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Sep 9, 2014 4:36 AM CST
Name: Glen Ingram
Macleay Is, Qld, Australia (Zone 12a)
(Lee Reinke X Rose F Kennedy) X Unk
Amaryllis Hybridizer Canning and food preservation Lilies Native Plants and Wildflowers Orchids
Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Pollen collector Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Plays in the sandbox Sedums Seed Starter
Very interesting.
The problem is that when you are young your life it is ruined by your parents. When you are older it is ruined by your children.
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Apr 8, 2017 8:14 AM CST
Name: Adam
Sarasota, Florida (Zone 9b)
Just Established
Butterflies
Hi. I'm trying to attract black swallowtail butterflies, but I've never seen eggs on my two year old parsley plant. At the time, I was unaware of organic seeds and grew the plant from non-organic Ferry Morse seeds. Could this be my problem?

Thank you,

Adam
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Apr 8, 2017 11:51 AM CST
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
Hi Adam! Welcome! I'm just up the road in Tampa, and while I don't have Black STs yet this year, I do get them every year. I grow Rue for them, although I've volunteered at MOSI where we grow parsley, dill, and rue. Fennel works, too. I was at Selby Gardens a couple of weeks ago for the Chagall exhibit and they had Black ST cats on their parsley, so they should be in your general area.

You don't have to buy organic seed. It's really more important that you don't spray the plants with anything. As an aside, the most commonly used pesticide to kill caterpillars is BT spray which is considered organic because it's a naturally occurring bacteria. They've just concentrated it into a spray.

Most of our conversation about butterflies takes place in our monthly threads. We post our pictures, but we also discuss attracting and raising butterflies, among other things. Feel free to pop in and ask questions. We've got a lot of members with lots of opinions! The thread "April 2017 Butterflies, Moths & Larva" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum
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Apr 8, 2017 5:26 PM CST
Name: Adam
Sarasota, Florida (Zone 9b)
Just Established
Butterflies
Thanks for the welcome mellielong! Selby is such an inspirational place where I've gotten so many ideas. I'm also glad to hear that my parsley is still good for raising caterpillars. It's in a pot and I've moved it out into the sun so it gets more attention. Just went to Home Depot and bought some organic dill seeds to grow for me and the STs. I hope the monarchs in my garden are not territorial towards the STs.

Thanks for all of the information. Happy to say my garden is free of any toxic sprays.

Adam
Last edited by yesAdam Apr 8, 2017 5:31 PM Icon for preview
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Apr 9, 2017 10:23 AM CST
Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!
Heirlooms Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener Hummingbirder Bee Lover Herbs
Butterflies Dragonflies Birds Cat Lover Dog Lover Garden Photography
Dill works well for attracting black swallowtails, that's where I usually find the caterpillars - on the dill. Thumbs up
May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

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Apr 9, 2017 1:19 PM CST
Name: Karen
Valencia, Pa (Zone 6a)
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Cut Flowers Winter Sowing Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Echinacea
Plant and/or Seed Trader Region: Ohio Region: United States of America Butterflies Hummingbirder Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I had caterpillars on parsley once. It wasn't even in the garden. It was growing on a pot on my deck.

Karen
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Apr 9, 2017 9:43 PM CST
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
If you have it, they tend to find it! But that's good for people who live in apartments or condos and want to plant pots of milkweed or other host plants. You don't need land to be a gardener! We have a whole forum on container gardening!
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Apr 14, 2017 2:34 PM CST
Name: Julie
Seattle (Zone 8a)
Bee Lover Birds Plant and/or Seed Trader Hummingbirder Region: Pacific Northwest
This year when planning what to plant, I consulted my state's website with information on which butterflies are native to my area, and they included the info on which plants are nectar sources and which are host plants. I live in Washington State, and here's the page: http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/butt...

For those in other states or countries, here's another resource: http://www.thebutterflysite.co...

Once you know which butterflies are capable of visiting you, then it's much easier to make a list of which host and nectar plants you need. Without that, it's SO overwhelming. Honestly, I was still pretty overwhelmed even after narrowing it down to natives. Thankfully, there are some common ground plants that will serve many butterflies (both nectar and host) as well as hummingbirds.

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