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LOUISIANA PLANT NURSERY IDEAL FOR BUTTERFLY/HUMMIGBIRD FESTIVAL
by Gary Noel Ross
As NABA’s Director of Butterfly Festivals since 1998, I have had the privilege of assisting almost a dozen different butterfly festivals in the eastern U.S. Each has been unique. Case in point: MIZELL FARMS BUTTERFLY AND HUMMINGBIRD FESTIVAL. The setting for this event is a wholesale/retail nursery specializing in herbs and the propagation of nectar and host plants preferred by butterflies and hummingbirds whose home is the sultry Gulf Coast.
Mizell Farms, Inc. is a 56-acre, three-generation home site located in rural St. Tammany Parish (County) in southeast Louisiana. For decades, this family owned and operated nursery specialized in evergreen perennials such as azaleas, camellias, boxwoods, hollies, etc. and trees However, as butterfly and hummingbird gardening were becoming increasingly popular in the late 1990s, Jim Mizell, the current owner and manager, realized that there were very few wholesale nurseries growing appropriate herbaceous annuals and perennials for the retail trade. Seeing the opportunity, Jim decided to specialize.
Jim targeted both retail nurseries and popular farmers’ markets in nearby New Orleans and Baton Rouge. So successful, the idea of holding a weekend celebration on the grounds of his nursery was soon born. For a trial run, in late September 2001 Jim debuted a “Hummingbird Extravaganza,” and the following weekend, a “Butterfly Extravaganza.” With attendance each weekend over 2,000, Jim concluded that there was sufficient interest to consider annual events.
That he did, but in 2007 the independent festivals were consolidated into a single day (September 8) advertised as a “Butterfly and Hummingbird Extravaganza.” Activities began before sunrise when Linda Beall, a federally authorized master hummingbird bander professionally trained to humanely catch and band hummingbirds for statistical analysis, arrived to set up feeding and trapping stations throughout the gardens. However, most visitors didn’t arrive until nine o’clock for the first scheduled event—the dedication of the new “Mizell Farms Butterfly Flight House.” I was asked to formerly dedicate the 35 x 48-foot netted enclosure stocked with nectar and host plants as well as approximately 200 live butterflies (the insects had been collected on the grounds the previous day). The flight house proved to be a favorite gathering site for visitors of all ages. As such, I used the venue to speak at length about butterfly biology and identification. Within this living “laboratory,” visitors could have a close encounter with butterflies courting, mating, laying eggs, basking, and even securing salts from our perspiration. In addition, caterpillars of the Black Swallowtail, Monarch, Gulf Fritillary and Cloudless Sulphur could be scrutinized as they fed on their hosts. (At the close of the festival, a section of netting was removed, freeing the butterflies.)
Outside, visitors could wander through what Mizell Farms advertises as “the largest butterfly and hummingbird gardens in Louisiana.” Propagation houses, herb greenhouses, and yards featuring an assortment of species in various sized containers showcased the nursery’s offerings. Adjacent to these commercial areas, the Mizells had installed demonstration landscape plots. Here visitors could view both the growth form of mature butterfly/hummingbird plants as well as how each species might be incorporated into a formal home landscape ranging from simple potted patio accents to sizable installations incorporating swimming pool, water garden, and even guest house. For those visitors wishing to experience a more natural habitat such as a pine/oak woodland characteristic of the region, Jim had constructed “nature trails” to crisscross much of his undeveloped acreage. As a bonus, some of these trails opened into small fields ablaze with multicolored zinnias (seeds had been sown earlier in the summer). Family members, friends, local high school students, and volunteers from Master Gardens and local garden clubs were scattered throughout the nursery to assist visitors. As with most educational festivals, representatives from various nature oriented associations and vendors of nature-based arts and crafts were present, too. And when hunger called, a local chef was kept busy cooking and serving jambalaya—a favorite south Louisiana dish.
The festival was not without indoor programming. For this, the Mizells’ guest house was modified into a makeshift auditorium. Throughout the day local specialists addressed such topics as Hummingbird Gardening, Butterfly Gardening, Native Plants, Honey Island Swamp Bird Banding Station, and Digiscoping (digital close-up photography).
In 2002 I began conducting an official NABA “Fourth of July Butterfly Count” during the festival. The number of individual butterflies has ranged between 198 and 754, and the number of species, between 23 and 26. (In 2007, 634 individuals and 24 species were counted, bringing the cumulative number of species to 37.) Always common are: Giant Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary, Common Buckeye, Monarch, Fiery Skipper, and Ocola Skipper. Other species that frequently show up include: Palamedes Swallowtail, Little Yellow, Sleepy Orange, Pearl Crescent, Variegated Fritillary, Red-spotted Purple, Carolina Satyr, Silver-spotted Skipper, Long-tailed Skipper, and Sachem. However, in 2002—only two days after Tropical Storm Isidore made landfall in south-central Louisiana—two unexpected species showed up: Large Orange Sulphur (1 female) and Great Southern White (2 males, 1 female). Now, whereas the GSW is a resident on Grand Isle (approximately 110 miles directly south of Folsom) and, therefore, could easily have been displaced northward by Isidore’s winds, the LOS is not a Louisiana resident. The most likely explanation for its presence in Folsom is that the single individual was blown several hundreds of miles from either southern Florida or southern Texas. (The female GSW was particularly attracted to the nectar of marigolds; in addition, she deposited about a dozen eggs on nursery stock of cleome and nasturtium, recognized hosts.) Not surprisingly, the festival in 2002 was extra exciting!
And those hummingbirds? In 2007, a total of 54 individuals were banded; all were Ruby-throats.
Mizell Farms Annual Butterfly and Hummingbird Festival is scheduled for September 2008. The nursery, however, is open throughout the year. Visit www.mizellfarms.com for details.
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Gary Noel Ross, Ph.D. is a retired Professor of Biology (Southern University) living in Baton Rouge, LA. For contact: GNR-butterfly-evangelist@juno.com.