Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
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Top 5 butterfly attractors
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over,
it became a butterfly"
Chuang Tzu (Taoist philosopher)
In the photo: yesterday we watched a butterfly born on one of our Champaka trees!
Q: What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden?
A: If you love butterflies and if you enjoy
having nature around your home, then plant a butterfly garden. Florida is a perfect place to create a year round and
fully functioning butterfly garden. Caterpillars, which transform into
butterflies, require special kinds of plants to feed upon and these plants grow
extremely well in the South Florida and other subtropical areas. Below are the
top five winners that butterflies appreciate the most. Besides, remember That
all yellow flowers are attractive to them, for example Cassias. Butterflies like the Sun and everything that looks like the
Sun!
1. Calotropis
gigantea - Giant milkweed, Arka
2. Odontonema
cuspidatum - Firespike
3. Plumbago
auriculata Imperial Blue
4. Rondeletia
leucophylla - Panama Rose
5. Asclepias
curassavica - Red Milkweed, Butterfly Weed
Read more about Butterfly garden:
The Milkweed and
the Monarch, how to raise your own
Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
Plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds
In the photo: Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike
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Butterfly Garden from Anna Banana
Butterfly facts
1. There are approximately 20,000 different species of
butterflies, the largest of which is the Queen Alexandra
Birdwing with a wingspan of 11 inches.
2. Female butterflies can lay over 1000 eggs during their
short lifetime.
3. Butterflies lay their eggs on host plants which usually
hatch within a few days, then turning into caterpillars.
The caterpillar will then eat until it sheds it's skin
several times, called instars, finally emerging from the
chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly.
4. Butterflies are born to breed, their goal being to mate
and begin the cycle again. Most live only a few days
except the Monarch which can live up to six months.
5. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every fall and
remain there until spring when they make the return
migration.
6. Due to the continuing destruction of the rain forests,
where the largest population of butterflies are found,
their numbers are dwindling. We encourage you to plant a
butterfly garden!!
Remember:
- A sunny, less windy location is best, however, Zebras
love to float in the shade of bushes and trees.
- The more host and nectar plants you have, the more
butterflies will be attracted to your garden.
- Butterflies "puddle". They like a wet sandy area where
they congregate and sip minerals and nutrients from the
wet sand and water.
- Rocks to rest and enjoy their beautiful garden, and
don't forget a bench or hammock for yourself.
FREE butterfly garden guide from Anna Banana
For our local Florida customers, it is a perfect time now
to start a garden with plants for butterflies that will
appear first thing in Spring. Establish these plants now
for the Spring blooms that will attract the Beauty into
your garden!
Stop by our Garden Center to check out our Butterfly Plants display, or
simply call Anna Banana for a free consultation on
Butterfly Garden at 239-771-8081.
Hurry up while butterfly plants are on 4-day sale!
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The Milkweed and the Monarch, how to raise your own
by Ed Jones, the Booster Guy
...How to attract butterflies in your garden? What plants do butterflies
love? How to grow those plants when butterfly larvae keep eating them?...
Many gardeners ask these questions and butterfly attracting plants always
have been very popular. But did you know that you could actually turn your
garden into a little butterfly farm?...
Find out from Ed and Juvonda's butterfly mini-farm experience!
CONTINUE READING >
See full list of butterfly attractors
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Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
By Kevin Piotrowicz, FL. This spring I was excited! My milkweed was blooming and going to seed. I have 3 healthy clumps of it, each one with seed pods. I counted the seed pods at one time... 22... I had 22 seed pods on 3 plants! Could it be possible? Could I finally have reached the point that I had a sustainable amount of milkweed growing that would not be decimated by monarch caterpillars?
I was telling my friends, "My milkweed is growing great! I may be able to support a population of monarchs!" There were even a couple of them flying around the yard, landing on the milkweed, and frolicking amount the wax myrtle.
With great joy I watched 3 monarch caterpillars munch on my milkweed. The small plant colony even survived as the caterpillars pupated. Not only survived, it expanded! More shoots came out from the bases of the plants! More flowers! More seed pods! All was right with my garden. The zebra longwings and gulf fritillaries had new friends to play with... But what's this??? ...
Continue reading...
