A New Wildlife Garden: Chapter 1...by Andrew Geist (August 2010)

It's done, it's in the ground! All the studying, planning, choosing and wondering "is this right?" "is this best? is behind us. What a journey and what an education for a new native plant-butterfly-bird gardener!

About eight months ago, during Miami's "winter" in January, I decided I wanted a butterfly garden in the back yard. To make a long story short, this idea transformed into wanting a very special butterfly and bird garden that would use all available sections of my 1/3 acre yard (front, back and both sides).

My family and I joined Miami Blue Chapter-NABA, and shortly afterward I was invited to go on a butterfly gardens tour of four private yards offered by Miami Blue Chapter (MBC). On the garden tour I was able to see how others had laid things out and what plants were doing well in what environments, how attractive they were to butterflies and birds, how big they got, how much maintenance they needed. I also met others with gardening interests and experience.

I also went on the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s Butterfly Garden tour with Linda Evans, which I highly recommend. This walk is offered every Sunday at the garden, with Linda leading it every other Sunday. Linda, who is Vice-President of Miami Blue Chapter and a recent “Volunteer of the Year” at Fairchild, has a wealth of knowledge on butterfly plants.

I have never met a book I didn't like, and so I purchased a library of books on the subject. My favorite resources turned out to be:
Florida Butterfly Gardening: Marc and Maria Minno;
Florida Keys Wildflowers: Roger Hammer;
Everglades Wildflowers: Roger Hammer;
Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and Their Host Plants: Marc Minno, Jerry Butler, Donald Hall;
Butterflies through Binoculars: FLORIDA: Jeffrey Glassberg, Marc Minno, John Calhoun;
Native Trees and Shrubs of the Florida Keys: Paul Scurlock;
A Gardeners Guide to Florida's Native Plants: Rufino Osorio;
Native Florida Plants: Robert Haehle, Joan Brookwell;
The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida: Gil Nelson;
Butterfly Gardening with Florida's Native Plants: Craig Huegel;
Your Florida Guide to Butterfly Gardening: Jaret Daniels;
Attracting Birds to Your Garden (article): Roger Hammer;
Miami Blue Chapter's ONLINE list: Butterfly Host Plants for Southeast Florida (http://www.miamiblue.org/plants.php).

I need to get a good book on Florida moths (any suggestions from anyone?). I see a lot of moths that look like baby hummingbirds and I am told they are “hummingbird moths” in the genus Hemaris of the sphinx moth or hawkmoth group and that are beneficial pollinators.

Reference materials in hand, I spent a long time drawing out the layout and researching plants waiting for our unusually cold winter to end. Initially I received a lot of help from Roger Hammer, calling him often and having several meetings with him mostly going over plant species. I feel very fortunate to have received help from Roger. During this time, my garden "philosophy" emerged.

One of my earliest goals was to have a garden as pretty and manicured as possible, but still attractive to as many birds and butterflies as possible. I also wanted to emphasize native plant species (currently over 80% of over 100 different trees/plant species in the yard are natives). A recent goal of mine is to have at least one host plant species for any butterfly with any reasonable chance of flying into the yard (currently I have over 60 different host plant species). Moreover, I confess to liking the idea of collecting as complete a native plant list in my yard as possible, given my soil conditions (I live in southwest Miami-Dade county in what probably was once rockland hammock).

Early in the process I decided to remove nearly all trees or plants in the yard that were not either bird or butterfly attracting species, or at least native species. Lucky for me my good friend, Scott Muggleston, owner of Scott's Tree Care, along with his crew, helped me with this very labor intensive task. This meant I was left with only my mature live oaks (one of the best bird attracting trees in south Florida and a host plant to the Horace's Duskywing), 1 pomegranate tree (hummingbirds really hit the flowers), 5 mango trees and 1 banana plant (for us to feed on!), and 1 ligustrum tree with white flowers that seem to attract nectaring butterflies.

In my selections, I also went by the plant zone (10b) and tried to stay away from wetlands plants not likely to thrive in my well-drained situation. A resource I learned about only recently would have been helpful in the beginning, and will be in the future: You can go on the website of the Institute for Regional Conservation (www.regionalconservation.org), find the "Natives for Your Neighborhood" page, enter your zip code, and learn what plants historically grew in, and are recommended for, the area.

