Butterfly Gardening Seminar - October 19, 2019

So good morning again.
Thank you all for coming out.
My name is Nikki Monroe.
I am the environmental horticulture
agent. Hi, Lee. Hi, Nikki.
And master gardener coordinator.
It is always nice to see a familiar
face in the crowd.
Lee is one of my volunteers,
and she has been known to show
up when I need one face in the crowd.
She she always puts herself out
there as tribute.
So this morning,
I would like to discuss butterfly
gardening with you all.
It is a very important item on
the agenda for a lot of countries
and various regions in the world
because we are having collapses
of pollinator colonies all over
the place. And, of course,
we had some alarm bells being
sound about the monarchs.
Pollinator gardening is not
something that we had to really,
really think about years and
years gone by because people
just planted all sorts of things
in their yards,
and these animals were served.
Right? Nowadays,
we have less and less diversity
causing and we have more and
more encroachment on the areas
where pollinators would naturally exist.
So we have to mitigate that sort
of damage.
That is one of the reasons why
I am doing this talk today.
I believe that we all can have
and utilize our very small
opportunities to provide for wildlife.
It is one of my favorite Florida
Friendly Landscaping principles.
I think it is very important
that we garden more mindfully
to remember that we coexist with
other things that are living.
And chances are wherever we just
put our home used to be theirs.
We cannot say that they are We
cannot say that they are more
of a nuisance than they ought
to be because we invited them
we invited ourselves into their
territory. So let's work on
figuring out how to live with
various things. Alright?
Now, that said,
that was my lead up into,
if you invite one,
you have invited them all.
Because everybody eats somebody.
That is how this works.
So if you have butterflies,
if you have bees,
you're going to be feeding
somebody that eats them.
This is not something that you
want to do if you are not inclined
to have a variety of critters
passing through.
But they will pass through.
They will not remain there.
And that is an important thing
for you to remember as well.
Identify what it is that you
think is happening before you
go and treat for it.
Black racers, they will not eat you.
They will scare the crap out of you.
But they will not eat you.
Alright? They they tend to just be like,
Oh, she's here.
And they start to run away and
they startle you.
But they will not eat you.
They they're not interested in
your big toe or your ankles. Alright?
So be careful. Know what it is
that you're dealing with.
That's not rain.
That's leaf drop water hitting us.
It's a lot better than what
dropped on me last week.
Oh, it must have been. Alright.
So, be prepared for that.
Another thing to think about is,
if you are butterfly gardening
correctly, you're going to have water,
you're going to have shelter,
and you're going to have food
for these butterflies. Food.
They're gonna eat it.
Some of your plants are gonna
look tattered. They're gonna
look abused. And you are going
to feel so successful because
that's what they are there for.
So, if you have fennel,
it will not be this cute.
This is one of the plants that
you are going to put into your
garden and it's going to look
like it has been terrorized.
And you're going to pat yourself
on the back because that's what
it is there for.
Now, if you have Jatropha,
if you have Firebush, Porterweed,
they're gonna still look super
cute for you because they're
nectar sources.
That's another kind of food.
So if you don't want beat up leaves,
do not plant a host.
But you're only going to get
occasional traffic coming through
from adult feeders.
They're not going to stay.
They're going to leave because
you have not given them a place
that they know their offspring
will survive in.
So if you want various cycles
of butterflies in your landscape,
then you're going to have to put
down hosts and nectar sources
in order for them to remain. Alright?
They will they will do that.
And, alright.
So I want you all to look at
your publication.
There are really,
really great tips that I'm gonna
talk about. But for right now,
I want you all to look at page four.
Alright, so page four in your
publication, it gives you a table.
Alright? It gives you a butterfly
species type.
And there is a lot of information
on here. Here are the two most
important things for you to note.
Regions. We are in region four.
Alright? We are in region four.
So all of the butterflies that
are in that overlap into region four,
there is no group of butterflies
on here that says only found in
region four. So you just have
to highlight those.
That's what I did on my publication.
I went through,
I highlighted the butterflies
that should be found in my region
by region. Alright?
And then what I did was,
because I'm a bad person,
I highlighted the ones that are
here all year.
Those are the ones I'm gonna focus on.
Everybody else who wants to come
through and and do what it wants
to do occasionally,
they'll get the leavings.
You wanna provide for the ones
that are here all year.
Chances are their needs overlap.
You wanna do this efficiently.
You want to do this effectively.
That is the whole point of you
coming to this talk to find out
how to get that done. Right?
Less trial and less error. Alright.
So I also went over to flight season,
which means that's when they're here.
Doesn't mean when they're leaving.
It means that's when they're here.
And I highlighted all year,
straight on through.
The whole of table one,
I highlighted the regions that
cover mine and all year.
So now I know what butterflies
are going to be here all year
in my region. Alright?
Now, the next thing on that
table is what are the larval
host plants?
It's going to be easy for you
to read that part.
It's going to be easy for you
to figure out what feeds the adults.
It's usually it'll usually say
nectar plant. So,
most flowering plants will have
some sort of nectar. Alright?