Click here to see for full list of butterfly attractors currently available for sale, with 15% OFF! See also Complete Alphabetical list of plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds (very long list).
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Project Ian
A letter from a gardener:
"We just want our paradise back!"
"...My name is Ian, and I am a 21 y/o Natural Resource Management
student at South Dakota State University. In 2006, my family found a small
barrier island lush with foliage and virtually untouched by the modern world, and
we fell in love. Little Gasparilla Island became a piece of our family and
now after 16 years, we still spend months out of each year enjoying the
island's natural beauty.
Enter Hurricane Ian.
With the eye of the hurricane traveling directly over the island, many
homes and materialistic items were destroyed, but more importantly, the once
beautiful "jungle" is now more comparable to a barren desert.
This is where I was hoping to get some help... to restore the beauty of
Little Gasparilla. After almost 3 weeks, neither the county nor FEMA has made it
out to survey our island. And it is almost as if we feel forgotten. After
fending for ourselves for clean-up, I am ready to get to work on landscaping.
Plants are my passion and it pains me each day to wake up and see that 90% of
our Australian and Norfolk Island Pines are completely gone, along with most
foliage and palms.
We just want our paradise back, and many of us will work for it by any
means necessary..."
We replied to Ian who suffered from Ian... We are willing to help his beautiful island, as well as everyone who is looking for help restoring our Florida beauty. Check out our deals and re-leaf discounts we send in our Newsletters. Remember to attend our Garden Festival on Nov 19, with some big discounts as well as free plants for after-Ian re-leaf!
We will make Florida beautiful again.
We will call it Project Ian!
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Featured plant. Clitoria ternatea - Blue Butterfly Pea
Clitoria ternatea - Blue Butterfly Pea
Butterfly pea, Asian pigeonwings. Perfect vine! Blooms year-round, fast growing, easy, not invasive, controllable, not messy, curious bright blue flower - Clitoris-like flower shape, hence the name of the plant. Fast-growing climber with fine foliage, pinnate leaves. Besides being a great ornamental, this plant has some practical and medicinal value. The seed pods are edible, as well as the flowers. The flowers are used for blue food dye for rice and teas. It is also a nitrogen fixer and helps prevent E-coli.
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HEALING POWER OF HERBS
The most effective herbs to help you sleep. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Nothing is worse than the feeling of lying awake, unable to sleep as the numbers on the clock edge closer and closer to morning. Perhaps like many others, you toss and turn with your mind racing, playing the events of the day over and over again. Maybe you fall asleep easily, but wake up shortly after and can't get back to sleep for the rest of the night. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Fortunately, there are natural alternatives to prescription sleeping pills that are just as effective but are far gentler on the body. The following article by Marilyn Reid takes a closer look at some of the best herbs to help you sleep. Reed more...
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St. Patrick's Day Discounts
STPATRICK15: 15% off coupon (orders over $150 not including S&H. Plus, our usual 5% discount on top of that).
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Enter discount code in shopping cart and click "recalculate".
Valid through end of the day Thursday, March 17, 2016.
Not valid for previously ordered items.
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Bauhinias: Orchid trees with Butterfly leaves
by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats
...Have you seen butterflies? Yes, of course. Have you seen orchids?
Yes, of course. And have you seen a tree with flowers that look like both a
butterfly, and an orchid?...
...Bauhinias are beautiful and diverse. Their flowers are showy and
slightly perfumed; their leaves always cleft in the characteristic Bauhinia
manner... And they are gorgeous - all together and each in their own way... They turn
your garden into a colorful paradise and make you feel like living on exotic
island...
...Some of them are everblooming and start flowering in 1-3 gal pots!...
CONTINUE READING >>
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The Blue Tea Remedy from the Magic Clitoria
By Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats
Butterfly-pea flower tea commonly known as Blue Tea is a caffeine-free herbal tea, or tisane, a beverage made from a decoction or infusion of the flower of the Clitoria plant. There are not many who know about the benefits of blue tea. For centuries the butterfly-pea flower tea was only known in South East Asia... The bright blue petals from the flowers of the butterfly-pea plant have been used as an ingredient in herbal tea drinks throughout the region for centuries as well as used in cooking...