Cloudless Sulphur, Sleepy Orange Sulphur, Little Yellow, and Orange Barred Sulphur.
Chapman’s cassia
Atala Hairstreak
coontie
Butterflies:
Herbaceous Plants:
Cloudless Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, Little Yellow, Orange Sulphur, , Gray Hairstreak and Ceraunus Blue
partridge pea
Zebra Longwing Gulf Fritillary Variegated Fritillary Julia
passionvine
Goldrim and PipevineSwallowtail
pipevine
Black Swallowtail
fennel, dill, water dropwort, parsley and other carrot relatives.
Pearl Crescent
asters
Phaon Crescent
fogfruit
White Peacock
waterhyssop, lemon bacopa and fogfruit
Cassius Blue
leadwort/wild plumbago
Care of Your Plants
Wildflowers: Require a week of daily watering and some slow release fertilizer to become established. They may need watering two to three times a week until the end of the month if showing signs of stress.
Water wildflowers once a week, if needed, during long dry periods after the initial establishment period.
Shrubs and Trees: Require two weeks of daily watering and every three days for an additional month. There is a period from March to July that may be especially dry; this ends with the summer rains.
During this time your plants may require watering every two to three days depending on the moisture holding capacity of the soil.
Within three to six months, most trees and shrubs should be on their own unless there is no rain for more than two weeks.
Always keep an eye on your plants and water them if necessary as it may take one full year before some trees and shrubs are fully established and can make it through our long dry spells.
When planting, pull apart the roots from opposite or three sides of the root ball to break up any roots that have completely circled the inside of the pot.
These will otherwise continue to get thicker in diameter until they strangle the trunk years later.
To do this run your thumb from top to bottom and about two inches into the ball or cut with a shovel. Make sure you don’t cut the root where it begins at the trunk.
The plant should be installed so that the top of the root ball is level with the ground and the soil is firm beneath the root ball. Never put organic matter below the root ball as it will oxidize causing the plant to sink.
If the soil is too loose beneath the plant, it may settle and you will find the root ball several inches below the surface in a few months. Replant if this happens.
Build a ring of soil around the outside of the root ball with the extra soil to hold the water in place when you water.
Use a forceful stream from the hose to soak the soil; a sprinkle will do little to wet the ground. Make sure you water a few inches outside the ring to encourage the roots to move out.
Florida has a variety of soils to deal with. Coastal and scrub soils, which are just west of and east of I95 to the ocean, are very dry. Plants in these soils require more weeks of watering as well as frequency.
Traveling west of this zone the soil becomes moister, yet may have pockets of scrub, until wetlands are encountered near the turnpike and beyond. If your soil is always moist, your plants will only need the first week of watering and as needed thereafter.
Use a slow release fertilizer to help your plants send down their roots. The three to 12 month fertilizers work well. Flowers will need one treatment and trees and shrubs may need three.
Keep weedeaters away from your plants, they will girdle the lower trunk and kill the plant. Stake the tree loosely, if at all, so that it can move and strengthen.
Cut your shrubs back several inches to a foot or two by hand only if needed. Don’t sheer them or the growth will be on the outer tips and none in the center.
In fact, cut the shrub to the ground to rejuvenate. Not all plants can take this but firebush, beauty berry, wild coffee, locust berry, necklace pod and a few others will come back fine. Try this on one plant first.
If you notice insects causing a lot of damage, especially newly introduced ones, try the organic oils or other sprays to control them. Since these introduced insects have no enemies, they can multiply unchecked and kill your plants.
When I plant for you I often need to cut some or your plant’s roots to fit them around a pipe or tree root. This results in wilting and the need for you to water these plants more frequently and longer. The wilting may last a month, so please be patient.
Call me if you have any further questions
Carl Terwilliger
561-601-9673
Butterfly Garden Design
In South Florida we are truly lucky because we can butterfly garden all year long.
Try the following design and refer to the table to match butterflies with their larval food plants. A variety of larval food plants is the key to culturing large numbers of butterflies. Insecticides should not be used in or near these gardens.
Scatter tall trees around the yard but leave open sunny areas. Redbay, hackberry, Florida elm, shortleaf and strangler fig, wild tamarind, and sweetbay are tall enough to allow medium size trees and shrubs to be planted close by without crowding.
Shrubs that are great nectar sources include: Native firebush, (not the compact exotic found in most stores), bloodberry, Florida key’s thoroughwort, pineland privet, native plumbago or leadwort, and smooth strongbark.
Also, try planting a few corky passionvine near these shrubs and allow them to grow as they please.
Wild lime and blackbead are larval hosts with thorns and should be limbed up as they grow so that people can walk underneath them or kept short with regular pruning.
