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Swallowtails, our first butterflies of spring


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Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED APR 8, 2020
A Western tiger swallowtail butterfly enjoys the nectar from blooming lilacs. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

After overwintering, they come out when the temperatures rise



Where did they come from? Swallowtail butterflies seemed to appear out of nowhere this past week, enjoying Sacramento’s first warm days of April. They could be spotted in gardens, feasting on nectar of newly opened flowers and spreading a little butterfly joy.

It turns out, they were here all along. Swallowtails overwinter as pupa, that stage between caterpillar and maturity. Tucked inside a protective chrysalis, the butterfly emerges as soon as the weather warms.

In fall, the caterpillar attaches what will be its winter shelter to a favorite host plant. Swallowtails lay their eggs on a wide variety of trees, shrubs and perennials, ranging from cherries to tulip trees.

As its name implies, the pipevine swallowtail is partial to California pipevine, which is native to our area. Other species like parsley, dill, anise, Queen Anne’s lace and other members of the umbellifer or carrot family -- all common to our area, too.

The trick is to make sure that their winter home wasn’t pruned off and discarded. It’s easy to accidentally throw away hibernating butterflies along with dried stems – especially if you grow a lot of butterfly-friendly plants.

Pipevine swallowtail butterflies tend to beat their wings rapidly while feeding.
With afternoon temperatures in the 70s this week, expect many more butterfly coming-out parties.

Several individuals dined on my lilacs, fascinating me and my cat. (She couldn’t keep her eyes off them!)

Looking like hummingbirds to my feline, pipevine swallowtails tend to beat their wings rapidly as they feed, a way to keep their balance. (Fortunately, the butterflies could flutter out of the cat’s reach.)

Who’s visiting your garden? Check out the excellent website of UC Davis butterfly expert Art Shapiro at http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/ .

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GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:
gardening Sacramento blossoms California natives nectar plants pollinator habitat pollinators lilacs butterflies spring gardening

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Sites We Like

  1.  UCCE Master Gardeners of Sacramento County
  2. Farmer Fred's GardenBasics.net
  3. UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden
  4. Shepard Garden and Arts Center
  5. Placer County Master Gardeners
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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