Project Orange Thumb Ribbon Cutting

MOSI staff and employees gathered in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove to cut a bright orange ribbon. This ceremony marks to completion of the Fiskars Project Orange Thumb grant that allowed MOSI to plant 9 thematic gardens. Each garden is themed to one of the historic trees in our grove.

MOSI President Wit Ostrenko had this to say about the new gardens: “MOSI is very proud of the nine gardens planted through the Project Orange Thumb grant program. Thanks to Fiskars MOSI was given an opportunity to uniquely interpret nine of our historic trees through gardening and also the tools to maintain these beautiful areas.”

The gardens were planted over a three day period and have been seeing regular tending over the past few months. Over 40 volunteers have worked on these gardens to date. You can read more about the gardens that were planted by following the links below.

Ray Charles Live Oak Sensory Garden to encourage the use of non-sight senses, specifically touch and smell, to experience a garden in a way similar to someone who is blind.

Moon Sycamore Moon Garden uses plants with white anf blue flowers and foliage that best reflect moonlight or bloom at night.

Clara Barton Red Bud Medicinal Garden highlights plants from which medicine is derived or plants with healing properties.

Frank Lloyd Wright Ginkgo Jurassic Garden contains fossil plants which, like the Ginkgo, have lived since the time of the dinosaurs.

Olustee Longleaf Pine Flatwoods Garden highlights native plants of the Florida Flatwoods ecosystem community similar to those that would have been found at the site of the Civil War Battle of Olustee.

George Washington Carver Persimmon Edible Garden focuses upon edible plants including Carver’s favorite plant, the peanut.

Wright Brothers Sweet Gum Air Plant Garden is composed of plants that can live above the soil, like orchids and tillandsias.

Fort Matanzas Red Ceder Settler's Garden focuses upon plants native to Florida that would have been found by our original settlers.

Juliette Gordon Lowe Rose Garden highlights several species of beautiful roses with a companion planting of chocolate mint in honor of the founder of the Girl Scouts.

George Washington Carver Persimmon and an edible garden

George Washington Carver:

George Washington Carver pioneered a concept of crop rotation to return needed nutrient to the soil depleted by decades of cotton and tobacco. In the agrarian South following the Civil War, this method of crop rotation drastically increased farm production. Carver also developed industrial applications for the new crops being grown, including over 300 uses for the peanut and extracting pigment from soybeans to replace European textile dyes. Carver was one of the leading African American scientists of his day and served as Agriculture Director at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes which was founded by Booker T Washington.

The Persimmon:
The persimmon (Diospyros) has many species and is cultivated around the world. The persimmon fruit is anywhere from pale yellow-orange to a deep red in color and fruits may be tomato, acorn, or even pumpkin-like in shape. Persimmon fruits are actually a true berry and depending upon the species can be eaten when freshly ripe or may need additional drying time before they are ready to consume. Pies, cookies, puddings and other desserts made from persimmon fruit have a sweet and unique taste. The George Washington Carver Persimmon at MOSI is a seedling from a persimmon tree originally grown by George Washington Carver.

A Garden of Eatin':
In honor of George Washington Carver and his agricultural advances, we chose to plant a garden of vegetables and edible plants. The edible plants have been planted into "socks" made of a plastic outer mesh and filled with compost. The "socks" as well as the mulch and compost used for all of these gardens were donated by a great local humus farm Mother's Organics. Mother's Organics also set us up with drip tape irrigation for the medicinal herb and edible gardens. What a great local Tampa company!

Tasty treats:

Tomatoes: We planted two varieties of tomato plants in the garden. The fruits were picked and enjoyed by passers by and the leaves were enjoyed by tomato horn worms.

Potatoes: Sweet potato vines in green and purple ramble over the garden while their tubers develop inside the socks

Peppers: Several varieties of pepper from green bell to bright purple ornamental were used. The bell peppers were just gorgeous.

Peanut: As a ground cover, perennial peanut plants were planted toward the front of the garden.