Scott was also in charge of purchasing many of the plants/trees, trimming my remaining trees, planting, mulching, setting up bird nesting houses and bird feeders. After outlining the beds, Scott and his crew removed the grass and planted about a week later, mulching with Florimulch from Bernie's Rock And Garden, about 4" thick. The most common error in creating a butterfly garden, I had been warned, is spacing plants too close. I tried not to make this mistake, and I would advise spacing plants even further than the recommended distance. THEY GROW!!

Now, about 6 months in the ground, I have not yet spent much time trying to identify the different butterflies and moths in my yard. I am still trying to perfect my yard, which keeps me occupied with plants in my free time. Soon I will be able concentrate more on the butterflies, moths and birds. Of course I know the common easy to identify ones. I am hoping the more things start filling out, the more different species I will start seeing.

Our garden has been the best experience for myself, my wife Maria, and my two sons Nicholas (6), and Benjamin(4), to turn a sterile yard into one that is already teaming with life. Not to mention all the great people I have met throughout this process. I really feel like I'm watching a nature show when I look out my window on a sunny day lately. As I look out, I am already learning that a wildlife garden is a work in process, and I have more plans...but that will be another chapter of the story.

Great Southern Whites by Linda Evans, Photos by Hank Poor

A newly emerged adult Great Southern White.

Often, when driving down to Everglades National Park or driving through south Miami-Dade County's agricultural area, the Redlands, you will see beautiful, white butterflies dancing in the air. 

In these areas, the Great Southern White uses the weed, Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum) as its host plant. 

Great Southern White eggs
are laid in batches.

They also use Saltwort (Batis Maritima), Coastal Searocket (Cakile lanceolata), Limber Caper (Capparis flexuosa), Arugula (Eruca sativa), Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus), and Collard Greens (Brassica oleracea var. acephala).

Caterpillars feed communally
- here feeding on Collard Greens.

When recently doing a NABA count at the Kampong, David Fairchild’s former home in Coconut Grove, we noticed that these beautiful butterflies were using a vine which had been growing there for more than 30 years according to Larry Schockman, the former director.

A caterpillar & a chrysalis
side by side on a Collard

Ritchiea reflexa from W. Tropical Africa was hosting more than 50 caterpillars and 67 butterflies which were added to the count. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is planning to get cuttings of this vine in the Caper family from the Kampong to add to their Butterfly Garden.

Ritchiea reflexa at the Kampong
attracts Great Southern Whites

Hank and Mary Ann Poor attracted the Great Southern White by growing Collard Greens in their garden. Hank’s expert photography documented the life cycle from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly with his magnificent photos. 

A handsome male nectaring
on the all-time favorite, Bidens alba,
or Spanish Needle.

Whether you choose weeds, flowers or vegetables, you too can have this magnificent butterfly in your yard.

How Could It Be? Someone Raises Doubt About Butterfly Gardening? by Elane Nuehring

Above, Mikania scandens attracts many butterflies, bees, wasps and other insects.

All in one week-end, I visited an extraordinary new butterfly garden in Kendall (check miamiblue.org/calendar for a garden visit there in August) AND read a think-piece questioning butterfly gardening. Now, butterfly gardening is a little like "Mom and apple pie" -- right? Who would question its essential worth? Well...on the web of the Florida Native Plant Society, Steve Woodmansee, one of our own favorite Butterfly Days speakers, asks about the value of butterfly gardens. He points out their benefits -- but he also asks us to consider their limitations -- and think bigger. Think beyond big, macro butterflies....think beyond butterflies for that matter. Read it and see what you think: go to http://fnpsblog.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to see Steve's article (it is in two parts).

Milkweeds in Your Garden by Linda Evans

Above: Mexican Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica)

Many butterflies choose toxic host plants. When Monarchs, Queens, and Soldiers eat the leaves of milkweeds, they eat some of the toxins as well. If a bird eats, for example, a Monarch caterpillar or butterfly, it spits it out and avoids the Monarch and similar looking butterflies as their tasty treat. This is one of the protective mechanisms nature has given the butterflies. It is also the reason that, in our gardens, if we plant milkweeds, we can enjoy Monarch caterpillars from their first instar to adulthood.

Here are a few thoughts on gardening with milkweeds. Although there are many different native milkweed plants, many require specific soil conditions and are not readily available for purchase. The most common milkweed used in butterfly gardening today is the form from Mexico, Asclepias curassavica. It grows year round and is suitable for both the caterpillars to eat and the butterflies for nectaring.

Right: a native milkweed, Butterfly Weed (A. tuberosa)

If you would like to try growing natives and can find them, a few are:

• Asclepias verticillata, Horsetail milkweed. It is an erect, slender perennial that grows in dry, rocky soil with beautiful white flowers. The seeds look similar to the Mexican form.
  
