Salvia 'Hot Lips'

A few days ago, we noticed a new flower had popped up in the gardens behind the Flight Encounter, one that was never planted there. No doubt the wind, or perhaps a passing bird, dropped off a seed and gave the gift of one of the most striking salvias out there - Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips'.

Salvia microphylla is native to Arizona and the mountains of Mexico. This particular variety, 'Hot Lips', was found in the Chiapas region of Mexico and introduced to warmer regions of the U.S., where it does well in hot and dry conditions.

Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips' is hardy to zone 8, and can handle light frost. A hard freeze kills it to the ground, but it should return from the root when conditions are right. It loves full sun and is very drought-tolerant. Like many Salvia species, 'Hot Lips' is a good source of nectar and is a welcome addition in any butterfly garden.

A Rose for All Seasons

Although there are many lovely roses in the garden underneath the Juliette Gordon Low magnolia here at MOSI, by far the easiest to care for are the Knock Out Roses. This patented family of roses was created by William Radler to eliminate the often difficult maintenance needed and offer roses that everyone could grow and enjoy. Learn more about his journey to a care-free rose here.

The Knock Out Rose is hardy to zone 5, and perhaps more important, wonderfully tolerant of summer heat. Florida rose growers encounter many challenges in the humid summers, especially with blackspot fungal disease. Growing roses this far south requires constant diligence and frequent application of fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides, none of which are good for a fragile ecosystem. This makes Knock Out Roses a great choice for Florida gardeners.

To date, there are seven varieties of Knock Out Roses, including both single and double blooms in red, pink, and yellow. Last year, we added a 'Sunny Knock' Out Rose (shown above and below) to the rose garden at MOSI and were thrilled to discover that, unlike some other members of the family, 'Sunny' has an amazing tea rose fragrance that draws us back to the garden again and again.

Knock Out Roses grow into small shrubs and flower year-round, although they do best in the cooler temperatures of fall and spring here in Central Florida. They can take full sun and are drought-tolerant, although blooming best with regular watering. A light application of rose fertilizer a few times a year can help make blooms more prolific, but these roses seem to thrive even under neglect.

One important fact butterfly gardeners should note: roses are not sources of nectar for butterflies, whatever the poets may tell you. However, they are attractive to pollinators like bees, and are beloved by human eyes and noses everywhere. Gardeners at any level of experience can expect success with Knock Out Roses, and we hope to add a few more varieties to the rose garden at MOSI in the future.

Walter's Viburnum

Once again, the Walter's Viburnum is blooming in the Historic Tree Grove, and drawing gasps of admiration from everyone who sees it. The tiny, snowy white flowers on the huge banks of shrubs are a true sign of spring in the MOSI Gardens.

Walter’s Viburnum (Viburnum obovatum), also known as small-leafed viburnum, is a Florida native that can be grown as a large shrub or a small tree. Dwarf varieties of viburnum species are also available and make a great dense hedge to edge yards or fences.

The taller Walter’s Viburnum can also make an excellent dense screen for the edge of a property line or as a privacy hedge. Walter’s Viburnum is well suiting to heavy pruning and can be easily trimmed into a formal hedge or topiary.

This species is generally evergreen in the Tampa Bay area and produces a fruit in the fall months that can be an important part of the winter diet of native birds. The dense and twiggy limbs provide a great shelter for nesting birds and the flowers are appealing to small Spring butterflies.

It's interesting to note that during last year's unusually cold winter and spring, the Walter's Viburnum bloomed nearly a month later than usual. It's reassuring to see that spring of 2011 seems to be right on track. The pristine blooms of Walter's Viburnum in February are the precursor of many wonderful blooms in the days and months ahead!

Stokes' Aster

Last week saw the addition of five big pots of Stokes' Aster to the Flight Enclosure. They provide a pretty pop of pale purple that butterflies just love.

Stokes' Aster (Stokesia laevis) is named after Jonathon Stokes, an English physician and botanist who was a contemporary of Linnaeus' son Carolus. He was best known for his early adoption of digitalis to treat heart problems, but the aster named for him has no known medical properties.

Stokes' Aster is native from South Carolina to Northern Florida, although it has proved to be hardy as far north as New York with protective mulching in the winter. Here in Central Florida, Stokes' Aster tends to falter a bit in the heat of summer unless provided with very well-drained soil and protection from the sun in the hottest part of the day. Once you've found the right location, Stokes' Aster thrives as a perennial, and can be divided every few years as the plant grows. It may also re-seed itself under the right conditions.

