I think Desmodium is the worst for sticking to everything. And the laundry won't even loosen those seeds! That reminds me, I was putting on a pair of socks the other day and there was a sandspur in there! Ouch! But yes, if I just brush up against Spanish Needles, I am their carrier for the day. The property behind me has a lot of the invasive Caesar weed on it and that stuff is terrible! I went hiking one day and came out covered in its little burs from my hair to my shoes. They were even stuck to my iPod case! And that was in one of the preserves so I felt even worse knowing that invasive plant was growing in there.

I just woke up and checked my caterpillars. I can't see them. The one I suspect is a Skipper has silked himself a leaf shelter, but there's enough frass in there to let me know they're doing all right. I love how they'll poke their tail end out and let the frass go flying. You gotta respect a caterpillar that keeps a clean house. I know it's to avoid detection by predators, but I think that it's a neat little trick. Plus, it makes me laugh to see their little tails come out and then hear the ping when the frass hits the plastic.

Thank you Melanie for the links for frogfruit and bidens. I did find that Oklahoma seller during my search for frogfruit.

But all this talk about bidens sticking to everything is making me have second thoughts. haha... really I know most people consider it a weed but it is so valuable as a food source for so many other creatures that I think it's worth growing plus I have plenty of room to plant some far enough away from the house. Actually, anything is better than the Bermuda grass that has taken over my cottage garden!

To send Bidens seeds, I don't think they are delicate - so, they could be folded into any old piece of newspaper, taped closed and put in a regular envelope for the cost of a stamp. I usually put dry seeds in those little plastic craft bags that you get 100 for $1.00 at Wallyworld but I'm a seed trader so I'm always collecting seeds of something, or everything I can.

That Spanish needle flower is pretty. I know you might find this hard to believe, but I went to the web page and I did NOT order anything. I will admit, I was tempted.

About 1/4 or so of your natives are native to Missouri. I found that quite interesting.

wildflowers said:To send Bidens seeds, I don't think they are delicate - so, they could be folded into any old piece of newspaper, taped closed and put in a regular envelope for the cost of a stamp. I usually put dry seeds in those little plastic craft bags that you get 100 for $1.00 at Wallyworld but I'm a seed trader so I'm always collecting seeds of something, or everything I can.

Did I miss it? Someone offering free seeds for SASE?

I just woke up so I probably shouldn't be typing yet. But yes, if you want some Spanish Needles seeds, send me a Tree Mail with your address. It will probably be a couple of days before I get them out, though. David, I would think you'd have to grow them as an annual because I've seen them get hit by frost even down here. But they produce so much seed, you could easily collect it throughout the year. They might even lay dormant until it warms back up; I don't have to worry about that kind of thing so I don't think much about it.

Okay, I need to brush my teeth and get some caffeine in me. I have some cool pictures to share of the Joshua House butterfly garden. I was there yesterday. Kids are awesome, but exhausting! I'm going to add some Advil to breakfast. Lunch. Brunch. Food. Whatever.

Thanks Melanie - How kind of you!!

Always happy to help others with butterfly gardening!

Speaking of that, yesterday I was at Joshua House tending the library. A few of the kids were there (two suspended from school, and one goes to virtual school). I took them to the library and then the young lady who is in virtual school came with me while I showed her the butterfly garden (the suspended kids were on kitchen duty). We ended up spending two hours out there! It was awesome. I think I converted a young mind! We saw a Monarch laying eggs on the milkweed and the girl just loved that. After our time in the butterfly garden, we had to go back to the library where I gave her my favorite Florida Field Guide to Butterflies! Of course, I took some photos to share with you all.

Per usual, there are lots of White Peacocks there.



I even got this awesome shot of a White Peacock and a Long-Tailed Skipper on the milkweed!



And there are so many Monarch caterpillars! I'm going to have to keep an eye on them. I'm afraid there might be too many and they'll run out of food. But I'd take them to MOSI before I'd let that happen.



We had Gulf Fritillaries - caterpillars and butterflies!



The Monarch kept coming and going to eat and lay more eggs.



A couple of weeks ago, the last Polydamas caterpillar disappeared. I thought they would be done until next spring, but I was wrong. This has been a seriously weird year. I'm blaming climate change and El Nino. Here are some various Polydamas caterpillars. You can also see where the eggs hatched in the second picture. I don't know why this one was all alone. The rest of his friends were higher up on a leaf. There's always one rebel, though. I also got to teach my young friend the word "gregarious". Never know when it might come up on the SAT.



Our Cassia got egg-bombed and we found one small caterpillar. I was made to swear to bring him home and take care of him because he was small and it's a dangerous world. We saw a wasp with part of a Monarch caterpillar. I stepped on it, ground my heel into the dirt, and taught her the word "retribution". Here's the Sulphur cat. I think he's been hurt as his color is uneven and he has some dark spots that aren't normal. I brought him home, though, and he's still alive as of last check.



And here's a nice photo I got of a White Peacock.

Melanie, I also want to say thank you for your generous seed offer.

As usual - AWESOME pics Melanie.

It was a pretty awesome day, David. At MOSI, I get to spend a few minutes at most with each guest, so it was really nice to spend hours with someone willing to listen to me talk about all things butterfly. She said she wanted to be a marine biologist so I figured she was probably already interested in nature and science.

In sad news, I think the Sulphur cat is dead. He didn't look right from the start. Possibly got in a fight with one of the ants. You never know. Could have been the wasp that kept flying around. I killed the one, but there was another one that kept coming around.

