Well, first of all, we are all learning all the time, Cathy. :)

As for the swallowtails...let me say this! I have raised the little buggers at various times and they go into diapause and can 'overwinter' forever and ever (or so it seems to me and my husband). I swear, when people ask me, "How long do they stay in the chrysalis?" I have to answer, "It all depends on the butterfly." I've had PVS pupae overwinter for 14 months. Yep, you read right! I've also had PVS eclose after less than a month. For Giant Swallowtails? Nine months was the longest time I had one in diapause...Anise Swallowtails? (the east coast version of the BST)-seven months, I think, was the longest. I've actually gotten into a weird argument over this whole topic before so I prefer NOT to discuss it with people. ;P (those who don't raise butts, that is!)

It took me, I believe, two years of having Milkweed before a Monarch showed up on its own at my house. Since then I get 'em showing up when I least expect them! I just emailed Penny because we were discussing the potential for inbreeding Monarchs. This afternoon I collected 165 Monarch eggs (I am too tired to look for any more than that! I also found a 4th instar caterpillar.). I noticed THREE females ovipositing. Two of the females were brightly coloured and the third was this old, faded, Monarch that just could NOT have been one of the ones I'd done my experiment on (my experiment was to 'keep' my Monarchs enclosed for three days to allow them to become sexually mature before releasing them outdoors. It appears to have worked since I started finding eggs...45 the first day, 55 the second, and 165 today). I think that the 'old' one may have been the one to have laid the initial eggs and then the other two 'new' ones are the ones started laying eggs as well. Do I know for sure which laid the first eggs? Nope but I don't care.

I did a spot of researching as to the inbreeding situation and found that it would take a LOT of generations of inbreeding before any problems would come forth. The problems would basically 'cure' itself because the inbreeding would result in Monarchs being unable to reproduce.

As for the PVS question: You need a LOT of Aristolochia to feed a Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar. Initially they don't eat much but when they get to the 3rd instar you'd better watch out! Oh my gosh, as hubby said, "They are kinda gross, Sherry! They are SO big and eat SO much! Are you over-feeding them?!" tee-hee!

Painted Ladies are teeny little butterflies and don't eat much. I've raised them year-round. You can do the same if you want to keep them indoors if it is too cold to release them outside. I did this when one time I was to present a butterfly science class in the middle of winter and it was just WAY too cold to release the little ones. I kept them indoors in a large pop-up (actually, two) and provided them with both nectar plants, a small Lavatera plant, and fresh oranges since they like orange juice. Many lived for over two weeks.

As for the butterflies sticking around? You know, as long as you have the host food, they do tend to hang out. :) Unless they are the migrating types...I've found that the ones I raise often go visit other people's gardens but return to mine to oviposit. :) Makes ME happy.

My experience has been that only a small percentage of the ones you raise actually stay in your yard or come back on a daily basis to feed and lay more eggs. For example, the last couple of summers I have raised LOTS of Zebra Longwings, averaging a release of 2 dozen a day for several weeks in July of the last two years. However, only 3 or 4 would stay so that I could honestly say I saw that many at a time. The others moved on but then that is nature's way, right. The same thing for Polydamas Swallowtails. The cluster of eggs can lead to 15 caterpillars making it to chrysalis but then when they emerge over a few days time, the most I would ever see together would be 5 or 6. Sulphurs tend to be solitary as do Tiger Swallowtails and Pipevines unless of course they are mating.

You come to appreciate the fact that you are sending your babies out into the world to make it more beautiful. And it makes it even more special when you do see several at a time.

