By Bill Ward
Published in The Boerne Star in November 2006
This week our yard is busy with all sorts of butterflies, from large monarchs and giant swallowtails to tiny skippers and hairstreaks. This may be the most butterflies we’ve had all year.
Perhaps so many of those fluttering beauties are nectaring in our garden because the cupboards are bare in the neighboring yards without native plants.
In our yard, many of the drought survivors among our native and near-native plants have burst into bloom after the recent rains. This brought on the butterflies and bees!
The strongest butterfly magnets in our backyard are the fragrant clusters of white flowers on the thoroughwort or “white mistflower” (Ageratina havanensis). This shrub is endemic to the eastern and southern Edwards Plateau and adjacent areas, and it is common in Kendall County.
Blue mistflowers (Conoclinium coelestinum) and a similar blue-flowered cultivar also are attracting a lot of butterflies. Apparently, any mistflower would be a star attraction in a butterfly garden.
Today I counted a dozen different kinds of butterflies and two kinds of moths crowding onto our thoroughworts.
One of our most drought-tolerant plants, flame acanthus (Anisacanthus wrightii), is blooming again, and the pipevine swallowtails seem to appreciate that.
The yellow-flowering goldeneye (Viguiera dentata) is another drought-resistant native that draws butterflies to our yard in the late fall.
Some butterflies are attracted to the pink flowers of palafoxia (Palafoxia callosa), which comes up naturally in our backyard and currently is in full bloom. A miniature purple verbena (cultivar) is getting its share of butterflies, too.
Most of the late-fall color at our house is thanks to all those savlias that survived our hot, dry summer. Salvia greggii made a great recovery from the drought and now is blooming bright-red, pink, and white.
Mealy sage (Salvia farinacea), shrubby blue sage (Salvia ballotaeflora) and giant blue sage (Salvia azurea) are three Hill Country natives that are blooming profusely this week, adding different shades of blue to our garden.
Mountain sage (Salvia regla), native to the Big Bend, is blooming red.
As is usual for this time of year, several of our Mexican salvias are flowering. Mexican sage (Salvia mexicana) has large dark-blue flowers and forsythia sage (Salvia madrensis) produces long spires of yellow blooms.
The long-blooming Salvia darcyi is putting on red flowers yet again. Mexican bush sage (Salvia leuchantha), one of the most easily grown salvias in the Boerne area, is producing showy spires of blue blooms.
Two other blue salvias are flowering again after suffering from the drought. Indigo spires (accidental hybrid) and Salvia guaranitica (South American) are making a late-fall comeback in our yard. They are survivors, even in the driest of years.
With certain native and native-compatible plants, even late-fall gardens can be colorful and full of butterflies.
