Gymnocoronis – The Best Pond Plant
Gymnocoronis spilanthoides, Senegal Tea, is a pond plant which attracts Monarch butterflies without equal. I usually buy it at a aquarium supply store in St. Louis for about $8/bunch. I’ll stick each cutting in some soil and place it in the pond and watch it grow. While the flower is not much to speak of, the fall Monarchs just love it and as the one picture shows, the plant seems to have some sort of chemical which the Monarchs love. I pulled out about half of the plants one day to make more room in the pond and the next day, you can see 27 Monarchs sucking on the roots.
Here’s a video take at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Wow – I love the video. I found you through Gardenweb forums. Nice blog. Monarchs are my favorite butterfly to raise right now. They are so beautiful in every stage. I’ve only tried them and Black Swallowtails and Gulf Fritillaries from eggs to adults and a few others I’ve found as chrysalises or caterpillars. Thanks for sharing.
joyfulbutterfly said this on May 18, 2009 at 4:57 pm |
Did you realize that Gymnocoronis spilanthoides, Senegal Tea is very invasive. Go to http://www.weeds.gov.au/publications/guidelines/alert/pubs/g-spilanthoides.pdf
I realize this is an Aus. publication , but I would imagine it would also be invasive here.
s.ray-master gardener said this on May 20, 2009 at 4:36 pm |