I didn't even see that second cat in the last picture, Mary, but now that I do, I can see a line on it - it may be a cloudless sulphur. My book Caterpillars in the Field and Garden shows a green sulphur with a yellow lateral stripe that is labeled a large orange sulphur, so maybe that's a characteristic of that type also? The picture of the yellow large orange sulphur in my book Florida's Fabulous Butterflies shows a yellow one that does indeed look like the one in your first picture, except it has a tannish colored line down the side, which I don't see on yours. I've looked at so many green and yellow sulphurs in four different books, that now I'm too confused to have a clue! Sherry

Susan, I am seeing the Spined Soldier Bugs along with a bug that I've never seen before! Here is a picture... They all just hang around my Sennas & wait! GRRRR is right!!! I tried using my scissors but they are too fast! I have been squishing any Milkweed bugs I see & have smashed a few beetles that were probably Soldier bugs! I don't have time to "stand guard"!!! I also have a 'Lavendar Lady' Passionvine in a pot(they won't survive our winter) & it is under one of my bird feeders. The Carolina Wrens have pretty much kept the GF cats off it but it has very few leaves & no blooms. I will use a different location for it next spring...just too tempting for the birds! I have been checking daily my milkweed, sennas, & rue but haven't seen any more eggs so far! Just tons of wasps & bugs laying in wait! I keep seeing the females hanging around but haven't "caught them in the act!" I have a new plant that volunteered is definitely in the pea family...I think it is Strophostyles helvola...Trailing Fuzzybean. I'm not sure if it is a host but it volunteered in my BF garden where the Hairy Vetch was earlier this year. I let it grow but haven't seen anything on it so far. I had a ton of Orange Sulphurs this spring but haven't seen any since the host plants dried up! I am still seeing a few Little Yellows as well as Phaon Crescents(they are so tiny!) Sherry, didn't you post a picture of GST eggs vs BST eggs? The cats are so tiny still, I'm not sure if they are all BSTs! Thanks, Lila

Cat Deterrents for your Garden: Keep in mind that each cat is different (like people), what works for one may not necessarily work for another. On the plus side, most cats will keep pesty squirrels, moles and other critters out of your garden. They're great for keeping out moles, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters which can do more damage in your garden than a cat ever will. Birds aren't stupid, they watch for cats and stay away. Sometimes natural law comes into play and the quicker animal wins, it's natural law. If the cats have owners, talk to them without being confrontational. The cat owner who allows his cat to damage other peoples' property is as guilty as the cat hater who kills the cat for trespassing. Remember, cats will be cats, and it is unfair of us to blame them for being what they are and how nature intended them to participate in this world. After-all, we praise them when they catch mice or rats or other creatures we deem to be 'pests'. * amonia soaked (corncobs, etc) * aluminum foil * bamboo skewers * black pepper * blood meal fertilizer * bramble cuttings * Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp * catnip - donated into your neighbor's yards (so they'll stay in their own yards) * cedar compost * chicken wire (metal or plastic) * cinnamon * citrus peels * citrus spray * cocoa bean shells * coffee grounds -fresh & unbrewed, not just a light sprinkling (highly recommended by MANY Gardenwebbers!) * dogs * electric fence for animals * essence of orange. essence of lemon, lime (citrus essential oils) * fresh manure(ditto) * garlic cloves * gumballs from the Sweet Gum Tree * gutter covers * hardware cloth * heavy bark mulch * holly leaves * keep the area damp, they like dry soil * lavender * liquid manure (good for your garden too) * motion sensor sprinkler * pennyroyal * pinecones * pipe tobacco * plastic forks * predator urine * red wine vinegar * river rocks over the exposed soil * rocks, crushed * rose bush clippings * rue, an herb (Ruta graveolens) (highly recommended in plant form only) * short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart * six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up) * Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water * squirt gun with water * talk to your neighbors * tansy * thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, rose clippings * toothpicks * upside down vinyl carpet * vinegar sprayed on areas where they roam * water bottle on "stream" NOT RECOMMENDED: *** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me. *** Don't ever use mothballs or flakes. Those little toxic waste pellets destroy cats' kidney function, could seriously harm people who handle them, and yes, contaminate your own garden soil. Their packaging even warns against using them this way. Give them their own areas: (To keep them out of where you don't want them) (If you don't mind them protecting your garden from other critters) + pick the cat up and bring it to eye level with the plant to see and smell it up close. She noted that once her cat has seen and sniffed at the plant, she usually doesn't bother with it later. + give them their own plants - i.e., pots of grass for her to chew on and a place in a large planted container on her balcony with some miscanthus grass in it (the cat likes to curl up in that for some reason) + if the cats are strictly indoors and attracted to your houseplants, grow catgrass for them. If someone forced you to remain inside one enclosed structure all your life, you might be attracted to the plants too. + Barley Grass + Any type of "catgrass" from the pet store + Carex elata 'Bolwes Golden' but put it in some shade + Catmint Nepeta mussinicultivars (Simply put, Catmints are Catnips without any culinary or feline use. In any case, they are, however, phenomenal, long flowering, hardy perennials that belong in every fairie or flower garden.) + Catnip Nepeta cataria (in your own yard) The oils of which also work as a mosquito repellent that works 10 times better than Deet! Catmint is the common name for all varieties of Nepeta. Catnip is the common name for the specific variety of Nepeta called nepeta cataria, which is the variety that cats are most attracted to. + Cat Thyme (Teucrium marum) + Flax + Oat Grass + Jacob's Ladder + Lemon Grass + Loose soil and mulch like small bark mulch + Mints + Purple Fountain Grass so the cat lays in the long leaves all day. Maybe put something in that the cats really like and - you know cats won't winky were they like to hang out. + Sandy area + Silver vine (Actinidia polygama) + Striped Ribbon Grass (can be invasive) + Sweet grass + Trificum aestivum (type of cat grass) + Various Varieties of Cat Mints (Catnips) + Wheat Grass + Wheat Berries + Valerian This list compiled by Violet_Z6, email at violetgw@care2.com for comments and suggestions regarding this list.

a few thoughts to add to this excellect discussion. Does no one add sand? I've heard pros & cons. Also when you bury manure deeper than 8 inches it naturally mixes in with the soil well even if it's fresh. different animals produce manure with differnt nutrients. fowl from turkey and chicken farms and processing plants are super high in nitrogen but will grown giant greens and broccoli or burn up everything. You can get horse manure from stables and people who keep horses. Sheep and cow stuff from dairies and slaughter houses. Check with 4-H they can tell you who is raising animals and would love to get rid of all kinds of poop. I get great leaf mold in the fall when people leave bags of leaves on curbs in plastic bags. the leaves age just fine left alone in the bags all winter long. I've had difficulty with large amounts of pete moss in that it blows around quickly. If you can get neighbors un treated lawn clippings they are very good with some extra nitrogen.