Butterfly Gardener
Volume 22, Issue 1 Spring 2017
A Suburban
Butterfly Musings by Allison Snopek Barta
Kids Count Butterflies! by Jane Smith
Butterfly Oasis by Jill Gorman and Meredith Mays
White-veined Pipevines: Another Choice by Lenora Larson
editor's notes
I am proud to present a fun and thought-provoking issue of Butterfly Gardener courtesy of our wonderful contributors of fine words and pictures; Allison Snopek Barta, Jane Smith and Bill Williams, Jill Gorman and Meredith Mays, and Lenora Larson. As someone who is in the first steps of designing and establishing home gardens, and has two small children who are already fascinated with wildlife of the smaller variety, I’ve found Butterfly Gardener and our Butterfly Garden Habitat Program to be a source of education, entertainment, and inspiration; this issue you hold in your hands is no different!
A huge thanks to the team of Marianna T. Wright and Matt Crocker for their essential efforts without which this these words wouldn’t exist.
A small correction from the previous issue; the last sentence on page six that continues on to page seven notes ceraunus blue, though the identification should have been marine blue instead. Thanks to Linda Cooper for catching this!
—Michael Cerbone, Butterfly Garden Habitat Program Manager
Butterfly Gardener is published quarterly by the North American Butterfly Association, Inc. (NABA). © 2017 by the North American Butterfly Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of NABA.
We want to hear from you! Please send Butterfly Gardener correspondence and submissions to: NABA, Attn: Michael Cerbone 4 Delaware Road, Morristown, NJ 07960 and/or cerbone@naba.org
Articles, gardening tips and observations, artwork, digital high resolution photographs, poetry and comments will be considered for publication. Please send self-addressed stamped envelope for items to be returned.
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Membership Services
For questions concerning membership issues, magazines, or changes of address, please write to NABA Membership Services, 4 Delaware Road, Morristown, NJ 07960. Occasionally, members send membership dues in twice. Our policy in such cases, unless instructed otherwise, is to extend membership for an additional year.
Butterfly Musings
When I opened up the Winter 2016, Butterfly Gardener magazine, I was surprised to see Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) pictures. But then I understood, reading the title, “In Search of Baltimore Checkerspot”.
By Allison Snopek Barta
Just before that issue hit my mail box, I was surprised on February 25th when Karen Katz, an interpretive naturalist for the Mississippi River National Recreation Area from St. Paul, Minnesota, asked me to identify a butterfly she had taken a few pictures of on June 25th, 2016. While attending the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, she photographed a few butterfly species on a hike through Hungarian Falls Park, in Hubbell, Houghton County, Michigan. I was amazed to see that she had taken photos there of a Baltimore Checkerspot! I went on to explain to her that it’s the state butterfly of Maryland, and that it has become rare there, as well as other places across the United States.
Here in Northern Minnesota, I have been researching the butterfly species of my area for the past six years, luckily enjoying Baltimore Checkerspots in Beltrami County.
When June 20th arrives, I set out in search of the Baltimore. Each day, I drive to the colony location until they appear. The females (smaller than the male) usually are first on the scene, followed by a much larger number of males. For three weeks I observe them as much as possible, and have taken numerous photos and videos of them.
Interestingly, there is a house quite near the location, and often as I am observing them, I believe that these butterflies are flying into that yard. Little do the occupants realize that an iconic butterfly is in their garden.
This past summer of 2016, with great concern I waited for their arrival. We were
experiencing an unusually dry June. When I drove up to the location, my heart sunk, to see their habitat “turtlehead” extremely dried up. I was only able to find one clump of their favorite feeding thistle blooming. Yet, I was not disappointed, and very happy when the Baltimores appeared on July 1st, and I was able to observe and photograph them until July 26th of that year. One day I was able to count 16 individuals.
I hope that the lack of food and water will not have caused the colony to collapse. I will be more anxious than ever for their arrival this coming summer.
In the interest of preservation, I have never shown anybody their location, especially now that they have been designated as an “imperiled species”. I do know that a few other lepidopterists are aware of their existence here in Minnesota.
Allison Snopek Barta is a lifelong advocate for butterflies, a butterfly researcher, working on “On the Hunt for the North Woods Butterflies”. She is currently a science teacher at Bagley Jr./Sr. High School in Minnesota.
