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“No shoes, no shirt, no problems” to quote a Kenny Chesney song rather sums up how summer feels in the Keys. Besides that, wearing no shoes connects us with the earth. My friend says barefoot walking in the grass allows the wifi waves we absorb from our electronic devices to leave our body. Hmmm… I’ll go with that.  Honeybee on dill flower. Herbs and other edibles are a great addition to a pollinator garden. While musing on the benefits of barefoot walking… Yoweee… a sharp stabbing pain emanates from my big toe. I must have just gotten stung by a bee! Not to worry, I’m not allergic to bees, just a bit of pain now, some swelling later on. There is an old saying that beekeepers never have arthritis since bee venom has anti-inflammatory properties. Guess it is my lucky day… you can create a positive spin on anything. Ironically I got stung while walking in the future site of a butterfly and pollinator garden… a suddenly sunny patch in my front yard created by the removal of a dead tree. It’s a perfect space for a pollinator/butterfly garden, whose plants require 6+ hours of sun per day. The more sun, the more active the garden will be.  The Spanish moth is attracted to members of the spider lily family, chewing on leaves, bulbs and rhizomes. Though butterflies are the poster children of pollinator gardening, birds, bats, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals and bees can all be pollinators. They visit flowers to drink nectar or feed from the pollen, then move pollen between male and female plants, fertilizing the flower’s eggs, which then produce seeds to create a new generation. Pick a site where there is well drained soil, and access to water to establish and maintain the plants, and for the pollinators to drink… a saucer filled with stones and water will do. Choose plants that attract pollinators, selecting plants with different colors and shapes, that will bloom during different months, to provide for a year round habitat.  When we think of bees, we think of the European honey bee that nests in beehive colonies. At the other end of the spectrum, native bees are solitary nesters, that build their nests inside available nesting holes. Mason bees love tubular homes. Leafcutter bees snip bits of leaves to line their nests. Carpenter bees carve their nests out of wood. Paper wasps build umbrella shaped nests that hang underneath limbs or on your home’s facia. Like all living things, pollinators need a place to rest and some might appreciate a little house. Building a pollinator house is a creative project utilizing recycled materials such as scraps of wood and dead bamboo stalks. They are called pollinator houses because pollinators visit them, but they are actually pollinator nurseries, because solitary bees use the holes for a place to deposit their eggs. The bee selects a perfect sized hole, typically around 3/8,” then collects pollen and nectar to place in the tube, on which she lays one egg on top of the mixture. The eggs hatch and the larva eat the pollen mixture. When the time is right the larva pupate, and remain in that state until the following spring, when they emerge to start the process over again. So worth it! Plant the plants, attract the pollinators, provide food and housing for them, and the cycle continues. My initial choice of plants may not be perfect, but with observation, adjustments and time, the garden will become a thing of beauty.  Pollinator house with blocks of wood attached and a few bamboo stalks. The house is taking shape! Here’s how I am planning the garden: since sun is a very important factor, I want to make sure that no plant gets too large to shade out any area. A good rule of thumb is to select one tree, two shrubs, one vine, and three wildflowers or grasses for a small garden. If more room is available, increase the number of plants at the same ratio. Plant in groupings for the most impact, and to reduce the appearance of leaf damage when the caterpillars are munching. Think about what will bring you the most joy… and plant with that in mind. Hummingbirds are attracted to the tubular flowers of the following plants: Red firespike, Pineapple sage, Purple passionflower vine, Aloe vera, Firebush, Necklacepod, Coral honeysuckle vine, Bahama strongbark (tree) and Little strongbark (small tree or shrub). Bees like Sunshine mimosa, Portulaca, African blue basil, Purple passionflower, Necklacepod, Fiddlewood, Greenheart, Soldierwood, and Star jasmine vine. Butterflies like Pentas (pink, red or white are most appealing), Sunshine mimosa, Butterfly weed (Asclepius tuberose is native), Giant milkwood, Corky stemmed passionflower, Bahama cassia, Beautyberry, Blue porterweed, Jatropha, Plumbago, Scorpiontail, Wild sage, Zinnia, Sunflowers, Red firespike, Balloon vine, and Purple passionflower to name a few. The Key West morning glory (Skyblue clustervine) attracts the sphinx moth. For birds you want plants that produce fruit such as Shiny leaf wild coffee, Satinleaf, Soldierwood, Bahama Strongbark, Little Strongbark, and Beautyberry.  Close up view of the pollinator house before hanging. Thanks Denise! for the cute plastic bee decoration. The above plant suggestions are natives/or friendly additions for the Florida Keys, which is Zone 11. They are low maintenance once established, have fewer pests and diseases and the native pollinators will flock to your yard. Don’t be a member of the more-dollars-than-sense crowd who would rather throw money at a problem than understand the root cause. Board-spectrum insecticides should never be used. They kill a large group of insects, including good pollinators as well  Finished pollinator box hanging on a tree at driveway entrance, welcoming friends and critters to our wildlife habitat.
