Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds and Butterflies

[Beverly]

Are you growing Passiflora vine @roadrunner? Do i remember correctly that you have chainlink fencing? Passiflora would love to grow on it. This will guarantee that you will see a steady population of Longwings in your garden. The ones i see are yellow and black and i wondered why they were referred to as Zebras, but they come in both color combinations and to my eyes they are beautiful and very welcome in the garden. Most Passifloras also give you delicious fruit and fragrant flowers (see my avatar)

I had a funny experience with a Longwings a few years ago when i was purchasing a Passiflora vine at a garden center. There were 3 or 4 plants to choose from and i was looking at all of them. I had seen the Longwings flying around the center. I looked at all the plants to see if there were any Longwing eggs or caterpillars on the leaves and didn't see any. When i had chosen the vine i wanted to buy and picked the plant up to leave, the Longwings came to about 5 inches distance from my waist and hovered there. The garden center employee was at my side and we both watched in silence as the Longwings continued to hover in the same location. We were both mesmerized and stood completely still and silent. Finally, i said to it that i lived just down the street and you are welcome to come to the garden and lay your eggs on this plant. Yes, i know it sounds a little nuts but i had to acknowledge somehow that i understood the significance of the plant and everything would be okay. I felt the actions of the butterfly were to protect this vine because it needed it to lay eggs on.

 

[roadrunner]

No, but I've decided to go look for seeds/seedlings of this plant.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

No, but I've decided to go look for seeds/seedlings of this plant.

Prairie Moon Nursery has seeds on their website.

 

[Beverly]

No, but I've decided to go look for seeds/seedlings of this plant.

Um, are you referring to the Passiflora vine? You should be able to find a small vine at a garden center. The seeds can take a long time to germinate. The first seeds i planted were P. incarnata (Maypops). I put them in the ground and they germinated 1 year later. In the meantime, i found P. edulis as a little vine in a garden center and purchased it, put it in the ground and it really took off growing. In the meantime, the incarnata germinated so i grew the two vines together on the same support. The leaves of the incarnata are much lighter green so i could see the two vines as they grew. The Butterflies at my house used the P edulis as a host plant, but did not use the P. incarnata, so i pulled the incarnata out and just let the edulis grow. I think in your area, it is the P. incarnata that is most popular with the butterflies, but i am not sure. There are a number of different species of Passiflora, if you go to a good garden center they can tell you which Passifloras are popular with the butterflies.

You will find a number of different butterflies attracted to this vine as a host; the Longwings, and also Gulf Fritillary, various Heliconia (Julia, Juno), not sure which ones visit Florida. If you were not referring to the Passiflora vine, but something else, excuse me, and never mind

 

[roadrunner]

Um, are you referring to the Passiflora vine? You should be able to find a small vine at a garden center. The seeds can take a long time to germinate. The first seeds i planted were P. incarnata (Maypops). I put them in the ground and they germinated 1 year later. In the meantime, i found P. edulis as a little vine in a garden center and purchased it, put it in the ground and it really took off growing. In the meantime, the incarnata germinated so i grew the two vines together on the same support. The leaves of the incarnata are much lighter green so i could see the two vines as they grew. The Butterflies at my house used the P edulis as a host plant, but did not use the P. incarnata, so i pulled the incarnata out and just let the edulis grow. I think in your area, it is the P. incarnata that is most popular with the butterflies, but i am not sure. There are a number of different species of Passiflora, if you go to a good garden center they can tell you which Passifloras are popular with the butterflies.

You will find a number of different butterflies attracted to this vine as a host; the Longwings, and also Gulf Fritillary, various Heliconia (Julia, Juno), not sure which ones visit Florida. If you were not referring to the Passiflora vine, but something else, excuse me, and never mind

Yes, Passiflora vine. I generally like buying seeds, but maybe in this case I'll breakdown and just go look for a small plant at one of my local nurseries.

 

[Beverly]

@roadrunner if you make a purchase at a Garden Center, tell them you are using it as a host plant for butterflies and ask if the plant has been treated with Pesticides or Insecticides. I also purchased the smallest plant i could find, and washed all the leaves before planting and also got rid of most of the soil it came with. I trusted my GC though because whenever i would purchase the odd host plant (rather than growing from seed) there were already caterpillars eating on it. In my experience the vines are fast growers.

 

[roadrunner]

Yes, Passiflora vine. I generally like buying seeds, but maybe in this case I'll breakdown and just go look for a small plant at one of my local nurseries.

I bought one today and I wanted to buy one with eggs/caterpillars on and lucked out and found one with at least three caterpillars on it; they look like these: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...ved=0ahUKEwj16uOu-4bUAhVEziYKHRKzCmoQ9QEIJjAA

 

[Beverly]

Wow @roadrunner, beautiful but i'm not sure they are Golden Helicons. They are said to be from Central America to the Amazon, there are so many Heliconia that look so similar they are not identifiable in the field and lots of little heliconia caterpillars look very similar. Try to get some good photos of the caterpillars and the bfly to verify the identity (never use a flash). Do you know that the caterpillars shed their skins maybe 4 or 5 times before pupating? So don't be alarmed, they are not dead or sick. It is hard work shedding a skin and they don't eat for a couple of days, then they eat the skin if they are healthy and successful in shedding, then they sleep for a day. They don't like to get wet so try not to water them with the vine. If you see the underside looking darker than usual they are shedding. Don't move them until the shedding is complete or they will not be able to reattach and they will die. Keep us posted and good luck. Do you know what kind of passiflora vine you have? Did the people at the garden center mention "incarnata" or "Maypops". This is what i expect is popular where you live, but i am not sure. Caterpillars have sweet funny habits, but everything they do is related to survival. You already know they are very low on the food chain. If they are not shedding or pupating they don't mind being picked up carefully and be sure your hands are clean. Their skins are sensitive to bacteria and such and you don't want to make them sick. Just wait till you see the flowers and the fruits.

 

[Greenhorn]

What a coincidence in this thread popping up and my just noticing it. Only a few minutes ago my daughter (an ornithologist of sorts) came in and showed me this picture she just took in the back yard a couple minutes prior, right off our patio.

A little Humming Bird nesting in our Ceanothus Concha - a California Native Lilac. Working on determining if it's a Anna's or Costa's.

Here is the Ceanothus Concha - a California Native Lilac in bloom a couple months ago.

 

[roadrunner]

I have passiflora caerulea, but I'm looking for other varieties; I hear you get better fruit if you mix varieties.

 

[Beverly]

@roadrunner the p. caerulea looks very nice. I do not know it personally. It is native to South America. Aren't there any p's native to Florida?. Unless you have a garden the size of Africa, i would stick to one variety. The butterflies might not like a mixed variety or any kind of hybrid so you should decide which is more important, attracting butterflies or creating unnatural fruits. decisions, decisions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_caerulea

 

[Greenhorn]

A good and versatile (pretty tough and nice for cut flowers) plant to attract humming birds is Alstroemeria or Peruvian Lilly.

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/perennial/alstroemeria/

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Hello Yellow Butterfly Weed
https://flic.kr/p/61qDzo

 

[big rockpile]

Of all things I have some multi colored Petunias and my Hummingbirds like them.

big rockpile

 

[Esther Knapicius]

Of all things I have some multi colored Petunias and my Hummingbirds like them.

big rockpile

Mine also like Yellow Wax bells. and in early spring the Virginia blue bells. they land on phlox sometime, and have hit the zinnias .