Group the shrubs in ways that create open areas so that sunlight can reach the wildflowers planted near them. Make sure that sunlight can reach these wildflowers for at least four hours a day, especially around noon.
Other larval foods which include the three foot tall Chapman’s cassia, false nettle, Mexican milkweed which is not native, yet supports monarchs, bushy aster, dwarf fakahatchee grass, and salt marsh mallow can be planted next to the taller shrubs.
Low wildflowers can be used to create abundant color and nectar. My favorites include: red salvia, seaside goldenrod, pineland petunia, twinflower, beach verbena, and sunshine mimosa.
Larval food plants like cudweed, peppergrass and fogfruit may come up on their own. You can also plant non native fennel, parsley and arugula to share with eastern swallowtails and great southern whites.
Arrange your garden in sections that allow you to move about easily and create quiet sitting areas to observe wildlife.
Don’t forget a bird bath near the protection of large shrubs. The Florida edition of “Butterflies through binoculars,” Oxford university press, is a great book to learn more about butterflies in Florida.
Larva will only eat their host plant, not your prized rose bush. The small to medium amount of damage to host plants is worth the variety and numbers of butterflies that you will soon have living and breeding in your yard.
The exception to this is corky passionvine and coontie which can be killed by over feeding. Just move the extra caterpillars to other plants. Keep a potted, fast growing exotic passionvine around for this.
You will no longer have to wait for a butterfly to pass by and briefly visit. It will stay and make your yard its permanent home while breeding and increasing its population.
Please see “Butterfly Larval Foods” for a list of other larval food plants.
Birds Bathe to Stay Warm
Feeders are what most people think of when trying to attract birds, yet water is often needed the most. A cool drink and a bath will keep your birds in top condition.
Feathers are cleaned and softened while bathing, then straightened and realigned during preening. Your birds will fly faster from predators and stay warmer during cool evenings with clean feathers.
My hummingbirds fly through mist and other birds including 12 painted buntings use a shallow water dish to bathe. This has a drip-tube and mister attached and is timed for one hour each day.
Shrubs planted around the bathing area provide an escape route from hawks and raising the dish 3 feet off of the ground will keep it out of the reach of cats.
Make your own birdbath from a trashcan lid, a flowerpot saucer, or mold one out of mortar. Depth should vary from one inch along the edge to three inches in the center.
For a water source, I attach a timer to the outside faucet and screw a barbed nipple onto the timer. A one quarter inch diameter tube is pushed onto the nipple and extended to your bird bath.
You can attach a mister to this or just let it drip. The rate can be adjusted with a valve back at the faucet. I use the V shaped ones so that I can adjust the bath water rate, yet leave the main spigot open with a hose attached to the other.
Just push the valve open for the hose to work and leave the other side set for the bath.
A small pond will bring in flocks of migrating birds and an occasional heron. It only took an hour to dig a 12-foot by 10-foot pond 12 inches deep.
I used a thick rubber liner purchased on-line and lay logs and rocks to hide the edge. Leave some areas along the edge 2 inches deep for small birds to bathe in.
In the fall, 30 migrating robins and cedar waxwings often come at a time for a drink. This is a death trap for mosquitoes if you add mosquito fish and aquatic plants for them to hide in. No need for chemicals, just rake out the algae if it gets too thick.
There are many ways to provide shallow water for birds to drink and bathe in. Look around and you probably have something lying around that will work.
Place your birdbath where it can be seen while you eat breakfast or lunch and enjoy the fun.
Viewing Birds
One April morning, while I was running around the house preparing for work, my wife alerted me that there were painted buntings feeding on the seeds of our melochia bush just outside of one of our windows.
The melochia has been extirpated from Florida but can still be obtained at some nurseries growing seedlings of plants originating in Puerto Rico.
I sat down by the window and for ten minutes was treated to a parade of birds on melochia and other shrubs that made the nature shows on TV seem dull.
A thirty foot deep area of native shrubs, trees and wildflowers, a bird bath and a small feeder filled with millet created a paradise for our local and migratory birds just outside the window.
Our property is bordered with a dense mix of native shrubs and trees while the center has islands of plants.
I sat for only a few seconds before the first group of five, green, female painted buntings arrived. One bird hopped onto the red salvia to feed on its seeds as the plant swayed back and forth.
Two catbirds appeared along with two young male cardinals. One of the cardinals took a bath and sprayed water everywhere. The catbirds fed on the firebush berries.
Tzip, tzip announces the arrival of a red, purple, yellow and green, male painted bunting. He came out into the open just as the ruby-throated hummingbird made his tack, tack… tack, tack, tack computer-like sound while feeding from the firebush flowers.
I find myself feeling dazzled. It tickles my senses and makes me laugh at the silliness of the situation. All of this occurred within ten minutes and really made my day special.
