Post by plantsnobin on Jun 4, 2010 18:44:51 GMT -5
Hoping my computer doesn't crash before I get this posted. Here is a partial list of plants for butterfly larva, at least ones I have had experience with here in southern Indiana.
I'll start with my favorites, the swallowtails.
Pipevine Swallowtail- cats eat Aristolochia species.
I plant A. tomentosa & A. clematitis for them.
Eastern Black Swallowtail- eat members of the apiaceae family such as carrots, Queen Annes Lace, parsley, etc & sometimes rue
Anise Swallowtail- eats fennel, Angelica, carrots, parsley. I grow bronze fennel for these, it self sows great and looks nice too.
Giant Swallowtail- eats Dictamnus albus in my garden, though in southern regions it eats citrus trees and in considered a pest. Cool looking bird poop blob kind of thing the kids really like. When disturbed, sticks out its stinky osmeterium. Very cool.
Tiger Swallowtail- eats a variety of trees such as willows, birches, ash, cherries and tulip poplar.
Spicebush Swallowtail-eats spicebush-Lindera benzoin. Pretty much my favorite cat. Starts out looking like bird poo, later tries to look like a snake. Last instar it turns from green to orange.
Zebra Swallowtail-eats PawPaw-Asimina triloba. Not very common here, don't see too many of them so I get excited when I do. I am planting pawpaws just for them.
Monarchs-eat milkweed family. Now, there is the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, which is fine if it is out in the field somewhere, but you probably wouldn't want in it your flower garden. For garden use you will want A. purpurascens, tuberosa and incarnata, maybe exaltata.
Buckeye-eats a wide variety, including plantain, which I have a yard full of.
Red Admiral-eats nettles, which I don't have, but there are plenty of wild ones around.
Fritillaries-eats wide range including violets, passiflora, sedum plantain. I have them on my Passiflora incarnata. My have them other places too, but the passion vine is at least up where an old lady can see them.
Eastern Tailed Blue-eats clovers-Trifolium, Lespedeza, Phaseolus, Lathyrus. Very small butterfly, 3/4 to an inch can be seen on the clover around here a lot. You don't pay much attention to them because of their size, but if you take the time to follow one around, they really are pretty.
Question Marks-eats nettles, elms, hackberries, hops. Adult butterflies really love Sedum.
Sulphurs-eats various clovers.
Ok, those were a few of my favorites. In general you can provide for a wide variety of butterflies by planting some spicebush, some aristolochias, clovers, pawpaws, passionvie, throw around a few bronze fennel seed, violets and plantain are probably already growing in most yards. Wild cherry is pretty widespread around here, as well as the milkweed. So planting these will have you just about covered on the larval plants.
For the adults, think long & tubular shaped blooms. Honeysuckle, sedums, echinaceas, liatris, lilacs, salvias, mountain mint, etc. The list is a long one for the adults.
Poo. Seriously, a moist area of animal poo will attract tons of butterflies for the minerals. Rabbit works great.
For those coming to the swap, I should have starts to send home with anyone who would like to start their butterfly garden.
I'll start with my favorites, the swallowtails.
Pipevine Swallowtail- cats eat Aristolochia species.
I plant A. tomentosa & A. clematitis for them.
Eastern Black Swallowtail- eat members of the apiaceae family such as carrots, Queen Annes Lace, parsley, etc & sometimes rue
Anise Swallowtail- eats fennel, Angelica, carrots, parsley. I grow bronze fennel for these, it self sows great and looks nice too.
Giant Swallowtail- eats Dictamnus albus in my garden, though in southern regions it eats citrus trees and in considered a pest. Cool looking bird poop blob kind of thing the kids really like. When disturbed, sticks out its stinky osmeterium. Very cool.
Tiger Swallowtail- eats a variety of trees such as willows, birches, ash, cherries and tulip poplar.
Spicebush Swallowtail-eats spicebush-Lindera benzoin. Pretty much my favorite cat. Starts out looking like bird poo, later tries to look like a snake. Last instar it turns from green to orange.
Zebra Swallowtail-eats PawPaw-Asimina triloba. Not very common here, don't see too many of them so I get excited when I do. I am planting pawpaws just for them.
Monarchs-eat milkweed family. Now, there is the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, which is fine if it is out in the field somewhere, but you probably wouldn't want in it your flower garden. For garden use you will want A. purpurascens, tuberosa and incarnata, maybe exaltata.
Buckeye-eats a wide variety, including plantain, which I have a yard full of.
Red Admiral-eats nettles, which I don't have, but there are plenty of wild ones around.
Fritillaries-eats wide range including violets, passiflora, sedum plantain. I have them on my Passiflora incarnata. My have them other places too, but the passion vine is at least up where an old lady can see them.
Eastern Tailed Blue-eats clovers-Trifolium, Lespedeza, Phaseolus, Lathyrus. Very small butterfly, 3/4 to an inch can be seen on the clover around here a lot. You don't pay much attention to them because of their size, but if you take the time to follow one around, they really are pretty.
Question Marks-eats nettles, elms, hackberries, hops. Adult butterflies really love Sedum.
Sulphurs-eats various clovers.
Ok, those were a few of my favorites. In general you can provide for a wide variety of butterflies by planting some spicebush, some aristolochias, clovers, pawpaws, passionvie, throw around a few bronze fennel seed, violets and plantain are probably already growing in most yards. Wild cherry is pretty widespread around here, as well as the milkweed. So planting these will have you just about covered on the larval plants.
For the adults, think long & tubular shaped blooms. Honeysuckle, sedums, echinaceas, liatris, lilacs, salvias, mountain mint, etc. The list is a long one for the adults.
Poo. Seriously, a moist area of animal poo will attract tons of butterflies for the minerals. Rabbit works great.
For those coming to the swap, I should have starts to send home with anyone who would like to start their butterfly garden.
