There are a total of 5 videos, each one is less than 2 minutes long.  Watching these should give you a decent idea of how to start (or continue) a successful Butterfly Garden.

In this first video, I talk about how to buy Milkweed, what prices you should expect to pay (at least in Houston), how to tell if you have healthy Milkweed, and how to plant your Milkweed plants.

In this second video clip, I talk about the importance of having Nectar plants for your Butterfly Garden.  I also show a brief clip of my Butterfly Enclosures.

By the way, some good nectar plants I recommend are Penta, Salvia, Purple Coneflower, Lantana, Butterfly Bush, and the Cigar Bush.

In this third video clip, I talk about some other Host Plants for your Butterfly Garden including, Pipevine, Fennel, and Citrus Trees.

In the fourth video clip, I talk about some additional Host Plants for Butterflies including Spicebush and Passion Vine,  as well as what kinds of Butterflies you can expect to attract with the different Host Plants.

In this fifth and final video clip I talk about some additional Butterfly Gardening tools such as portable Butterfly Enclosures and long tweezers.

If you have any questions about these videos, where to buy plants or the additional Butterfly Gardening tools, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Hope you enjoy and it makes sense!

The picture below is an Eastern Black Swallowtail laying eggs on the Fennel.

Black Swallowtail

This particular Ladybug was on the Fennel

Ladybug On Fennel

Aphids.  Normally I don’t stress too much about these little pokemon looking critters, but some of my Milkweed is just covered in these things and I’m sure it’s causing some stress on the plants.  I tried last weekend to pick up some Ladybugs to but the places I went too were sold out.  I’ll try again this weekend.  The challenge will be keeping the Ladybugs around long enough to eat most of these Aphids as I don’t think they care too much for this super hot, humid weather we are having.

Swarm Of Aphids

Another pest, but normally not a huge one for me.  This guy just happened to land nearby when I was taking pictures.  I’m not sure if this is the tachinid fly or just a regular housefly.  Either way, I consider it a pest.

Red Eye

This thing is a monster!  Look at those legs?  I can’t remember what these things are called and I’m too tired to look it up, but whenever I see one, I squash em.

Bad Bug

Just for the record, I don’t dislike all bugs, just the ones that eat or destroy Butterfly caterpillars or mess up my plants.  For good measure, I thought I would throw in a picture of a “good guy.”  Although I do have quite a few nectar plants in the garden, it seems that lately the Honeybees are more attracted to the flowers (and pollen?) on the Fennel.

Honeybee

First up, some type of Butterfly on our Fennel.  Here’s what I’m thinking.  It’s a rather dull colored Butterfly, that has me leaning towards some type of Skipper.  However, this Butterfly was bigger than most Skippers.  It also flew considerably slower than most Skippers I have seen.  I also thought it might be some type of Crescent, but I couldn’t find any pictures that matched this Butterfly.

So, what are your guesses for this Butterfly?

Mystery Butterfly

Next up, some type of Swallowtail perhaps?  It kinda looks like a Giant Swallowtail to me, but it doesn’t seem to have all the necessary markings.  I thought Giant Swallowtails have another line of yellow across their back and this one does not.  It’s also missing the two “tails” of most Swallowtails.

Any guesses?

Mystery Butterfly 2

Mystery Butterfly 2a