As it warmed up, dozens of butterflies came out of hiding and visited flowers or laid eggs on the passion vine and other larval food plants.
In the last six weeks we were visited by one young bald eagle, two great horned owls, several black and white, fork- tailed, swallowtail kites which are almost seagull sized, and many coopers, and red tailed hawks.
I observed two, crow sized pileated woodpeckers mating and am proud to have them create a large nesting hole in one of our dead pine trees. These large woodpeckers are black and white with a spike of red feathers on the top of their head.
If you can, please leave your dead trees so that our local woodpeckers will have a place to find insects and nest in.
Soon, our warblers, buntings and other winter residents will fly north to breed. My hope is that each fall, when they return, there will be more native trees and shrubs for them to find food on and thus, more of them that survive.
Bats
Say “bats,” and most people will think of rabies, flying mice, being attacked and having the bat tangled in their hair.
This is nonsense and has lead to the decline of many bat species and serious trouble for us if the population of these beneficial mammals doesn’t recover soon. Bats share a shrew-like ancestor with primates and have been around for 50 million years.
They have only one to two offspring per year, which makes them vulnerable to long term population declines.
100 million Mexican Free-tail bats migrate north into Texas each year and consume 1000 tons of insects each evening. They fly to an elevation of 10,000 feet in order to eat the corn ear-worm moth as this pest migrates north to our farmlands.
Even the sound of a bat’s echolocation will drive many insect pests out of the area. Having bats around will reduce much of the mosquito, moth, and beetle population and is much better than those noisy bug lamps that also kill predatory insects like ladybugs and lacewings.
There are only two common bats in our area: the Mexican free-tail and the Evening bat. These small bats eat insects and roost in trees and man made structures like bridges and attics.
Use a bat excluding device and never poisons to remove bats from your home. Make sure that the young have left before putting this up.
A bat house is easy to make and can be mounted on a 10 to 20 foot pole or under the eave of your house. The color should be brown and placed where it will receive sun most of the day.
Lighten the color if the temperature gets too hot inside, but keep in mind that bats like a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This is why they roost in attics.
Tree limbs should be 20 feet away to keep bat predators at a distance. Turn off nearby bright lights. Bats catch insects near water so try to locate the bat house near a pond.
As with any wild animal that lets you get near it, don’t touch it and you won’t get bitten. About one in a thousand bats has rabies yet the strain is rarely transmitted to humans even if you are bitten.
Bats die quickly from rabies and do not become aggressive. I would worry about feral cats more than bats if you are concerned about rabies.
Europeans have encouraged bats to their yards for over 80 years. Interest in the U.S. started in the 1980’s and is growing each year as people learn more about these beneficial mammals.
With a bit of experimentation, and time, you can discover the proper location for a bat house and enjoy watching bats dive after insects in the light of the setting sun.
Try batcon.org for more information and great designs for bat houses.
Planting For Butterflies In The Spring
This is the time of year to plant nectar and caterpillar food plants for butterflies. Sitting on a lounge chair watching butterflies is relaxing and fun.
You will laugh at the sight of several males chasing a female in frantic circles and dives. Kids love to watch the caterpillars form a chrysalis and later emerge into a beautiful butterfly.
Even in a yard with no butterflies, you can gradually build up a nice population of several species in one to two years. The trick is to plant the caterpillar food plants so that butterflies will multiply once they find you.
The most common butterflies in our area include the Zebra Longwing, Gulf Fritillary, Monarch, Queen, Giant Swallowtail and several Sulfurs.
There are many other species that are less common yet are worth the extra effort to attract.
These include the Eastern Swallowtail, Ruddy Daggerwing, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Atala Hairstreak, Julia, Malachite, White Peacock, Florida Viceroy, Red Admiral, and many kinds of Hairstreaks, and Skippers.
I can count at least thirty to fifty individual butterflies of several species in my half acre front yard during the summer months. Do not ever purchase butterflies; you will be introducing diseases to your local population.
A planting containing the orange exotic milkweed will soon have Monarchs laying their eggs on it. Most of the Cassias attract various Sulfurs and a wild lime tree will take the place of your citrus tree as a food for the Giant Swallowtail.
This plant is native to Florida and has nasty thorns, so be careful where you plant it.
The book that I always bring on walks with my wife, Donna, is Butterflies through Binoculars. This has great pictures, lists the caterpillar food sources and shows which parts of Florida each butterfly occurs in.
And it’s only eight by five inches so you can carry it easily. The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) has a local chapter with monthly meetings and field trips.
There are also conferences in Florida and other states that are a great way to meet interesting people.
Food for the adult butterfly can be almost any native wildflower and some exotics. The problem with many cultivated flowers is that they have been bred to have more petals at the expense of the nectar producing glands, pistil and pollen producing anthers.