There are some that do better
than others.
And then you're gonna say and
then there are things that there
are some butterflies that'll
feed on rotting food.
I put out my peach pits.
I put out my apple cores. Right?
I don't cut a a fruit salad and
stick it outside for my butterfly
garden. I give them what I've
got left over,
because I'm a miser and I like
to recycle in that way.
And then when the butterflies
are done with it,
I throw it into my compost bin.
It can work. Your banana peels,
they will eat those up as well.
Unless you've got some other
thing that you're doing with
banana peels. Alright?
So these are things that are very,
very important. Habitat.
Yes. So I put them in a little
bowl so that they can ferment
all together because the butterfly
is really a lot of the butterflies
that feed like that are feeding
on the fermented product from the fruit.
So if you keep it in a little bowl,
they'll be able to go ahead and get it.
But I put it in a shallow bowl,
a shallow dish.
I usually just put it in amongst
the other flowers on the ground.
It won't it won't really.
And no, it does not cause pest problems.
The ants don't want your rotten fruit.
They don't want it.
They don't like you for putting
out vinegar.
They're not gonna be keen on that spot.
Another thing to think about as
well is when you put your little
water plate out there,
put a little bit of soil in there,
put a couple of rocks in there,
because they will tip over and
drop if you don't. That's number one.
Number two, they will get minerals,
especially from our very sandy soil.
Our soil is more of the large
mineral comp component than
smaller particles of soil would be.
So you just sprinkle a little
bit of soil into the pan.
You put a few pebbles in there.
And then you fill it up with water.
In the summertime,
you need to change that out at
least three times a week.
Because all sorts of yuck will
incubate in that little pan if
you don't. Same thing with your
bird baths.
And besides that, this is Florida.
Mosquitoes are this big or that's
how they feel.
You don't want water sitting
around for more than a few days
at a time. Right?
So it is very important that you
go ahead and and put yourself
on a schedule. At least every
other day or every two days,
get them flushed out.
Make sure that you are doing that.
And you know, birds that are
sick don't know they're sick.
Butterflies that are sick don't
know that they're sick.
And they're all coming for their water.
You don't wanna share that. Okay?
But you do wanna have a clean
water source.
They will stay if you're providing
them with all three of these things.
So shelter is usually the same plants.
They will just hide in there.
They'll fly around in there.
They'll perch here and there.
And they will stay as long as
you've got those three things.
Now back to our table.
You're gonna identify the butterflies
or the plant and figure out what
butterflies go with that plant.
Alright? But it is a lot easier
to go by butterfly.
You're gonna find something
likable about most plants,
if you're inclined to do any
gardening at all.
You're gonna find some redeeming
quality about those plants.
I got a question the other day.
Why don't we have the really, really,
really pretty butterflies like
they have down in Brazil?
We're not Brazil.
But we do have some beautiful
butterflies. The zebra long wing
is a black and white majestic thing.
I mean, it will float your boat.
Right? And they have cute caterpillars.
I wouldn't suggest you go playing
with them, but they're cute enough.
Alright. So please remember that
we are not Brazil,
but we do have some beautiful,
beautiful butterflies.
The American Painted Lady,
it's got that gray and that blue
under the wing.
It's got that brown and orange
on the top. And of course,
we've got mangrove butterflies as well.
They've got that little bit of
orange and brown thing going on,
and they're beautiful as well.
So select your butterflies and
enjoy them when they come into
your yard. And encourage other
people to do it as well because,
well, we need the help. It's important.
Alright. So butterfly species
overall that are found in Indian
River County are, of course,
varieties of swallowtail,
whites and sulfurs.
Big note on whites and sulfurs.
If you are doing any vegetable
gardening at all,
don't put your cabbages and your
kales or anything in that family
near your butterfly garden.
You will not be happy because
their larvae want nothing more
than to sit down in the cores
of your cabbages.
They will be so pleased with
the expansion of the butterfly
garden that you just put in.
And you're gonna be like,
that darn Nikki told me.
I'm telling you from now.
If you've got cabbages in and
they're following your tomato
crops that you want pollinators for,
you need to keep them a few feet away.
You want to make sure that they're
in a completely separate bed. Alright?
So that you don't have this overlap,
this crossing. Okay?
So be very careful when you
select your plants. Yes?
I just put in a, orchard Yes.
That's about half an acre.
Of Mexican, Central America,
South America fruits.
How far away should these be
from that so all the leaves, plants,
and everything,
the fruits don't get attacked as much?
Okay. So if you are growing citrus,
then you wanna be aware that
let me find which one it is to
make sure. There we go.
The swallowtails.
They will look like drops of
bird poop on your citrus plants.
That's swallowtail cats.
And they will eat down the leaves
on a citrus plant.
That said,
groves that we have are not
overly affected because of the way
that they that they that they
manage their production.
It's usually small homeowners
who invited butterflies into
their landscape that end up
having a bit more of a problem.
I recommend that you manage your tree.
You you take care of its nutrition.
That's what I would say that you
should do for that.
