Show your butterfly and hummingbird gardens/plants

[bower]

That black swallowtail is wonderful.

[SpookyShoe]

I've got a photo of that black swallowtail on Pentas. Below are Mandevilla vine, Ruellia (invasive here), David Verity Cuphea. I assume the statue is Arnold?

Donna, Texas zone 9

[Worth1]

Looks great.
I just noticed today I have another one of my smaller agave putting up a stalk.
Some die after the bloom some dont I have no idea about this one, lord knows it has plenty of pups coming up around it.

[GrowingCoastal]

Originally Posted by bower

That black swallowtail is wonderful.

ditto
A real beauty!

[Gardenboy]

My passiflora is blooming again. It produces flowers and fruit year round. The fruit are green with little white dots but will turn yellow when ripe. The fruit will fall from the vine when it's ready. I let the fruit ripen further until the skin is wrinkled and looks like leather. I have FRESH seeds available if anyone is interested. They germinate much faster when the seeds are fresh. Send me a PM if interested.



I also have a WHITE passiflora as well. Not as productive as Flavicarpa but still a hardy vine with fruit. The white passion flower is called "Alba"

[SpookyShoe]

Ok, I'll try some seeds but I need some advice. I live in zone 9, but it's not Florida. If I plant the seeds now they will germinate and grow some before it gets colder. Sometimes we have a freeze here, but many times we can go a few years without any frost. Should I start the seeds in a pot and then just baby the plant until spring comes? By that I mean bringing the plant in if there's a danger of frost. Donna

P.S. The Passiflora Inspiration I have now is growing in a very large pot set up against a fence. It has done very well. If it gets too cold this winter I'm just going to have to let it die back and come back in the spring.

[SpookyShoe]

Sent you a p.m. Garden boy. Donna

[SpookyShoe]

There's no longer a horde of them, but a few are still here.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast

[GrowingCoastal]

I never have hordes of them here though at times there have been lots of Rufous pass through on their migration.


There are a few resident Anna's here, probably around 5 that regularly visit my flowers and feeders that are jealously guarded by them. Youngsters never seem to find it difficult to make their way in though.
Still in bloom, the Hesperantha, that will go on into November. These pics are from a few years ago. Hardly any tail feathers on this young one due to molting.






A missing wing feather in this pic.



The sound of their flight changes to a deeper noise when they are missing feathers.

[SpookyShoe]

Coastal, do you have hummingbirds all year?? What do they eat in the winter? Feeders?

Donna

[GrowingCoastal]

The Annas do stay year round. There are frequent spells of temperatures that allow some kinds of little flies to hatch and fly about. Humming birds' diet consists of about 80% insects. Feeders here help them thrive rather than just survive the cold winters on the coast. We up the amount of sugar in the syrup in winter.


Snow in the background.

[AuntJane21]

With envy, I look at the beautiful pictures, no hummingbirds in my garden unfortunately fly.

My Anna's also get nectar from lots of winter-blooming shrubs - for instance, Arbutus unedo, various Grevilleas.

[GrowingCoastal]

And winter blooming Jasmine Nudiflorum that starts blooming in November is also popular. That's what made me notice the hummingbirds in the yard in winter, years ago. Having shrubs and trees gives them places for shelter in the cold weather.
One Christmas Eve, after all the family had left, I turned on the light in the bathroom and heard the 'chip, chip' of a hummingbird in the ivy outside the window. I quickly turned off the light to let it sleep undisturbed!
I have one Grevillea that blooms orange flowers in winter. I am hoping that as it matures it will not drop its buds in hard freezes as it has, so far.

[MissS]

Donna I am still sending some more birds your way. Three left yesterday morning and I still have one very chilly one here. We are having rain for the next 4-5 days so I doubt the birds will be moving much. The main flock left here last week which was good. Of course I don't know if they are going south via Texas. They may choose another route but I do hope that more come your way.