Snapdragons
Snapdragons - Antirrhinum majus - are not native to this area but they are a host plant for the buckeye butterfly. I haven’t been able to locate a source for any host plants for this butterfly that are native. Mine have been blooming for a little while now. They start blooming pretty early in the summer and sometimes keep blooming for a long time. I started some new plants from seed this year too and I am hoping that they will bloom later this summer.
Once - I think 2 years ago I actually found a buckeye caterpillar on my plants. If there have been more I missed them. Now don’t quote me on this, I’m a bit rusty with some of my butterfly knowledge - but I believe buckeyes are partial migrators and don’t get up here for a while usually, at least not in large numbers.
My favorite snapdragon flowers are the bright, nearly solid yellow ones and the read dark red ones:
Met a large owl
on June 28th, 2008 at 7:52 am
I actually just found this site today and I love it. I enjoy doing outdoors things and once in a while I will see a butterfly flying around. I would love to see a post about how and why these delicate creatures are an important part of the ecosystem. Can you do a post on their important role in the environment? Thanks.
on July 7th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Very pretty pictures!
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
on July 8th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I’ve recently started gardening and am trawling the internet for inspiration - your blog and these snapdragons certainly make my list!