Re: Cruel plant/Butterfly

Interesting test, Noreen.  Maybe our Birds, Bees, and Butterflies garden,
(BBB) group can do some like testing in future years.  Right now, they're
just trying to make sense of the garden.  One thing worries me, in an effort
to clean up and rearrange this badly neglected garden, I worry that they may
move toward pretty rahter than focusing on the needs of BBB.  This is what
has occurred to some extent in our Everlastings and Cutting Garden.  Do you
know which BBB are interested in Cannas?

Kitty

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <TeichFlora@aol.com>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 7:30 AM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Cruel plant/Butterfly


> Still catching up...
> Interesting info Kitty, hadn't heard about this particular plant,
Cynanchum
> ascyrifolium, before. Wasn't able to find a picture of it.  Find  it
> interesting that the common name is Mosquito plant.  Let us know how it
does for you.
>
> As a note on potential butterfly plants, not all plants in a certain
genus,
> or family, are successful.  At the MG's we did a trial on  this.  Had a
line
> of assorted Pasiflora plants, another of several of the  Aristilochias,
> asclepias, etc.  Was interesting that the native butterflies  were very
particular in
> what they chose to use as host plants.  This study  was done in several
areas
> of the city, and found to have the same results.   In fact when we took
some
> of the larvae off of an Aristolochia fimbrata (the  chosen plant of the
> Pipevine butterfly) and put it on the more commonly used  Aristolochia
elegans and
> A. gigantea (which never was used)....although the  caterpillars did
eat...they
> died, apparently of poisoning (?).   Unfortunately none of us were able to
> come up with any native Aristolochias for  the trial, but among the
Asclepias,
> the monarchs chose the mexican native A.  curassavica first over the our
native
> species with the more succulent  foliage....although they did use these
> eventually, and were fine.
>
> It was an interesting study.
> Noreen
> zone 9
> Texas Gulf Coast
>
> In a message dated 5/14/2005 11:02:25 PM Central Standard Time,
> gardenchat-owner@hort.net writes:
>
>
> It's  an asclepiad, so when I found it at Seneca Hill, I thought it might
be
> good  for our Birds, Bees, and Butterflies garden, so I ordered  one.
>
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