It is cool when animals pick certain parts of our gardens to haunt. Dog Fennel! I just did image search and this is the stuff that is all over my property. Do you know if dog fennel has any uses or if it is used as a host by anything?

That's a great picture of a Red Admiral. We get them up here until pretty late. One year I saw one on Veteran's Day.

They move so quick that it's hard to get an open winged picture unless they are basking in the morning sun.

Congrat's on the picture.

BigThicketGardens, dog fennel has come up in places it never grew before the hurricane - more sunlight. It's one of the most useless weeds I know of - I've never found a caterpillar of any kind, even a little moth, on it, and the "flowers" certainly aren't used for nectar. Male scarlet-bodied wasp moths reportedly use the toxic "nectar" from the "flowers" to spray their mates to protect them from predators, which I guess is something, especially considering the beauty of SWMs.
RAs overwinter here every year as adults, Mary Ann - they sure brighten up the winter landscape!
MissSherry

Yes, when I have an abundance of them, Emma, they loved to bask open-winged on the windshield of the car! I guess because it is very warm.

BTG - I looked up dog fennel as a host plant, and didn't see any butterflies listed, but the salt marsh moth (beautiful moth!) uses dog fennel (eupatorium capillifolium) as a host.

Congrats, MissSherry, on your RA! I know you've been on the lookout for them. I hope I have a lot next year to make up for this year. Plenty of PLs but not RAs. I'm not complaining, though, because I was fortunate to witness many butterflies I'd never seen before. Makes a big difference when you don't work outside the home.

Susan

I just had to tell y'all about my experience today with the red admiral. It's been warm, in the 70's all day, so I worked outside. I cleaned out an area close to my road/driveway that I think she considers to be "her property", because it's where I usually see her. I go in and out of the house when I work outside, because I get tired - I go in and get some water or iced tea, then go back. Every time I went back, there she'd be, flying at me. She landed on me several times - maybe she was hoping to find some salty sweat like she did when it was hotter? When I took the dogs for a walk in an entirely different part of the property, there she was again, flying at me and perching on bushes right in front of me. The next to last time I went back out to the road area, she flew directly at my head several times, so I'm wondering if she was dive bombing me like mockingbirds do when they want you to leave, usually because they've got a nest and/or babies nearby? She seems to actually have a personality, which would indicate that she has some intelligence and knows that I'm different from, say, a tree, a bush or another animal, right? I've never had this experience with a butterfly! A red admiral usually overwinters with me, and I've noticed that I see them a lot in one given area, so I'm aware that they're territorial, but this is the first one that's actually interacted with me! Since she's so bold, I think I'm going to name her Brassy, the first butterfly that acts like my pet! :)
MissSherry

Oh, how cute! Brassy is a perfect name for an admiral! I'm sure that any creature as smart as a butterfly can tell that MissSherry the best friend a butterfly could have!

Red Admirals are energetic little buggers who do seem to interact with their environment more than some other species.

Congrats upon your great pic, Miss Sherry. She's a beauty.

Very interesting as to how she have been quite attracted to you, Miss Sherry. It does seem like she is very protective of that area. Do keep us posted.

How fascinating, MissSherry! Butterflies never cease to amaze me. I guess that's what I find intriguing about them.

I noticed you said you planted your boehmeria in the sun. I'll be interested to see how it does there, since I planted mine in shade, and it seems to love it there. Gets very leafy and even produced numerous flowers. But there are a lot of plants that tolerate both sun or shade very well.

Susan

I rooted my false nettles from some I found growing on the edge of a ditch in full sun, Susan, so I know they can grow under those conditions. I left them in a part sun/shade situation for quite a while in their pots, though, and they did well there, too - I think they're very adaptable.
It only got up into the 60's today, because the thick fog hung in all day. It looks like that old movie 'The Hounds of the Baskervilles' - depressing and eerie.
MissSherry

Yay! Congrats, MissSherry! The Red Admiral is a funny little character, for sure. They are inquisitive as all heck and most territorial. I am sure Brassy will be hanging about for quite awhile... :) Enjoy!

I saw my first Red Admiral on my property this week enjoying my tall red pentas. Ran inside to get my camera only to not have any memory left in the camera. But I will keep trying. It gives me something to look forward to. That and capturing a shot of the elusive Kingfisher(a very noisy waterbird) on my property.

