Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
White M
A new addition to the butterfly list for the backyard: White M Hairstreak. It's not hard to see where the name comes from, when you get the right perspective. We were out of town over the weekend and I just happened to see this butterfly when we returned Sunday afternoon. After looking it up in Butterflies through Binoculars, I was under the impression that it was somewhat rare in northern Virginia, but butterfliesandmoths.org reports it in several counties, including Fairfax. I noticed the blue upperside of the wings as it fluttered around, but all I could photograph was some of the iridescent blue on its body.
It's feeding on a Calamintha nepetoides which appears to be magnet for all kinds of nectar-sipping insects. There is, as usual, taxonomic confusion on the Calamintha. It was sold to me as Calamintha nepetoides, so that's what I'm calling it. The is the second year I've had this plant and I love the airy, feathery, filler effect of the teeny tiny flowers. And closeup, they're really very pretty. It's said to be something of a weedy self-seeder, but so far I've had no trouble with it. It's also said to have fragrant leaves, but mine haven't gotten the word on this yet.
2 Comments:
thanks for the link to Bluestone. that's one I didn't know about.
Gregor, I've been ordering from Bluestone for years and have been very happy with their plants. The plants are small (in packs), but generally nicely grown.
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