I have to admit, my garden took over the space I created, and flowers replanted where they wished. My path now pretty much nonexistent.
To be truthful that’s why I love native plants, they fill in the spots left untouched. So, Im slowly creating a walkway again, replanting plants in areas around the walkway and in pots. Next will come the mulch and hopefully the much needed Florida rain showers once again.
I have been visiting other local butterfly gardens recently, which inspired me to reimagine my space. My daughter and I started our first butterfly garden in May 2020. The space now triples what we started with and invites many, many more species to the garden. It’s a labor of love, designing, and redesigning spaces.
So, here is the beginning of a a long haul of calming work.
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 polydamas swallowtail, otherwise known as the gold rim swallowtail, is an incredibly fast flyer. The wings are constantly going. This swallowtail continued to fly in and get a quick snack from the Panama rose before taking off again.
The Dutchman pipe, its host plant, was incredibly impressive at the Cape Coral-Lee County Public Library butterfly garden. There were tons of flowers and it expanded a good portion of the fence. The polydamas never let mine grow enough before it’s egg bombed and chewed all the way down again. If you looked hard enough, there were tons of caterpillars in the plant.
The Cape Coral-Lee County Public Library has a very tranquil butterfly garden. The space has a variety of plants and places to sit while watching butterflies fluttering about. The butterfly that caught and kept my attention was the gulf fritillary butterfly.
I love visiting other butterfly gardens because it gives me great inspiration and ideas for my own space. I think I need to add these two plants to my garden. The colors are remarkable.
The dwarf poinciana is incredibly beautiful and ideal for spaces that cannot handle a full tree. These plants are fast growers that can grow to be 10 to 12 feet, but if trimmed can stay within 6 to 8 feet. It says it can tolerate warmer areas of Zone B, but is ideal in Zone 10. The leaves can drop if temperatures drop into the 40s.
In the younger stages of the tree it can have thorns, but will eventually disappear as it matures and the bark begins to form. Although it is drought tolerant once established, it prefers regular watering with time to dry.
It is also recommended to trim the tree in the autumn – mid-October, about 18 inches on each branch, which will remove seed pods and encourage new growth before winter. It can be trimmed again in the summer after it blooms for the first time.
The Panama rose, also referred to as the “bush penta” is a great butterfly attractor. The cluster of pink tubular flowers have a yellow center. It blooms from December through May each year, with blooms occurring on and off throughout the year. According to the University of Florida the flowers fragrance is more intense at night, while the fragrance is lighter in the day when the butterflies visit the plant.
This plant does best in full sun to part-shade. Once established it is moderately drought tolerant, but likes to be in soil that is well-drained. It can be kept at 3-5 feet tall if carefully pruned during the early summer.