In happy news, the young lady I was with is going through her own pupation process - she's being adopted! I imagine there's a process involving lots of legal stuff right now, but she's going to visit with them over the holidays.

I thought I had put this in my post, but I guess I must be thinking of where I had written it in the email I sent to the lady who is in charge of the butterfly garden. I wanted to give her an update on how well it's doing since they replanted it. After my young friend learned it was okay to hold the caterpillars - as long as they're not molting - she literally stopped everyone that walked by and asked if they wanted to see a caterpillar. Some of those people happened to be a group from Verizon. The company is a major donor for Joshua House. Technically, the property has five houses, three of which house the kids. And they're all named after a major donor. For example, Verizon House. So...lots of money, I'm guessing. Not trying to be cynical or anything, but I figured it was pretty cool that they got to see a young lady excited about learning from our butterfly garden. One of the men said he and his kids had ordered one of those butterfly kits before and raised them. The girl I was with is 15 and pretty smart so I was teasing her after we talked to the Verizon folks about squeezing more money out of them. It's for a great cause! I'm sure they were happy to see a volunteer there, too. I know corporations that donate money like to see that kind of thing. I'm happy to be there, though. It does me a lot of good, too. I might make a lepidopterist out of her, yet. University of Florida has its own center for Lepidoptera study. Just sayin'.

Okay, I just have to say this because I think fate is telling me to. Very rarely, I see one of my pictures pop up as the random plant on the side. I always think it's so cool because imagine how many photos there are on the site! Last night, I saw a picture I took of Spanish Needles with a Skipper butterfly on it. Just now, a picture of Spanish Needles popped up with a Monarch on it. That was mine, too!

And they were submitted because a long time ago (okay, like a year and a half), Ann @flaflwrgrl tree mailed me about how she was doing an article on Bidens and how they're so beneficial for pollinators. She particularly asked if I had a photo of a Monarch on them. I was on vacation in KY and WV at the time using the terrible Wi-Fi in the hotel, too. I went searching through my pictures, doubtful that I had seen a Monarch on the Spanish Needles because they just don't use it much. It's rare to see the larger butterflies on it for some reason. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a Swallowtail on it, for example. But for all the other species, it's like a free-for-all. But as I searched my computer - I found it! A Monarch on Spanish Needles! I ended up sending Ann photos of pretty much every species I had seen on them and had a decent photo of. Since we're talking about the plant, and that picture came up today, I thought we should all check out Ann's article. Whether you missed it the first time, or you haven't read it since then, it's definitely a great read and worth revisiting!

Check it out: http://garden.org/ideas/view/f...

I really meant to go to bed, folks. I took out my scrunchie and was turning to lay down when something caught my eye. Yep, a butterfly. Another one of those pesky Black Swallowtails decided to emerge. I'm not sure what it is about my cool, dimly lit room that makes them think, "Spring has arrived!" We are supposed to come close or possibly break the record high tomorrow of 85 degrees. Maybe it was listening to the weather? Or maybe I should just keep blaming El Nino. This is super weird.

Great article and superb pics Melanie.

Very nice indeed, Melanie
Such commitment to butterflies and educating the young.

How is the butterfly status is Florida?
I'm afraid over here butterflies are getting much more sparse as compared to just a few years ago, at least that is my impression .

mellielong said: In happy news, the young lady I was with is going through her own pupation process - she's being adopted! I imagine there's a process involving lots of legal stuff right now, but she's going to visit with them over the holidays.

mellielong said: I might make a lepidopterist out of her, yet. University of Florida has its own center for Lepidoptera study. Just sayin'.

Whew! Did I ever get behind in 3 days!!!!! I sort of speed read to catch up. We're in the process of replacing our HVAC system & before we can do that, we need to relocate the HWH to the garage & since it's 15 yrs. old it's a ticking time bomb so a new one is going in instead of just moving this one. The relocate requires a retrofit through the attic. Then there are the plumbers & the electrician & the HVAC people & decisions, decisions, decisions & research till I, the queen of research loving, am SICK TO DEATH! of researching!!!!!
I will undoubtably disappear again for days while we get all this stuff done. I might lurk but not post as sometimes I only have a couple minutes in between taking care of business.
OK, since Melanie has everyone covered (pun intended ) with Spanish Needle, then y'all just let me know if she runs out of seeds and I'll be happy to step in & fill the gap.

Guess who has been playing & laying all over my passion vine that Meredith sent me months ago?

Love is in the air! On the screen no less! Shame on them.


BTW, some of these photos are with my old pocket camera & some are with the new Fuji




Since fall has been not fall & winter hasn't even come close to arriving yet, my firespike is still blooming up a storm. The Zebra Longwings as well as the Sulphurs have been having a field day sipping from them. There are way more ZLW's though than sulphurs. At any given time, you can see a minimum of 4 ZLW's drinking from them.

William, the butterflies are doing pretty well here in Florida. We had three added to the endangered species list this year, but at least that means they're protected now. This has been a weird year, but I'm currently blaming the weather.

Ann, Zebra Longwings are exhibitionists, aren't they?

Speaking of butterfly sex, my bosses at MOSI shared this on Facebook and I was dying laughing. It's good information though, about moths pupating. http://jennrosefx.tumblr.com/p...

And now I'm off to bed so I can get up and MOSI in the morning!