pest or disease issues.


Green Spice Heuchera- This heuchera ranks in the top three out of the dozen or so varieties I have. It is silver with purple veins and a dark green edging. Definitely an attention-getter. No signs of pest or disease issues.

Guacamole Hosta- Another stunning hosta. Among the dozen hosta plants I have this is easily in the top three. Chartreuse-gold foliage stands out in the shade. Its leaves are large and healthy. No pest or disease issues. I've read that it has white, fragrant flowers, but I have yet to see this newly planted hosta in bloom.

Asclepias tuberosa

I started this asclepias tuberosa from seed last year. It's finally in bloom, but the butterflies don't seem to be as numerous as they were in past seasons. We have had a ridiculous amount of rain in the last few weeks, so I'm hoping that with this warm, dry stretch of weather that they will be returning soon. I have started more of these plants in peat pots. I'm hoping to entice some monarchs to hang around in my yard for a while and lay some eggs on the plants.