Very nice job! I use newspaper and my cage is made of cedar. The cats have never complained. They prefer attaching to the wood than the screen. randy

bernergrrl, This is a GREAT post. Many butterfly gardeners are not aware of the needs of butterflies beyond nectar and host plants. Many of my suggestions will not be usable for some/many butterfly gardeners because we have a one-acre butterfly sanctuary in a wooded area, but here goes: provide water source(s) leave brush piles and wood piles for protection from rain and for overwintering. leave as many trees around your garden as possible to protect butterflies from strong winds/rain/etc. provide stones, boulders, gravel in places that get good sun for warming spots for butterflies. clear spider webs from your garden to prevent butterflies from being caught and release butterflies that are caught in webs. try for multiple planting levels as various species seek out different levels. consider planting various grasses suitable to some butterflies as host plants. leave some trees IN your garden, if possible. In addition to the tree uses mentioned above, some butterflies like emperors, angle wings, wood nymphs, etc. use the bark as hiding places, places to bask in the sun, and lookout spots. provide feeder plates of rotting fruit, etc. to attract butterflies that don't nectar or don't nectar exclusively.

'Lochinch' is a hybrid rather than a pure Buddleja davidii. The general behavior is for trees and shrubs to store energy in both stems and roots. With roses in particular, since these are cane growers that renew from a bud head, if there was any kind of shrub that stored nutrients more in the roots than in the stems it would be a one like this. Another cane grower, Himalayan blackberry is supposed to be sprayed with glyphosate in the fall because nutrients in the canes are being sent down to the bud head at that time. The herbicide taken in through the leaves is expected to join the procession and concentrate in the bud head, killing the initials for next year's new canes. What is supposed to be wrong with hard pruning of shrubs that may die back in winter is that the frost damage starts at the ends of the stems. The thinking is that the longer the stems during a dying back episode, the more stem will be left afterward. Unless people living in Asian hinterlands have been making USDA Hardiness Zone assignments the one used here in the US for butterfly bush is based on experience with it cultivation, on this continent. Other Garden Web chatter has tended to settle on it becoming marginal in USDA 6 (back East).

This wide-angle photo shows the large (36' x 60') screened enclosure my wife Suzanne and I had installed over our pool in Naples, Florida (Zone 10b), at a cost of $10,000. It replaced the original enclosure which measured just 24' x 36', the exact dimensions of the concrete patio surrounding the 12' x 24' pool. The new structure went beyond the patio 12' in three directions, by encompassing part of our half-acre garden. The area within the enclosure was thereby enlarged by 250%, so we're now able to use the space as a mosquito-free outdoor dining area. If you can afford such a pool cage, you'll be saving the cost of installing retractable patio screens. (You can click on each photo to enlarge it to see its details.) The second photo shows the narrower (36’) end of the enclosure, with the rest of the structure seen through the screening. The remaining photos show its interior, where we’ve planted many native flowering shrubs in the area around the original patio. There I also created two large water lily ponds where hundreds of goldfish and other species are breeding. The screening protects the fish from the beautiful but hungry herons, egrets and other water birds flying overhead. We were also breeding six different species of butterflies within the enclosure, keeping them and their caterpillars safe from the frogs, toads, lizards and other predators. The space is also frequently used for the informative gardening classes given by our Gardeners of Southwest Florida group. Like the group's free membership, the classes are always free, and are scheduled on weekends two or three times a month throughout the year. They’re taught in the gardens of different members of the group each time, often by professional horticulturists. That gives the members (now totaling over 1,300 gardening families around Naples and Fort Myers) the opportunity to see what’s growing in many different gardens, as well as the screened enclosures of those who have swimming pools. Hundreds of photos plus full details of the 123 previous and upcoming gardening classes and upcoming classes are on the group’s extensive website at ww.meetup.com/FloridaGardeners. Shown above: The two leaders teaching a garden class within the pool cage to 40 group members seated on the other side of the pool.