I'm about 35 miles north of Biloxi, Dianne. So far it's just cloudy and a little windy, but the weatherman on WLOX said they're going to have the whole weather crew working on Saturday to "man" today's weather situation - he thinks there may be tornadoes. I got just under an inch of rain Monday, so I'm not bone dry, but I'm in a rain deficit for the year, and we could sure use some today. But like you said, no tornadoes, please! There were numerous tornadoes that went through this area during the hurricane, in addition to the hurricane force winds, so I've really had enough of serious weather as I know you have! I'll keep you posted - you do the same, because it'll be moving east. MissSherry

Siam, I sent you a recent email after realizing I said I would send you seeds & am so sorry that I forgot about it. They were shared with me but I didn't get a response from you. I do have them & you are more that welcome to them. Just email me & I will mail them. I think they were late 2010 seeds. I ended up buying a plant locally & so far it has only had 1 bloom that isn't ready yet. Lila aka 'imabirdnut'

It's funny, Tiffy, my computer's been broken for several days, and just when I first post on this forum again, I see a post with my name on it - how nice! I kept my lunas in reptarian cages in my unheated guest room (I keep the vent closed and the door shut) and the temps in there vary from about ?45F-?65F degrees. They don't get wet of course, but then a cocoon already has all the water it needs in it - precipitation falling on it only increases the chance of dessication and death of it. I can't say for sure what you should do in Canada, since I'm unfamiliar with such cold temps, but if it were me, I'd keep it somewhere that's cold for as long as the winter up there lasts, but not freezing. I say as long as the winter lasts, because you wouldn't want yours to emerge before the trees have started to make growth, since they wouldn't have anything to lay eggs on or for the cats to eat. I imagine cold temps would prevent too early emergence. Maybe some northerners can give you better advice about how cold tolerant luna cocoons are - since they occur in Canada, they couldn't survive without being able to withstand hard freezes. Sherry

Thanks for asking about me rhizo! And it's good to see your name again, IrishGuy! I'm still here, and everything's alright. I've been busy taking care of a new puppy. He's now 5 months old, and he's taking less of my time now, but he's still like a caterpillar, an eating and pooping (and peeing!) machine! I had a strange growth on my leg, so I went to a nurse practitioner in May, she referred me to a surgeon, he removed it, and it was squamous cell carcinoma, one of the most benign malignancies you can get, if you know what I mean. Still, it took time to tend to it. I'm still taking care of my other 3 dogs (and my daughter's 2 dogs, when she needs a sitter) plus my usual household and gardening chores. The nurse and surgeon thought I should have several other tests run, since it has been so long since I even had any blood work done. I'm happy to report I'm very healthy for a woman my age (66) just the usual aches and pains you get if you live long enough. I've got a lot of chrysalides overwintering, mostly pipevine swallowtails, but a few spicebush swallowtails and one palamedes swallowtail, plus some luna moth cocoons and regal moth pupae. I've got two little gulf frit caterpillars I took from the vines outside before our first freeze of the season (early!) and put them on some volunteer passionvines in containers that I dug up several months ago. They're in my unheated guest room. These vines are for my daughter, along with some pipevines I dug for her. I'm hoping these cats will grow S-L-O-W-L-Y like some gulf frit cats that overwintered outdoors naturally one year when we had a very warm winter. If they grow too fast and pupate, I'm afraid the chrysalides will die. But, it's worth a try, since they certainly couldn't withstand the temps we had a week or so ago. I'm working a little at the time in my garden on nice days, hoping I can get it in order for spring. When spring arrives, and the chrysalides and cocoons emerge, I'm sure I'll be posting a lot once more! Sherry