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woodyoak

Heptacodium in bloom; Monarchs absent :-(

The heptacodium tree usually blooms just as the Monarch butterflies arrive en masse on their way south. The heptacodium - and the purple asters which have started to bloom in the last few days - are normally smothered in butterflies. Not this year! We've only seen a couple of Monarchs. Hopefully more will arrive soon, but it certainly looks like the reports of a poor Monarch year are very true....!

Dinner awaits them here:
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Comments (16)

  • prairiemoon2 z6b MA
    10 years ago

    Gee, that's a shame, I hope some Monarchs show up soon. I saw one all season, not even a pair. That Heptacodium looks great trained as a tree. I just looked it up and I see they are fragrant too and they can reach 20ft. That can feed a lot of butterflies! Is it just the Monarchs that use it?

    I love your Viburnum with that luscious fruit hanging off it. It looks a lot like my 'Wentworth' but yours is another variety, isn't it? I just looked up Wentworth to see what the parents were and apparently it was a 'found' cultivar of trilobum. I thought yours was an opulus? Mine has what I thought was a pretty good fruit display until I saw a photo of what can be expected on a 'Wentworth'. But mine is in a pretty good amount of shade, so I'm just happy it produces fruit at all. I didn't realize you could make preserves with them. The birds are slow to eat mine.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Viburnum 'Wentworth'

  • katob Z6ish, NE Pa
    10 years ago

    That's sad to hear. They never really seem to be too interested in mine, but the bumblebees make up for it.
    I hope the lack of monarchs and honeybees isn't some silent spring warning that we are all missing. I've got my fingers crossed that it's just a lull in the population and we'll soon all see a rebound in numbers to levels not seen before! ..... Or else we will have to be on the lookout for the next species to collapse.

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, as kato says, the bees love the heptacodium too - it practically vibrates with bees at times!

    We're on the migration route for the Monarchs - they gather near here every fall, waiting for the winds to be right for them to ride the thermals across the lake to continue south. So there are usually lots of monarchs feeding on the heptacodium, the butterfly bushes and the asters here. So far the most we've seen at once is two! We've counted more that 100 in the tree at once in the past! I sure hope this is a temporary setback and some more appear soon...

    The viburnum in the picture is indeed an opulus. It produces a nice bunch of fruit which lasts through the winter - apparently the fruit needs a lot of freezing and thawing before it becomes palatable for the birds :-) So it is there for them at the end of winter when there isn't much else around and they can't afford to be too picky! It looks nice in snow so it makes a pretty display for winter.

  • flowergirl70ks
    10 years ago

    Monarchs passed through here about 2 weeks ago, very few from what we usually have. I probably saw less than 25, usually they cover my north fence, it just turns orange, but not this time.

  • terrene
    10 years ago

    Sorry to hear you have no visitors! I hope they show up and perhaps this is a late season??

    Apparently Monarch populations crashed last year. The overwintering population for 2012-13 was 58% lower than the lowest year previously recorded, since the scientists discovered the over wintering site in central Mexico (1970 or thereabouts? course the native people knew about it).

    I have only seen 1 Monarch all season, finally saw a female yesterday on the butterfly bush. She was probably a migrant, on her way to warmer horizons. It's gotten too cold for them to breed in my immediate area, with nights that are getting down into the 40s F.

    This post was edited by terrene on Mon, Sep 16, 13 at 5:04

  • kimpa zone 9b N. Florida.
    10 years ago

    I probably saw only 3 monarchs this season and had no larvae....

  • Southamptonite
    9 years ago

    I have a heptacodium tree in my back yard here in Southampton, Ontario, that is presently covered with hundreds of Monarch butterflies. They have been there for two days. What a beautiful sight.

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Our heptacodium is starting to bloom now. Not a lot of Monarchs here yet; I hope the ones you have are heading our way! I'd love to see pictures of your tree and butterflies....

  • jujujojo_gw
    9 years ago

    Blooming now? That is very late. Do you get to see the secondary "bloom"?

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    This is the normal time for the Heptacodium to bloom here. The showy secondary 'bloom' has never happened here although you can see the pink calyxes if you look close - they just never form that overall pink bloom look.

  • Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
    9 years ago

    I've only seen one monarch so far. Hoping for more. The bees and other buzzers are certainly enjoying it though. As busy as the subway in NYC! I really like how the heptacodium and the sweet autumn clematis bloom at the same time and get swarmed with activity!

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    My Sweet Autumn didn't survive this past winter! I was hoping the roots might still be alive but nothing ever showed up, so I'll have to replant it next year....

  • Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
    9 years ago

    Woody, I had one die this past winter as well. I was really surprised. I didn't think anything could kill them. Fortunately, it was the one that smelled more like soap rather than that nice sweet smell, so I wasn't necessarily upset about it. It was so odd that my two vines smelled so differently from one another. The one that died actually turned my stomach a bit when it was in full bloom.

  • shadeyplace
    9 years ago

    My Heptacodium is at least 20 feet tall and full of bees. I was not aware it was supposed to attract monarchs ??

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    shadyplace - monarchs go mad over heptacodium here! 2010 was our best monarch year so these are pictures from late September 2010 that I've posted here before...

    {{gwi:233135}}

    {{gwi:178925}}

    We are on the migration route for the monarchs. So far, there haven't been many around but I'm hoping the report from southamptonite might mean there will be a good show this year!

  • arbo_retum
    9 years ago

    we have had 2 heptacodiums for many years, since they were brought back from China by the Arnold Arboretum here in Boston, and first deceminated by them to their members fifteen or 20 yrs ago. I have never seen Monarchs on them. Darn!! Ours have recently begun their annual bloom and they do reliably get their pink calyxes here, which is the only real reason that I grow that tree (shreddy bark is neat too.)

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