Woo! Hoo! Yes, Rue is the host. Check for eggs. :)

Oh my!...might not have enough food, then...I'll step out there tomorrow and see if there are any eggs...

Will have to check at work to see if we have any more Rue plants to take home....

I am just glad they are here!!! I need one of those trees that they like...can't remember what they are, though...Hercules club or something like that.

Any idea where I can get one?

Ptelea trifoliata-Wafer Ash

Jefferson City,MO- Are they close to you?

Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri wildflowers

They aren't close...bet the plants would be too small right now anyway....

But, I wrote down some names to check in the city...

Checked the Rue...definitely eggs...also had some BST's which I promptly moved to the Aegopodium (they ate that last year)....

webkat5,

I empathize with your joy at spotting a GST. I spotted my first one ever in our butterfly sanctuary while giving a tour for our garden party on July 14. It was the hit of the party.

mike

Congrats on your GST - they're such sweeties! :) They just ADORE ptelea trifoliata, webkat, and the cats grow fast and big on it, but they also use various types of zanthoxylum - z. americana/common prickly ash is the type native to Missouri. Z. clava-herculis is the type native to my area, but when I had mine, I only found one egg on it the whole time, while the other host plants got lots of eggs, so I got rid of it. Ptelea is strictly an understory tree, at least here, but zanthoxylum can take full sun.
MissSherry

My Ptelea seeds did not come up, darn it! I'm just gonna purchase a plant this fall and plant it (can I do that?).

Hurrah, WebKat - glad to see you've nabbed some GSTs. I haven't had any yet on my Rue, but the darned BSTs are eating it to the ground - that and the fennel and Zizia. Zizia works, if you ever can get ahold of that, too. Leaves are VERY substantial.

Was it not you, WebKat, who said she had prickly ash last year? I may be thinking of somebody else, but they were definitely from Missouri.

I'd go for the Ptelea trifoliata, though, without the thorns! I have planted a small hardy lemon, but don't think it would be hardy as far north as you live. It may be "iffy" here in OKC.

Congrats on your GSTs!

Susan

I wasn't the one who had the Prickly Ash...was trying to find one, though....

I think I am going to contact the Master Gardener's hotline to see if they know a good resource for natives....will be joining them in August...

It may have been me Susan. I got prickly ash in a trade last year and found three Giant Swallowtail cats on them in late summer/early fall. When the leaves ran out I brought the cats in and tried to get them to eat rue leaves, but they pupated instead. I was afraid it was just in protest but they did successfully emerge this spring so I guess they were just through eating. That's the first GST's I EVER remember seeing. It took quite a bit of patience to wait all winter to see them.
I never did find any GSTs on my rue so I'm curious whether they will use yours WebKat. This year, I haven't found any GST cats on either but last year it was late so I'm still hoping.
The Mobot site has descriptions of both Prickly Ash and Hop
Tree and mentions that Prickly Ash has "considerable defoliation" some years from Giant Swallowtails. That's what I'm hoping for. : )
Normally BLACK Swallowtails are one of the most common butterflies here but I'm just not seeing them this year so my rue is still untouched.

Mine is "untouched" by GSTs, but not by BSTs. I finally decided to put the BSTs on the fennel and Zizia, so I will have enough for the GSTs eventually.

I love it, love it, love it - that you're hoping for complete defoliation. Only a butterfly lover would say that, Christie!

Susan

Yippee! I checked my prickly ash yesterday and found one newly hatched GST. I didn't get to see its mama though. She must not have hung around very long. I'm hoping there are some more cats and I just didn't see them.
Have you found anything on your Rue yet Webkat? Have you been able to find more plants? I harvested some seeds from mine but that wouldn't help you much this year. I should be able to mail some stems if you get desperate. I had to take some monarch cats to another butterfly garden last year because I ran out of food for them.

Oh, yea...baby GST's on the Rue....picked up some small Ptelea trifoliatas, but doubt they will do a hole lot of good this year....

That should say "whole", not "hole"....lol!

Congrats webcat.

I'd love to see a GST here in CT. Chances are slim to none, but you never know.

This is a very interesting thread...Much info from personal experiences.

Maryann

Update on this...

Just completed and gave a butterfly gardening presentation...added these photos to the slide show...

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Then later on....

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Christie - great photos! That is really a good one of the egg!

I recall that MissSherry had eggs on her seedlings last year. I think she may have had to start feeding them something else because her seedlings weren't large enough to sustain a crop of GSTs. LOL!

Susan

Going to try to get some more Rue this year....my little Ptelea trifoliata tree is still so small.

I have a protected area to grow the Rue which is 'guarded' by my barn kitty. Shouldn't have any bird problems.