Lolly318 - I'm in northeastern NC and started my butterfly garden this year as well. Last week, I decided to check my parsley plants and found 12 cats on one plant. The other parsley plant was a little wilted so I gave it some water to revive it. The next day, there were eggs on the second plant. I am running out of parsley for these hungry guys. I now have 8 cats remaining and I have brought them inside and feeding them fresh parsley from the grocery store (I know - I just read that you shouldn't do this but there is nothing left on the parsley plant for them to eat!). Next year, we will start parsley from seed to have enough plants. I brought them inside yesterday and have them in an aquarium type container. Tonight I have to transfer them to another container so I can clean the container they are in now. They poop a lot. I hope to hear from you more since I am new at butterfly gardening as well. I'm pretty sure that my cats are black swallowtails. I plan on planting milkweed next year to attract Monarchs. This year was just an experiment for me. Talk to you soon. Kathy

I live in NYC. I have to admit, pretty much everything I have in the ground that I spend time growing really is marginal at best. The only plants I grow in the ground that I actually see around here is a Crape Myrtle, a Fig, a Camellia, coneflowers, and an eastern prickly pear. All the rest are tropicals planted in the ground for the summer, or palm trees planted in the ground all year long (and then my potted tropical plants also!). I really like brugs because they are so easy to store indoors! I forgot I had a brug for most of the winter and then I found it behind my other plants. I gave it some water and it started growing leaves within a week. I dont think I have many other tropical plants that need such little care during the winter! I want a greenhouse very badly, but living in NYC means that space is a big problem, so all my plants go in the house and its getting pretty crowded. I think my least favorite time of the growing season is early April and mid October for the same reason as you (plus my yard looks pretty bare until about late June). I was happy to see my Frostproof gardenia blooming again today (second bloom of the week), and since its planted next to my brugmansia, they both work together to make the side of my yard EXTREMELY fragrant at night! I was taking a few pics of the plants tonight and as soon as I got within 20 feet of my Brug, I smelt it! Im definitely planting more in the same spot next season! I dont think I would complain much about living in a zone 10. I would probably have spring bulbs growing in the dead of winter (and storing them in their own fridge or something for the rest of the year) and the tropicals would of course be outside all year long! It would be like a vacation every time I walk into my yard (without the worry of having to bring them inside every winter and the wait until July for them to start getting really lush looking). I think there is only 4 months of the year that I can say my yard looks very lush and tropical, but its all worth it! -Alex

I have spent the entire day doing more research in this forum, helpmefind and concerning what happened to my roses. I definitely do think I damaged more than the DARes - with that extra spray routine I did on Monday with Daconil and Malathion. The reason is that I sprayed a lone climber far away from the rose garden and when I checked it this morning - it had the same burnt at the edge of the leaf look to a couple of it's leaves. It is Climbing Blaze and really only two leaves looked burnt. I have just about decided to no longer even spray for insects and would like to think I could do the same for fungus/black spot. Unfortunately - I had another problem crop up today. I posted pictures in another thread of my round Drift garden (3 years old) and the damaged buds on every bush. This happened literally overnight. I am waiting for opinions from this same forum and hope you all will go take a look. I fear spider mites. I am sure no animal ate the tops of these tiny buds out - a rabbit would have to be pretty crafty and agile to manage getting just the tops and not damaging any branches. I also have read so much about using oils - but not to use them if the temperature gets too hot - well, it was 85 here the last two days. I will NOT be spraying malathion or Daconil anymore - these leaves look so messed up and I only can hope that the bushes will recover. i am still getting yellowing at the bottoms of many of my bushes and pulling off the yellow leaves as they drop or turn completely yellow. I did water with a strong stream every bush this morning - thinking that possibly some of the insecticide/fungicide spray I sprayed on Monday would possibly be removed. Thank you everyone for any advice and attention you have given this issue. I know I am having beginners problems and with my bare root garden - if they can just make it to growing a healthy root system - maybe they will survive all of this. The dirt was prepared very well by my husband - who is a total green thumb and Biologist - but he says roses are over his head!! Thank you! Denise

How adorable - the gnome house and the caterpillar! And congrats on your first monarch caterpillar! Sherry