Some butterflies stick around and others don't, Cathy. If you have plenty of aristolochia and get pipevine swallowtail eggs and cats, then you're guaranteed having a lot of adult PVSs using the nectar plants close to your aristolochias. Pipevine swallowtails are a regular part of my life - right now, the first of the recently laid eggs are hatching, so I'm finding hatchlings all over the vines, adults are flying all around my garden and house, the males battling by spiraling upward, chasing each other away from "their" nectar plants, flirting with the females the whole time they're laying eggs, etc. Considering the vast numbers of PVSs I release every year, they couldn't all possibly stay here, but many of them do, and those that don't or their offspring might show up in your garden one day!
Giant swallowtails are becoming regulars around here. This is significant, because when I moved here, GSTs were scarce. I've planted lots of host plants for them, and it's paid off! Again, every GST I release doesn't stick around, but the female that continues to lay eggs here every day is undoubtedly one that I raised, and GSTs are regulars on the nectar plants now.
Gulf frits are another butterfly that sticks around when you have plenty of passionvines, probably as much so as pipevine swallowtails. Once the GFs arrive and lay eggs on your vines, you can look forward to seeing plenty of them until late fall. They chase each other as much as PVSs, and you'll have some nectaring on your flowers all the time.
Sulphurs, American ladies, palamedes swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails, tiger swallowtails, red-spotted purples, and others will show up at your nectar plants (or your dog's poop) regularly if you have their host plants in the area.
There are some butterflies that seem to just "use" you for your host plants, and then leave. BSTs, leafwings, and question marks are like that, and I imagine that red admirals will abandon me, too, after I release the ones that are chrysalids now. This occurs most often with butterflies that don't nectar on flowers. BSTs are the only exception to that - I can't figure them out!
Go ahead and plant for the butterflies you might get - how can you go wrong?
MissSherry

Sherry, I'm probably learning more than you're learning because you already know lots more than I do. :) Good grief, you have PVS that overwintered for 14 months?! I'd have probably thought that they croaked if I'd have had them. I never knew that any could go that long. I guess I'm just used to Monarchs and then think they're about all that way.

I guess I was lucky that the Monarchs showed up here right away after I had some milkweed plants here. They ought to show up in droves this year because I have tons of it ready for them, especially Tropical Milkweed. ;-) I have buds on a few of mine that will open soon. Those plants grow faster than Butterfly Weed and Swamp Milkweed. That has been my experience here anyway. My Swamp Milkweeds in pots are finally deciding to start growing more; hopefully I'll be able to use those to feed the Monarch cats but if not there's always all of the Tropical Milkweed plants. Last year, my first year, I didn't start finding Monarch cats here until the beginning of August. I wonder if that's a usual year for my area? Wow, you collect more eggs in one day that I get in a whole season...165...wow! Do you know about how many you raise every year or don't you keep track of the numbers? It was very interesting reading of your butterfly experiences, and I bet you have lots of stories you could tell since you've raised so many and different kinds.

What you said about the Aristolochia almost makes me wonder if I should keep it covered this year, as I just can't picture it growing enough to feed a bunch of PVS, probably not even one. I'd have to have eggs on it and then not be able to feed them. I guess I'd have to adopt them out somehow and hope that someone would take them. I wonder if most people cover their plants the first year. So you overfeed yours, huh? ;-)

I have mallow growing in containers that I want to put outside soon. I just dug a flower bed for some of them today but didn't get them put out yet. I didn't get Painted Ladies last year on the hollyhocks that I have here (didn't see any butterflies) and was hoping that maybe the mallow would make them magically appear. :-D I have more host foods for butterflies this year than I did last year, and I suppose next year I will have more than I do this year because there are still a few things that I would like to get, mainly a few host plants for various types of butterflies, the Paw Paw tree being one of the plants. I hope some of the butterflies will hang around here. I don't care if some fly off because that might make some other person happy to see them at their place, but I wish I could have a few stay here. It kind of reminds me of Charlotte's Web at the end of the story where Charlotte dies but has an egg sack that hatches out lots of spiders. Wilbur watches in horror as they all start taking off for parts unknown, but to his delight, I think 3 stay behind with Wilbur.

Mary, It wouldn't bother me if a few stay, as long as some of them stay. I'd just hate to lose them all. Of course, if I have so many nectar plants here, maybe they won't want to leave. ;-)

Wow, you sure did raise a lot of Zebra Longwings! I wish we'd get that butterfly up here, but we don't and I'll probably only get to see it in pictures. Yeah, it does sounds like a big portion of them left, but I'm glad that some stayed. Thank you for sharing your butterfly experiences. I have a lot to learn about different types of butterflies. I would love to be able to host lots of butterflies here and send a lot on their way out in the world to make some other people's days nice with butterflies.

Well, Cathy, I am here in PA as well. I am working with a balcony, at that, so just potted plants for me. I envy everyone who has gardens to work with. Even though I live in the suburbs, I sure dont see many butterflies around at all except for some at the nurseries or I will see an occasional one when I am driving.

