Category Archives: coontie

Certified

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I have worked really hard over the last six years to plant natives in my butterfly garden. 

This year has shown me why planting native  is so important – with the extreme drought SWFL has experienced – my plants not only thrived, but multipled in some cases.

Starry rosineweed

The starry rosinweed is a perfect example of a thriving native plant. I added a second one to my space this year, more in direct sunlight. The flowers are stunning and the leaves add a great hue of green to the garden. This plant thrives in hardness zones 9b to 10a. It can spread 1 to 2 feet and grow 2 to 5 feet in size.

This year has shown me why planting native  is so important – with the extreme drought SWFL has experienced – my plants not only thrived, but multipled in some cases.

Once spring hit this year, I spent a lot of time in the garden cutting back plants and making room for additonal walkways to finally finish my designated garden space, as established plants have continued to grow in size, despite the lack of rain, beautifying my space.

Another plant that is thriving are my coontie plants. All of them have new growth, which is incredibly encouraging. This is the host plant for the atala butterfly, a stunning butterfly that has found my garden once.

The coontie is native to Florida and grows well in zones 8a to 11. They spread 3 to 5 feet, and grow 1 to 5 feet in height.

Over the years I have visited other gardens that have had certified wildlife habitat signs, which definitely sparked my interest. So with that thought tucked away, I continued to add more plants to the garden. Although I have some plants that are not native, they have been added for either a host or nectar plant for butterflies, the vast majority are native to my area.

This week I received my National Wildlife Federation certified wildlife habit sign, which I will display proudly.

It’s truly rewarding to plant a variety of butterfly host and nectar plants and watch my space transform into a destination for butterflies, bees, ladybugs and more.

Sweet almond bush

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The sweet almond bush is among the favorite nectar plants for the atala butterfly. These tiny white flowers have an incredible fragrance. The atala butterflies have a short proboscis, according to the University of Florida, which is why they seek out flowers with short corollas.

Iridescent beauties

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I dopped off two coontie plants that had new growth on them at The Florida Native Butterfly Society @ The Shell Factory in April, as they have a colony established. Success! The atala butterflies found my plants and laid numerous eggs. On April 29, I brought home those coonties and waited for the baby caterpillars to arrive.

Well today 5 absolutely stunning atala butterflies have emerged.

The atala butterfly, eumaeus atala Poey, a hairstreak, is among the largest and most iridescent in southeastern Florida, according to the University of Florida. At one time this butterfly was thought to be extinct from 1937 to 1959 due to its host plant, coontie, being overharvested for its root by early settlers for its starch production. Although this butterfly is still considered rare, colonies have been established due to the coontie being introduced into gardens and landscapes.

This small hairstreak is found in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties in southeastern Florida with colonies being established north as well. The Florida Native Butterfly Society has done a tremendous amount of work to establish a colony in North Fort Myers. With the help of bringing home atala eggs, the hope is to establish a colony in my garden as well.

The adult’s forewing length can range from under 2 cm to 2.7 cm according to the University of Florida. The outer surface of both the female and male wing has “three curved rows of ultramarine spots,” which are iridescent. The University of Florida said there are two suggested functions of iridescence – defense and mate recognition.

The female has royal blue color on part of the upper surface of the forewing, while the male has bright iridescent Caribbean blue, or teal green.

Oh, happy day!

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In September, the Atala butterfly, Eumaeus atala poey, found my garden and left behind some eggs on its host plant, coontie. The exciting part about this is I planted its host plant earlier this year – plant it and they will come!!

This incredibly stunning, largest, iridescent hairstreak in southeastern Florida, was thought to be extinct from 1937 to 1959. The atala butterfly are mostly found in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, but with the help of butterfly enthusiasts’ colonies have begun in other areas of southern Florida, such as Martin, Monroe, Collier and Lee County.

These little beauties are small in size, ranging from 2 cm to 2.7 cm. The University of Florida states that the females have bright iridescent royal blue on the upper surface of the forewing, while the male is iridescent Caribbean blue, or teal green scales on the upper and lower wings.

The eggs, which are laid on the newest growth of its host plant, coontie, can be laid in clusters up to 60 eggs. The University of Florida states that the eggs, through proteins secreted by the female, are glued to the surface of the coontie plant and are clear on the underside.

The eggs hatched on Oct. 6, after being laid on Sept. 28, and the butterflies began emerging on Nov. 7. Quite the cycle for these little beauties. Many of them created their chrysalis right on the coontie plant, while a few crawled up to the top of the mesh enclosure and created it there.

I have quite a few of its favorite nectar plants in the garden, sweet almond bush – which right now unfortunately does not have any fragrant flowers, and the scorpion tail, which is pictured below. Others include native lantana, bloodberry, wild coffee, porterweed, beautyberry, indigoberry, Florida privet, rougeplant, firebush, salvia, Spansh needles, cabbage palm, as well as Dahoon Holly, Blackbead, Florida Fiddlewood, avocado, live oak, wild lime and golden dewdrops.

Here are an abundance of photos from the eggs to the half a dozen we have released into our garden. My daughter and I spotted one in the garden yesterday, which we hope will be a frequent thing as we would love to have a colony in our garden.

Patiently waiting

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Last week when the atala butterfly visited my garden, she left behind quite a few eggs on the new growth of my coontie. Every day I take a walk in the garden to check and see if the caterpillars have arrived. I would think in the next couple of days they will make their grand entrance.