While we're on the subject of passies...just what color are the seeds when they're mature enough to plant? I had P. incarnata and P. caerulea here last year and had one fruit. I let it on the plant until after we got a frost, and even after I took it off the vine I let it lay around awhile without removing the seeds. When I did finally open it up, I saw that the seeds were white. Is that normal? Or were they immature? They had bumps all over them like I guess they're supposed to be and were real hard like you'd expect a seed to be and not soft/mushy. I sowed them, but it might be for nothing if they didn't have enough growing/ripening time, which it's hard to have that for certain things up here (PA). It would be neat if they were viable and they'd be a cross between the two types of passies. Um...that is possible, right? Cathy

Male ZLWs don't "cruise for females" the way other butterflies, such as American Ladies, would. Zebras females release a strong pheremone before they eclose. This attracts dozens of males which cluster around the chrysalid, jostling c each other to be the first to mate c the newly eclosing female. She is mated the minute she comes out of the crysalid, and the other males disperse. Female Heliconiids need pollen for egg production. They esp prefer Cucurbits and male papaya trees as pollen sources. This pollen diet also allows female ZLWs to live for up to 8 mos.

The host plants for zebra swallowtails are all in the pawpaw family - soursop is in that family. Redbay, camphor, sassafras, and spicebush host spicebush and palamedes swallowtails. Fagopher, from what I've read and heard from Florida gardeners, they usually use the Florida pawpaws - asimina incarna, a. angustifolia, a. obovata, a. tetramera, and a. pygmea, but I've never been able to find those for sale at any nursery, including mail-order. You can order a. triloba and/or a. parviflora from several nurseries, the closest to you probably being Mail Order Natives in Lee, Florida, in the panhandle. If there are egg-bearing ZSs in your area, they'll definitely use those easy-to-get pawpaws. Good luck! I've got quite a few a. trilobas and one a. parviflora, but I've only gotten one visit from a ZS, with no eggs laid. MissSherry

Tom, the black and blue salvia is a winner for hummingbirds. It is probably the favorite salvia for people who grow salvias for hummingbirds all over the country. It likes a lot of water and fertilizer. I have many types of salvias. Almost all are very good for hummingbirds. The best for shade in my garden is the miniata. I don't grow the cuphea micropetala anymore. It is very good for hummers, but it is seasonal. I can't remember, but I think it bloomed well in the spring and the fall for me. The schumannii blooms non-stop. The only thing that will stop it is a freeze. As far as I know all the cupheas are killed back by a freeze. Probably the favorite amongst hummingbird gardeners is the Cuphea x 'David Verity. It is also ever-blooming. The flowers are smaller than the schumannii, but very numerous. I grow the justicia Orange Flame, but it hasn't done very well for me. I don' t think I planted it right. It blooms off and on and the hummers do visit it. The red porterweed is excellent for hummers, but I don't grow it anymore. It is extremely cold sensitive. Any freeze will kill it to its roots. The only one that does well for me (for hummingbirds) is the large purple porterweed (Stachytarpheta frantzii). I have two other porterweeds that do well for butterflies but not for hummingbirds. I have grown the Cardinal Climber in the past, but it hasn't stayed around for me. I can't remember how good it was for hummingbirds. As I said, for hummingbirds the coral honeysuckle can't be beat, but it is somewhat seasonal. This spring I was at a soccer game in Gainesville and someone had planted a row of coral honeysuckle that was at least a half block long next to the soccer field. The hummers were all over it. I was going to warn you about the hamelia patens. Even the dwarf is a thug. Mine are now over ten feet tall and sprouting up in many different places. Once planted it is very, very difficult to dig up. It keeps coming up even after you have dug it up the first few times. It wants to spread and spread. The other firebush, the standard one with more red blooms is now over fifteen feet in my garden. I don't know how big or tall they are going to get if there isn't a freeze. They become huge in Central America. They are excellent hummingbird plants and the Zebras love them as well. The sulphurs (yellow butterflies) like them and other butterflies will visit from time to time. They produce seeds that birds like to eat also. Overall, for the southeast the favorite species for hummingbird growers is probably salvias. It's hard to go wrong with any of them in my experience. Right now a favorite of mine is the Amistad. It is a purple salvia that is much like the black and blue in that it likes lots of water and fertilizer. It gets big and is a favorite for hummers.