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Home > Archive > Austin Gardening > October 2007 > Late bloomers
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| Found this in my milkweed patch this morning along with the little
orange aphids and the assassin bugs.
http://www.fysh.org/~slinky/monarch/monarch_small.jpg
Hopefully it'll have time to pupate and hatch before it gets too cold.
Apparently late fall Monarchs are next spring's F0 breeding stock.
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| Omelet 2007-10-12, 5:25 pm |
| In article <470f8dcb$0$26418$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
Wooly <nobody@nunya> wrote:
> Found this in my milkweed patch this morning along with the little
> orange aphids and the assassin bugs.
>
> http://www.fysh.org/~slinky/monarch/monarch_small.jpg
>
> Hopefully it'll have time to pupate and hatch before it gets too cold.
> Apparently late fall Monarchs are next spring's F0 breeding stock.
Nice pic. :-)
I'm presuming you are planting milkweed just for the baby butterflies?
Where did you get it and is it an annual or a perennial?
--
Peace, Om
Remove both _ (underscores) to validate gmail e-mails.
"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down." -- Steve Rothstein
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| Omelet wrote:
> Nice pic. :-)
Thanks ;D
> I'm presuming you are planting milkweed just for the baby butterflies?
> Where did you get it and is it an annual or a perennial?
I've been trying to get some sort of native/wild plants established
under my kitchen window for years. Every fall I toss out random flower
seed packets. Last fall I think a couple of them included milkweed
seeds but I have no idea what variety.
My milkweed strongly resembles the milkweeds at my son's school - tall
with very tapered oval leaves and clusters of small round orange
blossoms. My single plant never bloomed - too many aphids, not enough
ladybugs, and the assassins can't keep up. I did filch some ripe
seedpods from school about a month ago, hopefully the seeds will
overwinter in my yard and not the neighbors', and bring me more
milkweeds - and more Monarchs - next year.
The caterpillar is gone now. It was nearly 3" long when I found it and
it fattened considerably as the day advanced and it decimated the
milkweed. Even money says it was a 5th instar and has crept off to a
spot under the eaves to pupate.
Here's a slightly bigger pic:
http://www.fysh.org/~slinky/monarch/monarch_large.jpg
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| Omelet 2007-10-12, 9:25 pm |
| In article <470fef3e$0$7506$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
Wooly <nobody@nunya> wrote:
> Omelet wrote:
>
> Thanks ;D
>
>
>
> I've been trying to get some sort of native/wild plants established
> under my kitchen window for years. Every fall I toss out random flower
> seed packets. Last fall I think a couple of them included milkweed
> seeds but I have no idea what variety.
I've been putting in more Lantana. There are some really really pretty
cultivars now. I have 3 different colors of the Dallas red, including
one in my big concrete pot that has double blooms. If I plant star
flowers next to them (unfortunately those are annuals), I get more
flutterbys.
>
> My milkweed strongly resembles the milkweeds at my son's school - tall
> with very tapered oval leaves and clusters of small round orange
> blossoms. My single plant never bloomed - too many aphids, not enough
> ladybugs, and the assassins can't keep up. I did filch some ripe
> seedpods from school about a month ago, hopefully the seeds will
> overwinter in my yard and not the neighbors', and bring me more
> milkweeds - and more Monarchs - next year.
Hm. For the aphids, try picking up some Lacewing fly pupae. "It's about
Thyme" often orders those in the spring, or you can mail order them. I
bought a batch a couple of years ago to wipe out scale in my greenhouse
on my cacti. I had a very bad infestation.
Worked like a charm. :-) I never actually saw the baby lacewings, but
I've seen nary a scale since, nor mealy bugs.
>
> The caterpillar is gone now. It was nearly 3" long when I found it and
> it fattened considerably as the day advanced and it decimated the
> milkweed. Even money says it was a 5th instar and has crept off to a
> spot under the eaves to pupate.
>
> Here's a slightly bigger pic:
> http://www.fysh.org/~slinky/monarch/monarch_large.jpg
Pretty pretty! Hope you can find and photograph the chrysalis?
--
Peace, Om
Remove both _ (underscores) to validate gmail e-mails.
"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down." -- Steve Rothstein
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| Wooly wrote:
More late bloomers - this morning while I was watering what's left of
the tomato plants (RIP) and the citrus I noticed several swallowtail
caterpillars on the grapefruit. I did notice a few days ago that the
new growth at the tips of branches had been chewed, now I know what did
the chewing.
A little research says the caterpillars are "orange dog" or Papillo
cresphontes "cramer". I haven't been able to find a photo of the
butterfly, but here's a link to what the caterpillar's look like:
http://insects.tamu.edu/images/inse...xt/cimg272.html
Looks like bird crap and that's what I thought it was so I was looking
for pterodactyl-class birds circling the house...
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| Wooly wrote:
Caterpillars plural, not possessive.
Need more coffee!
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| Omelet 2007-10-14, 9:25 am |
| In article <4710ee6f$0$32534$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
Wooly <nobody@nunya> wrote:
> Wooly wrote:
>
> More late bloomers - this morning while I was watering what's left of
> the tomato plants (RIP) and the citrus I noticed several swallowtail
> caterpillars on the grapefruit.
Citrus eh?
Those normally go for Parsley, fennel or dill!
> I did notice a few days ago that the
> new growth at the tips of branches had been chewed, now I know what did
> the chewing.
>
> A little research says the caterpillars are "orange dog" or Papillo
> cresphontes "cramer". I haven't been able to find a photo of the
> butterfly, but here's a link to what the caterpillar's look like:
>
> http://insects.tamu.edu/images/inse...xt/cimg272.html
>
> Looks like bird crap and that's what I thought it was so I was looking
> for pterodactyl-class birds circling the house...
<lol> Interesting looking critter...
--
Peace, Om
Remove both _ (underscores) to validate gmail e-mails.
"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down." -- Steve Rothstein
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| Omelet 2007-10-14, 9:25 am |
| In article <omp_omelet-BE91FB.04281214102007@news.giganews.com>,
Omelet <omp_omelet@g_mail.com> wrote:
[color=darkred]
Ps:
Here is a pic of the Flutterby:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:...wallowtail.jpeg
:-)
--
Peace, Om
Remove both _ (underscores) to validate gmail e-mails.
"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their foot down." -- Steve Rothstein
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