No Monarch babies as of yet

I saw our first Monarchs last week, but none have laid eggs on our milkweed. I wonder if the temps have them moving on southward opting not to lay eggs here this year. Or is it just my milkweed? I just don't know.

We have had some gulf fritillary come out of chrysalis, but they have been very small. I am at a bit of a loss for that one as well. 

Zinnia with Lantana Bandana

This summer the flower beds have been visited by Gulf Fritilary and Skippers the most. We have also had Black Swallowtail, but they were very late this summer and we did not see them in the numbers we had last year by any stretch of the imagination. We probably had about 20 Black Swallowtail cats on our carrots and parsley. Right now we are trying to save the Gulf Fritilary cats from the ants that patrol their host plant, the Passion Flower Vine. We are still waiting for the Monarchs. We expect them any day now with them peaking mid October here in the Atlanta area. 

The flower beds have really matured this summer.

Lantana is great! It is easy and the butterflies love it, but they love Zinnias better. We will be using a lot more Zinnia next summer. It is so easy to grow from seed. You just need to be sure to water the Zinnia plants in the morning as it susceptible to mildew, especially in humid summer climates like Atlanta.

Garden Spider

Our Garden Spider is gone, but she left us with her offspring in this egg sac. She died after laying her eggs. Remember Charolette?  I read that the baby spiders will live in this sac until the weather is right for them to emerge. This one will be relocated far away from my Butterfly Garden.

Ooooh Noooooo

This is exactly what I was afraid of. I know this is nature, but I kind of feel like the butterflies are lured into the butterfly garden and it is the perfect set up for the Garden Spider. I guess that is just how it works.

The spider caught an Eastern Yellow Tiger Swallowtail. I don't know if it was male or female, but hopefully it was at the end of its life.  The web is really quite large!

Garden Visitors & The Going Ons

Milkweed Bugs, another reason my milkweed suffers.

Garden Spider -  I just can't disturb her, but I hope she does not snag any butterflies.

Black Swallowtail instar

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Black Swallowtail caterpillars each at a different stage

Frass from Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar

Black Swallowtail instar

Gulf Fritillary laying an egg on the deck next to the Passion Flower Vine

Red Passion Flower

Tiny Gulf Fritillary caterpillar on leaf of Passion Flower Vine

Little nodule on the leaf secretes a fluid the ants eat and it also looks like a Gulf Fritillary egg.

The coil here is what the Passion vine uses to hold on to structures. I was amazed at how well it blended in with the deck.

GF butterfly laying egg on Passion Vine

I have been collecting the leaves with eggs on them to protect them from the ants. I store them in this container with a small wet paper towel to keep the leaves hydrated. I move them to a protected vine when the caterpillars emerge from the eggs.

Gulf Firtillary inspects the leaves with her eggs that I have collected and lays another egg on a leaf I already have.

Gulf Fritillary eludes Anole (lizard)

Summer 2012

I've had a busy summer working on indoor projects, so I'm behind on posting about my butterfly gardens this summer. In the Atlanta area we are just now starting to see the butterflies flourish. In May of 2011 , I already had about 100 Black Swallowtail caterpillars and I am just now getting them. The Black swallowtail & Eastern Yellow Tiger Swallowtail are just now starting to make a nice show late in the summer season. This was my first year to grow the host plant passion flower vine in hopes of attracting Gulf Fritillaries. Well, I have had them, but battling the ants who have a symbiotic relationship with the vine has been a chore. The ants protect the vine from any predator of the vine and a caterpillar certainly is just that. Not only will they eat the eggs, the eat the caterpillars. I saw one make it long enough to go into chrysalis. I thought it had made it! Finally, one caterpillar made it! Sadly, nope...the ants will eat that too. I have come to wonder how any Gulf Fritillaries ever make it to be a beautiful butterfly. Clearly they manage, but I will help when I can. I have taken to collecting the leaves with eggs and putting them on a separate vine which I keep away from ants. I just started doing this and I hope it will make a difference.

I am still waiting on the Monarchs, but the bed we built just for them has not done so well. The milkweed is looking pretty shabby. I always thought that if I wanted to grow a weed, it would be easy. This has not been the case with my milkweed. I am growing common and tropical. I'm hoping they will fill out some more before the Monarch get there to lay their eggs.