Butterfly Gardener www.naba.org
KIDS COUNT BUTTERFLIES!
Text by Jane Smith
Photos by Bill William
Let’s be honest here.
Of course we all love butterflies. Many of us also love participating in the NABA butterfly counts each summer.
But youngsters may find somewhat tedious the experience of walking (slowly) around fields for hours under the hot sun during the butterfly count. And the tedium may persist despite the high drama of excited adults breathlessly calling out “Great Spangled Fritillary,” “Eastern TailedBlue,” or even “Monarch”!
It’s just too hot (in Virginia, anyway), too long, and too boring for many (not all) children, even those with an interest in butterflies.
At least that’s what the Old Rag Master Naturalists (ORMN) found during their many years of coordinating the annual NABA count around Washington, Virginia.
So last year ORMN created a special “Kids Count” just for children. It was a huge success!
The idea was to combine fun learning activities, a citizen scientist butterfly identification walk, as well as light snacks and (drum roll) stickers and prizes!
Here’s what happened:
Despite being the first-ever Kids Count in a sparsely-populated region (the county population is only about 7,000), twenty-one boys and girls aged six to eleven and their parents arrived for the event.
Held at Waterpenny Farm in Sperryville, Virigina, the ORMN team kicked things off with hands-on exploration activities in the produce barn. The emphasis in this initial butterfly introduction was on fun. The kids received temporary butterfly tattoos and created landscapes on paper using butterfly and nature stickers.
Next, ORMN naturalists briefly explained “the basics”, including the several (and fascinating!) life stages of a butterfly; how butterflies get nectar and why native host plants are best; and the concept and importance of citizen science, as exemplified in the annual NABA butterfly count. The instructors also showed the kids photos of butterflies they were likely to encounter during their count. Lastly, each child received a checklist and photos of common butterflies, along with the detailed identification brochure the official count uses.
Thus armed, it was off to the count proper via a tractor-pulled wagon, one of the highlights of the event!
The day was hot and sunny, typical of a July day in Virginia, and the butterflies were out in abundance. All told, the children identified 13 species: Question Mark, Eastern Comma, Pearl Crescent, Orange Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, Least Skipper, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Cabbage White, Great Spangled Fritillary, Meadow Fritillary, Duskywing Skipper, Silver-Spotted Skipper, and American Snout.
After returning to the barn, the children answered questions from the naturalists about what they had learned. As a reward for their participation, each received a butterfly-shaped fan and butterfly-shaped cookie, and also got to take home their tally sheets.
So what did the ORMN volunteers conclude?
First, the kids did great in answering questions after their count. Clearly they had learned and retained a lot, not just about butterfly identification but about the interdependency of other plants, animals, and native landscapes
in our environment as well. There was also abundant enthusiasm, non-competitiveness, and unity. Of course some kids were more adept at identification than others, but all were engaged, which was a goal of the organizers. Best of all, the volunteers concluded, they were able to introduce the children to butterflies, native plants, and citizen science in a fun way; in a manner that was well-received by kids and parents, alike.
Happily, ORMN has decided to continue the Kids’ Count, annually, as an adjunct to the official NABA count. We have shared our experience here in case NABA chapters and other count coordinators would be interested.
Jane Smith chairs the Butterfly Count Committee of the Old Rag Master Naturalists, which conducts NABA’s Washington, Virginia count each year. Jane is a retired teacher and lives on a farm in Sperryville, Virginia.
A Suburban Butterfly Oasis
by Jill Gorman and Meredith Mays
Have you ever gotten frustrated or discouraged about butterfly gardening? From time to time there are questions on NABAChat where individuals bemoan the lack of butterflies in their gardens, although many of us are eager to improve the small bit of earth that falls under our personal stewardship to make a positive difference. If you need inspiration – keep reading! NABA member Jill Gorman’s garden has sent positive ripples throughout the greater Atlanta area and beyond.
Jill, her husband, and their two sons live in Berkeley Lake, Georgia. For those unfamiliar with the Atlanta metropolitan area, the actual city limits are surrounded by suburban communities, such as Berkeley Lake, which is approximately 20 miles north of Atlanta. The suburbs appeal to families in search of good public schools, and those seeking homes with yards that allow play. Many suburban neighborhoods have mandatory homeowner’s associations that expect well maintained homes and manicured landscapes. If you were to drive into Jill Gorman’s neighborhood, you might expect to encounter such a home;
however, Jill and Tim decided to take a different approach. In late summer 2015, they began to transform their suburban landscape, by installing a butterfly garden, complete with waterfall.