Juliette Gordon Low Magnolia Rose Garden

Juliette Gordon Low:

Known affectionately as “Daisy” to her family and close friends, Juliette Gordon Low moved from Savannah to England with her husband. In 1911 she met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides and quickly took an interest in this project. Returning to the United States, in March of 1912 Mrs. Low established the first two American troops of the Girl Guides in Savannah. A year later, the group was renamed as the Girl Scouts.

Mrs. Low tirelessly raised money and awareness for the group which brought girls of all backgrounds into the out-of-doors, giving them opportunity to learn about nature and develop self-reliance and resourcefulness. She encouraged girls to prepare themselves not only for traditional homemaking roles, but also for possible future roles as professional women, in the arts, sciences and business, and for active citizenship outside the home.

The Magnolia Tree:

Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) are native to the Southeast region of North America. Growing to 20-30 meters in height, Southern Magnolia have large and fragrant white blossoms in the late Spring. The tree has a leathery evergreen leaf with an under-side that is yellowish-brown and slightly furry to the touch.

Magnolia is an ancient genus of flowering trees that evolved before bees and have flowers designed to be pollinated by beetles. The flowers of these trees have tough carpels that can resist damage done by beetles walking and crawling through the flowers. Found throughout the Americas, southeast Asia and the West Indies, magnolias were named for the French Botanist Pierre Magnol (1638-1715) who introduced the concept of grouping plants by family based upon common combinations of morphological characters.

Roses and Mint:

Roses are perennial vines and shrubs that are propagated through root cuttings and grafting. The roses chosen for the garden are either knockout roses or roses grafted onto Fortuniana rootstock. These roses are better adapted to the rather unique climate of Florida and are more resistant to disease and parasites.

The remarkable bloom of the rose has long been associated with love and beauty and in ancient times was a symbol connected with goddesses of many pantheons. As there seemed no better symbol for the progression into womanhood, we chose roses as the heart of this planting. As a companion planting, chocolate mint was chosen for its low-growing and sprawling fragrant foliage that brings to mind thoughts of beloved Girl Scout cookies.

The varieties of roses chosen for the garden were:

Neptune: a lavender blooming rose with a powerful, sweet rose scent.

Julia Child: a beautiful butter gold, yellow floribunda rose named for the famous French Chef.

Belinda's Dream: a shrub rose with large, fragrant and very double pink blossoms.

Sunsprite: a deep yellow cluster rose with long lasting color.

Blush Knockout Rose: a tough and hardy shrub type rose with outstanding disease resistance, blooms are light pink gradually changing to shell pink.

Iceberg: a bright white cluster rose with a prolific flowering habit.

Home Run: a single red cluster rose.

Hot Cocoa: a brownish orange floribunda rose.

Sunstruck: a bright yellow-orange cluster rose.

Garden Party: a pastel pink rose right a darker pink petal edge.

Long Tailed Skippers: Gimme Shelter

Long-Tailed Skippers (Urbanus proteus) are a fantastic and fast flying little butterfly with white spotted wings and a furry blue-green colored body.

Their larva have a very interesting way of helping to protect themselves from predators. These tiny little caterpillars, also known as "bean leaf rollers", will chew one the leaves of their host plants and leave a flap of leaf. Using silk from their spinnerets the caterpillars will fold the leaf flap over and secure it to the leaf. This creates tiny little pockets on the leaves in which the caterpillars can hide.

As they get larger leaf rolling caterpillars will roll whole leaves up into tubes or sometimes connect several leaves together to hide their larger bodies. Long Tailed Skippers aren't the only caterpillars that make leaf shelters. The larvae of the Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) roll leaves of camphor and red bay into long tubes for shelter. Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) caterpillars consuming cudweed (Gnaphalium)will use the fluffy seeds of the plant and silk to create a puff ball at the top of the plants in which they can hide. Brazillian Skippers (Calpodes ethlius) larvae roll the huge leaves of canna lilies into long tubes using only their tiny strands of silk.

