Pearl Crescent

Phaon Crescent

Pearl Crescents are beautifully patterned, orange and chocolate brown butterflies with a wingspan of only 1 ¼- 1 ¾ inches. Fairly common throughout much of Florida, the Alabama Butterfly Atlas notes that Pearl Crescents “are found wherever asters flourish, and there is an aster for almost any habitat.” Interestingly, Pearl Crescents ‘don’t wear pearls,’ unlike their close relative, the Phaon Crescent, which has a pale cream band (its pearls) in the center of its top forewing. (See Photos #1 and #2.)

Female Pearl Crescents lay clusters of pale greenish-yellow eggs on the undersides of host plant leaves. Host plants are a range of plants in the Aster family including Frost Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum) and Rice Button Aster (Symphyotrichum dumosum). Young caterpillars live and feed communally in silken nests on the underside of host plant leaves.

Adults are considered generalists that will nectar from a variety of flowers including Shepherd’s Needle (Bidens alba), Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) and Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.) Adult males usually have black antennal knobs.

Like Pearl Crescents, Phaon Crescents are beautifully patterned, orange and chocolate brown butterflies. Slightly smaller in size (wingspan typically only 1- 1 ½ inches) and with a cream band on its top forewings, Phaon Crescents are most often found in areas with abundant Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora.) 

Female Phaon Crescents lay clusters of pale greenish-yellow eggs on the undersides of host plant leaves. Host plants include Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) and occasionally Looseflower Water-Willow (Justicia ovata.) Young caterpillars live and feed communally in silken nests on the underside of host plant leaves.

Adults are considered generalists that will nectar from a variety of flowers including Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) and composites including Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.) Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.) and Thistles (Cirsium spp.)

Frost Aster
(Symphyotrichum pilosum) 

Frost Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum) is a stout herbaceous perennial that acts as an annual outside its normal range of Zones 4 to 8. Typically growing to a size of 3 ½ to 4 feet tall and wide, this wildflower has stiff, branching leafy stems with clusters of flowers found across the top half of the plant. Each ½ to ¾ inch daisy-like flower comprises 15-35 white rays surrounding a center disc of 20-40 tiny flowers that fade from pale yellow to reddish-purple as pollen is removed. (Details on floral color change and its impact on pollinating bees can be found in this article.) 

Frost Aster’s peak flowering time is typically August or September through November and its flowers are a favorite nectar source for many of our native bees and butterflies. The plant is also a host plant for Pearl Crescent caterpillars and its seeds are devoured by song birds during the winter.

Frost Aster is native to upland prairies, limestone glades, dry or mesic thickets, open woodlands, meadows and old fields from Quebec west to Ontario and south to northern Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The plant requires moist but well-drained soils in semi-shaded areas. The plant will not tolerate full sun in our area. 

Frost Aster has extremely hairy stems and leaves; this feature helps distinguish Frost Aster from other asters. Frost Aster is exceptionally stunning when planted en masse in a shaded woodland. For those with the appropriate setting, why not try some and let us know how many birds, butterflies, and bees you count?

(Fun Fact: Asters derive their common names from the Greek word for star because of their showy, radiated flowers. In this month’s newsletter, we’re focusing on three of these beautiful plants.)

Frogfruit
(Phyla nodiflora) 

Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) is a charming groundcover with trailing foliage that grows to about 6 inches high. A member of the verbena family, Frogfruit’s white and reddish-pink flowers look like miniature versions of its larger verbena cousins. The plant is listed as semi-evergreen: it will go dormant in harsh winters, but re-emerges with warmer temperatures. In our area, the plant will typically bloom from early spring through the fall with peak bloom occurring in May and fruit setting in October.

Get your SwagON!

Give the gift that keeps on growing and will attract butterflies to your loved one's garden all year round! Instead of cut flowers, give your Valentine a Butterfly Garden in a pot. Our butterfly mix pots are a combination of caterpillar host plants and butterfly nectar plants. 

Not sure what to buy for your Valentine?  Let them choose with a Gift Card!  Available in denominations from $10 and up, gift cards are always in stock, can be purchased online and emailed.  Make their inbox flutter with love!

Stoke's Aster

Stoke's Aster (Stokesia laevis) is low-growing (1 to 2 feet) herbaceous, evergreen perennial with showy, 2 ½ inch-wide violet blue flowers with white feathery disk floret centers. This wildflower typically blooms from early to mid-summer and may rebloom again in the fall.

Stoke’s Aster is native to wetlands, bottomlands, wet pinewoods, and savannas along the coastal plain from North Carolina to northern Florida and Louisiana. The plant prefers well-drained but moist soil and full sun. It will tolerate filtered sunlight and is somewhat drought resistant once established. In our area, Stoke’s Aster is generally evergreen. It’s a great nectar source for bees and butterflies and looks great in vases as a cut flower.