Or plant an alternative type of
citrus into your butterfly
gardening area.
I'll give them something as Give
them something else. Okay.
Something as tribute.
Citrus isn't doing all that well
here right now anyway because
of greening and canker.
That's why it's getting wet from here.
Well, there you go.
So you're not gonna have that
much of a problem at all.
When managed a fruit drop from
whatever it is that you're growing,
because then you do have some
mature adults that are gonna go
there and feed off of the the rotting
fruit on the ground.
So you just take the rotting fruit,
if there's any on the ground,
and put it where you want it to be.
And you should be fine.
You're gonna have more of an issue
with flies than you're gonna
have with butterflies or bees
or anything like that. Alright?
Okay. So let's talk about what
makes a butterfly an insect.
I have a picture of an ant.
This is the velvet ant, actually,
because it does a really great
job of depicting it.
Well, not this picture.
Let me find the other one.
Oh, wow. I skipped this whole thing.
Alright. So butterflies, moths,
and skippers are three different
insects that are Lepidoptera. Right?
But we see something flying
around with big wings and we
call it a Butterfly flies. Yes.
The difference is the most overt
difference is in the way that
their antennas are. Alright?
So butterflies usually have this
little thing out here that looks
like the little antennas that
we put on children and we pretend
that they look like bees.
Skippers have a little hook on
the end of their little ball on
the antenna.
And moths don't usually have that.
They have weird looking eyebrow
like antennas.
They have weird looking bushy
eyebrow antennas. Alright.
Now let me show you all the color
picture. Oh, man.
The ladies in the print room are
going to totally laugh at the fact
that I did not get these laminated.
So, this is a velvet ant.
But it's a really great picture
of a velvet ant.
And I'm using this picture to
show you a great example of what
makes an insect an insect.
These three segmented parts.
Now, some of them will have more
of a waistline than others,
but they're still going to have a head,
a thorac, an abdomen,
and a and a and a thorax. Right?
That's that's what they're going
to have. Three pieces separated.
Okay? And then,
they're gonna have six legs
coming off of that abdomen of that Oh,
God. Save me and the queen. Alright.
So they're gonna have three legs
coming off of the middle.
Even if you can't see that that's
where the legs are connected,
they're gonna all be connected
from the middle.
Sometimes it looks like the legs
are connected from down here.
They're not pulled enough of them apart.
Look, they are ugly.
I didn't wanna be messing with
them anymore than I than they
wanted me messing with them.
So I was like, okay.
If I've got to do this so you
can't kill anything efficiently
unless you know what it is.
The art of war. Right?
Know yourself and know your enemy,
and you'll win all the time.
Only know yourself is fifty percent.
Only know your enemy is fifty percent.
But when you know both,
you are in business.
And I know one thing,
I'm gonna kill them if they're ugly.
Spiders are hard to kill. Who knew?
They're not insects though.
They're, they're arachnids.
Guess who don't like nothing
with eight legs?
Guess who stays outside as often
as she can?
It's bad. It really like, it is so bad.
But anyways,
so going through and doing this
very efficiently.
Let's see if I can decimate this
one set of really pretty handouts.
Because I made these deliberately.
So this is the gulf fritillary
butterfly.
You will find this here year round.
Isn't it pretty? Yeah. Oh, yeah.
It's a really nice bright orange.
Can you imagine this flying over
your green? Yes.
Really, really standout plant.
Standout butterfly.
Now, itty bitty eggs,
we're not gonna worry about them.
That's the caterpillar.
Don't touch that caterpillar.
That caterpillar is telling you,
Don't touch me. Leave me alone.
Right? The yeah.
The wasp were all over them. I can't no.
I can't allow it. She she?
I won't I won't allow it.
We won't allow it.
She spends, like,
two hours a night out there
finding eggs and bringing them
in and hatching them and raising them.
And this is the pupa stage.
We call it maypop.
This gorgeous thing here is
the larval host.
I have a person who brought me
their passion flower vine because
they got ticked off, dug it up,
put it in a container and said,
here, you can have it.
I am tired of those caterpillars
eating my passion flower vine.
Of course, they're gonna strip it.
They think you're nice.
But it all came back.
Of course, it comes back.
But you see, this individual
planted that vine for themselves.
Don't ask me why.
I have a plant science degree,
not a human degree. Oh, the shade.
Alright. Now,
we all know that the magnificent
Atala is on its way back.
We thought it was extinct up
until a few years ago.
Then it was found the caterpillars
were found on Coonty,
west out there in Fellsmere.
And now they have even expanded
their range.
They're even into Brevard County.
They're not supposed to be up
where it is that cold.
We're hoping and praying that
the colonies that are further
south will keep on surviving and
that we will be able to take
this off of the list.
But at first, we thought it was
completely gone.
Now, what you're not seeing from
this flattened picture is the underwing.
And it has little whitish, bluish,
and orange dots on it.
It is just magnificent.
It's about this big, though.
It's about this big.
And I couldn't find an uncopyrighted
photograph of I like my
paycheck coming to me. I need it.
My smallest child is now six feet one.
