Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds and Butterflies

[Becky]

That's a beautiful photo @Beverly, was it taken in your garden?

 

[ChanellG]

Great thread ChanellG... The most popular nectar plant for all nectar lovers in my garden is the Mexican Flame Vine. In my zone it will bloom maybe 4 times a year... Hoping to recover from 2015, the year when nothing grew and if it did grow something ate it. I really missed the butterflies and caterpillars last year. I think the fact that our volcano was erupting all year at intense levels had something to do with it.

Volcano???

Someone gave me a small Mexican flame vine. It was doing okay for a while, but recently it wasn't looking so good. I moved it to the greenhouse in case there was a freeze, but I need to go out and check on it again. It really needs to be transplanted as well.

Good luck seeing the butterflies and caterpillars returning!

 

[Beverly]

@Becky...thank you Becky. It is a beautiful vine (Asteraceae) and yes it is growing on an 8 foot (2.4m) arch in the garden. The butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds are crazy about it. You should be able to grow it in zone 9. It loves lots of sun.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Great thread ChanellG...i signed up a couple of days ago (Feb 2 or 3?) and just found your thread. I've been growing nectar and host plants for about 8 years here in Mexico. With luck, i can have flowers bloom year round for the year round nectar lovers, including hummingbirds.
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Those look amazing!

If you have some space for a big plant, try Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia). I get all kinds of hummingbirds during summer, and in my area, the plant blooms for at least five months, maybe different in your area.

 

[Beverly]

@ChanellG, yes volcano, a rowdy one. I posted a photo of it blowing up in the night in the Introduction forum a few days ago and said a few words. The thread is "Warm Greetings from Colima Mexico" if you would like to take a look.
I'm so glad to have found your thread Chanell, do you have space to plant your Flame vine in the ground? I have mine growing on an 8' arch, but they will grow over anything they can...walls, etc. They like lots of sun. Your vine should perk up with some nice warm humid weather. They are native to the El Tejin region of Veracruz, Mexico. I know of people in Florida, Texas, and California who are growing it successfully. If you have Passiflora vines, i expect you have Heliconian (Zebra) Longwings that visit your garden? This butterfly, as you probably know but your readers might not know, is one of a very few, that not only feeds on nectar, but on pollen as well. The pollen in their systems goes through a chemical reaction that makes these butterflies distasteful to predators and the extra protein allows them to live between 6 - 8 months as butterflies. Their host is Passiflora. About a year ago i spotted one out of the corner of my eye on the Mexican Flame Vine and snapped this photo from a distance. I didn't know it would be showing the Longwings (native of Florida) knee deep in ingesting pollen. They are frequent visitors to my garden but this is the first time i have every seen one ingesting pollen.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

I live in Illinois, where it is cold or cool for the majority of the year. I have planted so many types of flowers. Butterflies come an go, but they never seem to be interested in one flower. I have never seen them congregate in my yard, like they do on your butterfly feeder.

I have lots of peonies in my garden and the butterflies spend a lot of time on them as well as the hummers and bees.

 

[Beverly]

Tithonia rotundifolia is a very popular nectar plant with bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies, and yes i have had it in the garden. Although it is called Mexican Sunflower, it is actually an Aster. It grows wild in the fields around here. Such a lovely rich color. Right now, i am not growing it because i have had problems with white powdery mildew all the time. Now i have heard of a milk solution that will get rid of the powdery mildew. If the plants are treated in the sun (the milk solution and sun seem to react some way), so maybe i'll grow it again and experiment with that. I've not heard of people growing it in the more northern climes reporting that problem. Conoclinium coelestium (Mistflower) is a nectar wildflower that will grow in your area and attract many butterflies. The Monarchs are particularly fond of it. Zinnias are popular with the nectar lovers and flower for many months. Here is a photo with Tithonia, Ruellia, and Gulf Frit.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Although it is called Mexican Sunflower, it is actually an Aster.

That is true, Tithonia is in the Aster family, however, True Sunflowers (helianthus) are also in the Aster family (Asteraceae), also known as the Sunflower family.

 

[ChanellG]

I'm so glad to have found your thread Chanell, do you have space to plant your Flame vine in the ground? ...If you have Passiflora vines, i expect you have Heliconian (Zebra) Longwings that visit your garden?

I don't recall seeing any zebra longwings in my own garden. This year was the first time for the red admiral, buckeye, and longtail skipper though. I keep hoping to expand the variety of host plants and butterfly babies in my yard. I have to build a new habitat for them so I can protect them from the wasps.

I did not know that about the longwings and eating pollen; that's pretty cool!

