Tom, this is the red porterweed that I grew from cuttings that Tom M gave me. The clump is 3 foot high by 2 .5 ft wide already.

Penta lanceolota

Salvia Amistad

So gorgeous! I'm so happy I got to see some this year.

Beautiful queens!

Tom, glad to hear that the red porterweed is successful for you. I need to email Tom M and let him know how great mine is doing :) Please let me know if I can send you any plants to help rebuild your beautiful garden.

Thanks Deb and Sherry. I think the Queens are one of the most beautiful butterflies. They're not bright and flashy but I love the rust color and black border.

Just wow, Rhonda. If I'm ever fortunate enough to have a more dense population of butterflies come through, I'll need to pay closer attention to see if I've mistaken any Queens for Monarchs.

I have three big bushes of Porterweed which gets attacked by thrips every year. None of the flowers open and shrivel up. I'm so unhappy with them but there's nothing I can do to get rid of the thrips.

Thrips hit my orchids also. Nightmare.

I was told gardenias and hibiscus are hosts for thrips. I have both. I'd be willing to get rid of the hibiscus but my gardenia is huge and I'd hate to pull it up.

Any suggestions?

Jane

My first suggestion you have probably already tried. Spray the plants with horticultural oil. This normally kills insects that are already on the plant and isn't toxic to pollinators.

My other suggestion is more drastic, but highly effective. Find an insecticide with spinosad and spray the plants thoroughly, getting underneath the leaves as well as all other parts of the plant. Spinosad is a combination of natural ingredients that serve to kill insects upon contact. It will negatively affect pollinators that use the flowers for a time, especially bees. Still, it will kill all the thrips immediately.

I used to grow a lot of roses and, for a while there was an infestation of chili mites in Florida that was terrible. They didn't just weaken the plants, they killed them down to the roots. The rosarians in Florida and other states found that spinosad was the only insecticide that was completely effective.

If you don't have flowers on your plants this might be something to use. It isn't a systemic and it doesn't appear to harm the water. If you choose to use spinosad you should probably reapply it two weeks after the initial treatment to make sure that the thrips don't come back.

I use Spinosad on my orchids and it is effective on thrips.

My problem is spinosad kills all caterpillars. My shrubs are very large and I'd have to spray with a power sprayer. I have Milkweed growing all over, plus fennel, parsley and rue. I could try to cover things but I'd be fearful of drift from spraying.

It is a good suggestion and I have thought about it but not sure I could handle it in a safe way.