I'm not complaining because I
used to tell him,
don't let me have to sell you
at a discount.
I was awful. I was an awful parent.
You should've heard what I said
last week. Alright.
This is another very popular
butterfly here.
This is the Cloudless Sulfur.
It likes peas and beans and
things like that.
It will not decimate your crops.
This is a this is a picture of
partridge pea.
This is a beautiful little plant.
It has nice feathery leaves.
It has beautiful little yellow
flowers that and it does bloom
in abundance.
And you will find this butterfly
and this plant flowering year
round here.
The two of them don't ever give
up on one another.
And a lot of times,
if you plant something for a butterfly
that is here year round,
you're going to have flowering
year round. You're going to have
whatever that plant provides year round,
except for when they mow it down.
And then it comes back and then
guess what? It'll flower again for you.
That's how this works. K?
I normally deliver this talk on
a PowerPoint on a really big screen.
Alright. So this is the giant
swallowtail. It truly is giant.
I've seen pictures where people
have it in their hands.
Talk about a handful or two. Alright.
So this is the giant swallowtail.
Isn't that pretty? That is really nice.
Alright. That's what the giant
swallowtail cat looks like. Poop.
Bird poop. That is its superpower
for surviving. Who like,
which predator is gonna say, oh,
that looks delicious.
If only they knew.
Alright.
And swallowtails can be citrus pests.
The larval hosts are darn near
anything that is citrus. K?
Now all of these butterflies,
once they mature,
they don't really feed that much.
They just dip around from nectar.
Their one job when they get
mature is to go reproduce. What a life.
Alright.
Now see when I worked at the radio
station, this would have been dead air.
Alright. So now this is the zebra
swallowtail.
This is another one that can be
found here year round.
Isn't that pretty?
Now, I'm wearing a blue shirt today.
For the past four years,
my sons have been on a campaign
that says, Mom, black, gray, brown.
You need more color.
Went out the other day and got
navy blue glasses and I says, oh,
look. Got navy blue glasses.
Isn't this cool?
And they're like, no, mom.
That's another shade of black.
Try again. But this is not another
shade of black,
but they say it is another shade
of gray. Can't win.
But this is a beautiful black
and white butterfly that I am
currently pretending that I
cater to in my yard.
Now you tell me,
isn't that the cutest caterpillar ever?
Yep. You would not believe that
that bright green thing,
the little blue on top,
turns into a black and white butterfly.
But sure enough, it does.
See, everything has something
interesting about it.
You just gotta figure it out.
Can you see that?
If I tell you all the fights
that I had with these pictures
yesterday, it ain't right. Alright.
So the larval host for these
butterflies is the pawpaw plant.
They don't have to grow super big.
It can be put into a corner of
your yard.
And many, many people don't eat
the fruit. They use it as feed
for their butterflies.
This plant grows very well here.
It is usually found in hammocks.
It's usually found in native
spaces without any problems.
It has a small, small sipping straw.
So, butterflies have proboscis
that allow them to eat.
They don't have mouths proper.
They have something kind of like
what an elephant has that they
stick down into it.
It's called a proboscis.
It's basically a sipping straw.
Okay? These butterflies have small ones.
So if you're going to provide
flowers or something for them
to be able to eat,
you need to provide flowers that
are very that have very shallow cups.
Now, there are some flowers that
have more of a tube that are
good for hummingbirds and and
other butterflies that have
longer straws.
But these butterflies,
in order to keep them in your yard,
you need to have flowers that
have shallow cups.
So, lantana has shallow cups.
Pentas have shallow cups. Alright?
They have very small,
shallow basins where their nectar
is held.
Those butterflies will survive
in your landscape as long as
you've got them like that. Alright.
It doesn't matter if I've got
that turned around.
Won't be pulling it back. Alright.
Now, zebra longwing.
What's fantastic about the zebra
longwing?
It's another great big butterfly.
It is also the state butterfly.
This is our butterfly.
Colorful, dark green,
sunshiny Florida has a black and
white butterfly.
I love the irony of it all, believe me.
And I get completely tickled at this.
But this is the zebra long wing.
I thought this with the tips of
blue and the little streaks of
red here and there,
this was the best thing about
this butterfly.
It pretends that it is boring.
But you know what was exciting
way back when? Black and white TV.
Thank you.
It stays true to its caterpillar.
Right? No surprises there.
And what are these caterpillars on?
It likes the pawpaw shrub,
if it can have it.
And it'll eat the passion vine
to the bones as well. Right?
It does like firecracker.
Isn't that nice?
Alright. And they have short
proboscis as well,
so you wanna be careful with how
you feed them. Okay?
But, yeah, the zebra longwing
is the Florida state butterfly.
So if you are going to have any
real success, bound to get those.
And the one that I was talking
about a little earlier,
she's pretty fantastic.
American Painted Lady.
This makes you sit down and say,
Well, that brown and orange is
pretty nice.
But that underside,
that's why she's called a painted lady.
Yes. A lot of color.
A whole lot of color. That's crazy.
Isn't it amazing? Yeah. Hi.
