Hi, Sandy, and congrats! When I saw your post my first thought was, gee, they're early! Heehee! My S. hebecarpa died a couple years ago. I have S. bicapsularis coming up, but it has to get really warm here for them to take off with much growth. I love S. hebecarpa in bloom - it's gorgeous! I had 3 Red Admirals on the butterfly feeder late yesterday afternoon, so am confirming they are plentiful this year! Susan

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

I'm not surprised you've got snow, KC. I heard on the radio that the record temperature for this day in Gulfport is 39 degrees, and that record will probably be broken, since it's supposed to reach 38 degrees tonight. It's supposed to be 36 degrees up here! I brought all my caterpillars, chrysalides, and cocoons into the unheated guest room, with the window cracked and the door shut. I don't want to put them in a warm room, because when I put them outside, I want the temps (and humidty) to be reasonably the same. I'll wait and bring them back out when it warms up, which is supposed to be right away. I brought in a lot of pipevine swallowtail caterpillars, having heard about how cold it was going to be. I don't know what I'm going to do about the pearl crescent eggs outside. I think I'll put a stem of the asters in water and see how it holds up - if it does well, I'll bring them in, too. There was a weak tornado or strong straight line winds in Gautier last night that turned over mobile homes. - the difference in the temps between what we were having and what we're now having is extreme. That last picture looks like some type annual red salvia. I'm wondering if it was 'Lady in Red' - I can't remember what it was. Sherry

I was just out in Sherry's Shangri-La looking for Monarch eggs (found 32 thus far, which is actually unusual considering the time of year!) when a Giant fluttered by! Sure enough, she laid an egg on the Rue right next to me. I then found a 2nd instar GST caterpillar as well. Woo-hoo! This is the first day I've had a chance to do a spot of gardening in quite some time so to have all these butterflies (the Gulf Frits and Cabbage Whites) around is awesome. I did see ONE Monarch...DH had said he'd seen three yesterday which is why I was out looking for eggs... I had my Kindergartners plant Rue on Thursday. They were THRILLED since they'd recently taken home their Milkweed (A. curassavica) seedlings. Now, they will have caterpillar food for Giant Swallowtails. :)