A guy that lives two doors down came over tonight to show me a picture of a moth which he had found on his house. He thought it was a weird Cecropia but I wasn't buying that because the body had none of the colorations of a Cecropia. I suspected it was a Tulip Tree Moth but since I had never seen one before, I grabbed my Covell book and found out my suspicion was correct. I planted a Tulip Tree last year with the hope that Tulip Tree Moths were in the neighborhood. Now, I have more than hope :D KC

Thanks, Sherry. My butterfly enclosure is on the deck in a protected spot so no wind. I also put the 13 new eggs and plant clippings into a little net cradle and then laid the whole thing on a Rue plant inside the enclosure. Newly hatched Monarch cats can actually crawl through the net so I assume the little BST cats can, too. If not, they should be attacted to the Rue and will crawl over the net to the leaves. Besides the 13 new eggs, I have some 1st and 2nd instar BST babies, about 14, plus two older eggs that haven't yet hatched. Woohoo, babies again. I'd not seen mama BST until yesterday but apparently she (or another) had been by earlier because when I checked the host plants closely, there were already tiny cats on them! Goes to show we just need to be patient and check the host plants frequently. Thanks again for the reasurance. Mary

Tony, You can add sticks to your plants. You can make an easy container for pupation by taking a small tomato cage and triming the prongs on the bottom. Bend the prongs in toward the middle. Purchase 5 gallon paint strainers from Lowe's and put one of these over the tomato cage so that the prongs are on top and the wide edge is at the bottom (upside down tomato cage). Use this as an enclosure over your plants. The caterpillars will pupate on the metal frame. You can use these over and over by washing the strainer. Another option is to put your plant in any kind of plastic container or aquarium. Use netting or the plastic tops available for reptiles. I use netting with the thin elastic as a "rubber band" to keep the netting over the container. Put sticks in the aquarium for pupation. Whatever you use should be kept in a relatively cool environment over the winter. Hope this helps.

Before you let Scotts come. True gardenrs feed the soil, not the plants. I pass on the chemicals. I use liquid fish emulshion..nothing else. After you expand your flower bed (skin and remove the "sod"), rake your lawn hard, plant some seed, rake it in, water every day.....you'll do better than Scotts....their chemicals will kill your garden....for fertilizer, buy one of those miracle grow sprinklers, toss out their powder, and fill with about 2 inches of the fish emulsion, and then spray on lawn and garden once a week, and watch those plants grow like crazy! RAke and shred your old mulch. Bring in some good rich organic soil. Now's the best time to change the shape...check out a few books (I peruse them at Lowe's all the time) and take a chalk spray out and apray a shape you like....run it along the driveway up to your walkway....nice curved shape....more bed=less lawn=more nature and beauty to your yard. Raise the bed, 6-12 inches, and till the first layer-some good black cow for Lowe's may help) before you build it up....Then, get new edging. Look at your site, sun-shade....morning-evening....abd try to select a mix of flowers and a couple of host plants/shrubs if you can....really brings the butterflies.....look back at those books and the garden center, pick some flowers you really like, draw a list and see if they like your area (sun-shade, water etc.) and then remember you have 3 blooming seasons...spring, summer, fall. Try for plants that hit all 3, a couple clusters of bulbs/iris rhyzomes for spring, coneflower/redebeckias for summer, sages for summer and fall. Perhaps a new mailbox, with a wooden post, and a nice climber can co up (Clematis), honeysucke, or better if you want the prettiest butterflies, try a Dutchman's pipevine there as you have some shade) and you'll get some nice pipevine swallowtail butterflies to lay their eggs on it (don't remove the caterpillars when they eat the leaves, those are your butterflies!) If it's really shady there, your tall plants could be foxgloves, which will reseed every year.....perhaps some hostas, or calla lillies...plant them in nice clusters so they're a real showstopper....Get some butterfly weed (Asclepias currasavica) or another kind, and you'll have visiting monarchs and some caterpillars you can watch as well. Sneak a small cluster of parsley plants under your tree, or against the house, and remember not to pick the green striped caterpillars that suddenly appear (you can use fennel or dill as well) and soon you'll be the envy of the block with dozens of black swallowtails around your yard... Use the color wheel....shades of the same color go well, as do opposites. Yellow and purple are stunning together, pink and purple go well together, yellow and pink do not. Tall in the middle, shore on the borders, where your bed comes up your driveway to yourr walk, maybe you loop it out to be able to fit a real showstopper, like Mexican bush sage for the fall etc..... When you build your beds up, 12-18" is best, with nice soft mixed soil, then get some old newspapers, remove the glossies, and spread on top of the whole thing, in layers 5-6 sheets think, water with a hose sprayer as you go, and they will stick.....HAve mulch handy, as soon as you've covered up your nice soft beds with newspapers (your neighbors will think you're crazy) cover with about 3" of mulch.....water the mulch again, and let the whole thing rest for about 3-5 days (this will be hard....but it's a good time to be picking plants and setting them out on the bed to get an idea what it will look like) your bed needs to settle during this period..now why the newspapers? It's called the lasagna method, and it's guaranteed to cut your weedpulling time by 99%, and it enriches your soul by attracting earthworms...you'll re-do every yr or every other yr....then from the ceter, dig your holes, plant, and watch your miracle grow! You'll be the envy of the neighborhood...