Start a Conversation with Bat-faced Cuphea

Cuphea llavea, commonly called Bat-faced Cuphea, is a real conversation starter. It has lance-shaped green leaves and tubular flowers topped with what look much like purple "bat faces" with bright red "ears." It is one of the most interesting blooms I have seen:

I discovered this plant earlier this year at another gardener's home and soon found three for my own garden. This is a native perennial in Mexico and Central America, but it usually grows as an annual below USDA hardiness zone 10. In zones 8-9, it sometimes will survive the winter if well mulched, dying down at frost, then returning with warmer spring temperatures. It can grow in the ground or in a pot. If in a pot, it may be overwintered inside by a bright window.

Cuphea blooms over a long season, from late spring till frost. The bat faces are small but are produced in abundance and do not need to be deadheaded.
There are now cultivars that produce blooms other than red, such as pink, purple and white. The nectar-rich blooms are very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

Plant Bat-faced Cuphea in full sun in well-draining, rich, organic soil. In intensely hot regions it can take some afternoon shade. It should be watered regularly until the roots are established. After that it is fairly drought tolerant.

It can grow up to two feet tall by three feet wide. When it is about ten inches tall or when it becomes leggy, the plant may be pinched or sheared back to produce a bushier, more floriferous plant. I definitely recommend this. Mine have become leggy, producing blooms mostly at the end of the stem. Mine are getting pinched this week! Fertilize monthly with a balanced fertilizer, or use a slow-release fertilizer in spring.

Long-tailed Skipper in the Garden

Have you ever been in the garden, minding your own business, when suddenly you were attacked by a butterfly?

It may have been a Long-tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus. This butterfly is primarily brownish but is distinguished by its beautiful, iridescent green body and wing bases and long, half-inch tails extending behind its hindwings. You may mistake it for a moth, but it is more related to the butterflies.

It flies in an erratic pattern, skipping around, thus the name "skipper."

The male of this species is very territorial. He perches, looking out over his territory, and he will fly at anything that enters the area. If it is a female Long-tailed Skipper, he is a happy critter and immediately tries to mate with her. He will try to chase off anything else, including humans.

Long-tail skippers are found throughout the southeastern US, as well as some very southern portions of the western US. It is also found in parts of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Host plants for the Long-tailed Skipper are primarily legumes, such as beans, peas, begger weeds and wisteria. Caterpillars will cut the leaves and roll the edges into tubes, which are held together by silken strands the caterpillars extrude for the purpose. The carterpillars use the tubes as retreats when they are not feeding. Farmers sometimes look on these caterpillars as pests. Long-tailed Skipper caterpillarWhen disturbed the caterpillars will spit out a bright green fluid.

I welcome these lovely butterflies into my garden. They benefit from nectar-rich blooms such as the lantana shown in my garden here. Other late summer flowers, including Joe Pye weed, asters, goldenrod, and mistflower are also attractive to them, as well as to other butterflies.