Ajilvsgi - Butterfly Gardening for Texas

Butterfly Gardening for Texas

PALAMEDES SWALLOWTAIL (Papilio palamedes)

Number Forty-six

Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series

PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL (Battus philenor)

Butterfly Gardening for Texas

GEYATA AJILVSGI

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRES S CollegeStation

Copyright 2013 by Geyata Ajilvsgi

Manufactured in China by Everbest Printing Co., through FCI Print Group

All rights reserved

First edition

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

Binding materials have been chosen for durability.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ajilvsgi, Geyata

Butterfly gardening for Texas / Geyata Ajilvsgi. 1st ed.

p. cm. (Louise Lindsey Merrick natural environment series ; no. 46)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60344-806-2 (flex : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-60344-806-3 (flex : alk. paper)

ISBN-13: 978-1-60344-957-1 (e-book)

ISBN-10: 1-60344-957-4 (e-book)

1. Butterfly gardeningTexas. I. Title. II. Series: Louise Lindsey Merrick natural environment series ; no. 46.

QL544.6.A35 2013

638.578909764dc23

2012031589

JANAIS PATCH ( Chlosyne janais ) LARVA

All photographs for the book were taken by the author, using 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) Nikon FA and Nikon 8008 camera bodies, Fujichrome 100 or Ektachrome 100 Professional film, and 35 mm, 50 mm, 55 mm, and 200 mm macro lenses with various close-up rings, and with a Canon EOS 40D digital camera and a 180 mm macro lens with various extensions. Supplementary flash was often used to stop wind motion or the flutter of a butterflys wing.

JANAIS PATCH (Chlosyne janais)

The purpose of butterflies... will not be found... in the few flowers that they may inadvertently pollinate... nor in the numbers of parasitic wasps they may support... and to peer beneath a microscope at their dissected fragments will in no way... elucidate the reason for their being.... their purpose is their BEAUTY.... and the beauty they bring into the lives of those of us who have stopped long enough from the cares of the world to LISTEN to their fascinating story...

William H. Howe, On Butterflies and Moths

FIELD OF FALL BLOOMING FLOWERS ATTRACTS BUTTERFLIES.

Contents

THEONA CHECKERSPOT (Chlosyne theona)

Acknowledgments

This book was originally written just for Texas but was expanded at the request of the publisher to include the southeastern states and titled Butterfly Gardening for the South. In this Texas A&M University Press edition, it has been brought back to its original focus with much updating, more information and corrections, and many new additional photographs.

Since the original publication, butterfly gardeners have taken wing with astonishing enthusiasm and with no indication of slowing down.

It has been a real joy reshaping this bookto talk to numerous gardeners who are now slanting their gardens with the purpose of attracting butterflies and to visit nurseries and see the advertised Butterfly Plants. Some nurseries even have their own demonstration butterfly gardensa great help to see plants growing beautifully in a garden setting and being used by butterflies in their various stages.

And as always, there are those who have helped make this book revision happen. Especially appreciated are my friends and neighbors Boyd Merworth and Wes Alexander for their frequent help with computer glitches and much-needed words of encouragement. A special thanks to my friend Elizabeth Hobson Cannedy for the generous loan of eggs and caterpillars to photograph and to Nick Grishin and Dale Clark for identification of butterfly slides. Much appreciation to artist Rose Baxter for the butterfly and landscape illustrations, and to Cynthia Lindlof, my editor, for making me look much better on the printed page.

During the preparation of the original text, much of which remains intact here, I consulted many books, magazine articles, and other sources on several subjects dealing with butterflies as well as wildflowers, flower gardens, and gardening in general. Lists of many of these sources appear in the .

The original dream of this book would never have become reality without the personal help, advice, and enthusiastic support of outstanding experts in the fields of lepidopterology, botany, and gardening. Some of these were good friends from the beginning; some have become good friends in the making of this book. I have been privileged to meet and exchange information with many others. I am grateful and heartfelt thanks go to all those friends and acquaintences.

In the butterfly world I must give special heartfelt thanks to my dear friends, the late Roy and Connie Kendall, and to Timothy Friedlander for their friendship, hospitality, sharing of field trips, and inestimable sources of information. Appreciation also goes to Christopher J. Durden for much helpful advice and to Samuel A. Johnson, Kevin MacDonnel, and Gregory S. Forbes (Las Cruces, New Mexico) for sharing scrupulously compiled field notes on both the butterflies and their nectar sources.

I also wish to thank Roger Peace for sharing his firsthand experiences in the growing of various species of Aristolochia; Tim Fried-lander for help with the regional map and for reviewing the butterfly descriptions; and Herbert K. Durand, Burr Williams, Benny Simpson, John Fairey, and Carl M. Schoenfeld for critiquing portions of the plant descriptions. Mike Rose was most helpful with the extreme close-up shots of wing scales, and Leo Mieier in inventing special photographic equipment for me. Stephen Myers and Paul Montgomery were of tremendous help in reviewing the photography section and generously shared suggestions, techniques, and their own experiences. I am especially grateful to Raymond W. Neck for a most thorough review of the entire manuscript as well as much help with ranges, scientific names, and answers to a multitude of questions. Thanks also to my friend Martha Bell, who provided the drawings for and reviewed the original manuscript. William F. Mahler and Barney Lipscomb at the Southern Methodist University Herbarium were most gracious and generous, as always, with help in plant identification. For help in locating gardens and needed information, I extend my appreciation to Burr Williams, Sheryl McLaughlin, Martha Henshen, and Sally Wasowski, and to Patty Leslie and Paul Cox at the San Antonio Botanical Center, Doug Williams at the Houston Arboretum, and John Koros at the Mercer Arboretum. Much appreciation goes to the Antique Rose Emporium at Brenham for opening their grounds and giving me free rein to photograph. And thanks to John Thomas of Wildseed Inc. for enough wildflower seeds to cover my entire twenty acres in Robertson Countyeven though it was mostly wooded. To my friend John Meeks a special thanks for the vanloads of plants he gave me to try in the butterfly garden, for gardening advice, and for the spiritual connection to keep me grounded to Mother Earthand to my desk. I am grateful to James H. Yantis, who was a source of advice during the early writing of this book.