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Golden Alexander
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Posted by connie-k 5 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 7, 12 at 16:29
| Will Golden Alexander attract swallowtail like other members of the carrot, parsley family? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Golden Alexander
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| I have seen it advertised in catalogs as "attracting black swallowtails" but I have never heard an actual gardener report that it attracts them. anyone? I am focusing on rue and parsley next year. as much as they like the fennel, it attracts too many predators! Tony |
RE: Golden Alexander
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| Mine flowers before the BSTs are flying around here so I have no clue whether the butterflies like it for nectar. I've yet to find cats/eggs on it. It is my main food source for BST cats. I attract them with dill and feed them GA. I know somebody on here has found BST cats on their GA. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Black swallowtail larval food
RE: Golden Alexander
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| I attract mine with Dill, Fennel, and Rue, and when that runs out, they migrate to the Golden Alexanders, which are planted at the base of my Fennel. They readily consume the GAs, but it is not their first choice, so I'm not sure I would rely on it as the sole larval food plant in the garden. When I first started growing LFPs for the BSTs, I grew only Rue, and attracted lots of BSTs, along with the Giant Swallowtails (it is a food plant for both). Rue is not an extremely long-lived perennial (nor is Fennel for that matter) so I pick up a couple of Fennel plants and a couple of Rue plants each year, so I have some going in case some of the plants in the garden keel over. I try to get them early enough in the season - this is especially true of the Rue, since it is not an herb consumed by humans - that any chemicals the nurserymen used on them have dissipated. Always a word of caution when purchasing larval food plants for the garden. Susan |
RE: Golden Alexander
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| Thanks everyone. It is nice to know that at least I can feed it to the caterpillars of the B. Easter Swallowtail. |
RE: Golden Alexander
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| I grow both Zizia aurea and Z. aptera. I've never seen any BST eggs or cats on them, but I have used it for larval food, mostly for the larger cats. BST cats on Zizia aurea on left, Z. aptera on right -
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RE: Golden Alexander
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| I grew dill, parsley, bronze fennel and Golden Alexanders. The golden alexander (Zizia aurea) was their later choice. The eggs were laid a month or more after the first were laid on the others. They did,however, lay eggs and feed through all instars on the golden alexander. The plant in the spring
 Caterpillars feeding on the plant.
 Bob |
RE: Golden Alexander
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| The Golden Alexander is very easy to grow from seed, and mine self-seeded very vigorously. Like most others, I never saw an egg or cat on the Zizia. Martha |
RE: Golden Alexander
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| I never found an egg or cat either. |
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