For butterfly gardeners, these rolled leaves and other caterpillar shelters tell us we are on the right track when searching for larvae. Sometimes it is much easier to look for the signs that a caterpillar has been in an area rather than looking for the caterpillar itself. Leaf damage and leaf shelters are sure signs that caterpillars are on your plants and let you know to pay special attention to certain areas in your search for bugs.

Firebush

Firebush (Hamelia patens) is a showy Florida shrub much beloved of butterflies. The trumpet shaped bright orange flowers are great attractors for larger butterflies like Monarch, Sulphurs, Zebra Longwing and even some Swallowtails. Also a favorite of hummingbirds, placing this shrub in your garden almost guarantees you some visits from your local wildlife.

Firebush can quickly grow into a tall shrub and can be pruned into a small tree. If you don't have enough room for such a large plant look for the dwarf variety often known as 'Compacta' which stays around the 5 to 6 foot range. If hit with too much frost, Firebush may appear to die back completely, but will often surprise you flushing back out in the spring with gorgeous reddish foliage.

Firebush like sunny areas and bloom less often if planted in the shade. When stressed from lack of water or too much heat, this shrub may start to look ragged and might need some extra care.

However, Firebush planted in just the right spot will flourish and bring all the butterflies to the yard. Sometimes you may ever get a real showdown as butterflies shoulder past each other to get to the most choice nectar bearing blooms!

Tall Ironweed

Tall Ironweed (Vernonia altissima) is a tough herbaceous plant common to meadows and fields gone fallow. With long straight stems, Ironweed can grow up to 10 feet in height.

Purple blossoms festoon the tops of ironweed throughout August and September and the plants die back in the winter leaving tough hard stems. For smaller butterflies, these blooms are a great nectar source. These festive flowers can be found near the Frank Lloyd Wright Gingko Jurassic Garden in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove.

The genus Vernonia is named for 17th century English botanist William Vernon (?-1711) who did field work and collected plants in North America. The species name, 'altissima' means tall.

Clara Barton Redbud and a garden of medicinal herbs

Clara Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American teacher, nurse and humanitarian. During the American Civil War she established a group that helped to obtain supplies for soldiers and then distribute them among the wounded. She rode in ambulances to give comfort to the wounded being transported for medical care and eventually was put in charge of hospitals for a large portion of the Union Army.

At the end of the war, Clara Barton was tasked with identifying the missing men from the Union Army. Barton worked with a soldier named Dorence Atwater who had been imprisoned at the grim Andersonville prison and had kept a list of nearly 13,000 dead Union soldiers from the prison camp. Atwater and Barton went to Andersonville where they marked the mass graves of the Union Soldiers and planted magnolia trees in their memory.

American Red Cross:
While visiting Europe, Clara Barton saw the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the humanitarian aid they provided during the Franco-Prussian war. When she returned to America Barton worked tirelessly to establish an American branch of the Red Cross. During the administration of President James Garfield, Barton received the funds and support that she needed. Established in 1881 the American Red Cross was designed to provide humanitarian aid during wars and also in times of any national crisis. Clara Barton became president of the American Red Cross and remained its head until she retired in 1904.

During the early years of the American red Cross volunteers responded to many disasters such as the Sea Island Hurricane and also provided relief to refugees and prisoners of war during the Spanish-American War.

Clara Barton's Red Bud:
The tree in our Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove dedicated to Clara Barton is a Red Bud. The Clara Barton Redbud can be found at her home in Glen Echo, Maryland in which Clara spent the last 15 years of her life. From 1897 until 1904 the house was not only her residence but also the headquarters of the American Red Cross. Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) are deciduous trees that bloom with showy pinkish purple blossoms each spring before they put on leaves.

A Garden for Medicine:
As a tribute to Clara Barton and her establishment of the American Red Cross we chose to plant a garden of plants that have a long history of being used for medicine. Throughout history, medicines have been derived from flowers and herbs and many of the compounds upon which our modern medicines are based come originally from compounds found in plants.

The herbs have been planted into "socks" made of a plastic outer mesh and filled with compost. The "socks" as well as the mulch and compost used for all of these gardens were donated by a great local humus farm Mother's Organics. Mother's Organics also set us up with drip tape irrigation for the medicinal herb and edible gardens. What a great local Tampa company!

• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a drought-tolerant perennial native to the Southeast United States that is often used in herbal remedies as an imunostilulator to boost the immune system and help ward off infections. Echinacea extracts are found in more than 200 herbal medications in Europe. Although they will die back entirely in the winter, coneflowers will burst back to life in the spring and soon be putting on their showy purple blooms.

• Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) extracts have been used in the treatment of heart conditions since 1785. Digitalis extracts are used to help regulate irregular heartbeats. Digitalis should not be eaten as it is toxic if used improperly. Foxglove flowers on tall stiff stalks with buds down most of their length. The flowering season for this plant isn't overly long so it was been located to the extreme edges of this garden so that it will not detract when not in flower.

• Pink Skullcap (Scutellaria suffrutescens) is often used in modern Chinese practice for treatment of viral infections and even cancer. Skullcaps have also been used as a female medicinal herb among several Native American tribes. Pink skullcap is a low-growing and spreading plant that is located in the center of the medicinal plant bed.

• French Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia) is process for its essential oils which have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. This oil was used in WWII for the cleaning of hospital walls and floors to prepare them for new patients. Infusions of lavender have also been used for the soothing of insect bites and headaches. The lavender plants have a feathery grey-green foliage that is very soft to the touch.

Silver-spotted Skipper

The Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) is one of the larger skipper butterflies that you might see in the Tampa Bay area. With a wing-span of around 2 inches, these butterflies are easy to identify from other skippers because of their large size and a bright white spot on their underwing.

Silver spotted Skippers are reported to favor purple, pink, red and blue flowers, only sometimes visit white or cream colored flowers and seem to entirely avoid feeding from yellow blooms. This particular skipper was observed today favoring pink and purple blooms in the Flight Encounter. When not feeding, these butterflies are often found perched on the undersides of leaves especially at night and on cloudy days.

They host on a number of legumes including Indigobush (Amorpha fruticosa), American hogpeanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), Butterfly pea (Clitoria mariana), Groundnut (Apios americana), American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) and non-natives Dixie ticktrefoil (Desmodium tortuosum), Kudzu (Pueraria montana), Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis).

Rock the Bugs!

Today I received the first music mix for the Rock the Bugs Project! The mix is currently playing in the lab and the caterpillars were munching to the tunes. If you happen to visit MOSI today and peer in through the window into the Caterpillar Lab, here is what the bugs are listening to:

Music mix compiled by Tampa blogger Jill Staake, author of My Florida Backyard.

Part one: Egg to Caterpillar

1.) New Soul / Yael Naim

2.) I'm Alive / David Cook

3.) Eat It / Weird Al Yankovic

4.) It's Growing / The Temptations

5.) Changes / Butterfly Boucher w/ David Bowie

Part two: Caterpillar to Chrysalis

6.) It's the End of the World / REM

7.) Building a Mystery / Sarah MacLachlin
8.) Everybody's Changing / Keane

9.) The Waiting / Tom Petty

10.) Break on Through / The Doors

Part three: Chrysalis to Butterfly

11.) Everything Old is New Again / Barenaked Ladies

12.) Learning to Fly / Tom Petty

13.) Roam / B-52s

14.) Going Whichever Way the Wind Blows / Pete Droge

15.) Come Fly with Me / Frank Sinatra

16.) Over the Rainbow / The Blanks

The Cassia Family @ MOSI

Butterflies are truly specialists. Each species of butterfly only has a one type of plant on which its larvae may host. For the sulphur family of butterflies, Cassias are required to feed their caterpillars. In the butterfly gardens we have several species of Cassias which are hosts to the gorgeous Sulphur butterflies of the Tampa Bay region.

Here is a look at 4 species of cassia found in the gardens that are hosts to the Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe), Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) [pictured right] and Orange-barred Giant Sulphur (Phoebis philea) butterflies that we regularly display at MOSI's BioWorks Butterfly Garden.