Here at BioWorks, we'll keep the Stokes' Asters in the Flight Enclosure as long as they bloom well and provide sweet nectar for the butterflies. Then, we'll try to find a good location for them outside in the gardens where we can enjoy them in the years to come.

Rue Flowers

The Common Rue (Ruta graveolens) planted in the butterfly garden last year is beginning to flower for the first time, giving us a close look at the fascinating blooms.

Rue is native to Southeastern Europe, and is in fact the national flower of Lithuania. As an emblem of purity and maidenhood, rue flowers are carried in bridal bouquets or worn as a wreath on the bride's head. In some cases, the wreath is burned after the ceremony, symbolizing the end of girlhood.

In its native region, rue is said to live for generations. Lithuanians emigrating to new homes would carry rue seed with them to plant in their new homes. Here in Florida, rue (like most herbs) seems to do best in the cooler weather of winter, but can survive the summer if given shade during the hottest part of the day and plenty of water.

Rue is the host plant for both Giant Swallowtails and Eastern Black Swallowtails, so it is a valuable asset in any butterfly garden. For more information on rue and the caterpillars that love it, check out this post.

Gardens and Poetry of Springtime

Spring, first flowers, returning green, colorful birds active in the budding trees; this is the stuff of poetry.

Something about this time time of year always makes my gardener’s heart a little hopeful of the things to come and sends me scurrying for a volume of e.e. cummings. One of my favorite poets, cummings often wrote poetry besprinkled with the language of gardens and it is obvious that the poet had a soft spot for flowers and for Spring.

this is the garden:colours come and go,

this is the garden:colours come and go,

frail azures fluttering from night's outer wing

strong silent greens silently lingering,

absolute lights like baths of golden snow.

This is the garden:pursed lips do blow

upon cool flutes within wide glooms,and sing 

(of harps celestial to the quivering string)

invisible faces hauntingly and slow.

This is the garden. Time shall surely reap

and on Death's blade lie many a flower curled,

in other lands where other songs be sung;

yet stand They here enraptured,as among

the slow deep trees perpetual of sleep

some silver-fingered fountain steals the world.

e.e. cummings

What is your favorite flower or poem of Spring? Share it here!

Eastern Redbud

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Delicate pinkish-purple blossoms quivering against smooth bark are one of the first harbingers of an early Spring in our gardens. Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) are deciduous trees in the Legume Family (Fabaceae) that put forth a showy bloom of bright flowers before they even begin to put on leaves. One of the interesting points of this species is that flowers appear directly on the branches and sometimes even on large trunks.

Several of the trees lining our main drive are already blooming a happy riot of color amidst the ongoing parking lot construction. These blooms are so bright that I keep noticing staff, guests and even construction workers stopping to take a closer look.

Although Tampa is a bit far south for the normal range of Eastern Redbud, this little stand of trees has done quite well. They can be expected to top out around 25 to 35 feet with a spreading crown. Redbuds do best in moist soil and can be found from Florida north to southern Ontario and west into Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

A taste of Spring.

The last few weeks in Tampa have been gloriously mild in temperature with weekly rainstorms that are doing a fantastic job keeping the ground moist. Together, these conditions make for a very happy early spring.

Although the nights are still cool and another frost is possibly but unlikely, we have gotten started in the MOSI gardens. A selection of cool season annuals now dresses some of the more visible gardens surrounding the butterfly enclosure.

Along the front walkway to the BioWorks Butterfly Garden long lines of purple alyssum waft a scent of honey toward our guests. White angelonia bobs in the breeze and purple salvia is abuzz with hungry pollinators. Purple and white flowering kale crouch on the front corners of the garden with lines of petunia and pale bacopa blooming in front of them.

Under the spreading boughs of the Richard T. Bowers Oak, pink dianthus, purple salvia and lavendula make for a colorful corner while white and pink petunias ring the small picnic area. A patch of dusty miller and silvery artemesia provides a neat patch of pale color in the dapple sunlight and a selection of herbs like parsley and dill is waiting for the Eastern Black Swallowtails to arrive and lay eggs.

The small pond by the front doors of MOSI is a cheerful tumble of yellow, pink, purple and white. Snapdragons, salvia, angelonia and petunias are all blooming happily in a riot of Spring color. The planter wall by the butterfly garden is brimming with parsley, pink dianthus, Dahlberg daisy, purple salvia and pale purple trailing bacopa.

Inside the garden the flight encounter is a riot of bright color with the deliciously sweet scent of sweet almond and citrus blossoms hanging in the air. On cool days like today the butterflies are so still that you can walk right up to them and take incredible photographs.

