That was uplifting!

Yep. It made me want to grow Aristolochia just to feed any swallowtail that may come to visit. I see yellow ones in my garden frequently but the blue ones not as much.

Omar

That's a beautiful story!

I grow Aristolochia fimbriata in every pot I have plus in the ground. It hosts a lot of Pipevine swallowtail cats and I'm still seeing lots of butterflies, but the caterpillars have eaten all the leaves off the vine weeks ago although the butterflies still lay eggs on the stems.

Do any of you grow another variety of Aristolochia that grows larger and will last longer? They will lay eggs on the giant tropical pipe vine, but it is toxic to them. I bought another variety by mail which they said was slow growing, but would eventually grow very large and support a lot of caterpillars. However, the small sprout I received died before it ever got a chance to grow at all.

The caterpillars are beautiful, soft and velvety looking. When they eat all of one plant in a spot I move them to another for as long as there are leaves ...

"The caterpillars are beautiful.." Dang, Ragna. I could agree they are cool, but, beautiful? :p

I read somewhere that there is a perennial Aristolochia that has huge leaves. Would they eat that or does it have to be A. fimbriata?

Omar

Omar, from a design perspective I think they are gorgeous with their soft velvety black bodies with orange dots and purplish appendages. Think about an artifact that an Australian aboriginal might decorate using that design and those colors ... :-)

The perennial you're thinking of might be the tropical vine with the huge leaves and flowers. It is a food source for Gold Rim Polydamas butterfly larva. I had a Gold Rim lay eggs on it once, but for some unknown reason the cats didn't survive.

I can google food sources for Pipevine swallowtails. There are several, but since I wasn't able to grow that one variety which was recommended I thought maybe I'd get some recommendations here on growing it, or something else.

Actually A. fimbriata is perennial. It comes back every year from fleshy roots.

Back to your article; wouldn't it be fun to have a butterfly house like he built?

I plan to go to Barton Springs Nursery tomorrow and I'll ask for A. fimbriata.

Yes, I think it would be fun but kinda hard to implement and aesthetically difficult to fit in a garden (not for you. You would probably create a work of art in matter of weeks).

Omar

I read that the seeds need to be planted when fresh. I don't know how fresh, but they can't be held over from one year to the next. I tried that and they didn't sprout. If you get a plant now and can keep the caterpillars off of it you can sow the seeds as soon as you collect them..

Mara, thanks for the offer. I sent you a message. I guess I could also go The Natural Gardener. Even though I don't like that it's crowded most of times and everybody is in a rush.

Ragna, I'll try to get a plant one way or the other. I think I won't have many cats because I only see blue swallowtails in my garden once a month or so. We'll see...

Omar

Ok. No luck at BSN. They said they will bring plants this fall. I'll call TNG tomorrow to find out if they have them.

Omar

Thanks for the updates, Omar! I'm keeping an eye on this thread as now I would like to grow these plants as well. From what I gather, they do best as a ground cover in shaded locations, is that correct? Do folks in TX find that they need regular irrigation?

It looks like Aristolochia tomentosa (http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ARTO3) is a TX native and can climb quite high, but it looks like it prefers moist soil. Maybe that is the one Ragna already tried, but if not it might be worth a shot. Based on my limited google research, the caterpillars only feed on members of the pipevine family.

Edited to add: I found this link that lists many cultivars native to Texas: http://nababutterfly.com/pipe-dream-project/

here2learn, I've never grown Aristolochia before so everything I am going to state is hearsay. I think that what Ragna grows is A. fimbriata. According to Dave's Garden, A. fimbriata is drought tolerant and needs shade. Another source states that A. tomentosa is a water hogger and it grows in full sun.

Thanks for the list. It's a good research start.

Omar

I grow A. fimbriata under some small live oaks on a high hill west of Austin. It is pretty alkaline and not much in the way of dirt, but some leaf litter. I do not irrigate but it is about 5 feet from a grey water outlet. It is looking a bit dry right now , but they lived through the big drought. They disappeared and came back with the rains. I grew A. elegans in Austin and it liked the richer soil and the stingy irrigation I gave it. The soil was richer and the heat dome was warmer. It did not like it out here West of Weird when I tried. I might have a native aristolochia in the moist cannon area. I have seen leaves that are similar. I have tried with the A. erecta but I think I accidentally weeded it out.... oops.

Update: I called TNG. They don't have it. However, they asked me to call again on Friday. We'll see...

Omar

Fingers crossed for ya.

Ha, ha, Pam. Thanks, but when things get up the hill like that, it may be a sign to let it go. I'll call on Friday and if I have no luck, it will be a sign that it wasn't meant to be.

Omar

I sent seed to England and a friends son is growing them their successfully. I wonder if Michaels will have those cute organza bags.

I think it was Aristolochia tomentosa that I tried to get started here without success.

here2learn (Zone 8 TX) thank you for the list of pipevines: http://nababutterfly.com/pipe-dream-project/ The comments are interesting.

One person from Corpus Christi says that A. fimbriata grows back quickly for him providing a constant supply of leaves through the summer for the caterpillars.

Mine re-leaf pretty quickly until the weather gets hot and then they seem to go dorment with their bare stems sticking out until cooler weather. But they're all I have, or hope to get at this point , so I'll keep them going while planting more from seed.

I didn't save any seed this spring, but will try to collect some seed to share when they start growing and blooming again with cooler weather.

Called again today (7/25): no luck.

Omar

We got our Aristolochia tomentosa (and Passiflora lutea) from Mail Order Natives. They'll ship year-round, but buyer assumes risk if wanting delivery during the hot summer months. We've had nice quality and service ordering in the fall.

I continue procrastinating on providing a way for it to reach the top of the fence, so has spent the past two seasons growing on the gas meter with only a couple hours of direct sun each day. Doesn't seem too bothered by dry soil and only needs supplemental water a few times in the hottest stretches of summer with this amount of shade. Suspect this will change once it gets almost a full day of direct sun on the fence top. We've not watered it so far this year, but it obviously needs it now that the triple digits finally arrived in Dallas while we were out of town last week.