Congrats, congrats, Linda!
I love spring, too, except for the TONS of oak pollen that's keeping me red-eyed, runny-nosed and sneezing! :)
MissSherry

I hear ya, Miss Sherry. Okla.'s pollen count has been way up over the charts lately, with all of the spring flowering trees blooming, and eastern red cedar. It's down some since we got a wonderful, much needed rain this last week. :) Only, that tends to bring the mold count up.

Yee-haw! Whoa, it sure is great to hear the news of all the butt-flies a-popping! I had a Monarch and PVS eclose this week and many of my Monarch larvae are pupating right now. Hubby is going to be busy feeding and cleaning for me (babysitting duty) while I am in Sacramento next week. I am praying many of the 'big boys' pupate today or early tomorrow before I leave for my trip...

So far, I'm just seeing orange and white (Goatweed Leafwings and Cabbage Whites). But, I read on the Oklahoma Lepedopterists forum that Monarchs have now been sighted at the Red River - it won't be long Linda. Does anybody have milkweed this early, though?

Susan

I accidentally came up on two tiger swallowtails mating today! The female was black, so it looked real interesting, a big yellow butterfly connected to a big black one! I had my camera in my pocket, but as I was taking it out, they flew off together, still joined, and I couldn't find where they went. That would have been an interesting picture!
MissSherry

Linda, Lucky you to get toe see a Tiger already! I know that I'll be seeing in May here on our lilacs...they just love those things! I don't know where they go to lay eggs, probably on trees in the woods beside us. Sorry that you missed getting a picture of the butterfly. I know sooner or later one will sit still long enough for you to snap one of him/her. :) What do you Tiger Swallowtails lay their eggs on? Congrats on the BSTs release! I love Spring too! :)

Tdog, glad to hear that you have Monarchs and Pipevines eclosing. What are your plans for Sacramento???

Susan, I am thrilled to hear that you are so excited about the Monarchs coming back. Are you hooked? I have a few Trop. mws that I overwintered in my garage that are putting out new growth. And, I noticed a couple of my small A. incarnata's coming up. But, none of the native asperula's or viridis. We got a wonderful rain last week. Two inches in our gauge. Did you? With a lil heat, the native should start popping up. I usually see Monarchs when the lilacs bloom. So, I'm hoping!!!! I noticed in one of your other posts that you had alot of your wintersowed milkweeds coming up. I'll sure take some!!! I didn't get aound to getting seeds planted like I wanted. :(

Miss Sherry, that is soo exciting seeing black and yellow tigers mating. That would make such an interesting picture. Darn, they can sure disappear in a flash! Now, the trick will be to find the eggs.

Thanks, Cathy. I sure wished that I knew what the Tigers in my area used. Wild cherry and plums are not really native to my area. So, they may use the cottonwoods. No way am I going to be able to climb those trees!!! I do have one wild cherry that has gotten to be about 5 foot tall. I'm hoping that they'll use that one. I was thinking about a Tulip poplar, and topping it. I just don't know if i could keep it watered well enough if we have another year of drought and high temps.

I had another male Black swt emerge today. Hope that I have some females left to emerge.

The preferred host plant around here is wild black cherry/prunus serotina, Cathy. But tigers use many different host plants, many of which are trees. You might find eggs on tulip trees, sweet bay magnolias, ptelea trifoliata, ash trees, birch trees, even catalpa trees are occasionally used.
Maybe that's why tigers are so common - they're very versatile, and if one tree isn't making new growth to lay eggs on, they can use another one! :)
MissSherry

There has been at least one Tiger Swallowtail hanging around here for 3-4 days on the bradford pair blooms.

randy

Congrats, Randy. The female yellows have alot more blue than the males. The females, also, have a black form. Any wild cherries around?

Here is a link that might be useful: Tiger swallowtail Id

Linda, I wish I could tell you what the Tigers in your area used and I'd tell you. :) I can see you now climging the cottonwoods in those spiky shoes that guys use to climb. lol Wouldn't that be something! Yes, I hope that they will use that cherry tree that you have. How old is it? You sound like me with the tulip poplar. I know it's a host plant to various butterfly cats, but I just don't want a tree that tall here and I wish also thinking of topping it if I get one. So much to think about, huh.
Cathy

Randy, you mean that Bradford Pears are actually good for something? LOL!

Still haven't seen any swallowtails yet. I can just see Linda in those boots you mention, Cathy. She's such a bitty thing!

It's been so rainy here, with a few brief bursts of sunshine, I haven't really been looking. My granddaughter got a Barbie butterfly net (not very effective, I'm sure), but she was running around yesterday trying to catch a cabbage white. As long as she sticks with the CWs, the other butterflies should be okay, and I don't think she can outrun them anyway.

