Sounds like a very successful sanctuary to me.

Maybe you could send some of those Mourning Cloaks my way! I've only seen one before at the local Arboretum.

BTG: These were the biggest MC's I think I've ever seen. About the size of big Monarchs. I bet they are females. Here's hoping they will lay some eggs that I can find! LOL! They use elms, hackberries, and willow, probably among other things.

Susan

Sounds great, Susan! I think it's amazing that you've got that many butterflies since you're close to downtown Oklahoma City!
I imagine that all the rain you've had this spring made the plants grow like never before - I hope you keep getting enough rain!
And would you send me some of those MCs? :)
MissSherry

I have a feeling that they are attracted to my yard because of the banana (lil banana gobblers; they must have some monkey in them!) and the hackberries. My backyard provides them with lots of protection from wind and places for them to aestivate during the hot summer months, too.

I'd be happy to share with you as soon as I equip them with GPS scanners so they can find your properties! LOL!

Susan

Congratulations! I am jealous,as the only ones I've had in my yard this year are Red Admirals and Cabbage Whites.I'll get more kinds when the butterfly bushes start blooming,probably in mid-July.

Cecropia, so far this year is an anomaly for me. I've never had this many, but my garden really got off to a great start this year, plus I think due to our weather, we have many more than we've had in past years.

I have so many right now, I am being stormed as I walk thru the yard by these dive-bombing butterflies. They land on my head, my shirt, my arms, whatever. I can barely walk down the sidewalk w/o being "winged" by one of them. It's absolutely amazing!

Susan

Kenna caught 7 Question Marks in her butterfly net yesterday - that's how prolific they are right now.

Susan

Wow! That's great, Susan!
I released 5 QMs today, 2 yesterday, only 1 chrysalid left - also released an AL .
You absolutely can't believe how many GST cats I've got - I can't begin to count 'em! I'm bringing them in to cages, and I've got 3 1/2 cages full, with more to bring in! Plus, I see at least 2 or 3 adults every time I go to my garden - they chase each other off like gulf frits do. I sure do miss the GFs! :(
MissSherry

I haven't had any GST yet this year, MissSherry. But, I have so many others right now, it's okay. If I do find some eggs on the Rue, however, I'll definitely be bringing them inside.

I hope they don't decide to lay any on my baby lemon tree! Oh, gosh, they probably will now that I've said it. I've jinxed myself again. LOL!

I have so many Sulphurs right now that I'm afraid my house will be hidden in a cloak of orange (they're Sleepy Oranges, which I've seen in the yard daily for a couple of weeks now).

Susan

Yes, the sleepy oranges are everywhere here, too, Susan, and I keep finding more cats on my Christmas cassias/c. bicapsularis. They're so cute, and definitely NOT sleepy!
I saw a red-spotted purple laying eggs on some cherry tree leaves, and I feel sure that it's one I released myself - it might be the one that spent most of yesterday 'nectaring' on my front porch - considering what RSPs like to nectar on, I figured we must have tracked in something nasty, so I mopped the porch yesterday evening! :)
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MissSherry

THey are soooooooooo beautiful, MissSherry. I hope I get some one day! Those and the Spicebush Swallowtails. My lil lindera benzoin shrubs are really looking good this year. Last year it was just too dry for me to keep them going. The ones I got from Mail Order Natives, plus the rain we've had, have both helped get them off to a really good start this year.

Susan

Sherry,how did you get so close to the RSP? Btw,I saw my first one of the year today at a local park.They usually appear in my yard in mid-summer and lay eggs on the wild ch erry trees. My GST chrysalids have not hatched yet,but I think they can take up to two years.

Susan,are RSP's not common in your area?Do you ever get Zebra Longwings?

Found a 2nd instar Spicebush cat today!I must have checked a hundred sassafras leaves but only found this one plus a bunch of some other kind of cats that fold the leaves in a similar manner.

Susan, I'm SO glad that this has been a big butterfly/caterpillar year for you - you deserve it after all your hard work!
Dan, this RSP was so absorbed in whatever it was that was on the porch, he/she didn't fly off even when I moved around on the porch, unless I got REALLY close! So I figured this would be a good time for a close-up picture - he/she let me get unbelievably close while it was nectaring!
Isn't it amazing the number of cats and other critters that use sassafras? Have you found leaves that look like somebody took some white thread and sewed the edges together? Sometimes I find little spiders in those shelters, but I've also found inchworms - somebody must be using old leaf shelters.
MissSherry

Dan, yes we do get RSPs here in Oklahoma, I just haven't seen any yet. But, that doesn't mean I won't eventually. I had never seen a lot of butterflies until I started planting nectar and host plants for them.