Last year I started finding monarchs in the middle of June. They were third and fourth instars and until I read up on it, I didnt know people actually raised them from eggs! And all these years I was checking milkweed looking for large caterpillars and not finding anything.

I had no luck attracting anything to my little balcony garden except some beetle, bees, yellow jackets, and one or two lady bugs last year. I do see some little bugs crawling all over one of my plants this year, I am afraid to find out what they are.

I thought I had a great plan this year. Buy a passionvine, let it grow, then order larva from Country Hill Flutterings or whatever it is called. They have an ad right on the side of the page on this forum. However, they dont seem to be in existance as their phone number is disconnected and they dont answer emails. You mentioned that Shady Oaks wont sell you ZSTs, so I am going to assume that they sell something or you wouldnt have contacted them. My poor passionvine looks pretty pathetic so there goes the idea of ordering larva for it!

So yeah, I do feel for you, wondering if your butterflies are going to hang around. I am just trying to find different larva to raise!

MissSherry, I guess I'll have to wait until next year (or possibly the next?) before my Aristolochia will be able to handle some PVS cats gnawing away at it. I'd love to be able to see them this year because I think it's a beautiful butterfly, but I guess I'll just have to be patient. You're so lucky to have them at your place. It sounds like a PVS haven there! :) I bet that is really a sight! If the offspring of your PVS show up in my garden someday, I will make sure to take good care of them. If I don't have enough plants to feed them, I'll find someone who can adopt them and feed them.

I really enjoyed reading about the butterflies that you get there at your place and I hope that someday I can be so lucky. I'm trying my best to accommodate them, but I still have to get a few more host plants, probably next year. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Caterwallin,
I am sure some will stay, I do know it is sad when you see one or two of the ones you raise hang around. Then again, Miss Sherry of Mississippi has had a different experience with her Pipevine Swallowtails than I have had.
So you never know unless you try, I guess is the best moto to have.

Cathy do you know what variety of Aristolochia you have?

The BST in my garden ignored the rue and went straight for the bronze fennel which was huge and supported many cats.

The rue overwintered and look beautiful, but so far I haven't seen any BST butterflies this year anyways.

I can't wait to see if any of my 130+ baltimore checkerspots stick aound after they pupate. They must be getting close because they are eating voraciously now.

Gwynne, good luck on your venture. Since I have such a small back yard I have to go to other places to see many of the species we get here in CT. Some prefer the edges of woodlands, some marshy terrain. So every week or so I take a hike in a new nature conservency area. With camera in hand I feel like an explorer, looking for new species. It's great exercise.

Maryann

Ahhh...my ACHING back! Yep, you heard me.

Hubby and I (he didn't surf today...too many people at the beach because of Memorial Day) went to my school and worked on weeding the butterfly garden by the parking lot. Let me tell you, it was a chore and a half! I had decided to transplant a number of the potted plants I had in my backyard (several Lavatera maritima-my plant of choice for the Painted Lady, two Calotropis gigantea-a plant that the Monarch uses in Hawaii, an Amorpha Fruticosa-the host for the California Dogface, a Senna/Cassia-the host for the Sulphur and Sleepy Orange Nicippe, and a Fennel-host for Anise Swallowtails which is the 'cousin' to the Black Swallowtail).

I had planned on getting to school while it was still overcast. HA! We were out in the full sun for over three hours. The weeds are cleared out, for the most part, and all the plants are in. I will take my camera to school tomorrow and take some shots. I had my other digital in the classroom but could not even move enough to get it and bring it out...

A Painted Lady, some Skippers, loads of Bumblebees (what's all this talk of Bumblebees being dead?!), and even a Carpenter Bee hung out with us the entire time. Oh, of course, the disgusting yellow Oleander Aphid was there along with the Milkweed Bug. :P blech

Yeah, patience is definitely key. I then came home and ended up collecting 122 Monarch eggs. I had to stop since I got tired and the Hockey finals started... :)

Hang in there. That's all I can say. The Buddleia were blooming like mad and hubby was in awe. He has now decided, after our work this morning/afternoon that the Bird of Paradise that has inhabited the corner of MY butterfly sanctuary in the backyard is going to be 86'd and he thinks we need to get a gigantic Buddleia for that corner. Of course, it isn't like I didn't just order five new Buddleia plants and have them in pots right now... tee-hee!