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The end of hurricane season signals a few traditions at our home. First, we take down the hurricane shutters and second we call the screen enclosure repairman, to replace any frayed, loose or "holey" panels caused by golfers whose drives were not so straight.  The butterfly lays its eggs on the new growth of the Giant milkweed. Early evening after the screens were repaired, I noticed there was now a lone Monarch butterfly trapped inside the screen enclosure. It must have flown in while a screen panel was out. The next morning, I saw another monarch butterfly outside the screen enclosure, hovering nearby as the trapped butterfly inside was searching for an exit. I got a ladder, reached up to gently grab the butterfly’s closed wings, and released it outside. Immediately, his/her friend rushed to its side, and they tootled around the backyard all afternoon, happily reunited.  Butterfly gardens are beautiful spaces full of colorful fluttering butterflies.  Monarch butterflies are really attracted to Tropical milkweed. With its iconic orange and black markings, the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is one of the most recognizable butterfly species in North America and is known for its impressive long-distance migration, and is a candidate under the Endangered Species Act. The 2,500 mile Monarch butterfly migration starts in Canada in early Fall. The group living east of the Rocky Mountains migrates south to Central Mexico while those living west of the Rockies migrate to southern California. Both locations have the montane oyamel fir and native pine forests. Butterfly gardens are beautiful spaces full of colorful fluttering butterflies. I plant flowers and also choose native trees to provide a source of nectar for the butterflies, as well as to serve as host plants for the caterpillars. There are Monarchs in my backyard year round. According to experts, our Florida Monarchs are a different subspecies and they don't migrate.  The caterpillars feeding on the Tropical Milkweed appear more yellowish/orange with black. Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), a native to Mexico, can be found in most garden stores, and Monarch butterflies are really attracted to it. It is also known as butterfly weed, milkweed, or silkweed, and it produces bunches of orange, yellow, and red tubular blooms for months. With its ability to tolerate the hot sun and sandy soil in the Florida Keys, the Giant Milkweed (Calotropis gigantea), also known as Crown Flower, is a hardy plant that just wants to live. “Giant”… it grew in four months to about five feet, and just as I was ready to cut it back, the caterpillars appeared. Milkweed is the only food the larva can eat but it eats enough to increase its weight 2,700 times in just two weeks. New gardeners are often shocked when they see their beautiful plants all of a sudden just a couple sticks after the caterpillars have eaten every green and flowering piece of it. Luckily, the milkweeds don’t die... they are accustomed to providing food, and soon the leaves are back, and the silky seed pods open and are released in the air, to land where they may, thereby creating more plants.  Aphids can be a problem, that can be fixed with a strong blast of water from the hose… or let the ladybugs, present in a healthy, balanced environment, take care of it. Milkweed is a host plant for a number of pollinators, so use of pesticides on milkweed is discouraged. Aphids can be a problem, that can be fixed with a strong blast of water from the hose… or let the ladybugs, present in a healthy, balanced environment, take care of it.  The Giant Milkweed flower is used to make Hawaiian leis.  Only a couple caterpillars survive to become adults; the rest become food for birds, frogs, spiders, lizards, and every other creature out there. The butterfly lays its eggs on the new growth of the Giant milkweed. With both types of milkweed in my garden, I observed the caterpillars feeding on the Giant milkweed appear more white with black coloration, as opposed to the caterpillars feeding on the tropical milkweed, who appear more yellowish/orange with black. Speculation on my part perhaps? Could it be caterpillars, as do humans abide by the rule: "you are what you eat”?  The silky seed pods open and are released in the air, to land where they may, thereby creating more plants. Only a couple caterpillars survive to become adults; the rest become food for birds, frogs, spiders, lizards, and every other creature out there. Cages for caterpillars? There are citizen scientists who have screen mesh houses, where they observe the lifecycle from egg, to caterpillar, pupate, to emerging butterfly. As long as there is a clean environment, with enough fresh plant material for food they are fine. More than just science, it is a way of boosting the population of a certain species.  With its iconic orange and black markings, the Monarch Butterfly is one of the most recognizable butterfly species in North America. In 2020, my friend and naturalist Bunny Bradov spotted a rare butterfly in my garden. She dashed to her car to get her GPS and notepad. and I kept track of its movements. It was a Bahamian Swallowtail butterfly, attracted to the wild lime and wild coffee plants in my yard.  