Last year was my first year for Question Marks in the garden and this year, I have them by the gazillions. I am regularly seeing the QMs, Commas, Hackberries, Tawnies, Mourning Cloaks, Sleepy Oranges, Pearl Crescents, and Red Admirals. I find eggs of the Black Swallowtail, and I have PVS eggs, too, but I rarely, if ever, see these butterflies. They just sneak into my yard long enough to lay eggs, and they're gone.

I will probably see the Monarchs in late summer, since I am just beginning to beef up my milkweed collection. Last year I had tons of Monarchs in late summer (Linda helped me get started with some caterpillars), I had planted lots of Tdogmom's tropical milkweed, and I had lots of them--probably raised about 100 of them.

Right now I'm raising QMs, PVS's, Mourning Cloaks, and Black Swallowtails.

I just acquired a couple of small wild cherry trees for the RSPs. I planted persea borbonia, magnolia virginia, lindera benzoin, pipevine tomentosa (I already had A. clematitis, macrophylla, and serpentaria, but they're all still relatively small plants), false nettle, astragalus crassicarpa, partridge pea (already have Senna bicapsularis and S. hebecarpa), plaintain, fennel, more Rue, viburnum (for my moths), more honeysuckle (for the hummingbirds and moths). I have two pawpaw trees, and maybe one day the zebra swallowtails will extend their range a bit further west. Right now they populate the eastern part of the state and I'm in central Oklahoma. Oh, Linda gave me a start of Golden Crownbeard for the Bordered Patches, too. I had tons of them last year, but no host plant for them.

Oh, and I planted that hardy lemon tree for the GSTs, altho mine will use the Rue as a host.

So, I have really worked last year and this year to acquire more plants. I am a certified Monarch waystation as well, and raise as many sphinx moths as I find on my Virginia Creeper and honeysuckle (so far). I have 3 Nessus sphinx cocoons pupating - they should be emerging any day now. I really love the moths, too. I hope one day to get one of the silk moth species that are found in Oklahoma, too.

I don't think there is much more I can add to the garden at this point.

Great, Susan! Sounds like you are having a ball.

I'm jealous of the Mourning cloaks. :)

I am starting to see more Gulf frits around, laying eggs, finding cats. I'm still finding Pipevine cats, Varieg. frit cats, Black swts, SO's,and Monarch cats.

Seeing lots of QM's, HE's, TE's, RA's, and a few MC's, but haven't found any eggs yet. Starting to see a few Buckeyes. Lots of Pearl Crescents, and Silvery checkerspots, and SO's.

Had a horrible hot wind come in for a few days last week- gusts of 49 mph. Sure flattened and broke off alot of vines and flowers.

You're really having a wonderful butterfly year, too, Linda! I'm jealous of your gulf frits and Susans MCs!
You know how gulf frits hang around female chrsyalids waiting for them to emerge so they can mate with them immediately? Well, that might be what was causing the RSPin the above picture to hang around the porch. A RSP emerged this morning, and I noticed right away that it was big and it had an extra big abdomen, so I figured it was a female. No sooner had I released her than another RSP appeared and started flirting with her - he tried to actually mate, but she flew off to another part of the bush. He politely left her alone for a while, and I went back in the house - maybe they'll get together later. I got this picture of him fluttering around her -
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MissSherry

Susan,

I'm so happy for you having your garden so lush and the butterflies swarming and "winging" you. Once again you have proven that quality triumphs over size every time. This year makes all your work worthwhile. Have any of your neighbors noticed all the butterflies in your garden?

mike

Oh, yes, Mike! I have 3 neighbors (one across the street) who have noticed the number of butterflies around. My neighbor across the street let his zinnias seed now every summer and I often go over there to take photos in late summer when they are blooming along with mine, just to see if I can catch a different shot.

I have my Monarch Waystation sign posted out front, too, now, so maybe I'll get some folks stopping by to inquire one of these days.

You, MissSherry, CalSherry, Cat, Linda, and many others here have been great inspirations in my efforts to increase the number of nectar and host plants I have, and raising them has become a passion now. Curiosity about the process of metamorphosis has engineered the nurture of the numerous species I have now. You're never too old to experience "awe and wonder".

Susan