"Flowers and butterflies drift in color, illuminating spring."

~Author Unknown

Spring has sprung! Or at least is springing.

Regarding the previous post highlighting the USDA zone map, it's worth mentioning that Sunset Magazine's Sunset Climate Zones maps are much more precise than the USDA zone map that was linked to. I prefer Sunset's over USDA's for western gardens. To simplify things for that article, the USDA map was featured.

USDA Plant Hardines Zone Map

Sunset Climated Zones


I just returned from a week long trip out of state to be greeted by very warm weather and the first Monarch caterpillar sitings! Very early this year as compared to the previous. Last year (the first for the Container Butterfly Garden), caterpillars weren't spotted until well into April/May. One good thing about this warm weather is that the garden plants are literally bursting forth out of their proverbial knickers! I attribute that to the warmth and good timing of liquid fertilizer the garden received prior to my vacation departure. Tropical Milkweed is the attractor ace here, whilst the other species have yet to reveal themselves as caterpillar hosts up to this point.


One way to maintain and increase your butterfly plant stock is to start cuttings, and now is a good time to sprout some in our SoCal area.

Most plants can be propagated via leaf and stem cuttings. Others can be increased through root and rhizome division. One super easy plant to start by cuttings is Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.

-Google

Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica

I start cuttings in sterilized propagating soil and containers nestled under clear covers using a heating mat and grow lights indoors. For many species of plants, propagation doesn't require using all of the equipment mentioned above. The video below illustrates how a grade school-era propagation technique can easily supply your garden with an abundance of butterfly fodder for a pittance, forgoing getting all geeky as Yours Truly does with the lights and the heating mat and the benches and the soils and the containers and the trays and the covers and the foods... Oy vey!

A couple of things to add to Tony's cutting video, would be to change out the water regularly, as you don't want it going bad, ruining your success at rooting cuttings. If handy, use distilled or RO water instead of tap water. Bad juju in tap water; that's why the bottled water industry is so big.

Also, I'm averse to stripping off unwanted leaves, as I believe nipping or clipping them off is safer. There are times when I prepared cuttings by pulling leaves, only to rip off part of the cambium layer attached to the leaf. Your mileage may vary.

Several species of milkweed growing in the Container Butterfly Garden are increasing themselves by casting their seeds to the wind. Many float down into plant containers where the fertile potting soil and necessary moisture are conducive to successful germination.

Waiting until I believe they are large enough to transplant into their own containers, they are removed by gently cutting out a plug of soil around a seedling, making sure a goodly amount of the seedling's roots are included, lifting the plug out with a spoon or something similar, and then back filling the hole in the parent pot with fresh potting mix.

Those of you who have milkweed growing in your gardens may wish to let some of your Tropical Milkweed seed pods mature and disperse, later to find tiny surprises popping up helter skelter that can be left in place or dug up and moved to more desirable garden spots. Or you can collect the seeds, lightly rub off the parachute fluff  between your palms, and plant them in a container of good potting soil. Easy peasy to germinate. Heck, you could even share some of them when large enough with neophytes or like-minded folks!

Another idea: those living in Laguna Beach could raise some milkweed and then donate them to the Alta Laguna Park Butterfly Garden c/o "AC" Anthony Condon, Parks Gardener for Alta Laguna Park.


Starting Your Own Tropical Milkweed from Seed:

• Acquire a suitable container to start seeds in. Something with holes at the bottom to allow excess water to drain out of, and something that is not too deep. Nurseries and big box do-it-yourself stores sell 'em for dirt cheap. An 8 inch diameter shallow pot will accommodate close to a dozen seedlings up until transplanting time.

• Soak seeds in warm water for 24 hours before planting. Not absolutely necessary, but it does aide in faster germination.
   
• Fill container(s) with a good grade of potting soil. tamp down soil firmly but lightly, not too compact. Leave about a two inch clearance from the lip of the pot to the top of the potting mix.

• Dampen soil thoroughly and let drain.

• Place seeds about an inch apart on top of the firmed, dampened soil.
  
  
• Lightly cover seeds with about a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of potting soil. Tamp lightly so as not to disturb seeds. No need to re water.
   
• Optional: cover pot with plastic wrap secured with a large rubber band. Poke a few holes in it to allow a bit of air flow to minimize potential fungal growth.

• Place somewhere that is warm and sunny. Be careful though, you don't want to cook the poor little buggers!

 They should germinate anywhere between 7 to 14 days, depending upon how warm it is. Keep the plastic wrap on until the seedlings barely touch it. Remove the wrap. Keep soil damp, not wet. Wet soils promote disease and can cause root rot.

When the seedling grow to be about 4-6 inches in height, it's time to individually transplant them into larger containers or directly in the ground. They may wilt a little bit at first from transplant shock, but Tropical Milkweed is rather hardy and should bounce back within a few days.

Once they've acclimatized themselves to their new surroundings, feed them with a half strength solution of liquid fertilizer. After that, fertilize them on a monthly basis in order to get them to a good size fast for our butterflies to feast on.