A Bahamian Swallowtail butterfly, attracted to the wild coffee plants in my yard. It’s wings were slightly tattered. A garden brings you closer to nature, as you breathe in fresh air and exhale that which no longer serves you. After my experience with Bunny, I found myself in the garden not only while contemplating my morning coffee, but also random times of day, checking on the birds, butterflies, and other critters residing or passing through. My definition of “weed” changed to “native nectar providing plant” for a White Peacock butterfly. After seeing the Bahamian Swallowtail, I signed up for the annual Schaus Swallowtail butterfly survey which takes place in the refuges of N. Key Largo each Spring and Summer.  The Schaus Swallowtail (Papilio aristodemus ponceanus) is one of the rarest butterflies in the United States and has been listed as an endangered species by the State of Florida and the federal government since 1975.  In 1984, numbers sank to an all-time low, when an estimated 70 or fewer adults were left in the wild. The Schaus Swallowtail (Papilio aristodemus ponceanus) is one of the rarest butterflies in the United States and has been listed as an endangered species by the State of Florida and the federal government since 1975. It once ranged from the Miami Hammocks to Lower Matecumbe Key, and there are some records that it had been seen on Key West. Today it is found only on northern Key Largo and several small Keys in Biscayne National Park. In 1984, numbers sank to an all-time low, when an estimated 70 or fewer adults were left in the wild. Studies showed that Monroe County Mosquito Control District spraying pesticides was the chief factor contributing to the rapid decline of the species. Jan 1991 Mosquito Control stopped spraying the hammocks of N. Key Largo. In 1991 and 1992 the populations rebounded. Unfortunately August 1992 Hurricane Andrew passed over the Upper Keys and Biscayne Bay and did great damage due to high winds and 4-10 ft storm surge covering Elliott Key for at least an hour. Luckily the National Park Service and the State had authorized the removal of 100 eggs from wild females on Elliott Key just 2 months prior, to start a captive breeding program at UF with the intention of reintroducing them into the wild.  My definition of “weed” changed to “native nectar providing plant” for a White Peacock butterfly. Each Spring, volunteers begin entering the hammocks to record sitings of the butterfly, and report back to researchers. If it is dry, chances are low for seeing a Schaus. Schaus’ pupa can remain inside their hard shelled cocoon for up to three years, until the environmental conditions are right, before emerging. North Key Largo generally receives more rainfall, than "downtown" Key Largo. Since I live in “uptown” northern Key Largo, close to the refuges and prime Schaus’ habitat, the group asked me to share daily rainfall totals, to better predict when the Schaus butterflies would emerge. Schaus are particularly dependent on precipitation. They lay their eggs on Torchwood (Amyris elemifera) and on Wild Lime (Zanthoxylum fagara). Abundant rainfall ensures there is enough new growth for the caterpillars to feed on.  Schaus butterfly larvae are deposited on the native wild lime plant. Here a Schaus caterpillar is eating wild lime and leaving a trail of droppings or frass along the way. Butterfly surveyors get all “aflutter” when they think they’ve spotted their prize. This year, Bunny and I were surveying at Crocodile Lake NWR, when we spied a swallowtail on a native plant, but this time it is a Giant Swallowtail butterfly, a common species. Only Schaus and Bahamian Swallowtails are logged with GPS and time spotted, but all butterfly species are counted in the survey report. To survey in the summer heat with mosquitos, it takes some pretty hearty souls, with backgrounds as diverse as the plant community, yet all come with a passion and curiosity for nature. Linda Evans started butterflying in 2004 after one of her dental hygiene patients asked her to put signs in front of the butterfly plants at Fairchild Tropical Gardens, where she was driving the tram. She’s been involved ever since.  Linda Evans started butterflying in 2004 after one of her dental hygiene patients asked her to put signs in front of the butterfly plants at Fairchild Tropical Gardens, where she was driving the tram. She’s been involved ever since.  Gardening with wildlife in mind, can be a common sense approach for a home garden, as we live in a world of dwindling natural spaces. Wildlife need access to food, water, cover and places to raise their young. “It’s a full-circle community conservation effort,” Crocodile Lake NWR refuge manager Jeremy Dixon said. “We have volunteers going out collecting seeds, growing the plants (Pennekamp nursery) and then planting them for the very butterflies they’re doing surveys for.” Planting native plants such as Torchwood and Wild Lime for the Schaus population is good management for the refuges, but it can also be a common sense approach for a home garden too, as we live in a world of dwindling natural spaces. The “right plant, in the right place” will thrive in your garden without costly chemicals or special maintenance.  Giant Swallowtail butterfly, a common species. A garden is one of the few things in life you can control… somewhat… depending on the wind. In the last five years, a trend of concern involves companies promoting spraying services to create an "all kill" zone in people's yards. If you are trying to manage butterfly populations, and a butterfly cannot fly through someone's yard without getting killed, that’s a problem.
To learn more about our butterflies, or provide support, check out the Miami Blue Chapter of the NABA. |
CAROL ELLIS
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July 2025
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All Rights Reserved.
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