• Candlestick Cassia (Cassia alata) is one of our most lovely members of the Cassia family. Native to Argentina, it grows 6 to 12 feet and height and its blooms resemble fat yellow candles before the individual flowers open. Check out these blossom spikes early in the morning and you can note neat patterns of water droplets inside the unopened blooms. Candlestick cassia is a beautiful showy plant and caterpillars are easy to find on its broad leaves. Just look for the tiny holes that have been chewed there! Seedpods on this plant are easy to find because they are HUGE! This plant is easy to grow from seed, has showy flowers and is also a host plant for butterflies in the Sulphur family. So I ask, what's not to love? Ours is planted next to a bed of Firebush (Hamelia patens) and the two complement each other nicely.

• Winter Cassia (Cassia bicapsularis) is yet another of the plants to bear the irritatingly common name of "Butterfly Bush" that refers to about a dozen unrelated species. This cassia is native to the tropical areas of the Americas and is so named Winter Cassia because it puts on a showy bloom of yellow each winter. When blooming, the Winter Cassia is a mass of eye catching yellow that is sure to turn heads and generate lots of requests for cuttings and seed sharing. Also an excellent host plant for Sulphur butterflies, this shrub is fast growing but can be kept smaller with judicious pruning. If left, the shrub will develop into a ball of Cassia some 10 feet tall with a similar diameter. Caterpillars hosting on this plant will be green in color most of the year but the larvae will turn bright yellow when consuming the winter flowers.
  
  
• Sicklepod Cassia (Cassia obtusifolia) is so named for its long sickle-shaped seed pods which begin to form in late summer and mature in the fall. A true annual, Sicklepod will die back entirely each winter in the frost and will sprout from seeds around the beginning of summer. Blooming with small golden flowers, this plant is fast growing and attractive often reaching heights near to six foot. Sicklepod cassia is lovely in a garden but care should be taken to control its spread. This plant is known as a nuisance weed and tends to spread readily among food crops. Due to its fast growing nature this Cassia can outperform food and grain crops making it a serious problem for farmers. The seeds of Sicklepod Cassia can be poisonous if ingested in large quantities, especially by poultry and cattle.

• Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) is our smallest member of the Cassia family. Native to Florida, this smaller species grows 1 to 2 feet in height and favors sandy soils. Drought hearty, this tough little plant can be found growing on roadsides, upland habitats and even often disturbed areas like power line cuts and construction areas. Partridge Pea blooms with the distinctive yellow cassia flowers from July to September and although not as tall as its cousins it is still quite lovely. As a native Florida plant, Partridge Pea is well adapted to our climate and sometimes challenging gardening conditions so if you have a sandy area where nothing seems to grow well, try this little gem. The Partridge Pea is currently blooming in the Backwoods Forest Preserve and in the Olustee Longleaf Pine Flatwoods Garden in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove.

Wright Brothers Sweet Gum and a garden above the soil

Wright Brothers and the first flight.

During the years 1900-02 while experimenting with kites, gliders, and a wind tunnel they built to test wing design, the two brothers developed the first effective airplane, and made the first flight of a powered, controlled, heavier-than-air airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. The original Wright Flyer is now housed at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

In 1905, the Wright brothers built an airplane that could fly for more than half an hour at a time. In 1908 Orville made the world's first flight of over one hour at Fort Myer, Virginia, in a demonstration for the U.S. army, which subsequently made the Wright planes the world's first military airplanes. That same year Wilbur made over 100 flights near Le Mans, France; the longest one, on Dec. 31, a record flight: 2 hours, 19 minutes.

This sweetgum is a seedling from a tree at the site of the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk. As a tribute to the awesome quest for flight and the remarkable advances of the Wright brothers we chose to create a garden that could thrive in the air rather than on the ground. Thus, our Wright Brothers Sweet Gum now has a garden of airplants!

Tillandsias: above the soil.

Tillandsias are members of the bromeliad family found in North and South America in many regions from deserts to deep forests. Tillandsias are ephiphites and do not need soil to grow.