Native wildflowers include: Beach Verbena, Red Salvia, Goldenrod, Bloodberry, Silphium, Wild Sage, Firebush, Indian Blanket, Sunshine Mimosa, Ironweed, Dune Sunflower, Chapman’s Cassia, Pineland Petunia (not Mexican Petunia or Purple Shower which is invasive), Climbing Aster and many more.
Don’t be afraid to kill some grass and make a butterfly garden. You will use less water than grass and will be surprised by the numbers of butterflies and birds, too, that are attracted to your yard.
Check out the list below for a match between butterfly and caterpillar food plant. Also remember that butterfly caterpillars eat only certain plants and won’t eat your other garden plants unless these plants are in the same family that the caterpillar prefers. Parsley and cabbages are food plants.
The following is a list of butterflies and their caterpillar food plants. Try mixing these plants with the tallest ones in back and the small in front. Monarch, Queen and Soldier-Milkweed; Eastern Black Swallowtail-Parsley; Sulfurs-Cassias; Giant Swallowtail-Citrus; Ruddy Daggerwing-Strangler Fig; White Peacock-Water Hyssop; Palamedes Swallowtail-Redbay; American Lady-Cudweed; Eastern Tiger Swallowtail-Sweetbay Magnolia; Red Admiral-False Nettle; Malachite-Shrimp Plant; Atala Hairstreak-Coontie; Florida Whites-Cabbage family; Buckeye-Snapdragon; Goldrim Swallowtail-Pipevine; Zebra Longwing, Gulf Fritillary, Julia-Passionvine; Tropical Checkered Skipper-Marsh Mallow; Many Skipper species-grasses.
Aquacktic Plants Are Great for Ducks And Other Wildlife.
Native aquatic plants are not only beautiful with their yellow, blue, or white flowers, but are also important food sources, nesting sites, and hiding places for shore birds.
To create a low maintenance planting along your lake or pond edge you will need to create shade in order to exclude the ever present population of weeds waiting to move in.
Start with bald or pond cypress, pond apple, red maple, sweetbay magnolia, popash, slash pine and live or laurel oak. Plant these along the edge of the lake where the water won’t stand for more than three days after a heavy rain.
The cypress, popash and pond apple can take long periods with wet feet, but the others will die. Of course, make sure that you frame, and not block the view from living room windows.
Combinations of naturally associated plants will look great and seem to have occurred on their own. I like to combine masses of blue flowered pickerelweed and white flowered crinum lily and duck potato in shallow water.
Also, for shallow water try spikerush to fill in large open areas. Soft stem bulrush and thalia can tolerate up to 3 feet of water depth.
Prairie iris, with it’s blue-green strap-like leaves and large blue flowers in the spring can be mixed with yellow cannas on the upper edge, above the water line, for a stunning affect. Both of these require regular fertilization.
If you are trying to provide good habitat for large mouth bass and other fish, I would suggest that you sprig the underwater pond edge with the grass-like eelgrass.
This will spread under water and provide hiding places for minnows and their young to grow in. Leave some bare areas for the bass to spot and eat these small fish and you will be rewarded with large, fat bass.
The leaves of this plant will only grow about a foot long and will absorb many of the nutrients that wash into the pond. They also keep the invasive hydrilla from taking over by competing for nutrients.
Spring is a good time to plant aquatics. Remember to kill all of the weeds, especially torpedo grass, first. This African grass will always grow back from the grass line so you will need to have regular maintenance to keep it from choking out your planting.
Make sure that there are no grass carp, or muscovy ducks which will eat your plants as you install them. Turtles can eat your plants too, so you may need to put fencing in the water for a few months until the plants grow thick.
Even though these are called aquatic plants, many cannot tolerate being underwater. When we have a heavy rain, the water level will often rise an additional 18 inches and drown an established planting.
I always plant very close to the grass line, even if that means planting in nearly dry soil. You may need to kill some grass in order to provide space for the iris and yellow cannas.
Many of the lake maintenance companies can plant your pond for you and the advantage is that they will be careful not to spray their plants with herbicides.
It is illegal to dig aquatic plants in the wilds without a permit, so please find a reputable landscaper to do the work.
You can hunt around and find a local nursery that grows aquatic plants in pots and increases them by division. This is the most ethical way to obtain them.
If you are bored with the ugly dead zone ringing your pond or lake like a dirty bathtub ring, try planting this area with colorful aquatic plants.
You will frame your view and receive a better view for yourself if your neighbors do the same. Imagine not having to look out across the lake to your neighbors trash bin or other junk stored in his back yard.
It’s also nice to be hidden by pond apple, cypress, thalia and other taller plants so that the neighbor’s dog can’t see you and bark continuously whenever you go out.