Before the transformation began, the backyard included a hillside full of juniper – a fairly standard suburban landscape choice for erosion control.
After ripping out the juniper, next came hardscaping – rocks, and gravel and stepping stones:
Passionvine blankets the front fence, a haven for multiple Gulf Fritillaries, and Jill’s certification signs are proudly displayed at the garden’s entrance.
Jill’s plant list:
Achillea (Yarrow)
Agastache foeniculum (Anise Hyssop)
Agastache rupestris (Sunset Hyssop)
Aquilegia canadensis (Columbine)
Aristolochia tomentosa (Dutchman’s Pipevine)
Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed)
Asclepias sullivantii (Prairie Milkweed)
Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed)
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England Aster)
Baptisia australis (Blue Wild Indigo)
Callirhoe bushii (Bush’s Poppy Mallow)
Callirhoe involucrata (Purple Poppy Mallow)
Campanula rotundifolia (Harebell)
Coreopsis lanceolata (Lance-leaf Coreopsis)
Dalea purpurea (Purple Prairie Clover)
Delphinium exaltatum (Tall Larkspur)
Echinacea pallida (Pale Purple Coneflower)
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
Eupatorium maculatum (Joe Pye Weed)
Hibiscus coccineus (Scarlet rosemallow)
Hibiscus laevis (Rose Mallow)
Liatris spicata (Dense Blazing Star)
Liatris ligulistylis (Meadow Blazing Star)
Lonicera sempervirens (Coral honeysuckle)
Lilium superbum (Turk’s Cap Lily)
Lupinus perennis (Wild Lupine)
Monarda bradburiana (Bradbury’s Monarda)
Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot)
Passiflora incarnata (Purple Passionflower)
Rudbeckia fulgida (Orange Coneflower)
Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem)
Silene regia (Royal Catchfly)
Sisyrinchium albidum (Common Blue-eyed Grass)
Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie Dropseed)
Stokesia laevis (Stokes’ Aster)
Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio Spiderwort)
Viola sororia (Common Blue Violet)
Zizia aurea (Golden Alexanders)
With the structural backbone of the garden in place, Jill began growing plants to seed, from a carefully selected list.
In less than a year, Jill’s suburban yard underwent a major (sometimes messy) transformation, reminisent of the change catepillars go through to become butterflies.
Jill has observed many species, including Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Gulf Fritillary, Gray Hairstreak, Zabulon Skipper, Fiery Skipper, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Silver-spotted Skipper, American Lady, Common Buckeye, Variegated Fritillary, Horace’s Duskywing, Cloudless Sulphur, and Monarch.
One of the more impressive feats of Jill’s garden is that she was careful to include both nectar and host plants; creating a habitat that has resulted in Monarchs, Pipevines, Swallowtails, Sulphurs, Gulf Fritillaries, and Variegated Fritillaries depositing eggs in her garden. Because Jill was still establishing her garden, she reached out to the greater Atlanta community to “rehome” Pipevine and Monarch caterpillars to ensure they were placed in environments that would allow adequate nourishment. Unfortunantly her new plants were not quite ready to support all the eggs left by the adult females.
By reaching out to others, Jill shared her love of butterflies with the greater community - and because the warm season in Atlanta is long, Jill’s
pipevine babies laid babies of their own in their rehomed locations; thereby spreading butterfly happiness well beyond Berkeley Lake.
Both Jill Gorman and Meredith Mays are Atlanta-area transplants. Jill graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a Masters in Anesthesia and works as an anesthetist at an Atlanta hospital; Meredith graduated from Emory Law School and is in-house counsel at AT&T. Jill enjoys photography, hiking, gardening, traveling and spending time with her wonderful husband and two young sons. Meredith has more time for butterfly activities as her daughters are moving towards independence. She also enjoys biking with her husband and romping with her Scottish terriers. Images by Jill Gorman.