  
• A. lanceolata – Fewflower milkweed. The flowers are red to tangerine and grow in damp soil.
  
  
• A. tuberosa – Butterfly weed. This is a pineland form of milkweed that requires acidic, well drained soil.
  
  
• A longifolia – Florida milkweed - Found in wet flatwoods.

Let us hear from you fellow gardeners. Tell us which native milkweed plants you have had luck with.

Launching A South Florida Butterfly Garden, by Linda Evans & Elane Nuehring

Butterfly gardening can be one of the most rewarding hobbies you could consider! Not only can you grow plants that reward you with beautiful flowers, they will attract butterflies if the right ones are planted. Butterflies need a combination of “larval host plants” (plants on which they lay the eggs and which caterpillars eat) and nectar plants (plants from which adult butterflies get food). Plants and butterflies have co-evolved; hence specific larval host plants support specific caterpillars. Adult butterflies seem to be more eclectic in their nectar plant choices, but size and structure of the butterfly and its proboscis have to fit with the nectar-producing flower.

Two or three decades ago in South Florida, butterfly gardens were rare. We had come to understand the value of native plants and knew that birds would respond to native gardens. Butterflies, however, had not come into sharp focus by most of us. Now, butterfly gardening is big. Libraries have butterfly gardens; schools have butterfly gardens; parks have butterfly gardens. Some of them, such as the Lisa D. Anness Butterfly Garden at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, is very large and offers an abundant menu of caterpillar food plants and nectar plants for butterflies. Definitely worth a visit for anyone considering butterfly gardening in South Florida! These public plantings are great places for us, the home gardeners, to glean ideas for design and to see examples of butterfly plants – how big they grow, whether they require shade, or sun, or tolerate both, and which butterflies can be found using them.

A good butterfly gardening reference book or two will also become well used. In choosing books, try to find ones that relate to your area and horticultural zone—or at least to your state. Remember that not all plants grow in all areas, and moreover, the same plant in one latitude or longitude may be a butterfly-attracting plant, but not so in another latitude or longitude. For some books that are useful to Florida butterfly gardeners, check www.miamiblue.org/books.php.

Visits to local plant nurseries afford opportunity to both learn about and obtain butterfly plants. While many butterflies can use non-native plants, such as some of the exotic passion vines, when there is choice, they often seem to prefer the native species. For many other reasons, it is beneficial to choose native plants as they are adapted to our wet and dry seasons, our soil conditions and our temperature extremes. Thus, native plants are typically less demanding of water and chemicals and often don’t “run wild” to the degree that many exotic plants do. We encourage the liberal, if not exclusive, use of Florida native plants in butterfly gardens for both caterpillar food and nectar.

For a complete list of butterflies and their South Florida host plants, visit our web site, www.miamiblue.org. Click on the tab that says plants. The list is sorted by butterfly and by scientific name of plant.

For starters, here's Linda's nominations for best plants for our area:

Top Gardening Plants
Host plants: Native
Spanish Needles – Bidens alba
Locustberry –Byrsonima lucida
Coontie – Zamia integrifolia
Wild Sensitive Plant – Senna Mexicana var. Chapmanii
Yellowwood - Zanthroxylum flavum
Corkystem Passionvine – Passiflora suberosa
Creeping Charlie – Phyla nodiflora

Nectar Plants: Native
Wild Coffee – Psychotria nervosa
Bahama Strongbark – Bourreria succulenta
Butterfly Sage – Cordia globosa
Firebush – Hamelia patens
Lantana – Lantana depressa, Lantana involucrata
Little Strongbark – Bourreria cassinifolia
Blue Porterweed – Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

Host Plants: Non-Native
Parsley – Petroselinum crispum
Dill – Anethum graveolens
Fennell – Foeniculum volgare
Mexican Milkweed – Asclepias curassavica

Nectar Plants: Non-Native
Moujean tea – Nashia inauguensis
Pentas – Pentas sp.
Butterfly Bush – Buddleja spp.

We would like to hear from you!

• Do you have a list of your “top 5 or 10” favorite butterfly plants?

• What are your butterfly gardening experiences? Your successes and your frustrations?

• Do you have experience with butterfly plants on terraces and balconies and, if so, at what height from the ground?

• Have you butterfly gardened in very small yards, courtyards, or patios, and what advice would you offer those in similar situations?

• What butterflies frequent your garden and which plants do they use?

• Have you found chrysalises in interesting or unusual places?