[tramp]

If you are in the Tauranga area this weekend and if the weather is fine call in at the Te Puna Quarry Park and visit the butterfly garden.

There were well over 100 Butterflies this morning feeding and I released another 25 also 1 Red Admiral and 6 yellow Admirals

They are feeding on a big white Daisy plant Montanoa grandifolia,it has been flowering for 3 weeks and will go another few weeks,also a large flowered Tithonia diversifolia and a species marigold shrub.

We will,I hope have plants available around November you can order from Mary or Char at monarch.org.nz

Hope to post photos shortly

[Charlotte]

Thanks for the information Norm;-)
We cut all of the seeds off when we see any appear to stop it from self seeding anywhere else.
The yellow or gold lantana we have is a cutting from the plant we purchased from Kumeu garden centre. But we lost this plant due to all the rain last year and the area getting bogged down.
So until we raise most of our gardens no more planting down the back!

[NormTwigge]

Lantana camara, of which there are several colour forms, is in the same category as Buddleia davidii, it self seeds and because it is not a native is regarded as a pest plant, birds spread the seed. Like Buddleia there are hybrids which do not seed so are not pests. Lantana ‘christine’ attracts the butterflies in my garden, as does Lantana montevidensis, a trailing species. The Thames Butterfly House has a low growing yellow variety which attracts the butterflies in large numbers. I must admit to growing Lantana camara in pots in my butterfly house as it is flowers over a long period in warm conditions and the butterlies love it, plus it is easy to propagate from cuttings, and when it gets too big I dump it and bring in a smaller one.

[Charlotte]

HI Darren,

Our Lantana’s (gold, red and tricolour) are doing really great.

Oh and I see from your notes above and links that the lantana camara is a pest;-( We have one very similar that we call tricolor.
Our gold and red lantana have the same leaves etc as the tricolor mentioned on the pests page;-(

I am just as confused as you Darren when it comes to plants.
The butterflies do love them that’s for sure and they are still flowering now.

Cheers
Char

[Darren]

Hi Char, how did your Lantana gold plant work out?
I see Lantana is on our nectar poster, but with a note that some varieties are weeds.

I see from http://www.rnzih.org.nz/pages/lantanacamara.htm that “Lantana camara var. aculeata, the most common variety of lantana found growing wild in NZ, with cream and pink flowers, is listed on the National Pest Plant Accord.” It then goes on to say that “Other forms and species of Lantana are common garden plants.”

However when I checked the NPPA myself it says “Lantana camara (all varieties)” http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/pests/lantana

I also found this:

Lantana camara is an environmental weed in the northern North Island of New Zealand. It is an increasingly observed problem in forest margins, coastal scrublands, dunes, plantations and island habitats, and its rapid, uncontrolled growth can create dense impenetrable thickets, suppressing vegetation and bush regeneration. Biological control options are being considered for its management. A strain of the Brazilian rust Prospodium tuberculatum was released against lantana in Australia in 2001. This rust was screened against invasive forms of the weed that occur in New Zealand and was found to be pathogenic under glasshouse conditions. A survey found no evidence that the rust occurs in New Zealand. It is concluded that P. tuberculatum is potentially a suitable agent for the biocontrol of lantana in New Zealand and further research should be carried out prior to importation of the organism.
Prospects for the biological control of Lantana camara (Verbenaceae) in New Zealand. N.W. Waipara, C.J. Winks, Q. Paynter, N. Riding and M.D. Day. New Zealand Plant Protection 62 (2009): 50-55

So I’m in my usual confuddled state when it comes to plants.
Which varieties of Lantana are ok in New Zealand and appeal to butterflies?

[Charlotte]

Wow Mary must be a grand site at the Quarry Park.
We must come down and take a look one weekend soon;-)
I have a few Monarchs come in each day to feed off the Montanoa we have here growing.
We now have a Lantana gold plant in the garden, so hope they feed off this one as well.

Cheers
Char

[Author]

Replies