The RA will undoubtedly stick around all winter, Goldenpond, at least mine always do - if you can catch him/her in the morning sun basking, you may be able to get an open-winged picture. I love those kingfishers! My neighbors all have ponds, and I see and hear them off and on diving for minnows. Kingfishers have such beautiful blue and rust coloring!
Speaking of birds, the hurricane knocked over hundreds of my big trees, and many more of the pines have died since then, probably from the post-hurricane drought and/or the southern pine beetles it brought on. So I've still got lots of dead trees, mostly pines. There is a pair of pileated woodpeckers that spends lots of time here, feasting on all the bugs in the dead trees, and I finally got a halfway decent picture of the female -they're shy, so if you get the least bit close to them, they fly away. Pileated wookpeckers are real big and look so prehistoric - I'd love it if she'd make her nest in one of my dead pines!
{{gwi:552031}}
MissSherry

That Woodpecker is just awesome. Apparently they are quite big...and noisy?

Yes, Mary Ann, you can hear their call from great distances, and when they call/scream close to you, you can't believe how loud it is! A hundred years ago because of excessive logging pileated woodpeckers were growing so scarce they could have become extinct, much like their look-alike relative, the ivory-billed woodpecker. They've made a good come back due to more sensible logging practices, and of course it doesn't hurt that they eat a much more varied diet than ivory-billeds do. You should see what they've done to one of my dead trees - they've made deep rectangular/oval holes all over it! They've always been one of my favorite birds.
Yesterday I worked some more in my RA's territory, and she flew by me several times, not at me this time. How I hope my false nettles grow and spread and I get some eggs/cats next year!
MissSherry

I still get excited about getting a good look at any kind of woodpecker, but your photo is great! I have never gotten a picture of any of my woodpeckers. We only rarely see the Pileated (it's a big favorite for me, too!!), but our Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers call all day long, every day in the Black Gum Swamp. We also get Red-headed Woodpeckers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Northern Flickers in there. Our very oldest, tallest Slash Pine is dying and I guess it will become a popular tree with the woodpeckers. It was struck by lightning at least twice since we moved to the property in 1997! Since we dug a new pond near our house we get to see a Belted Kingfisher and various enormous herons and egrets pretty often. Let's see, I guess my butterfly-related comment is that I wonder if there are any tricks to getting Red Admirals. Any suggestions on where I should plant my False Nettle seed? I already planted a lot in wet soil along the new pond where it's still bare. This forum is so tempting once spring comes along... but I need to go outside!

I don't know where you should plant your false nettle seed, Carol, because I've never had any success growing it from seed. I HAVE had enormous success with growing it from cuttings - it's real easy to root!
I'm also seeing red-bellied woodpeckers up close these days, because they're visiting my sunflower feeder. When they swoop in (and hang onto the feeder in the oddest manner!) all the other birds - cardinals, goldfinches, chipping sparrows, white-throated sparrows, juncos, chickadees, tufted titmice, etc. - fly away in unison, like they're scared of them.
It'll soon be time for the spring migration, Carol - rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings, blue grosbeaks, scarlet tanagers, etc., so I'll be keeping a careful watch on my feeder.
MissSherry

The false nettle would probably prefer some shade in your zone, Carol. You'll probably need to water the seedlings frequently, as they like a lot of moisture until they are well established at least. Then, it seems they need more moisture than most of my other plants so far. But, it is obvious when the plants are dry because they will show their need for water by the visible drooping leaves.

Susan

I am SO jealous! I saw one for a brief moment laast summer, near a BF bush no less......I'm going to work on more sweet sticky stuff this year.....and probably "cheat" and buy some larvae.....better make sure I have lots of F nettle! As, the woodpeckers, I have had good visitation from the red headed and red bellied...they ARE shy, but raisins slipped in my feader are more than they can resist.....but have not seena pileated...but I know they're here. The red cockaded is endangered, and is around here...and of course MissSherry, rumour has it the ivory billed MAY have survived....and they are now looking in Florida and LA for possible isolated colonies...I sure hope they did....as that is a fabulous bird!

I almost forgot; last fall I found a big patch of False Nettle growing on the edge of our swamp, an eighth of a mile from our house. As you noted, it sure does well in wet soil in partial shade. I wonder if it was there all along, or if it came from seeds from the plants next to my house. It looked different, but that may have been due to age/moisture/shade.