I had four hours to kill at the Johannesburg Airport on 28 October 2010. On enquiry, I found there was a butterfly house and restaurant at a huge commercial rose farm about an hour’s drive to the north, near Pretoria. After a phone call to Halmar to OK a visit, I headed off.
Halmar gave me a warm welcome and handed me over to Rebecca who cares for the butterfly house and who shared the following points of interest.
They buy in most of their chrysalises (pupae) from the Philippines and Tanzania. (In Australia, the strict quarantine laws do not allow us to import eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises or butterflies.)
In their butterfly house, the butterflies’ preferred nectar plant is Pentas lanceolata in red, pink and white, then Verbena in red, white and purple.
Next came Lantana montevidensis which is very pretty and less of a problem than the more invasive Lantana camara in Australia.
After that came Duranta (Geisha Girl) which is the nicely perfumed purple flowered one. They suggested that it be cut back fairly hard after flowering to encourage new growth and flowers.
Last on the list of strong favourites for butterfly nectar was Buddleia davidii. This one is commonly known as the Butterfly Bush. It comes in various pretty colours but the flowers do not last as long as the very popular Pentas flowers.
I guess that, like humans, butterflies also like a variety when it comes to food choices so they have also planted Red Bougainvillea, a white flowered ‘Chicherenchii’ that the local form of Common Eggfly likes for nectar, Plumbago auriculata (also a food plant for the Plumbago Blue butterfly), blue and white flowered Heliotropes, Ageratum, Kalanchoe, red and pink Cestrums as well as Abelia grandiflora.
Ludwigs have a few Chinese Button Quail running around on the ground in the butterfly house. They say they act as a biological pest control agent and eat the small seeds provided as well as unwanted aphids and other small insects.
The main problem they have with parasites are the Tachnid Fly that lays its eggs on the milkweed caterpillars (like the Lesser Wanderer in Australia).
A big thanks goes to Halmar and his team for sharing their valuable time and experience. Their website is www.ludwigsroses.co.za.
Thank You, Ray Archer
Get Your Free Copy!
The words of this little book guarantee a reduction in stress and depression, and an increase in happiness and good attitude in life, whether you are an atheist, agnostic, Christian, or someone searching for meaning in life.
