This is my Passion Flower Vine.
You can see my hives in the background.
Last year I learned that this is the host plant for the Gulf Fritillary and the Zebra Longwing.
Not only are the flowers beautiful…they smell great.
This is the Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. It’s less than an inch long now.
I circled the Zebra Longwing’s caterpillars…looks like they just hatched. They will be white with black spikes. The spikes on both types are supposed to keep birds from eating them I’m not so sure about the wasps….
While looking for caterpillars I was happy to see the Honey Bees take advantage of these beautiful flowers.
Each of the green buds will be a flower. There are 5 just in this little picture. I see a bee on this bloom also.
I’ve started another plant.. They are both in large pots. The weeds grow so fast around here it’s easier to use the weed eater this way. I don’t use any poisons for killing weeds…most of them have flowers that the bees use.
Beautiful post of your backyard treasures, Carol. Those passion flower vine blooms are absolutely stunning. Bonus that the honey bees and butterflies use them.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Florence