Thank goodness my Bahama cassia tree is thriving, as the orange barred sulphur caterpillars have once again multipled by the dozens in various sizes.
Thank goodness . . .
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Tag Archives: bahama cassia
The ‘it’ place
My Bahama Cassia tree is the “it” place for chrysalis.
Today while searching the tree for caterpillars, I spotted yet another chrysalis, this time a gulf fritillary. The foliage of the tree must be a great hiding place for them to safely emerge.
One of the gulf fritillary butterfly’s host plants is the maypop passionvine. This plant I stopped buying as it shoots up everywhere in the garden and has been quite invasive.
According to the Flordia Native Plant Society, it has a “stoloniferous rhizome
root system,” which allows new plants to grow from suckers all over the garden.
To be honest, I do not remember where the original plant was planted in the garden. Now I have it growing in probably more than a dozen places, all over my extensive garden space. It has grown through dense mulch I just put down, too.
For the most part, I have put up stakes where it is growing and just let it be, while in other places I pull the plant. It definitely provides an abundance of food for the gulf fritillary caterpillars.
Hidden well
The polydamas swallowtail chrysalis, I think, is very unique. The color often times depends on where they create it, as they can either be green, or brown.
The first one is well hidden in my Bahama cassia tree, resembling the color of a leaf. The last few photos are residing in my butterfly house and are brown, similar to the color of the branch.
It will be interesting to see how long before the butterflies emerge. The last batch overwintered, which was fascinating because I live in Southwest Florida where the temps usually do not turn too extreme.
Earth Day
I’ve been working pretty much nonstop on the garden for three days. I have to admit, I am in love with what has transpired so far.
I think of my garden in two phases, the first which is closer to my front door and the second which expands the length of my house to the right of my front door.
The first phase looks completely different from what it did when I first planted everything, as I worked from a clean slate. It was only yard at one point.
The only thing that remains is the wishing well my husband built, which now has bromeliads – the only plants that have survived in the space. Believe me, I tried multiple different butterfly plants.
The space around it now has a complete pathway that you can enter from three different points. I have three trees in the space- a bahama cassia and two giant milkweed that are much taller than I. They are pretty impressive. I have sprinkled in many other host plants and nectar plants in this section of the garden. I dug up and replanted many other plants to new spaces, or in pots my daughter has painted over the years.
Although I have experimented with many plants, native is definitely the way to go. And, well, not all plants do well in the direct sunlight.
The second phase is underway this week. I will be trimming plants, replanting, and hopefully add new plants to the space. Also, a new pathway, this one rocks, different from the bricks in the first phase, so we can stroll through this section of the garden.
My favorite part is adding the mulch, as it cleans up the space and definitely adds the finishing touches.
Here’s a zinnia, an all time favorite. A great addition this Earth Day, a butterfly attractor.
What’s your favorite part of gardening?
Sulphur caterpillars everywhere
The bahama cassia is crawling with orange barred sulphur caterpillars of every instar. You often times have to really search for the caterpillars, as they have great camouflage with the leaves.