That whole adage about judging
a book by its cover. This is her cat.
This ugly little critter here
is her cat. And then sometimes
they'll come out green or brown
when they pupate out.
But that amazing looking butterfly
comes from all of this gobbledygook.
And the American painted lady
is quite the interesting chick.
Cudweeds is her favorite thing
in the world to eat.
You're hardly ever gonna find it.
But if you can put daisies or
any other kind of aster, Stokes aster,
daisies, anything in the aster family,
you will be providing a host
plant for the painted lady.
Ain't that something? Yeah. I tell you.
Alright. Susan? Yes.
Black eyed Susan is one of my
favorite host plants.
Got a bunch of them for one of
my projects. Alright.
So the monarch, the queen.
The viceroy who likes to pretend,
and then there is also a soldier
butterfly. Yes.
We stuck with that theme, doggone it.
Alright. So we were first we
first received our alarm bells
about butterflies losing habitat
and not migrating properly and
all that jazz When we had issues
with the monarchs. Right?
Their migratory patterns were
being disturbed,
and the areas where they used
to go to were developed in in
all the countries.
Not just in Mexico, not just in the US,
and not just on the borders of
Canada as well.
It was everywhere that they went.
Whole entire areas,
by the time they got back home,
were developed.
That's a problem because we
didn't put anything that they
had lived on back in place.
It's not a problem for human
beings to develop an area.
The problem is when we don't
remember what that area used to
be and what it used to provide for.
I will not ever tell you all
that treehouse living is for everyone.
That's nonsense.
Because you're still negatively
impacting that tree, right?
I'm not encouraging anyone to
play Tarzan and Jane.
What I'm encouraging us to do
is remember that we are encroaching
and to mitigate that damage.
That's what I'm encouraging us to do.
So that's the monarch larva,
that cute little striped thing.
It is not delicious.
The reason why it's not delicious
is because of what the monarch feeds on.
What the caterpillar feeds on
gives it the ability to make its
predators gag. Like, it is nasty.
Alright? And from the first time
that they eat that caterpillar,
they're like, oh, never again.
And this beautiful thing here
is a monarch chrysalis.
Doesn't that look like a piece
of jewelry? It looks like a pendant.
Right? That is so beautiful.
So it says herbaceous plants,
milkweed preferred. Milkweed is nasty.
I will not explain how I know.
It is nasty.
But monarchs, queens, viceroys,
soldiers, eat it like there is
no tomorrow.
One of my volunteers says to me,
Well, Nikki, I found out the other
day that once they eat down all
of the leaves, you can cut it
back and it'll spring back up again.
Yes. You can. Because they're
not gonna be eating the stalk.
They're not gonna be eating the stem.
They only really wanna predate
on the leaves. So you just trim
that back. Try not to cut too
much of it off all at once,
and it'll start to give you new
growth and it'll start to leaf
out for you again.
You just need to stress it into
doing that. Stress is good.
Not too much stress. But stress is good.
Some stress is good. Alright.
Now the viceroy,
who is the pretender to the throne oh,
and I showed you all his picture.
That's the viceroy down there.
He's got this black marking down
in here, and he's more red looking.
But he pretends so that everybody
who has ever thrown up on a monarch
will will think that the viceroy
is just one of those nasty butterflies.
He isn't. He's pretty delicious,
I think. Don't know that.
We have no story to tell on that.
But he will eat a willow,
Which makes you think that all
that salicylic acid might make
him not too yummy either. I'm not sure.
I just know he doesn't get eaten
because he pretends. He's a great actor.
Probably raises his eyebrows up
and is like, you intend to eat me?
How dare you? Do you know who I am?
Alright. Now his adult food is
rotting fruit.
There's always something to do
with your trash if you make it.
Alright. Now,
I did talk about there being
moths and skippers.
So let me show you all my favorite
skipper. Of course,
my favorite skipper is my favorite
skipper because I've seen him so much.
The reason why I've seen him so
much is because he eats grass.
This is the fiery Skipper.
That's the female.
Oh, the levels of shade.
That is the male.
I think that it really is only
our species that got it right.
And that's the underside of the female.
Look at him go on that blade of
Saint Augustine grass.
Now let me tell you all the truth.
Fiery Skipper should not be able
to kill your grass. It shouldn't.
If your grass is growing healthy,
fiery skippers and you will get
along just fine.
If you have grass that is unhealthy,
if you have grass that does not
have enough blade to support itself,
then you're gonna have problems
with fiery skippers if they are
there in abundance.
They're not generally there in
abundance either.
I'm showing you this skipper so
that you can recognize it if
it's in your landscape.
I'm not showing you this because
it is truly a huge pest to grass.
I'm just giving you all one of
the wonderful reasons why grass
is a magnificent plant.
And there's no reason not to
grow it efficiently, sustainably.
If grass floats your boat,
I'm here to help you row it.
Honestly, grass is not the enemy.
We have got to stop blaming that
innocent innocent plant for how
we mismanage it. It provides a service.
One of the skippers' favorite
treats is St. Augustine grass.
Bermuda comes in a close second.
All right? So, if you've got grass,
or if your neighbour has grass,
now is a wonderful time to go
home and say, Oh,
look at you providing for our
pollinators. And you're just
doing it so effortlessly.
This is magnificent. Alright.
So there are a lot more butterflies
that we can grow here that we can well,
we can provide for here.
And I couldn't give you all
pictures of them.
I couldn't give you all rundowns
of them because, you know,
there's a time limit.
We have the Florida Museum.
That's US Museum.
We do a lot of really,
really great work and research there.
We curate so much amazingness
that I wandered in there for a half
a day that I had off while I had
to be in Gainesville.
It was not enough time.
I only stayed in the butterfly section.
Half a day.
So now you all know why I give
these talks with notes. Alright?
They have an online database
that you can go on to and it'll
ask you what county are you in.
And it'll show you the pictures
of the butterflies.
So if you use that publication
and if you don't feel like
Googling each butterfly separately,
or if you just want to select
by look of butterfly,
this is a great resource.
So I put the link in here, but honestly,
you stick Google Florida Museum
Wildflower and Butterfly Database.
Click. You're bound to get it right.
There is only one of those. Alright?
But it is a great resource.
I didn't steal my pictures from
them for three good reasons.
Two of them is because there are
some people who have donated
materials to them that are not ours.
So I have to be careful about that.
But we have done a lot of research,
and it's being curated there.
So when they say to you that
there are forty seven different
butterflies that you can find
in our county, you are guaranteed
to find that forty seven butterflies.
Maybe not year round,
but at some point in the year,
you are going to find those
butterflies here.
But I really want you all to
think about getting yourself a host
plant, getting yourself a nectar plant,
having your water,
if you are going away go Gators!
Go Gators! If you are going away,
turn down your dishes with water.
It is best that you not leave
water out than to leave water there,
and it is going to become polluted.
Okay? It is best to tell your
butterflies, I'm on vacation for
the next two weeks. You're on your own.
They will make it. They will.
They're resilient enough.
They will find another source.
And then when you come back home,
you set back up shop again.
Yes, ma'am? They do drink from ponds.
Not necessarily, no.
And there are things in that
pond that they can perch on and
drink from. You're welcome.
Now, see, I have a little water
thing to the side of my house
that my son is supposed to be
maintaining.
I have a couple of pots turned
over to raise up a platform,
and I put additions to that for
my butterflies. There are ways.
We human beings are very, very smart,
and we will get things done if
we really want to. What time is it?
Oh, good. See, we're on track.
Alright. So let's go back to our
publication because I don't like
contributing to the death of
trees if we're not gonna use it
efficiently. So there's another table.
I think it starts on page twenty two.
Yep.
These are your most likely plants
to help you provide for who you
want to provide for. Okay?
So it gives you the common names
of your plants,
at least what is more commonly
used in your area.
Gives you the scientific name
so that when you have a problem with it,
I can send it to the lab,
and they'll know what we're
talking about.
And it gives you flowering season
information.
I want you all to consider your
enjoyment of these plants.
Flowering season is important,
especially if you're a snowbird.
I've got people who are like, well,
I wanna grow mangoes,
but I won't get any.
There are mangoes that we'll
make when you are here.
And I've helped people find them
and figure it out. That's my job.
It's a great job.
Now who's gonna eat the mangoes
for real?
Squirrels, birds,
or the human beings growing them?
I'm not getting into that fight.
Alright? That's not my job. Alright.
So lots of them,
you'll see that a lot of the trees
will flower out in the spring.
And don't forget that we can
take some of the suggestions for
South Florida as well because
we are a southerly central county.
Alright? So you'll see that
there are some things down in
table eight on page thirty on
page twenty three that we actually
grow very well here.
Now, pick choose, Don't refuse.
Look at the plant that you intend
to put in to make sure that it
is suited for us.
Try to on the side of caution.
Two out of three boxes can be
checked off and you'll have a better
likelihood of them doing well here.
All right?
Wildflowers are very important
because they do a lot of double duty,
right? Our native bees are not
necessarily bees that colonize in trees.
They're not high up there.
They're usually in the ground.
So, you want to grow things that
are going to have some flowers
that are lower down.
We put in a demonstration area
over at the Gifford Museum a few
weekends ago.
And after we planted a few things
that were prostrate with flowers,
within the hours the two hours
that we were out there,
there were native bees going after them.
And, of course,
we had a few very small children
who came running to me.
You won't believe what I just saw.
I saw a bee. It looks like a bee.
Is that a bee? And that was amazing.
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
If you plant it, they will come.
But they hadn't seen a bee.
They hadn't seen those bees.
And that was the most important thing.
It's always good when you can
get that instant gratification.
You will get that if you make
a plan to receive it. Alright?
So, these are important things.
You want to have a little bit of each.
You don't want to have too much
of one and not enough of the other.
Try to have some balance.
Always try to have at least ten
different plants growing in your
landscape.
Sometimes that's hard.
Sometimes that's easy.
