September 22, 2016 Newsletter

The monarch is a beautiful butterfly, but did you know there is a white monarch as well?

Butterflies are beautiful. They are like little miracles of nature, transforming over a few weeks from hungry caterpillars to gorgeous butterflies. Having them in your garden makes getting outdoors that much more enjoyable. One of the fun things about butterfly gardening is turning it into a scavenger hunt. How many different types of butterflies can you find in your garden? or have you seen any rare butterflies? On my recent trip to Hawaii I learned about a very rare butterfly that is scarce in Hawaii, and spotted only a few times each year in the continental US: the white monarch. The cause of this genetic mutation is still not entirely known, but white monarchs don't have the pigment that the traditional monarchs have and are white everywhere that the typical monarch is orange. It is a recessive gene, and two white monarch parents will produce white monarch offspring, but they are so rare in the wild that there are no known populations in the continental US. In Hawaii, up to 10% of the monarch population is white. At the botanical gardens that we toured, we kept our eyes out for this rare butterfly but never did spot it. That's ok - it gives me another reason to head back to Hawaii and who knows, maybe one day we'll find a white monarch fluttering around Kerby's Nursery looking for a home in the butterfly house.

We may not have white monarchs around, but the new butterfly house is filling up with lots of different butterfly species. And this Saturday at 10am come out for the Butterfly Gardening workshop, where you'll learn how to make your garden the place for all of the neighborhood butterflies to be. And finally, Happy Fall! It's the first day of fall, which doesn't mean much for us here in Florida, but hopefully we'll transition into the not-quite-so-hot time of year soon!

Happy Gardening,
The Kerby's Nursery Family

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In This Issue

Featured Plant

Bring on the Butterflies

Upcoming Events
Saturday 9/24 at 10am
Butterfly Gardening

Long-leaf Pine Straw

In Stock Now
$5 per bale

Mulch Madness
All Bagged Mulch
$1.99 per bag
Regular Price $2.99

Giant Milkweed
6" Pot - $12.99

Featured Plant
Giant Milkweed
Calotropis gigantea

Do your monarch caterpillars have a giant appetite? Then feed them some giant milkweed. Huge leaves cover the plant as it grows tall, averaging 6 to 10 feet in height. With this as part of your butterfly garden, your caterpillars will have a steady source of food.

Bring on the Butterflies

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 some 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 the monarch 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.

Upcoming Events

The fall season is almost here. After a long summer, when we feel like it will never be cool again, it is fun to think about all of the fall gardening we can do.

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Workshop: Bring on the Butterflies
Saturday, September 24th at 10am

We are celebrating the grand opening of our new butterfly house with a workshop on butterfly gardening. We'll talk about all of the common butterflies in our area, and make sure you have all the right information to make your garden a butterfly magnet.

Kerby's Pumpkin Patch

The Kerby's Pumpkin Patch will open up the second weekend in October with cool pumpkins and gourds to decorate your porches and entryways for the fall season. Plus there will be a cool area for taking fall pictures with the kids. Come out throughout the month of October to enjoy the beauty of fall.

Workshop: Herb Gardening
Saturday, October 8th at 10am

As fall arrives, it's time to start thinking about holiday recipes. To keep everything as fresh and local as possible, plant an herb garden for fresh harvests of tasty herbs right from your backyard. This workshop will teach you everything you need to know about planting a delicious (and beautiful) herb garden.

Workshop: Plant a Pollinator Garden
Saturday, October 15th at 10am

Without bees, we don't eat; Most vegetable and fruit crops rely on bees for pollination. So let's plant a gorgeous garden that gives the bees somewhere to live, and helps pollinate our own veggie gardens and fruit trees.

Workshop: Fall Container Gardening
Saturday, October 22nd at 10am

Make your home beautiful and inviting this fall with a gorgeous container garden. In this workshop you will learn all about Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers, and how to make an amazing combination of flowers. Don't forget all of our outdoor glazed pottery is always Buy One Get One 50% Off!

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