Ephiphytes are defined by Webster's Dictionary as ". . . a plant that grows upon another plant (as a tree) nonparasitically or sometimes upon some other object (as a building or a telegraph wire), derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone (as many mosses, liverworts, lichens and algae) and in the tropics (as many ferns, cacti, orchids, and bromeliads) — called also air plants."

Those from the Tampa Bay area are probably already familiar with two very common Tillandsias particularly Ball Moss (Tillandsia recurvata) which is often seen growing on trees and even power lines and also Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides). Although often thought to be parasitic to trees on which they host, these tillandsias only use their hosts for support and collect all of their necessary nutrients through their own leaves.

What's in a name?

The genus Tillandsia was named by Carolus Linnaeus after Dr. Elias Tillander (1640-1693) who was a Finnish physician and botanist who published the Catalogus Plantarum in 1673. Carolus Linneaus (1707-1778) is the father of modern binomial nomenclature or 'Latin name' which utilizes a genus and specific name or epithet to create a full scientific name for a creature. Binomial nomenclature gets us around the sticky problems of one species having many common names by providing a scientific term by which we will always know which species is being referenced.

Our garden:

The Tillandsias chosen for the Wright Brothers Sweet Gum Air Garden were mounted to two pieces of fallen tree from the MOSI backwoods so that they would be well supported as they grow. At their base are planted several colorful bromeliads. Many tillandsias are known primarily by their scientific names.

Stump One:

• Bartram's Airplant (Tillandsia bartramii) is found primarily in Florida


• (Tillandsia concolor)


• (Tillandsia aeranthos) aeranthos comes from the Greek words aer 'air' and anthos 'flower'


• (Tillandsia vernicosa)


• (Tillandsia streptophylla)


• (Tillandsia rodriguezian)

Stump Two:

• (Tillandsia recurvifolia)


• (Tillandsia hondurensis) A species from Honduras


• (Tillandsia caput-medusae)


• (Tillandsia ionantha v. van-hyningii)
  

Rock the Bugs Project!

Rock the bugs! Make a mix CD and send it to MOSI's BioWorks Butterfly Garden. I'll play it for the caterpillars in the lab and post their playlist along with a thank you to the CD creator! You chose the soundtrack for the butterflies-to-be!

BioWorks Butterfly Garden @ MOSI
attn: Rock the Bugs Project

4801 E Fowler Ave

Tampa FL 33617

Just look at this Gulf Fritillary caterpillar! Does he not look like he was made to rock? So pick out some tunes and burn a disk! Please mail in a playlist with your disk so I can be sure I list the music correctly!

Rock on!

Florida Beggar-weed and Long-tailed Skippers

Often known as a very pesky weed, Florida Beggar-weed (Desmodium tortuosum) is a member of the pea family and a common site in Tampa Bay. Often found growing in yards, in fields of crop and in road margins, this hardy weed spreads itself freely through the use of incredibly sticky seeds.

Any person or animal that has brushed by Beggar-weed has found themselves covered with seedpods that stick to hair and clothing. Later these seedpods get brushed off or pulled off and deposited elsewhere helping this drought tolerant plant to flourish in a new site.

Besides just being annoying, Florida Beggar-weed does have one particularly useful feature: it is a host for Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus) and Dorantes Skippers (Urbanus dorantes). Because the plant is so widespread, these skippers are able to Flourish in the Tampa Bay area since one of their food plants is so readily available.

The Long-tailed Skipper is a spread-wing skipper that hosts on peas and beans and is also known as the Bean Leaf-roller as the caterpillars use silk to roll leaves of their host plants into tubes to serve as protective shelters from predators. If you have ever grown beans or peas you have likely dealt with these larvae.

If you love caterpillars but want to raise some vegetables at the same time, it can be handy to have some Florida Beggar-weed around. Caterpillars on your vegetables can be transferred to the weed plant with ease and you have have your bugs and eat your beans too.

White Peacock

Found throughout the Southern United States, the White Peacock Butterfly (Anartia jatrophaeis) a fast and erratic flying tropical butterfly.

