Discover the Fun of Gardening

April 12, 2012   

Learn all about a butterflies life cycle at this Saturday's workshop.

Butterflies are nature's way of showing off. The color of their wings as they flutter about the garden is magical to watch. It's easy to attract butterflies to your garden. They love the same things we love: bright, beautiful flowers. To learn all about butterfly gardening join Kerby's this Saturday at 10am for the Butterfly Gardening Workshop. We'll show you the best plants for making sure your garden is a butterflies favorite.

Abby and Tally hunting for Easter Eggs

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday. We're glad that so many people joined us to hunt for eggs. Of the two-thousand hidden eggs, we've only found two since Saturday, so the little ones did a great job of hunting. We may have to hide even more next year!  

Happy Gardening,
Kim, Joey and Mark
 

In This Issue

Butterfly Gardening


Upcoming Events
Butterfly Gardening
Sat Apr 14th at 10am



Cool New Plant
Great for Butterflies Summer Series Agastache

Spring Color Sale
Geranium, Gazania
Strawflower & Nemesia
3 for $10
6" Pots, Reg. Price $4.99
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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
 

Workshop: Growing Roses in Florida
Saturday, April 21st at 10am
Presented by the Tampa Rose Society

The Tampa Rose Society will be out all day to answer your toughest questions about roses and at 10am, they will present a workshop on growing roses in Florida.

Workshop: Plants that Survive
Saturday, April 28th at 10:00 am

Tough plants and all the tricks for keeping plants happy even as the mercury starts to rise. That's what this workshop is all about. We'll talk about Florida natives as well as non-natives that thrive in Florida's summer. There is no reason your garden can't be beautiful all year long.

Store Hours
Open Seven Days a Week
Monday - Friday,  9:00am - 5:30pm
Sunday,  9:00am - 4:00pm