 

Tra-la-la... It's springtime!

"His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly's wings. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred."

~ Ernest Hemingway

Spring is springing early this year, as recorded by the Tropical Milkweed plants budding that were cut back towards the end of December last year. These particular plants were already budding in the middle of January! Usually during this month, subtropicals such as these are still bare-boned twigs jutting out of larger sticks poking up out of the ground.

'Tis time to give garden plants their first taste of fertilizer for the season. The last frost date for the container butterfly garden in its USDA Plant Hardiness Zone is traditionally February 15th. I usually start out with a liquid fertilizer tonic to jump start plants, switching over to granular foods later for their ability to feed for longer periods of time vs. their liquid counterparts. Plus, I'm inherently lazy: no need to fertilize as often.

As for butterflies, we should start seeing Painted Lady butterflies fairly regularly, as they are one of the earliest to arrive if they aren't locally overwintering.

Google

Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa cardui

"On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was to devour that particular part."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Continuing on the subject of Oe spores from the previous post, an article by the Monarch joint Venture, titled Q&A about research related to tropical milkweed and monarch parasites gives us more information on the disease, some of the latest research findings, and some tips on how to mitigate the support and spread of the spores to our local Monarch butterfly populations from our well intentioned gardening actions.

 Photo courtesy of University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

"Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans."

-Marcelene Cox

Winter has firmly set in and established itself in the container garden. Jack Frost hasn't left his calling card yet around here, but it's assumed that Jack will show up in the near future, as recent early morning temps have been hovering in the mid thirties. No sightings or evidence of butterfly presence for quite some time now. A few honeybees here and there; that's about it.

The milkweed in the container garden has been pruned back to minimize the spread of Oe spores, ready for next years influx of Monarch butterflies.

 

 

Oe is fairly pervasive now in Monarch populations that have become more localized and non migratory, meaning some individuals and even whole colonies are not migrating as they traditionally do. This shift in behavior is pretty much limited to segments of the west coast race of Monarchs and the Southern Florida strain due to local year round sources of  perennial milkweeds such as Tropical, or also known as, Mexican Milkweed.

Our native perennial milkweeds found growing throughout Monarch butterfly territories die back each winter, unlike tropical milkweeds that grow year round. Oe spores are scattered onto milkweed plants that infected adults visit to feed on nectar or deposit eggs. The eggs hatch, upon which they immediately begin feeding on milkweed leaves and in the process consume Oe spores. These spores germinate and multiply inside of the caterpillar.

If the infection is massive, the cat will die and rupture, releasing thousands and thousands of spores into the environment. If the infection is not so bad as to outright kill the caterpillar, it metamorphoses into a sickened and weak adult that carries the Oe spores on its wings and body, inoculating any plants it contacts, therefor repeating this deadly cycle. The longer the non migrating populations sustain themselves, the greater the chance of contracting and spreading the disease among their brethren.

Oe spores are not a big problem to the heartland races of Monarchs, as the more tender tropical species of milkweeds die back at the first sign of frost and snow. The native perennial species naturally die back to the ground, only to burst back up again in spring, interrupting the Oe life cycle.

Don't be afraid to cut perennial milkweed plants way back. They'll bush out even thicker and fuller next season!

Below are a couple of articles highlighting Monarch butterfly related news that may be of interest:

Monarch Joint Venture partners with National Park Service

MJV Welcomes Green Schools Alliance as New Partner

"Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time."-Deborah Chaskin

Just a short little update with what's been going on around here. The mild Santa Ana conditions we've been experiencing following that wonderful bit of rain we received recently has brought back some old friends to the container garden. Several Monarchs are cruising about looking tattered and worn, but not worn out. As for Monarch caterpillars, there haven't been any spotted for two weeks now.

Several Cloudless Sulphurs have been visiting the cassia also. That's about all I've seen recently butterfly-wise.

 

Google

Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae

Google

Winter Cassia or Christmas Senna, Cassia bicapsularis

Oh, yes; a Painted Lady butterfly has also made an appearance, happily feeding on the remaining milkweed flowers!

Google

Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa cardui

"I've watched you now a full half-hour;
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little Butterfly!  Indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless! - not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!"
-William Wordsworth

The time is approaching soon that the Mexican Milkweed, also known as Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias currasavica) in the Container Butterfly Garden will be cut down to mere 4 to 6 inch stubs.

"You're kidding: why?!" you may ask. Not to reinvent the wheel, Is Tropical Milkweed Killing Monarch Butterflies - Grow or No Grow? pretty well covers the topic. The container garden is home to Mexican Milkweed, plus several other California and North American native species. These native species are deciduous, meaning they go dormant during the winter when the plant parts above ground die back, only leaving the roots to regenerate new top growth in the spring. This drastically reduces OE spores that have been wreaking havoc in certain sectors of Monarch Butterfly populations.