Plant Stoke’s Aster with Smooth Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides var. gracilis) for a bright yellow-purple punch, or keep it in the same color palette and plant it with Corn Snakeroot (Eryngium aquaticum.) Expect to divide Stoke’s Asters every three years or so to keep them healthy and looking their best. 

(Fun Fact: According to UF | IFAS Stoke’s Aster was named after the English botanist and doctor, Jonathan Stokes, who documented that Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) could treat heart failure.)

Climbing Aster

Climbing Aster (Ampelaster carolinianus) is long-lived sprawling vine about ten feet long that can easily be trained to crawl over fences, arbors, and pergolas. Its delicate, daisy-like flowers are lovely shades of pink, purple and lavender clustered at the ends of the vine’s branches. Climbing Aster blooms from late summer through the fall (and into the winter when the weather is mild.) It’s a great nectar source for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators and its seeds are a winter fuel source for songbirds. It is also the host plant for Pearl Crescent caterpillars.

Climbing Aster’s native habitat includes the coastal plains and Piedmont from the Carolinas south to Georgia and Florida. It naturally grows along stream banks, moist thickets, wet woodlands, and marshy shores. It performs best in full sun and wet to dry sands with good drainage. It is an excellent candidate for the edges of retention basins and streambank stabilization projects. It pairs well with Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and Swamp Lily (Crinum americanum).

Deadhead this plant when flowers are spent, but reserve heavy trimming for the spring to encourage new growth and a profusion of flowers.

Climbing Aster has been recently spotted in Lettuce Lake Park. Let us know if you see any while you’re out and about. Email your photos to [email protected]. We’d love to know what you find!

Next month Spring Break will be here and we're ready to meet new nature explorers and welcome returning campers! Join us for a fun-filled week learning about nature. Every camper will get to release a butterfly (weather permitting). Hurry and save with our Early Bird Special rate which ends soon! Click the link below for details and to register.

We're BAAAACK, and we've been voted the Best of Summer Camps in 2022 by the Guide to Florida! Registration is now open for our summer nature camps for children entering Kindergarten to Grade 5. Take advantage of our Early Bird special which is $25 off the registration fee, if you register for the entire camp period, one month in advance.  Day Passes are available (but not applicable for the Early Bird discount).

Beetle and Bee Kids Garden Gloves

Get ready for Spring by planting plants the pollinators will love! Use these amazing kids gloves to play in the dirt and make your garden Spring ready!

Did You Know?

Caterpillars have eyes! It’s a general misconception that caterpillars don’t have eyes because their eyes don’t look like ours. Caterpillars have six eyes called ocelli that help them to see light.

2023 Nature Camp Assistants

We need adults and/or high school students to help with Kids' Nature Camps from 7:45 am to 3:15 pm during Spring Break. All Nature Camps will be held at 4111-A Henderson Blvd. in South Tampa.

Butterfly Alley Maintenance

Volunteers are needed to perform cleanup and maintenance of Butterfly Alley habitat (4110 W. Estrella St., behind Little Red Wagon Native Nursery) this month.

CFC Habitat Maintenance

The Florida Aquarium, Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation and FWC's Suncoast Youth Conservation Center need volunteers to assist with habitat maintenance at Center for Conservation site of the Florida Conservation and Technology Center in Apollo Beach (529 Estuary Shore Lane) as well as their Adopt a Road site along Dickman Road. 

ENCORE! Park

Volunteers are needed to help maintain the Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation-sponsored butterfly garden at Encore! Technology Park located at 1210 E. Harrison St. (Corner of Harrison Street and Hank Ballard St.)

Fred Ball Park

Volunteers are needed to help maintain the Rose Circle Garden Circle and Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation-sponsored butterfly garden at 2851 Rubideaux St., Tampa, FL 33629 (next to Tampa Garden Club).  

Little Red Wagon Native Nursery  

We currently need garden enthusiasts to help us support the efforts of Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation’s conservation, restoration, research, and education efforts.  

Let's find some Viceroys at Gadsen Park! Join Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation and NABA Tampa Bay on a butterfly walk at 6901 S MacDill Ave in South Tampa. We will meet under the trees North of the softball field at the back of the park. 

This will be free for NABA members; non-NABA members fee: $5 (payment required morning of event).

Registration Required.

FEBRUARY   1       National Serpent Day

FEBRUARY   2       Groundhog Day
FEBRUARY   7       National Green Week begins

FEBRUARY 13-19  Invasive Species week

FEBRUARY 14       Valentine’s Day--LRW gift cards always in stock!

FEBRUARY 20       Presidents’ Day

FEBRUARY 27       National Invasive Species Awareness (NISA) begins