If you have restrictions,
I recommend that you you can
grow a butterfly garden in a pot.
I've done it in a twelve inches pot.
I kid you not. I used a four
inch saucer for my puddler. Here you go.
A four inch saucer for my puddler
for my water.
I put parsley, I put porterweed,
and I put dill.
It can a twelve inches pot can
support four or five plants in piece.
So you can do this on a balcony.
You can do this on a terrace.
You can butterfly you can provide
for pollinators in various ways,
if you choose to.
Now, my favorite thing in the world
that I've been promoting is
community butterfly scaping. Alright?
That is when you and a few of
your neighbors collude to give
pollinators a huge area where
they can feel happy,
where they can feel as if they're
welcome, and there is enough food.
You want to try that out.
Even if you live in a condominium,
you can have four balconies with
containers that are providing
for butterflies.
You all can discuss putting
containers in common areas.
I'm not recommending that you
all go out there and break up
the soil and do all of that
because that might be a lot more work.
That might be a maintenance nightmare.
But containerized butterfly gardening,
you can get that done.
You can seed them out.
You can buy them here However
you produce your plants for that
container garden or that space
in general. There are lots of
communities that have these
gorgeous walls that are not
doing a thing anymore.
This is a way to revitalize that
entryway. This is a way to make
that wall be more useful, right?
And it's going to be visually
captivating. So if you all have
a few spaces in your community
that are not taken yet,
and you want to draw someone's
eye to your location,
this is a great way to do it.
And besides that,
it really does encourage community.
And I think that that is something
that is sorely missing,
and I think that we can develop
more networks down here by doing
things like this together.
You wanna start small. Okay?
An oak tree is a great space.
It already provides for lots and
lots of insects.
It already provides various
moths and skippers already.
So you just wanna add a few
nectar sources underneath an oak tree.
Plumbago, with the bright blue flowers,
is a great plant for putting
underneath oak trees.
I know that most of the time you
see it out there in full sun,
it will survive under part shade.
And isn't that an amazing bright
green and super light blue color
to be up under an oak tree?
Root interference, not a big deal.
You're gonna make yourself a little
space, you're gonna put in your
one gallon flambigo,
and it will take off in no time.
You don't want to try to plant
a three gallon Plumbago,
because then you've got to make
space for a three gallon plant.
If you put a one gallon plumbago
underneath an oak tree,
you have made a plant succeed.
It doesn't have to be right up
against the base of it either.
Right? You can put it out further
where it truly is in part shade.
And plumbago will bring you
the cute little Cassius blue
butterflies. Look kind of like
the flowers that they feed on.
Isn't that cool? Well, that's the thing.
There are many, many creative ways.
And then, you know,
we get the questions in all the time.
What do I do with all that shade?
Nothing grows under it. It's not pretty.
How do I make this more of an attractive
thing? I can't cut down the tree.
Decorate it.
Put some plants that are shade
tolerant or part shade tolerant
underneath it. You know what's
really beautiful green that
provides for pollinators? Wild coffee.
It has a deep green leaf.
It makes you sit down and say
to yourself, Wow, that's a lot of green.
And it does very well in shade.
Its sweet spot is part shade.
So you've got plumbago that
spins around.
It's a four foot round mound.
There were two of you that looked
surprised. Plumbago does not
really grow upright in a rectangle
hedge.
We will never win that war.
If we put that plant in a place
where it can grow up and mound over,
we will pay less for our trimming,
and we will get more of the blue
flowers that we're asking it for.
Because it will get to the point
where it says, I'm nutritionally
sufficient. I am producing enough food.
Now I can flower on out.
What you're going to end up with
is a really beautiful, light blue cloud.
That's what it's supposed to look like.
It's supposed to be a fluffy,
light blue cloud. Who knew?
The wet scientist, I know these things.
Alright. So,
there can be a lot of barriers
to the ways that you get your
gardening done.
But there are always ways that
we can overcome them, all right?
We have Master Gardeners.
The program is funded by your
tax dollars.
University of Florida is a land
grant institution.
We are here for the sole purpose
of addressing the issues of
people in Florida.
If we've got a problem with water,
that's what I was hired for. All right?
If we have a problem with how
we develop our youth,
every extension office at least
has a four H agent for that
particular issue. We are here.
You pay your taxes.
Come and ask us questions.
Come and say to us,
I'm trying to do a butterfly
garden in four feet.
What can I put in there that I
can get the most out of?
I have answers for you.
Master Gardeners have answers for you.
We're funny. We're creative.
We're curious.
They act like they don't have
anything better to do,
which is really awesome because
I'm here to take up their time.
I really, really am.
They're a wonderful resource.
They'll help you sit down with
a sheet of paper and say,
This is your four foot box.
Let's put some pentas in over here.
Let's get you a couple of host
larval host plants over here.
What are you trying to host?
That can fit in another square foot.
And we'll take up these two
square feet with something else.
There you go. And it'll be efficient.
You'll come in another time and say,
Well, I got bored with those.
What about these in a four foot spot?
They like wrapping their minds
around these things.
