Cats lasting on Durchman's Pipe

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

The native pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla) took a few years to finally start growing well onto the sunny side of the fence and looks like it's going to finally bloom this year (yay!).

The swallowtails have regularly left eggs in the past, but the small cats always vanished after inflicting only traces of damage. We have many, many spiney lizards and anoles, so assume they have been eating them. This year some cats have finally reached a decent size with more eggs arriving daily, so hoping some get a chance to complete the lifecycle.

Just wondering if anyone knows of something like a screen enclosure that could be mounted to the fence enclosing portions of the vine or other ways to keep the lizards at bay? TIA

Featured Answer

roselee z8b S.W. Texas

7 years ago

That's a very nice A. macrophylla! I tried to grow it, but couldn't keep it going. Now I grow the smaller white veined pipe vines and passion vines for the butterflies. I tried using netting bunched around on the fences to try and protect the caterpillars, but when I found an anole that had died after having gotten tangled in it I gave up. Using screen would have been better, but harder to manage the edges.

I like to help nature when I can, but have found that many things finally reach a balance and there is enough to go around for the lizards, birds, and wasps and some left over to compete their life cycle. The real butterfly aficionados bring plants and caterpillars indoors and release when hatched or they put screens around structures like tomato cages to keep the caterpillars safe. There's some information along those lines on the butterfly forum.

Wishing you the best in your endeavors!

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Comments (9)

bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions and hazard warning. Whether nature uses our plants as butterfly hosts or lizard feeders is actually okay with me, too. Though have begun to wonder if our urban setting may be short on lizard predators... the anoles, especially, are showing up everywhere and there seems to be more of them with every insect attracting plant we add. There are a bunch of stub-tails this year, so guess something has been after them.

Our neighbor's huge oak grew into the canopy space of the fruitless mulberry we removed much quicker than expected; so, the pipevine ended up in full-day heavy shade by the end of its first growing season. Took it 3 or so years just to reach the top of the 6 ft fence and another 2 or 3 to really begin growing onto the sunny (east) side. I didn't water it after the first year, never fed it, and left it in darkness.... so take no credit for it's survival. Did think we had lost it a couple different times during the first three years.
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wantonamara Z8 CenTex
7 years ago
I walk outdoors and find that I am not in control,....ever.
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTex
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
Original Author
7 years ago
Yes... though imagine there are places it could seem relatively worse ;-)
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
The pipevine is blooming today!

WIth 2 or 3 times the foliage this year, numbers may be in the cats' favor. Many have "disappeared", but more keep coming. This guy has already bulked up well:

But the threat still lurks just overhead:
girlnamedgalez8a
7 years ago
I purchased an enclosure for my monarch cats like this https://www.amazon.com/s?k=butterflie+encoleure&ref=nb_sb_no

I just put the cats in there with some of the milkweed that I was growing for them. I raised close to 30 that way. You could just cut some of the vine and put it into the closure with the cats. It was really fun.
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw thanked girlnamedgalez8a
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Thank you for the update! Love seeing the flower and the fat cat, AND the reminder that things could be worse, much worse, than the small (by comparison) "threat that still lurks just overhead" ... :-)

At first I thought the meadow scene was from Texas!
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw thanked roselee z8b S.W. Texas
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
Original Author
7 years ago
At first I thought the meadow scene was from Texas!

Close - about 10 miles north of the Red River in Oklahoma. I was taking photos of wildflowers to post on the NTP forum when photobombed - knew they were in the area, but unaware we were riding past them.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
7 years ago
Oklahoma!!!!! You sure fooled me!
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw thanked roselee z8b S.W. Texas