Susan, I have yet to find out how fast Monarchs pupate compared to others because that's the only kind of cat I've had so far. :( I have pretty much parsley and rue for them and some fennel and two zizias; I didn't have much luck with the seeds that I winter sowed for them. I saw a male BST butterfly here at the zinnias one day a week or so ago but that was it. You say they take their sweet time pupating; I think they also take their sweet time finding my place. Ha. I think I'd really rather wait a few years to see if various types of butterflies show up here on their own than buy them. I don't know, but I just think that I would get more excitement out of it knowing that they found my place on their own. I'm not criticizing anyone who does buy them, but I just think that finding them on my own works better for me (also less expensive). :) Well, I guess I have a long ways to go before I get to the point of having as many as CalSherry, but I guess you never know. I just hope that I can keep my sanity in the process. Ha. I really wouldn't mind raising a thousand if I knew I could handle it and everything else. I don't know if I still found the best way of doing all this. It seems like no matter how I keep the Monarch cats and the plants, a LOT of work in involved, but I really enjoy having them around. I love watching all of the other butterflies too. Yes, with all of those different kinds that you have to raise, maybe it's good that the Monarchs haven't shown up yet. That would really take up all of your waking hours to have all of them at once, but maybe they'll all be there at the same time anyway, huh? I don't know if the other kinds are done laying eggs at your place or not. It sounds like you have a regular production line going there. ;-) One of these days I'll get around to posting pics of my garden. It's not really at its peak right now and besides, I have a lot of things sitting around in the yard right now because I'm still working on it (wouldn't make for very good pics). My pussytoes are doing great! I planted them where we cut down a plum tree and had the stump and roots ground up. It made for a decent-sized area for them (about a 6-ft diameter circle). I didn't know if I put them in the garden with the other plants if they'd try to take over since I read a description of them "forms a thick mat" etc. and I thought just in case, I'll put these where they won't grow into the other plants, just the lawn, so they have their own special place. :) My pipevines are growing nicely, way above my head now, but after reading on here how much the PVS's eat, I'm wondering if they could just feed one or two PVS's. For their sake, I hope they don't show up this year because I want to have enough leaves to feed the cats. I don't even know if where I put them was a good idea or not. We have a cut-off "stump" that we had cut about 20 years ago and we used to have our clothesline attached to it. It's been sitting there just waiting for something, so I thought I'd put the A. macrophylla there; however, I'm not sure that there's enough space for the vines to go just wanting up an 8-ft high little trellis. I hate to move them though now that they got a good start, and besides, I don't know where I'd move them to if they like sun. I'm not sure how you start new ones from these (of course, I wouldn't do digging around them now yet), but I could someday put one (or two?) on a small wire archway that I bought at a craft store yesterday that's going out of business. I'm not sure where I'd put it yet, but that's a project for sometime in the future. I always have projects lined up. When I came home with this archway, hubby had that "What is it this time?" look on his face. Ha. I'll hope that you get the Monarchs but not that you go bonkers taking care of everyone. :) MissSherry, So you never get them in the spring then? Until I read you saying that before, I was always under the assumption that people living in the south would get them before places further north, just like when birds migrate. I've been trying to get purple martins for 19 years, and I know that they start showing up in Florida first and then Texas and those are the first places to have them nesting. I guess that doesn't necessarily hold true for butterflies? Or is it just Monarchs? Or just certain places in the south? Cathy

GREAT PICTURE!!! How many did you raise this year? I'm new to this forum & I haven't figured out how to share pictures yet. Thanks for sharing your's with us!!! :o) This is the first year that I have helped raise BFs--10 Monarchs-5 male 5 female & so far 4 of my 10 BSTs-all female have eclosed. I am hoping that a few will wait until the spring. We have had 80+ temps the last week until today(mid 60s high). I never realized how much work it is but also, how REWARDING it is to raise them!!! We are starting to see more monarchs coming through but the big migration hasn't reached us yet in North Texas. I have been seeing at least 3 a day the last few days.

Minrose, you and I are in the same cold climate, and we both have iris blooming! Are yours rebloomers? Mine aren't; they just appeared. My first camera was an Olympus, and so was my second. I still have them. In fact, the one I just bought and haven't even tried yet is an Olympus, too. But I've done extensive macro photography with my Panasonic Lumix FZ5. It's a superzoom, but does macro so well. The latest version of it just came out in September: the FZ35. Prices are dropping to under $300 now. (It started out last month at $400.) That's probably as low as it's going to go. Here are some pictures from the FZ35, posted on Flickr. It also takes great videos. You can find some on YouTube. Look under FZ38, as the European version was released first. Anyway, that's my recommendation. :-)

This is the one I had yesterday, at a restaurant. Good, but I think the rosemary cake will be the best. Orange-Olive Oil Cake Recipe Nonstick baking spray with flour 4 to 5 large navel oranges 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt 5 large eggs 3 cups granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups mild extra-virgin olive oil Confectionersâ sugar, for sprinkling Directions 1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven, remove any racks above, and crank up the heat to 350ðF (175ðC). Coat a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan with baking spray and set aside. 2. Finely grate the zest of 3 of the oranges, then squeeze 4 of them. You should have 1 1/2 cups of juice; if not, squeeze the 5th orange. Set aside. 3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside. 4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs on medium-high speed until well-combined, about 1 minute. Slowly pour in the granulated sugar and continue beating until thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and oil, starting and ending with the flour, and beat until just a few wisps of flour remain. Pour in the orange juice and zest and whirl for a few seconds to bring the batter together. 5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it, about 1 1/4 hours. If the top is browning too much as the cake bakes, cover lightly with foil. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. 6. Turn the cake out onto the rack and cool completely, then place it in a covered cake stand and let it sit overnight. Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar.