Speaking of native plants, my son is in college and into them. I had zinnias in the yard last year and the Gulf Fritillary butterflies loved them. He convinced me to plant a passion flower/fruit vine for them to lay eggs on and have the caterpillars partially consume. Supposedly it doesn’t kill the plant if it’s established. I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays out. We stopped having the bug guy spray the yard and now just have them spray the outside surface of the house.

2 ...

Report Post

Posted by LegendInMyMind

Member since Apr 2019

55001 posts

Posted on 3/9/24 at 4:43 pm to Rick9Plus

quote:
We stopped having the bug guy spray the yard and now just have them spray the outside surface of the house.

That's all I do, and treat problems as they arise (mainly ants).

Yeah, if you get takers on the passion flower it will be a shock to see them all. The plant should survive, though. They evolved together, and the caterpillars know that if they kill the plant they won't have anything for future offspring. The whole process is cool to watch. Milkweed is the same for monarchs.

This post was edited on 3/9/24 at 5:10 pm

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by Turnblad85

Member since Sep 2022

1294 posts

Posted on 3/9/24 at 6:19 pm to Rick9Plus

quote:
plant a passion flower/fruit vine

I've done this the last few years and have absolutely love the fruit that bears in late summer. Last year was a bust as the vine hardly grew and the gulf fritters arrived and completely wiped it out. I've had it in the same spot and I think the nematodes ate up the root system. This year I'll plant in another spot too see if I have better results. These are just wild ones that grow along fence rows and shite.

1 ...

Report Post

Home & Garden - Replies to Post

Return To Board

Page 1

Return To Board