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christie_sw_mo

Butterflies on .... Tithonia

christie_sw_mo
13 years ago

Since winter is a bit slow for butterfly fans, I thought I'd go through some old photos to post. I hope some others will join in and add some more photos if you're interested. We can see how many different species of butterflies we have photos of for each type of flower.

Let's see how many we can find for Tithonia:

Monarch

{{gwi:553531}}

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

{{gwi:553534}}

Comments (20)

  • siam_cannas
    13 years ago

    oooh nice pics and great idea. my tithonia diversifolia is just begining to flower so i will have pics soon
    Siam.

  • bandjzmom
    13 years ago

    Very nice pics Christie. I grew some Fiesta Del Sol this past summer, and most all of the butterflies ignored it completely. It's funny that there is a difference in butterfly food preference depending upon where you live.~~Angie

  • MissSherry
    13 years ago

    I've got quite a few of these pictures, Christie.
    Here's a pearl crescent -
    {{gwi:445205}}
    Here are some gulf frits -
    {{gwi:495232}}
    A variegated frit -
    {{gwi:463239}}
    A sleepy orange -
    {{gwi:487849}}
    A giant swallowtail -
    {{gwi:334043}}
    A pipevine swallowtail -
    {{gwi:459523}}
    And here's a black female tiger swallowtail -
    {{gwi:495229}}
    I didn't plant any Mexican sunflowers/tithonia last year, but I'll have to this year for sure - nothing attracts butterflies any better!
    Sherry

  • bob_71
    13 years ago

    Beautiful pictures!...both of you!

    Bob

  • mcronin
    13 years ago

    I LOVE your idea for these threads. Thanks to you and MissSherry I got my butterfly fix for a week or so. BTW, We recently purchased a picture that a professional photographer took of a Tithonia in our butterfly sanctuary with one Monarch nectaring and another Monarch waiting in line to feed next. The photographer entitled it "The Buffet Line."

  • JonBeard
    13 years ago

    {{gwi:553540}}

    {{gwi:553542}}

    {{gwi:553544}}


    {{gwi:553546}}

    Mike has a wonderful garden to shoot in. :)

  • christie_sw_mo
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Welcome JonBeard! That first one must be The Buffet Line. Beautiful!

    I'm so glad to see a good response to these threads. Maybe we can think of enough different flowers to stretch through the coldest part of winter. My kids take over the computer on weekends but when I get time, I'll look through some photos to put on Photobucket.

  • imabirdnut
    13 years ago

    Awesome pictures!!!
    Maybe next year, I'll have some pics on the Tithonia I will grow from seeds shared with me by you BF friends!!! ;o)

  • mcronin
    13 years ago

    I think Jon Beard is one of the best photographers EVER. If any of you want contact information about Jon and his work, e-mail me at mcronin@radford.edu

  • christie_sw_mo
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I've always called this a Giant Sulfur but I don't think that's the real name - maybe Cloudless Sulfur: I love to watch these when they fly. They look like a tissue floating in the breeze.
    {{gwi:553547}}

  • mcronin
    13 years ago

    The beauty of the butterflies, flowers and the superb photographs are helping me cope with my late fall/winter butterfly withdrawal symptoms.

    Thanks,

    mike

  • fighting8r
    13 years ago

    Man those pics are AWESOME. My mexican sunflower never does well at all. Although when I do get a bloom or two they are all over it. Thanks for sharing!!

  • fighting8r
    13 years ago

    p.s. Christie that does look like a Cloudless to me. Has that greenish hue.

  • susanlynne48
    13 years ago

    I just checked the BF Gardening forum since I've not visited in awhile, to find the "Butterfly on...." series of posts. This is the first one I've checked and I have to admire all the photographs posted.

    My Tithonias have never done exceptionally well either. They come up and grow and look beautiful until they start producing flowers, and then the lower foliage begins to brown, and then the middle leaves begin to get crispy on the edges, and pretty soon, the entire plant begins to look almost "skeleton-like", producing smaller leaves until by late summer it looks very, very sad. It keeps blooming nonetheless, and the butterflies don't seem to mind the ratty plant. I've grown it in three different places in the yard now, and they all produce the same sad plant. Your plants look beautiful.....sigh.

    Susan

  • gardenfanatic2003
    13 years ago

    Your photos are amazing. I didn't get any decent photos this year because the butterflies move too fast for me to get a good shot.

    Deanna

  • ladyrose65
    11 years ago

    Amazing pictures! I grew this plant for the first time this summer, it was a butterfly magnet. However, I had no idea how large the plant itself could grow! This is definately going to be a keeper in my summers to come.

  • terrene
    11 years ago

    Hi Ladyrose - my Tithonia got HUGE this year!! It was almost as tall as the mammoth sunflowers. The butterflies and bees love it. So do hummingbirds. This year I noticed the Goldfinches and other small birds eating seed from the seed heads after we had the first hard frost. Fortunately, I had already collected some because they have scarfed up what was left!

    I looked, but apparently didn't take any pictures of butterflies on Tithonia this year it this year...that I can find.

  • ladyrose65
    11 years ago

    Hello Terene, unfortunately, I did not get a butterfly. There are some lovely pictures posted here. Has anyone grown the yellow "Torch" Tithonia?

  • terrene
    11 years ago

    The yellow variety I've grown is called "Aztec Gold". Very pretty. Grows somewhat more compact than the tall Orange.

  • kellybird02
    11 years ago

    Beautiful pictures!

    I love Tithonia! After trying it several years ago I will never go without it in the summer. Mine also start to get ratty looking toward the end of summer but it keeps flowering and the butterflies don't mind so I don't either!

    Here's a Zebra Swallowtail

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