By Victoria Torley

We have a porter's weed bush next to the entrance of the driveway. It's one of the pink ones, although the deep purple is lovely, and I have been watching the successive play of butterflies on it. Funny that I hadn't noticed before how separate and distinct they are.

Last December, there were clouds of small yellow butterflies. They played and danced all over the bush. But as suddenly as they came, they were gone and the plant was lonely for a while.

Then, in January, came lovely black butterflies with a single black spot on each wing. They dined and danced on the bush but the numbers seem to be fading now.

I wonder what will show up next?

Then there is my blue skies bush. Since that is down the hill, I don't get to watch it as closely but for at least a month, it dances with large yellow butterflies. Then it produces bright orange berries and attracts birds of all kinds.

People often ask me how they can attract butterflies and these two bushes are excellent examples. To attract bats and moths, get angel trumpet bushes.

What about attracting birds, especially toucans and aracari? For them, you need other flora, like bananas. Birds love bananas, especially when you slice them into delicious bites first so they don't have to work for a meal. The same is true of papaya. That outer peel is too hard for beaks. To feed the flock, cut that papaya into small pieces. Mushy melon, overripe and no longer tasty, is just fine for a toucan.

Oddly, toucans can eat not just the fruit from the cashew tree but also the raw nut! It swallows them whole and goes away satisfied. People, on the other hand, find them toxic unless specially prepared.

 

When you look at a toucan, the beak is probably the thing you notice first. It looks so strong like it can tear things to bits. Not so. That beak, and the beak of an aracari, is as delicate as fine china. A careless stone can shatter it and leave the bird to starve to death. No stone-throwing near a toucan, please.

Other birds? Back to the blue sky bush and just about anything with little seeds.

Now if we could just find something to eat leaf-cutter ants . . .

Plant of the week. Well, I admit that this week's plant, the orchid tree, hasn't been covered with butterflies or had fruit eaten by toucans, but it is a lovely plant to have in the yard.

The orchid tree isn't related to orchids and, although it is tree-shaped as opposed to shrub-shaped, mine has not gotten very large, although they can grow to ten meters. It is also said to have scented flowers, but mine, not so much. Still, in the right sunny spot, it is a lovely garden plant.

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Find more amazing stories about gardening in Costa Rica on the Costa Rica Garden website. Regarding questions on this article, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached by emailing victoriatorley1@gmail.com.