Cassius blue

I have started spotting the tiny cassius blue butterfly throughout the garden. It is such a fast flyer, making it hard to photograph.

In all the years I have had its host plant, plumbago, I have never spotted the caterpillars, or the chrysalis.

Its wingspan is only 15-22 mm. The egg is flattened and blue. The butterfly will lay the egg on flowers, flower buds or the developing seed pods of the plumbago.

There are two eyespots on the margin of the hind wing. The males are pale to bright blue above, while the females have a bluish-white to white above the basal area of the wing, as well as broad dark borders.

The larvae are also small, as it is approximately only .5 inches in length and are green with faint dark markings, or a patterned white faint marking.

25 and counting

A few weeks ago I began a new project garden, inspiration I saw from another garden. That project – identifying plants with garden metal labels.

I have done two different fonts and today completed all 25 labels I received using my cricut machine.

It has been a great project as it has given me the opportunity to take inventory of what I have. The great part, I still have more plants to identify.

I have tried to plant natives in the garden, as they can tolerate whatever weather Southwest Florida throws at them, and they multiple and fill in empty space quite nicely. A good example of this is the blanket flower and coreopsis, otherwise known as tickseed.

Here are a few of the flowers that have been identified so far.

Blue butterfly bush
Purpletop vervain
Goldenrod
Wild lime
Firebush
Starry rosinweed
Penta
Zinnia
Blanket flower
Fire spike
Spiderwort
Plumbago
Lantana
Almond bush and an atala butterfly.

The little . . .

The cassius blue, lycaenidae/gossamer wings, is starting to appear constantly in the garden. I was beyond thrilled when I witnessed this little beauty laying eggs on my plumbago yesterday.

Its wingspan is only 15-22 mm. The egg is flattened and blue. The butterfly will lay the egg on flowers, flower buds or the developing seed pods of the plumbago. I have yet to find the eggs, or the caterpillars. I can only imagine the size of the caterpillar and chrysalis.

The right kind of nectar.

The gulf fritillary butterflies are abundant in the garden this morning sipping on a variety of nectar.

The blanket flower, which I love because it reseeds itself everywhere and it’s such a gorgeous flower.

The plumbago, another great flower, was also a stop for nectar. This plant is a fast grower. I’m constantly cutting it back, promoting great bushy growth.