The Flower Garden

by Wayne Jarus

A blur of color in the wind
Fertile soil as nature’s palette
A fragrance so seductive we think of sin

A gardener’s work must begin
Work the soil before he sees
A blur of color in the wind

Damp earth the gardener’s canvas
Spring warmth brings the seed to sprout
A fragrance so seductive we think of sin

A fiery sun nurtures the seed to begin
Emerald leaves open to feed and bring
A blur of colour in the wind

A palace of wild beauty within
The gardeners reward of toil is
A fragrance so seductive we think of sin

And within this plot of raging color
The worker’s castle for months to stay
A blur of color in the wind
A fragrance so seductive we think of sin.

©2007, Wayne Jarus

Preparing for Caterpillar Season: Greens and weeds

Some say weed or vegetable, I say host plant!

Some of the earliest spring butterflies are members of the butterfly family Pieridae and are commonly known as the Whites and Sulphurs. The Whites (Subfamily Pierinae), namely the Cabbage White, Great Southern White, Checkered White and Great Florida White can often be seen on roadsides and medians throughout Florida, especially in the early spring.

Part of what makes these species of Pieridae butterflies so abundant and successful is that their host plants are so numerous and ubiquitous. These species of butterflies host on a variety of plants including members of the mustard family and common roadside weeds.

Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum) or Poor Man’s Pepper, a host plant for these delicate beauties, is something that you may already have growing in your yard. In fact, if you have a yard that is not perfectly manicured then you can pretty likely find some growing at home. Besides feeding butterflies, you can also add the young leaves to salads and the seed pods can be used as a substitute for black pepper. It may not be the most attractive of garden plants and it may be a brown skeleton by mid-summer, but in the Spring peppergrass has some great butterfly uses.

If you have a fenced yard that your neighbors won’t complain about, consider letting a small patch of peppergrass go wild by mowing around it. It is amazing how many butterflies are drawn to common weeds like peppergrass or Spanish Needles. Peppergrass is native to Florida and does well in dry conditions.

Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Cabbage, Turnip Greens, Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli and Kale are just some of the Brassica family of plants that may be consumed by various species of White butterflies. Species of Pieridae butterflies can be considered garden pests because they host on so many common home vegetables.

If you want to grow a vegetable garden but don’t want to use pesticides or kill caterpillars then try picking up a few of these greens not for food but for the butterflies. Plant them away from your vegetable garden and use them as sacrificial plants. When you find caterpillars in your vegetable garden, move them to the caterpillar patch so you can have your cabbage butterflies and eat your cabbage too.

Spider Flower (Cleome hasslerana), also known by its botanical name Cleome, is often sold as a flowering annual in garden shops. This plant has a lovely spider-like flower available in several colors and can reseed readily in some places. Cleome has short but sharp spines along the main stem and a musky scent when the foliage is bruised. This species tends to be hearty in the winter and spring and does not do well in Florida summers. Cleome is native to South America.

As a side note, the foliage of this plant along with scarlet hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus) and chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) can greatly resemble the foliage of marijuana. Until your plant blooms with white, pink or lavender spider-like blooms the shape of the foliage might cause some talk among your neighbors. I recommend that anyone with an active neighborhood association, neighborhood watch or just overly nosey neighbors might want to consider labeling this plant is a very obvious way. Keep the identifying plant stake that comes with the potted plant and stick it in the soil at the base of your plant. This might help to keep the neighbors from whispering behind their hands every time you have guests over for dinner.

Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra) is also known as Dwarf Cleome and the flowers and foliage resemble the former species. The plant will grow to a shorter height than Cleome and is considered an annual. Clammyweed is native to most of the continental United States but is listed as not-native to Florida.

Whites: These butterflies many not be the most showy species in Florida but they are incredibly lovely. Some, like the Florida White (Appias drusilla) have sky blue-tipped antennae that cannot be believed until they are seen.

These species represent a great opportunity to lure butterflies to the garden in early Spring without having to search for nearly un-locatable native plants.

Trellises

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The garden has three gorgeous and sturdy new trellises upon which we will be growing lots of vines in the upcoming year. All three of the new trellises are located in the garden directly behind the butterfly garden enclosure. Soon they will be covered in pipevine, passionvine, beans and Mexican flame vine providing food for caterpillars and butterflies alike.

Thanks to Tampa Bay Steel Corporation employees Mark Stewart and Steve Wilson for the donation of materials and expertise in design, fabrication, delivery and installation of our three new trellises in the BioWorks Butterfly Garden.