Category Archives: maypop passionvine

The penta

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The gulf fritillary is such an amazing butterfly to watch in action, especially as they do not scare easily when you get close. The best part is if you stay still they flutter right past you, almost touching you, as they gracefully land on the nectar of choice.

The caterpillars are of abundance on the ever growing maypop passionvine. The butterflies are busy laying eggs on the vine, and for some reason on the wire that the maypop vine threw, as well as a trellis.

Today they went from the red pentas, which are among the top two nectar plants this butterfly visits in my garden, to laying eggs.

The gulf fritillary’s life span is anywhere from 14 to 27 days.

Porterweed and maypop passionvine

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The blue porterweed and maypop passionvine are a must for the gulf fritillary butterflies. At least, in my garden they are favored by this beauty.

These two plants are growing in abundance in both my front and back butterfly garden, which sees a great deal of action from the gulf fritillary butterflies as soon as the 8 o’clock hour throughout the day until around 7 p.m.

This one photographed below laid eggs on the maypop passionvine and then visited the blue porterweed directly next to it to sip some nectar before the process began all over again.

A looker

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The monarch butterfly, I don’t know there is just something about the coloring, the flight pattern, that just grabs your attention and holds it there. This male monarch butterfly landed right in front of us at Rotary Park, a favorite destination close by due to of all of the butterfly host, and nectar plants.

The maypop

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Some of the butterfly host plant flowers are absolutely remarkable. The maypop passionvine, I think, is one of my top favorites. The flower looks 3D. It’s incredible to watch it slowly open, a sight my daughter and I have experienced only once. Petal, by petal it slowly falls open.

As I have shared in the past, it definitely is invasive, as it sends out shoots everywhere, quite far from the original plant. So needless to say, both of my gardens are a bit of a jungle with lots of the pathways no longer available because of this great host plant. I love the natural look, so it may end up becoming moving the stepping stones to new areas of the garden.

Quick rescue

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I have a love, hate relationship with the maypop passionvine. It’s absolutely stunning, and a wonderful host plant for the gulf fritillary butterfly, but wow, super invasive.

So, this afternoon, when my husband tells me he is going to mow the yard . . . . a major maypop passionvine rescue quickly went underway for all that has grown out of the garden, and with it many gulf fritillary caterpillars into the butterfly enclosure.

The great part was there is more maypop passionvine that went to my mom’s garden, and almost a dozen more into my front garden. It really is the plant that continues to give. I seriously will not run out of caterpillar food anytime soon.