Saturday, May 7, 2011

Passion Vine Incubator

Above is a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly from last year. When I snapped the photo, I had no idea it was a female laying her eggs on the passion vine incubator.

3 weeks ago, I saw Bobby Appleseed with the machete headed into our jungle, he chopped a palm frond, cleaned it to a stick and went over to the fence behind the bucket garden, and pounded it into the ground.
He said I found a passion vine and am training it up the fence for the Gulf Fritterarys
Above shows the vine is almost to the top of the fence.

this is one of the little curly cues that cling to the dead frond stick...so cute

this is what the passion flower looks like. Last year we found by accident the Passion Plant is the incubator for for the Gulf Fritillary Butterfly.
Now we Wait... today we saw THREE of them and one went to the vine and laid her eggs on it. Just like last year.
If you missed the story  on the Gulf Fritillary Click Here for the story of how we found out we had an incubator
to see all our butterflies, we have 5 species that come each year, click on butterflies label on side bar

17 comments:

Regina said...

I'm equally impressed with both the color of the passion and the incubator..is it edible? My red one isn't. The regular lavender purple ones are going off too. Well, I've been wanting one and will order if I have to!! Wow, so I'll check the link out soon as I can. You know I actually bought a Crown flower tree- finally..I wanted one since the last time I took a photograph of a butterfly. We don't have very many here. Anyway I think I was told it was a tree? It's the only one here the Hawaiian Monarch butterfly lays her eggs on!! Hmm..it has a little white flower too (there is suppose to be purple) scratching my head already? Now I KNOW you wouldn't wait to take a picture of the butterfly on it!! How exciting..I will be back-

SquirrelQueen said...

There are going to be some very happy Gulf Fritillary butterlies around you place. The flower is beautiful.

DawnTreader said...

That first shot is awesome, such clarity although the butterfly is in the air!

diane b said...

fabulous shots of the butterfly, the tendril, and the flower. Hoe awesome to see those butterflies do their morphing.

Ruth Hiebert said...

What a great way to help nature and enjoy watching the process.THe flowers are lovely,no wonder the butterflies choose a place like this to lay their eggs.

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

Thanks for the info about butterflies, I had no idea. I love butterflies too

Jama said...

Wow, just love the first photo, simply awesome! You're so lucky the butterfly decided to make your garden their nestling ground, I'm so envious here.

Danmark said...

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S. Etole said...

Your images are so good and the info along with them is fascinating.

Ginny Hartzler said...

I love the mid-flight butterfly, the picture is so clear!! The passion flower is stunning!! We have none around here, probably they need a tropical environment. What is the gorgous flower in your header, the whole header is a stunning WOW moment! Hey, you may be Melange ll!! Can't wait to see.

Ann said...

Now that is very cool. Not many people have a butterfly incubator in their back yard.

Dawning Inspiration said...

How exciting!! I'm going to go inspect my Mom's Passion plant and see if there are any flutterby's nesting there!!! cool!

Chatty Crone said...

Okay who is Bobby Appleseed - your hubby?

And 5 types of butterflies that is amazing. Love the purple passion flowers too. I don't think they are here in GA - at least where I am.

Love,
sandie

srp said...

I just planted two passion vines today. I was going to put them in the flowerbed but then I read that they can be a bit invasive and need their space, so I put them out by a couple of trees next to the preserve. I hope they will grow fast enough so they can be used by the fritillary butterflies this year. I already have black swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel and monarchs on the milkweed. This morning another of the black swallowtails emerged from the chrysalides in the sunroom.

Betty Manousos said...

Exquisite photos, i love them all, especially the 2nd and 3rd one.

they look so artistic!

...can't stop looking at them!!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Love the information on this post and wish our clime was a tad warmer so we could assist. This year, I want to plant a huge corner of milk weed for the monarch butterfly.

Mr. Bill said...

What a beautiful photo capture.