We have high quality,
well trained Master Gardeners,
half of whom I did not train.
So I'm not tooting my own horn.
I met them that way.
And then I had to keep up the standard.
The bar was set. All right?
But I am encouraging you all to
use them as the resource that
they are here for.
Busy Bee does a great job of
marking pollinator friendly plants.
They have they do a great job
of marking the plants that provide
for birds,
a great job of marking the plants
that provide for butterflies.
They do a fantastic job of making
your life easier when you come
in here to shop. That's a great thing.
I want you to think about your space.
I want you to think about your
time that you're going to spend
managing this space as well.
I also want you to think about
your overall enjoyment and your
ability to look at it.
Put it in a spot that you can see,
but you don't always have to be
tinkering in.
Because remember when I started my talk,
everybody eats somebody.
And if you're feeding one,
everyone's gonna show up for
your buffet.
Nature does not discriminate.
You're going to have birds.
You're going to have bees.
You're going to have butterflies.
You're going to have frogs.
You're going to have snakes.
You're going to have things that
eat Everybody eats somebody.
So I want you to think about
that as well.
If you all have if you all are
hosting smaller people who are
very curious and adventurous and
you know that you have robust
access to bees,
You want to put your garden out
of their way.
Because we don't ever always
know who is allergic to bee
stings until they get stung.
We don't always know that.
But I want you all now to be
mindful of these things,
to think of these things.
If you have a little bit of a problem,
but you're being very kind,
I want you to think about,
where can I put it that I can see it,
but it doesn't have to touch me?
There are lots and lots of things
to consider. There are some
plants that provide for pollinators
that have thorns.
And the first talk that I ever gave,
and I said to people,
if you or someone who spends
time with you are on blood thinners.
And everybody looked at me like
I'm not the Debbie Downer in the room.
Okay? I'm really not.
I'm the person who says to you,
I want you to have the best
experience ever.
That should not involve calling
an ambulance.
Crown of Thorns, I love it.
It's beautiful in pictures.
I won't ever own one. I am clumsy.
And I live under Murphy's Law.
I could have a crown of thorns
in the uttermost corner of my landscape.
I'm bound to fall in it at some
point or the other.
I wasn't even walking over there.
And I will fall into Crown of Thorns.
It's cute.
But potted or in the ground,
that is a whole bunch of hypodermic
needles. And it never feels good.
I want you all to think about
these things.
I don't want you to say, Well,
I'm going home and I'm gonna I'm
gonna put in a garden for the pollinators
. I want you to put in a garden
for you and let the pollinators come.
Catered to you. They're gonna show up.
If you like purple,
may I introduce you to my friend
called Stokes Astor?
I call I was raised calling that
ver vine.
But it's called porterweed here.
Oh, man. And what the people
down in the Keys call the tourist
tree and what you all call gumbo limbo,
I grew up calling it red birch.
Right? Interesting.
But it all means the same thing.
It means it's got red scaly trunk.
That's what it means. Yes.
Oh, yes. It it grows beautifully.
It grows beautifully here.
There are two of them over at
Riverview Park in Sebastian.
There are several on the island,
which has the same temperature
and climating range of South Florida.
And then there are lots of people
who grow it inland as well. Yes.
The tourist tree, red birch,
gumbo limbo, it grows well here.
But sometimes assess the things
that are already in your landscape.
Add to those things.
Give yourself a break.
Most people have oak trees here.
Don't fight with your oak tree.
Accessorize your oak tree.
That's what you want to do.
You want to find things that
grow in part shade.
You want to find things that
will grow in full shade.
There is a plant for every situation.
We have master gardeners.
I have an email address.
I answer it often.
Notice I didn't say every day.
Because there are some days like
today that I finished working here.
I drop off everything to the office
and I'm like, woo.
I go home and I cook and I do homework.
Right? So, I might not answer
you every day, but Master Gardeners,
they're in there every single day.
And they like stumpers.
They get points at meetings.
They'll say, Oh,
you'll never imagine what we had
in the other day. It was this.
And guess what it was?
A Brahma Blind Brahma snakes.
About this big.
Little itty bitty things look
like worms.
I looked at it and everybody was like,
oh, that worm. And I'm there like,
nope. That's a snake.
And everybody was like,
I I've never seen a flatworm like this.
Nope. That's a snake.
Nikki, it's a snake, people.
It's a snake. Pull out my cell phone.
Zoom in. There are no worms or scales.
I said, yep. That's a snake.
There look at the nostrils.
They were deader than doornails.
They're harmless little itty
bitty things that like to grow
in containers.
They're all over the place.
They came in however when and
whenever what. They really don't
do much of anything but just live there.
But they were coming out of
the pots and coming in under
the door jam. And they were just
wiggling about doing their snaky dance.
And the woman was terrified.
She thought that this was some
sort of worm and it might have
had some sort of disease. No.
It's a snake.
And I told her, I said,
here's what you do.
You get the dustbin and the broom.
Throw them back outside where
they belong. That's all.
But we have the resources for
you to get this done really well
under any conditions.
So do you all have questions?