 

[Beverly]

I also have a terrible time with wasps and found a nest in the Dalechampia vine that i pulled down the other day. I also ordered an organic wasp, hornet, and yellow jacket trap that should arrive Feb 15. I think it is a new product and i'll post a picture of it here and also provide some feedback as to how well it works. One thing that i have had success with is putting garden debris at the base of the milkweed plants (which i have growing in containers), so the caterpillars have a place to hide and rest during the day. I think because of the wasps the caterpillars eat through the nights and sleep through the days. The first photo shows a Queen caterpillar hiding under a leaf that i placed at the base of the host plant (asclepias). The second photo shows some weird gadget i purchased in the kitchen section of a store, and a piece of shade screen. I sank the U shaped part into the soil underneath the asclepias, leaving a small space between the gadget and the soil to allow access for the caterpillars and covered the gadget with the shade screen. When i returned a half hour after placing this gadget, i found 6 happy caterpillars in there all snoozing. I only had 6 Queens on this particular plant and the wasps didn't find any of them. Some pupated in the gadget. So i think you get the idea. It would be easy and inexpensive to make some kind of shelter for them using various materials under an asclepias bush whether in a pot or in the ground. You would want to give them some space to avoid crowding (which can lead to potential disease sharing). The two shelters shown below were quick fixes because the wasps were showing interest in the plant. I plan to refine some little hiding places for them in the next couple of months. When making shelters for the little ones be sure the shelter has good air flow and light. I was surprised at how well this worked and how quickly the pillars were to use them as shelter.

 

[Beverly]

Another thought about wasps. There are instructions on the web regarding how to make your own organic wasp trap. I haven't looked them up though because i have too many projects going on now to take any more on, but this is an option.

 

[Beverly]

And while i'm on the topic, i tried an experiment a couple of years ago that has to do with outsmarting the wasps. Giant Swallowtails (Papilio cresphontes) frequent my garden. I have had both a lime tree and Common Rue (Ruta graveolens) as host plants for these beautiful butterflies that can travel as far up as Canada along the eastern side of the US. They are the largest butterflies in North America. I noticed these b'flys showed a preference to lay their eggs on the Rue. Rue is grown widely in the area where i live, so even though it is not native to Mexico it is popular with the GSTs here. The wasps knew there would be nice chubby caterpillars on the Rue plants and would cruise them relentlessly. Those caterpillars hardly had any chance at all. Common Rue does not do well in my garden (possibly because i over water it ), i had uprooted the lime tree because it was not doing well (probably because i transplanted it too deeply in the soil) so i wanted to find another type of plant in the Rutaceae Family that the GSTs might use for a host. I was able to acquire some Choisya ternata (Mexican Mock Orange) cuttings and grew a plant some distance from the Common Rue (which were still holding on). The Choisya grew very nicely and one morning to my delight i noticed 4 round yellow eggs, laid singly on the top of the top Choisya leaves. Three or 4 days later the tiny caterpillars emerged. These tiny caterpillars do not know how to hid from predators until they are quite large so they lounge and eat and sleep and shed brazenly on the tops of the top leaves. The GST had noticed the new plant instantly and laid her eggs there, but laid no eggs on the Common Rue. Fortunately, the wasps did not notice this plant. They continued to cruise the Common Rue and never came near the Choisya...even with the tiny caterpillars in plain view. I had 4 broods of GSTs that season that had full and peace lives and all survived to become butterflies. The wasps never found them. I would have had more broods, but after the first 4 generations, the Choisya dropped dead...it did not survive the rainy season and succumbed to root rot (when they say "needs good drainage", take them seriously). This Choisya ternata is native to the Oaxacan area of Mexico. This year i am growing another Rutaceae that is from the tropical areas of southeast Asia, Murraya paniculata (Orange Jasmine) and hope that it will be successful. The point is, that if your caterpillars are being heavily predated on one host plant, it might work to change plants with something in the same Family. For how long it will work, i do not know. It was an interesting experiment though it was both a success and a failure.

 

[aquaticneko]

This is such a cornucopia of information. i always loved seeing hummingbirds, but I get so sad when they fight and get so territorial. I do try to feed them though and I will definitely use your recipe. I have the perfect place in mind to get one of those little feeders. I do have a question about the butterfly feeder though. how do you stop ants or other insects from getting into it? I have tried this before but it never works since ants simply take it away. Any advice?

 

[roadrunner]

...If you have Passiflora vines, i expect you have Heliconian (Zebra) Longwings that visit your garden? This butterfly, as you probably know but your readers might not know, is one of a very few, that not only feeds on nectar, but on pollen as well. The pollen in their systems goes through a chemical reaction that makes these butterflies distasteful to predators and the extra protein allows them to live between 6 - 8 months as butterflies. Their host is Passiflora. About a year ago i spotted one out of the corner of my eye on the Mexican Flame Vine and snapped this photo from a distance. I didn't know it would be showing the Longwings (native of Florida) knee deep in ingesting pollen. They are frequent visitors to my garden but this is the first time i have every seen one ingesting pollen.

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I was just out in the garden planting some things and one of these flew right by me; I've never seen one before, but immediately thought: Wow, that looks like a zebra.

So I googled zebra butterfly and sure enough that's what it was, not only that but it says that this is the official butterfly for the state of Florida...I did not know that.

I wish it would have landed so I could get a better look, but it flew high into my Live Oak tree. That tree does seem to attract a lot of monarch butterflies...not sure why:confused:

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Since this topic has been brought back up, I thought I'd share with you the top ten U.S.-native plants that will attract hummingbirds. I have seen a few of these in action and can agree that this is a great list. There are plenty of other native species that attract them too, but these are just the best of the best:

#1: Trumpet Creeper, Campsis radicans

#2: Scarlet Beebalm, Monarda didyma

#3: Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens

#4: Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis

#5: Spotted Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis

#6: Red Columbine, Aquilegia canadense

#7: Canada Lily, Lilium canadense

#8: Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica

#9: Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia

#10: Mountain Rosebay or Catawba Rhododendron, Rhododendron catawbiense