Not long after Milton’s storm surge receded, Ann Weaver and Maura Qualls (pictured below), Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve volunteers, began to notice that many of the butterfly nectar and host plants in the Butterfly Habitat failed to return due to the hurricane damage. Porterweed and Scarlet Salvia were missing. There were large empty spaces in the Habitat. Soil salinity levels were up, and it was apparent that many native plants were not salt tolerant.
A plan was devised to bring some transplants from their home gardens to test whether new plants would survive. Wild Petunia, Black-eyed Susans, Goldenrod, Tropical Salvia and Porterweed were planted and hand watered daily to ensure their survival in hot, dry April and May. The plants did well, and more plants were added, purchased from the Mangrove Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society.
Maura and Ann began to design plantings for the largest habitat area, a thirty-foot diameter circle that had almost no surviving plants. Cardboard was laid to smother grass weeds and gardener’s paths were mulched to access this large planting space. In May, the Conservancy purchased 74 native plants to fill this area. Yellow Top, Partridge Pea, Blue-eyed Grass, Pineland Heliotrope, Starry Rosinweed, Tropical Salvia, Coastal Verbena, Calamint, Dotted Horsemint, Lantana, Goldenrod, False Rosemary, Asters, Black-eyed Susans, Teabush, Carolina Jessamine and Blue Sage will be adding yellow, white, purple, red and blue blossoms to the garden.
Rainy season was still weeks away and Preserve ponds were still high in salinity, so Maura and Ann brought water from home to help the plants survive. Marti and Jim Krug helped prep the bed, weed and plant. Jack Simmonds placed stakes for shade cloths and edged the bed with cut logs.
Finally, the rains came, greatly helping the new plants. About 160 plants have been added to the Habitat this spring and all seem to be doing well. Monarch, Cloudless Sulphur, White Peacock, Giant Swallowtail and Florida White butterflies are visiting the Habitat regularly, enjoying the new nectar plants.
If you’d like to visit the Habitat, to volunteer or to ask questions, Maura and Ann are usually there on Thursdays from 8:00 am to 9:30 am. LBC members are invited to visit the Habitat daily, by parking at 3120 Gasparilla Pines Blvd and entering through the members’ gate. Public tours of the Habitat will resume in the fall.