(You will understand after I take some pictures and post them! The parking lot garden's Buddleia ARE spectacular, if I should say so myself! And, I DID prune them back to, like, 2'-3' just not that long ago!!!)

Gwynne, That's right, I do remember you saying that you're near Philly, northwest of it. I haven't seen a lot of butterflies here yet. Most of them have been Tiger Swallowtails, but I've also seen Red-spotted Purple, Pearl Crescent, Cabbage White, and some small black butterfly that I'm not sure what it is. Oh, and I've seen swallowtails that are mostly dark and are either the black form of the Tiger Swallowtail or Spicebush Swallowtails or maybe both. I'm not real good at IDing some butterflies. Those two and Black Swallowtails look a lot alike to me and I wish I'd know a good method of telling them all apart from one another.

Wow, if you starte finding Monarch cats in June last year, you beat me by a long shot. I didn't find any until the beginning of August. It was my first year of having my butterfly garden and those were the only cats that I had here. I brought the small cats in last year. At first I brought bigger ones in and then later my eyes got trained to look for smaller ones. I never brought in eggs but might do that this year. What I'm dreading is those darn Oleander Aphids. It keeps me busy just killing them.

I don't know anything about Country Hill Flutterings. I know a lot of people on here talk about Shady Oak Farm and I suppose a few people buy eggs or cats from them. I know you can get Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies, but I forget the other kinds. Oh, Red Admiral is one, but I don't have any nettle. If I were you, I'd email them and find out what eggs/cats they have for sale right now.

I'm sorry if you're having trouble with your balcony garden. If it were me, I'd probably move so I could have a garden. I feel like I have to have a lot of plants, but I know there are people on here who have limited space to put theirs. I hope that you get butterflies and cats this year.

Cathy

Mary, And try I will. :) I'm determined to get more butterflies this year. I just hope that that's their plan too. Ha.

Maryann, It's A. macrophylla. If I ever have Black Swallowtail butterflies show up here and ignore one plant, they always have some more to choose from. I will have Rue out this year when it gets a little bigger; I already have parsley, dill, and fennel out for them. The fennel I have isn't bronze. That's great that yours supported so many cats. The first time I saw a picture of Rue, I thought what a beautiful plant it is. The only thing that stopped me from getting it last year was that I read about some people having allergic reactions to it. Mine is just small, but so far I haven't have anything like that happen to me. I also read about it smelling so bad. Heck, it just has a carrot smell to me. If you haven't seen any BST yet, then I guess there's hope for me yet. I really wish that I could get that one here. I'd be thrilled to go outside on day and see some cats chowing down on my plants.

I also can't wait to see if any of your BC's stay there at your place. I hope so much that you have some stay with you! It sounds like it won't be long until you'll get to see them be butterflies.
Cathy

Sherry,
It sounds like you had a very productive day. That's great that your hubby could help you with the weeding. For me, that's one of the downsides to gardening. I also get an aching back weeding, and I also can't stand those darn oleander aphids. You'll soon have your school looking like your place. :) Now you sound like me being out in full sun. My hubby was just making a comment on how sunburned I look. I don't think I am though because it doesn't hurt, but I'd better be careful when I do some planting this week or I probably will end up with sunburn.

You know we'd love to see pictures of your flowers at the school. I bet it looks really nice! It sounds like you had some butterflies and bees to keep you company while you weeded. :) Gosh, is there ever a day when you don't collect at least 100 eggs at your place? It always sounds like you really have a lot. I thought I was doing good with 70 Monarchs last year, but that's nothing compared to what you raise. I bet the butterflies at your place will love those buddleias that you got! I wonder if hubby knows about it yet. Hee hee. It sounds like he is really getting into the butterfly mania like his wife, which is very good to hear. My hubby and daughter really like that I'm gardening for butterflies...better than wasting my time trying to attract purple martins all these years and not getting them. I started in 1989. I wish I'd have put all that time into butterflies instead of that.

I'm so anxious to see those pictures you took of the plants. Don't keep us in suspense for too long. ;-)
Cathy

(You will understand after I take some pictures and post them! The parking lot garden's Buddleia ARE spectacular, if I should say so myself! And, I DID prune them back to, like, 2'-3' just not that long ago!!!)