Does anyone here use nets?

Susan

Linda

No wild cherries that I know of.

Susan

Bradford pears are worthless. I think the butterfly was confused and didn't know any better. :-)

I'd cut the silly things down if my wife would let me.

Amber's been asking for a butterfly net. I may buy her one. She loves catching fireflies. She could probably get a couple hundred in a butterfly net.:-)

randy

Randy, Monarch Watch has some nets. I don't know if you can find a good one locally. They need to be very deep (the netting). My granddaughter got her Barbie net, and while it is deeper than I would imagine a toymaker fashioning one, it is still not big enough to really catch anything. But, she's only 5, and I'd rather she really didn't try to catch one yet because I'm afraid she would kill it in the process and that would be devastating to her.

Yeah, I unfortunately have a Bradford Pear that came back after half of it was downed by straight winds in 1999, and the rest went in straight winds a couple of years later. This one is multi-trunked, so I am hoping it stands until I can have it cut down. They are such a bad tree, especially with our winds, and I can't imagine a good nurseryman even selling them any more, but they DO!

Susan

Hi Susan

I saw a few nice butterfly nets on the Online Science and Nature Store. I'll look at Monarch Watch before I buy one.

randy

No wild cherry trees, huh? Well, I wonder what they use in Norman??? Apples, Cottonwoods? Tulip poplars?

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus): White Ash (Fraxinus americana), Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Black Cherry (Prunus serotina), Choke-cherry (Prunus virginiana), American Plum (Prunus americana), Plum (Prunus domestica), Carolina Basswood (Tilia americana), Birch (Betula spp.), Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), Apple (Malus pumila), Lilac (Syringa vulgaris), cottonwood, and other trees found in the above genera.

Randy, are you still planning to go to Marilyn's booth at the Norman Farmer's Market Sat., Apr. 7th? Do you want to just meet there with the Willow seedlings? I plan to be there hopefully around 8:00. I heard that it's best to go early, due to it being a really big show for her. And, e-mail her this week with your order so that she can be sure and let you know that she has everything, and already have it set aside for you.

I plan to bring you some Salvia- black and blue, and some Partridge pea seedlings. My passionvine is not coming up good yet. It's kind of tricky to pot. I can pick you up a couple of nice Rue's (Host for the Giant and Black swallowtail's) for $2.99 if you'd like. Elaine had not been able to find them in Norman. Marilyn should have some, but do not know how large her's are.

I agree that Bradford pears are worthless, overplanted, and only tend to attract trash birds.

Are you seeing Fireflies now, Randy?

Susan, I use nets to catch Monarchs to tag them. They recommend the adult, longer nets to prevent harming the butterflies.

Here are some kids' butterfly nets. Some look like they may have the longer netting. I have the professional one for myself with the telescoping handle.

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly nets

Hi Linda

We have some massive cottonwoods on the borders of our property and native plums are thick around here.

We can meet there about 8. Going early is best. I sold plants at the Norman Farmers Market I think 10 years. Had lots of fun there.

No fireflies yet. Probably about a month out for us. Because our property has a creek on it, they are always so thick here. My 12 year old daughter still enjoys catching them with her dad.

The telescoping handle net was the one I was thinking of buying.

randy

Linda

How tall a plant can you fit in your vehicle?

randy

Wow! This is getting exciting!!! I have a Crown Vic that has a fairly large trunk, but I'm planning to pick up plants for some friends, as well as myself, and I think that it will be full of Marilyn's plants. I've been known to cart trees in the front leaning to the back with the passenger's seat layed down, but DH is planning to go. I hate driving I-35 to Norman. There are alot of CRAZY drivers on that road.

DH has a Jimmy that we could probably take. How TALL are your thinking???

Linda

If the creek goes down by next week, there are a couple in the 8 - 10 foot tall range I might be able to dig up. They are standing in a few feet of water right now, so I can't get a real good look at them.

Most of the small whips are 2- 5 foot tall. The beaver gnawed down a lot of nice medium sized ones this winter.

randy

Linda and Randy, I would just like one of the smaller, 2-5' tall whips.

Yes, I need to look into getting a net, but I was just thinking of tagging the ones that I raise. It seems like it would be easier to tag them before they fly, no?

Susan

Thanks for the kind, generous offer, Randy. But, I think the 2-3 ft would be alot easier digging, easier to transport, and may have alot better transplant success. :)

Yes, Susan. The Monarchs that you raise and release are alot easier to tag. That's how I tag most of them. Though,they have to be the later ones raised. If you tag too early, they may not be in diapause.

Susan, you have mail!