Adults of this species can often be found in open weedy areas, especially those near to retention ponds or waterways where the host plants become abundant. It is not uncommon to find small populations of this butterfly cruising the margins of a pond, all quite happy to live their whole life cycle out around that singular source of water and larval food. Males are very territorial and will fly off any intruders that happen into their several square feet of territory.

Females deposit their tiny green eggs on the undersides of larval hosts like Water Hyssop (Bacopa monnieri). The caterpillars are a dark charcoal grey to black in color with tiny dots of silvery white and are covered in branching spines. When threatened by a predator (or a keeper trying to move them to fresh food) the caterpillars arch sharply backward and often throw themselves from their host plant. If they land on muddy ground they are nearly impossible to see. If they land on water the branching spines on the larvae help them to float. The caterpillars will ride along the surface of the water until they can climb out on a bit of plant or at the water's edge.

The chrysalis are either bright green or black in color and blend almost perfectly into their surroundings. The pupae are sometimes made very close to the ground so at the adult butterflies emerge they may have to climb to a higher vantage point to begin pumping fluids through the veins in their wings, bringing their wings to full size.

These butterflies are truly gorgeous up close and when feeding often stay fairly still. If a White Peacock is nectaring at a cluster of buddleia or any other nectar plant with clumps of flowers they make a great photographic opportunity. Next time you head down to the edge of the water at a local park or walk past a retention pond, keep your eyes peeled for these little beauties.

Fiery Skippers making more skippers.

I caught these two Fiery Skippers (Hylephila phyleus) demonstrating love among the bugs.

Fiery skippers are one of the more common Florida skippers and like many other skippers are often confused with moths. Even though they are generally dull in color, Skippers are technically butterflies even though they don't much resemble Monarchs or Swallowtails.

There are over 3500 recognized species of Skippers in the family Hesperidae that break down into 6 subfamilies. The Fiery Skippers are in the subfamily Hesperiinae, known as Grass Skippers. Fiery Skippers and the 2000 species closely related to them host on grasses as larvae.

Fiery Skippers host on Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), crabgrass (Digitaria), St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) and are often found buzzing about lawns. For nectar, they are a common find around lantana, porterweeds and other flowering plants that bear clusters of small flowers.

Plumbago and Cassius Blues

Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) also commonly known as Leadwort is an evergreen shrub that blooms with showy sky blue or white flowers very similar in appearance to phlox.

Native to South Africa, plumbago is tolerant of long, hot summers, humid air, torrential downpours and needs little to no water once established which has made it a popular ornamental plant in Florida and California. Plumbago blooms most of the year except for the coldest part of winter, so wait until then to cut the plant back without getting rid of flower buds.

As for butterflies, Plumbago is host to the tiny Cassius Blue butterfly (Leptotes cassius) which lays its eggs on the buds of new flowers and leaves. The eggs are whitish and have the look of a donut with a deep depression in the center.

The tiny larvae are a green that seems made to match the exact shade of the plumbago foliage and they have tiny hairs on their body that helps further camouflage their slug-like bodies from predators. Trying to spy these caterpillars on a plumbago bush is nearly an exercise in futility.

The diminutive butterfly has a lovely silvery-blue coloring on its upper wings and the underside is a mottled cream and brown pattern that helps to break up their overall form and make it more difficult for predators to see them.

If you have a plumbago, just wait for it. Soon you'll have a cloud of tiny blue butterflies dancing in the air around it.

Volunteer of the Month for August 2009: Naomi May

The BioWorks Butterfly Garden's very own Naomi May is the MOSI Volunteer of the Month for August 2009!

Since April of 2007 Naomi May has provided an ASTOUNDING 1459 hours of volunteer service at MOSI. She has a special touch when taking care of our caterpillars and gardens alike and Naomi is great helping to get other volunteers oriented and trained in the gardens.

Naomi volunteers faithfully in the gardens every Monday and Friday and spends great swaths of the rest of her week volunteering at her church in the bell choir and in their gardens.

Without volunteers like Naomi, and especially without Naomi herself, there is no way we could get everything done that is necessary to keep the butterfly garden running smoothly. Thanks Naomi and congratulations!