Interesting to see this thread going after so many years. I am having the same problem and would appreciate any and all advice. i have 7 painted ladies from the kit that absolutely refuse to mate. I appear to have a near 50/50 male female split, with half the butterflies having very large swollen abdomens I take to be full of eggs. The other half have very slender abdomens. They are all ten days old. Every afternoon shortly after the sun has stopped hitting the mesh flight cage they live, some of them begin frantically flying around the others, then landing near them. It's the ones with the swollen abdomens, pointing their abdomens at the others, who refuse to respond. I would have thought the males would have been the aggressors but the guys with the skinny abdomens just sit there. This happens day after day. I've resolved to release them at 14 days but would really like eggs first. I'm at wits end. They are in a large mesh cage with a live hollyhock plant that is in full bloom. This is a host plant for the species so they should lay eggs on it. They do use it for nectar. I also had a thistle plant in the cage but they ignored it too. additionly I feed them sugar water, orange, watermelon, and pineapple slices, Gatorade, and a 1:10 mixture of honey and water. They are kept in temps between 75 to 80 degrees. i think I'm doing everything right. Why won't they mate and lay eggs?

I live in San Francisco. I see painted lady caterpillars on young hollyhocks but not on the more mature plants that are getting ready to flower. Maybe the mature plants are too tough? Anyway, the birds seem to notice the caterpillars pretty quickly as well. They never seem to last to maturity!

I agree the best bet would be to grow, grow, and grow milkweed like crazy to be prepared for next year's influx of monarchs. I also have had very poor luck in finding any significant amount in nursery's and it is defiantly late in the season for them to be stocking any. I have heard it takes about 10 plants to attract them into your yard. Although I gave my mom two and she got them the first year I gave them to her. It took me 2 1/2 years of growing them in my yard to get any Monarchs in to my yard. Granted, as I have talked to others near my neighborhood, they had faster luck than I did! It is the right season here in North San Diego county for monarchs. I have many eggs and for the FIRST time I saw mid-air copulation taking place in my garden today! I now commonly have monarch cats as late as Thanksgiving. And actually I was surprised to have them as early as August this year.

Eloise before you know it you will be having your own beautiful plants again! HUGS Barb last year I had the butterfly ginger in morning sun and it did not bloom until fall. But it was also the 1st year after I got it from Kristy. this year I have it in afternoon sun and it has been blooming for a while already. But I do know that maybe it is the hot TX sun in the the summer that burns the leaf tips quite a bit. Good Question. Edna yours is so much darker then CB's. Is it like that with gingers...the older they are ir blooming more...the darker the color? Or does zones...heat etc play a factor with gingers also? Cause I sure LOVE those too. Lucy