For the Love of Butterflies
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Articles, gardening tips and observations, artwork, digital high resolution photographs, poetry and comments will be considered for publication. Contact Michael Cerbone, Editor: cerbone@naba.org
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If you have questions about duplicate magazines, missing magazines, membership expiration date, change of address, etc., please write to NABA Membership Services, 4 Delaware Rd., Morristown, NJ 07960. Occasionally, members send membership dues twice. Our policy in such cases, unless instructed differently, is to extend membership for an additional year. NABA sometimes exchanges or sells its membership list to like-minded organizations that supply services or products that might be of interest to members. If you would like your name deleted from membership lists we supply to others, please write and inform us at: NABA Membership Services, 4 Delaware Rd., Morristown, NJ 07960.
White-veined Pipevines: Another Choice
by Lenora Larson
A Possible Solution
many reasons, I wish these delightful caterpillars were year-round diners!).
My first pipevine, the New England native Aristolochia macrophylla (dutchman’s pipe), promptly died in the intense heat of a Kansas summer. The next year, its replacement thrived on a small trellis in partial shade with large, tropical-looking leaves. However, once the Pipevine Swallowtails arrived, its slow growth could not keep up with the ravenous caterpillars, so I purchased our Midwestern native, the sunloving Aristolochia tomentosa (woolly pipevine). After a slow start, it now twines over 30 feet, completely covering an eight-foot stock gate and fence. In May, June and July, my pipevines are so covered with caterpillars that I can hear the munchy-munchy sounds of their chewing.
Life was good until its 15th year, when suddenly it began suckering like that other fearsome thug, passion vine. It even climbs trees and threatens to engulf my mailbox! Consequently, the woolly pipevine requires constant yanking of its suckers to protect neighboring plants. The only respite from this labor occurs in summer, when the caterpillars devour every offending sucker (for so
In the meantime, all of our area’s native plant sales now target butterfly gardeners with Woolly pipevines, but their purchase is limited by their huge size, need for sun and a stout trellis, and their admittedly-aggressive suckering.
I must confess I felt an ethical dilemma selling a plant I knew had criminal tendencies to a fellow butterfly lover. Another choice was needed, but the other natives are either not suited to our harsh Midwestern soil and climate and/or are too wispy to support huge herds of caterpillars. Sadly, the glorious tropical pipevines have lush growth, but they are deadly poisonous to our native Pipevine Swallowtails.
A Possible Solution
Three years ago, Plant Delights Nursery had a new listing in their catalog: Aristolochia fimbriata, the white-veined pipevine, AKA fringed pipevine. Excitement! A quick check via the internet
discovered that several Southern butterfly gardeners reported successfully raising Pipevine Swallowtails on this plant so I ordered one to experiment. Would my females lay their eggs on it? Would the caterpillars eat the foliage and thrive? Would they successfully pupate and then emerge as normal adults? After two years of personal experience I can confirm that whiteveined pipevine is indeed a viable host plant, plus it is really lush and cute!
perky look all winter and easily transplants back into the shady garden in spring. White-veined pipevine flourishes in partial sun/ shade and moist, humus-rich soil. No trellis is needed as this refined, delicate vine grows as a ground cover, forming two-foot mats of beautiful green leaves with silver veining. The over-all effect is reminiscent of, Lamium maculatum (variegated dead nettle). All summer long, delightful brown and yellow fringed flowers are borne along the stems, quickly maturing into tan seed capsules. It also adapts well to containers, especially hanging baskets, if kept well-watered.
The prolific seeds easily germinate so we’ve been able to offer it at our Master Gardener Spring Plant Sales. Once butterfly gardeners see photographs of the flower and of the leaves covered with caterpillars, they are eager buyers, especially if they’ve not had a spot for its huge, sun-loving thuggish cousin.
Hardy to zone 7, this perennial claims Brazil and Argentina as its native homes. It dies back to the ground in winter, but so far, it has not survived my zone 6a winter; however, it does modestly re-seed. As insurance, I over-winter one plant in my basement under grow lights, where it enthusiastically vines among the begonias. This way, white-veined pipevine retains its healthy
Lenora Larson is a Marais des Cygnes Extension Master Gardener, Idalia Buttefly Society and Kansas Native Plant Society. She loves to garden and host butterflies in the cruel winds and clay soil of Paola, Kansas. She may be contacted at lenora.longlips@gmail.com
North American Butterfly Association 4 Delaware Road Morristown, NJ 07960
