the Asclepias and the chrysalis

 

Monarch chrysalis
East Hampton
August 2012

 A few weeks ago I added some Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed) to the garden.  A great sun-loving perennial, deer resistant and loved by butterflies, they grow to a couple feet and produce clusters of these bright orange flowers.  To the left of the flower you can see the interesting seed pods that follow the flower.  

 

Then one evening I was out back watering and to my surprise I found a number of caterpillars going to town on the foliage and seed pods of the butterfly weed.  Right away I knew they were Monarch Butterfly caterpillars.  As a child one of the all-time best teachers in early grade school was a woman named Sister Pat. I remember one year she raised monarch butterflies in her classroom, starting with the caterpillars eating some kind of milkweed (also Asclepias).  To be a little kid and see how this caterpillar metamorphosized into this beautiful monarch butterfly we would then draw and write about obviously stuck with me for years.  I am sure I had a boyish response of glee upon seeing these three characters chomping away at my perennials.

Of course it really is the chrysalis that the caterpillar envelopes itself in that is the stunning thing.  A vibrant green the chrysalis can often go unseen in the landscape, but then just for fun there is that delicate band of gold that let's you know something amazing is about to unfold.  In my case I thought it was hysterical that of all places the caterpillar decided the deer-repellent mesh over my tomato plants was prime real estate.

The second caterpillar was also already in chrysalis form, in this case on one of the bamboo tomato stakes.

I guess the third caterpillar had a bit more of an appetite than his two buddies.  Needless to say I will be thrilled to keep an eye on the metamorphosis these three go through and hopefully it means there will be some killer monarch butterfly shots coming by late summer.  If I remember correctly, you know, from first grade, the butterflies should emerge from their cocoons in a couple weeks time.

Asclepias tuberosa, a great addition to your garden that will grow more than just flowers.

the fennel and the "fat cats"

In 2006 I worked up at Garden in the Woods, the native plant botanical garden and headquarters of the New England Wild Flower Society. While up there I met Erin Backus, entomologist and horticultural therapist from upstate New York, and we became quick friends. We had a fabulous time interning with the Horticulture Department adding our abilities and able hands to the garden. While I worked on various woody plant renovation and restoration projects Erin was busy fostering the populations of native moths and butterflies. With great signage and information accompanying her netted displays of different caterpillars feeding and metamorphosizing throughout the garden you quickly fell in love with these "fat cats" as she liked to call them. It was such fabulous work because it is very important for people who want to have beautiful butterfly gardens to know that you have to have both the flowers that the mature butterflies love, but also the plants that the larvae caterpillars need to feed on in order to grow and develop. Sometimes they are woody trees or shrubs, or sometimes much more tender perennials. Most larvae, especially moths and butterflies in the order Lepidoptera, are very specific as to what "host plant" or plants they feed on.
Enter the fennel and the fat cats I found today in the Conservatory Garden in Central Park.


Fennel we love for it's use as a vegetable and herb, with both culinary and medicinal uses. Botanically fennel is known as Foeniculum vulgare, a member of the family Apiaceae. Originally from the Mediterranean region of Europe fennel has now naturalized throughout North America. Hardy in Zones 5-10 Foeniculum has strong hollow stems and fine, wispy foliage upon which form these fun umbels (an inflorescence of flowers that makes a flat-top) of yellow flowers in summer. (I shot these in midday sun so you can't see the fine, soft foliage so well, sorry.)


Florence fennel is grown for it's big bulbous base, but there are also other, narrower varieties of fennel known as 'bronze' fennel, and this is the latter. It doesn't produce that fat base, at least not so far as I have seen, but it does produce the same aromatic stems and foliage that smell of anise. The plant provides a wonderfully soft backdrop and shot of yellow to the other more bold, showy annual plants that Curator Diane Schaub loves to play with in her yearly displays.
And in this case we learn that fennel is a great host plant if you want to have the eastern black swallowtail butterfly in your garden.
This is the late instar caterpillar, the larvae of a stunning native butterfly called the eastern black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes. The day I captured these guys in the garden I saw some tiger swallowtails but no black swallowtails so I am still searching for a photo for you for reference. For now here is the wikipedia link.

Butterfly Gardening (a quick intro)

Lantana is one of my more favorite sun loving annuals for the garden

I recently got an email from a good friend who is the Executive Director of an organization in Manhattan that I am on the Board of Directors of, asking if I could help her with a new project. I thought I might as well share with you the information I put together for her. It might be a help if you have ever wanted to start a butterfly garden but didn't know where or how to start.

The question was:
We are having a work day at the ...garden mid-May. part of this day will be planting - I am going to try to get native plants that attract butterflies. this garden has a group of 15-20 preschool bilingual head start kids that walk to the garden several times a week and we thought they would like these plants and it would be educational. Any suggestions on what I should buy?

To which I answered:
A butterfly garden sounds fabulous. I can definitely suggest a number of plants. One catch is that most butterfly plants want full sun or at least not too much shade. I think I saw that garden and remember it being pretty bright, the stretch you were talking about planting, so I hope the site doesn't give you grief. Another important thing to know is that there are two kinds of butterfly plants, those that the larvae (caterpillars) feed on, and those that the adult butterflies are attracted to. In an ideal world you would have both, so that might be something to shoot for in the long run. Usually the plants that the larvae feed on are more straight-forward trees and shrubs so perhaps some of them are already planted in the space or nearby. I found a website that seemed pretty great in terms of listing the two types of plants and the butterflies attract. You might want to print up a copy or two if some of the adults really want to get into it. The link is:
http://butterflywebsite.com/butterflygardening.cfm

As far as what you should plant, here are some suggestions that I know are pretty safe. The list is a mix of some natives but also some non-natives. In the interest of time and budget I don't think you should limit yourself to solely natives at this point, although that too could be a good ideal to strive for over time. Just wanted to clarify in case anyone chimes in that some of the things aren't native:

tall plants for the back:
butterfly bush (Buddleia) - you know, shrubby, but can be pruned yearly to control size, late summer flower, purple often
Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum) - 6' or so if happy, purple clusters atop in summer, likes to be well watered
perennial hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos) - the big hibiscus flower you see late summer, can get 4'-6' depending on sun and water, red, bright colors
ironweed (Vernonia) - also tall and thin like Joe Pye and hibiscus, tall cluster of small purple flowers, great in fall

medium plants (many of which can tolerate dry conditions once established so that helps):
butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) - a major attractor with orange flower clusters, full sun,
goldenrod (Solidago) - late summer yellow bloomers are reliable attractors, but not sure how easy to find for sale this time of year
dogbane (Apocynum) - also more of a meadow plant but perfect if you can find it, smaller white flower clusters in summer
milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) - probably too hard to find at a regula garden center/retailer
coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) - purple
black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) - yellow
bee balm (Monarda didyma) - red, white, pinkish, depending

low plants and/or annuals:
violets
verbena
lantana
cosmos
marigolds
mums

I hope that gives you a decent shopping list to work from. If you want even more suggestions I found another link that seemed pretty good, and that is:
http://www.gardening-tips-perennials.com/butterfly-attracting-plants.html

Good luck and let me know how it goes. -Alex