Grows under pine trees? I've been going crazy looking for things that only survive in lots of sun. I'm angling to cut down some pine branches to get some more light to the only "sunny" place on the property where I had to locate the butterfly garden. Do your pines give them filtered sun or part day low light at ground level? We have a stand of White Pines and evergreen trees along the side of the driveway and nothing but weeds and that miserable invasive Chinese Wisteria grow under, around and up them. Milk"weed" qualifies but maybe it won't flower as much without too much light? The foliage is important enough to try them there. The back sides of the pines and evergreens are pretty much bare because of lack of sunlight on the north side but there are places along the south/southeast fronts of these pines to put in milkweed. They survive the root competition from Pine trees? Guess milkweed's long taproots get them the moisture they need. One more question I've been grappling with: I've got mulch all over the Butterfly garden and others to help with moisture and temperature control. Should I not have mulch so things that do will reseed themselves? Under the pine trees there's a perpetually growing layer of pine needles. I'm talking inches deep. Do I have to move mulch/needles to have things find their way to soil contact to have successful natural reseeding or do I need to clear some ground space around plants and the property to allow for natural reseeding? Guess the proper answer is to mulch, collect seeds and sow them around myself. I'm laughing thinking about my father's neighbors and their neat as a pin "lawn and boxwood" yards. People are going to have "weeds" popping up and won't have a clue what they are. Sorry for such elementary questions but all I read since I started this gardening said to mulch and get plenty of sunlight for butterfly attracting plants but I now from reading the forums there are always exceptions and you have to find a way to accomodate the natural surroundings to your purposes.

I always get oleander aphids on my swamp milkweed - always. Sometimes I rinse them off; sometimes, if I see lacewing eggs or lady bug larva I just leave them alone. It's amazing how quickly a few lacewing/ladybug larva can clean up an infestation. Quite honestly, the plants in my yard that seem to get the highest infestations are the ones in full sun and tend to get stressed during the hottest times of the summer. I have not noticed a correlation between shade and aphid infestations. Right now I have 8 varieties of milkweed in my yard and I have seen aphids on 5 of the 8 species. The ones that seem to get the heaviest infestations are the incarnata and curassavica. I have also noticed that the plants seem very damaged by the apids if they get out of control. The leaves become very dehydrated, are covered with honeydew and sticky. The leaves also become pale, splotchy, and limp and just don't appear healthy. And they get that sooty mold on them if it goes way too long. I try not to let them get that bad - if nature hasn't taken over then I do. ~Laura

I think I'm not explaining my current situation too well. I get cats on my milkweed when there are monarchs around to lay the eggs. Last summer, I didn't see more than two monarch butterflies the entire summer. They just weren't there to lay the eggs. The preceding years, there were MANY of them, and I rescued and raised 75 more to release. But last year, plenty of gulf fritallaries, but no monarchs! I haven't a clue why. So my milkweed never saw a cat all season that I'm aware of. What I'd really like to see are more Queen butterflies in my garden. I've had one or two over the last few years, but haven't seen any lately. I think they are even prettier than monarchs. And I don't get nearly so many zebra longwings here as I did at the other house. I miss them. They are so much fun to watch. I get lots of sulphurs, several types of swallowtails, and my gulf frits more than anything else. And today, I had a red admiral sipping from wet dirt in the flower bed for awhile. They are not typically thought of as garden butterflies, so I'm always happy when one stops by. Katkin, I let the seed go where it will, too, but I needed to cut these lanky plants back and wondered if the cuttings would root or not. As for raising the baby cats, the wasps and lizards get so many of them that I like to help when I can. I don't always do it, but it's so much fun to watch them go through their life cycle up close and personal. Marcia

WI Tom, good point-- our phystostegia v. is in moist shade with hostas. It will be a good companion for the A. incarnata at the foot of the bank, with similar coloring. Coreopsis lanceolata is the best one here, but clumps tend to expand rapidly and then disappear. Blanketflower likewise-- swampy coastal areas however hot cannot fool these plains type plants. That won't keep me from trying them but I'd prefer something that can establish and thrive on the dry bank without being replaced. While dry, it is a heavy clay soil so we have some latitude. I should be able to get some of these started indoors and set the plants out in early fall. Hopefully they'll overwinter; we have 2 very cold winters behind us so I'm thinking we're due for a mild one!!!