OE hotspots are mostly identified with regions of the U.S. where Mexican Milkweed overwinters, meaning, it doesn't die back or go dormant. Hotspots for OE are the west coast strain of Monarchs, and the Florida race that has come into existence due to the large amount of perennial milkweeds now growing there. What is OE? gives a good description of this parasite and why it is so prevalent on the west coast and Florida. Cutting back Asclepias curassavica helps to severely curtail or eliminate OE spores from overwintering on the leaves of Mexican Milkweed.

The best solution to curtailing OE in our gardens is to only plant native species, but that is not as easily done as said:

• Native milkweeds are not very glamorous in appearance as is A. currasavica.

• They "go away" in the winter, many times leaving gaping holes in the landscape until the following spring when they pop up again.

• Availability in standard nurseries is pretty much nonexistent.

• Mail order of small plants or seeds of native milkweeds is about the only way to acquire natives which definitely precludes them from being an impulse item.

If one has A. currasavica planted in their gardens, be it in the ground or in containers, it would be advisable to trim them way down soon so as not to propagate next season's OE spores, and also stimulate adult butterflies to traditionally migrate to their ancestral overwintering sites like God originally intended. I will cut mine back around the beginning of December; that will give any adult Monarch stragglers enough time to pack it up and head to their nearest overwintering grounds.

************************************

   The Gray Hairstreak butterfly can be a common visitor to So Cal gardens when one has Plumbago planted nearby. These diminutive little flyers, if visiting your locale spot Plumbago, they surely will come to linger. For a seemingly monochrome colored butterfly, Gray Hairstreaks are quite handsome.

Found throughout all of continental United States, their home range covers Central America, all the way down into Venezuela. Because of its ubiquitousness, some have suggested that besides the Monarch, the Gray Hairstreak butterfly should be considered the national butterfly.

 

Google

 Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus

Larvae feed on an almost endless variety of plants including those in the mallow family, malvas, various legumes and buckwheats. Coloration can vary widely depending what host plant they feed on, many times taking on the coloration of the host's flowers. For host plants in a garden, try Plumbago and Hollyhocks.

 

Google

 Larva

Gray Hairstreak chrysalides look more like fuzzy fly pupae than they do butterfly chrysalides. Thankfully, the adults are cuter and more beautiful than flies... although a choice specimen of a Green or Blue Bottle Fly can be quite handsome within its own right.

Google

Gray Hairstreak Chrysalis

I used to find Gray Hairstreaks at Alta Laguna Park rather frequently flitting about the blue Plumbago flowers in front of the tennis courts, especially in the latter part of July through October before the nights got chilly.

“Some things, when they change, never do return to the way they once were. Butterflies for instance, and women who've been in love with the wrong man too often.”
― Alice Hoffman

Things have slowed down considerably around The Container Butterfly Garden. I haven't seen a Monarch or other type of butterfly visit in the past couple of weeks. As such, blog posts are going to be more intermittent and will surely take a hiatus when winter approaches. That said, let's move on:

In the last post, we learned about the Anise Swallowtail and that geeky young boys can make gliders out of them. Besides the Anise Swallowtail, there are several other species that inhabit Southern California coastal areas.

Google

 Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio rutulus

The Western Tiger Swallowtail is an occasional garden visitor, especially to those located closer to open greenbelt areas. Bigger than the Anise Swallowtail.

Google

Pale Swallowtail, Papilio eurymedon

Appropriately named Pale Swallowtails are very similar in size and appearance to Western Tiger Swallowtails, with paler yellow color. Hardly seen in gardens, except those that have Western Sycamore trees or are near areas with sycamores; these trees being host plants for their caterpillars.

Google

Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes

The Giant Swallowtail is North America's largest butterfly. When one visits your garden, you'll recognize it immediately! Hosts on citrus trees. Those with citrus trees nearby may get the chance to see one visiting. Was not a So Cal resident until about twenty or so years ago. Traditional range was as far west as Arizona until recently. A very graceful and elegant flyer.

Google

Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor

This particular butterfly in my opinion, rivals some of the metallic blues found in more popularly known tropical species. Pipevine Swallowtails are not normally found in Southern California due to the fact that their host plants are pipevines, which are not native nor endemic to our area. Their numbers were greater here at the beginning of the 20th century when more homeowners planted these vines to cover porches for shade, before the advent of home air conditioning.

There are several subspecies of Pipevine Swallowtail, extending all the way across North America. California's range extends from the Oregon border to roughly the San Francisco Bay area, where our own native California Pipevine grows abundantly. I did plant some of these vines in several areas of Alta Laguna Park when I was Parks Gardener there, but I don't know if any of them survived since my retirement. I hope some did!

Not a common yard plant today to attract Pipevine Swallowtails, one will however come across pockets of them where sufficient quantities of their host plants grow. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, California has a rather large and viable population because of their extensive planting of pipevines on their grounds. There are also small populations of them recorded in San Diego, Fullerton, and even some have been observed in San Clemente.

Next year, I plan on planting one or two pipevines to see if they will attract any of these beauties that may happen to be in the area.

That's about it on swallowtail butterflies that inhabit our So Cal areas. There have been spotty reports of Black Swallowtails observed, but these are individuals who have strayed or been blown off course from their regular haunts.