From our Garden to Yours

April 8, 2010   

With the afternoons finally warming, it can only mean one thing - it's time for butterflies! We still haven't seen many butterflies fluttering around the nursery, but some brave ones have awoken from their winter rest. Fix up your butterfly gardens now, so that your garden is the place for them to be!

This weekend, it's butterfly weekend, come out to get all the information you need to attract butterflies to your gardens. From 10 to 4 on Saturday and Sunday, we'll have a fun activity for kids. Butterflies agree, Kerby's plants have the best nectar.

Happy Gardening,
Kim, Joey and Mark

In This Issue
Butterfly Gardening

Upcoming Events

 

Butterfly Gardening

It's easy to attract butterflies to your garden. For the basics, check out our butterfly handout and learn about some of the best plants for butterflies, and see below for all of the cool butterflies that you might see fluttering about in your garden.

Monarch - The monarch butterfly is one of the most common butterflies in our area. The host plant for these butterflies is milkweed, so make sure that you include it in your butterfly garden. Did you know that monarch butterflies migrate all the way to Mexico in the winter?

 
Swallowtail - There are lots of different swallowtail butterflies, including the black swallowtail which lays its eggs on the herbs dill, fennel, rue and parsley, the pipevine and polydamus swallowtails which use dutchman's pipevine to lay their eggs and the giant swallowtail which lays its eggs on citrus. These butterflies come in many different mixes of black and yellow and are some of the most beautiful.

Sulphurs - A fast-flying yellow butterfly, there are many different types of sulphurs. Some are pale yellow and some like the orange-barred sulphur have beautiful orange colors in their wings. These butterflies lay their eggs on plants in the senna and cassia family. These large shrubs or small trees can make a great centerpiece in a butterfly garden.

Zebra Longwing - The state butterfly of Florida, this cool butterfly hangs out in shady areas under trees or large shrubs. You won't see it flying out in the hot sun too much. It lays its eggs on passionvine planted in the shade.

Gulf Fritillary - Another speedy little butterfly that is orange with white speckling. This butterfly flutters fast and high in sunny areas and lays its eggs on passion vine planted in the sun.


These are the most common butterflies in our area, but they aren't the only ones. There are actually hundreds of butterflies that call our area home. How many do you have in your butterfly garden?

Upcoming Events

Butterfly Weekend
Sat & Sun, April 10 - 11th, 10am - 4pm

Make your garden the place for butterflies to be this season. Come out for a fun weekend with activities for the kids and all the information you need to create a beautiful butterfly garden.

Growing Roses in Florida  
Saturday, April 17th at 10:00 am

A rose by any other name . . . CAN grow in your garden. Come out to this workshop to get the best tips for growing roses in Florida. Presented by the Tampa Rose Society. 

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