"The one problem I face is import restrictions... its hard to bring anything into the U.S. without a permit." Every US lepidopterist faces the fact that it is very illegal to bring any form of lepidoptera into the US without import permits. A price in time and effort you have to pay to get the livestock. Most feel it is worth the effort, but if you don't want to do it right then don't do it at all. Import/export permits are really not hard to apply for and obtain, especially if you know the regs and are willing to stand your ground against US Custom's folks who don't have a clue about the laws/regs themselves. In fact they are so far out in left field that they are more concerned about dead, papered adult lepidoptera than they are about livestock that could be a potential invasive species in this country. Every foreign or regulated specimen I have is 100% legal with import and/or collecting permits, and every one I sent out of the US had preapproved export permits. Yes, I did many battles with USFWSLE and US Customs over the years to be 100% legal, but I think it was worth it. Lepidopterists in other countries don't have to deal with the restrictions we do for the most part, but they do have to be willing to help you deal with them here in the US. What form is available is what form is usually offered whether it be ovum, larvae or imago - and is usually readily accepted by the other party if they have to resources to rear it from that form. IOW, you take what you can get or do without. In the case of imago's, it's usually a gravid female that ovum can be obtained from, but can also be pairs of imago's to hand pair yourself. At the level I suggested, you are really not trading. Instead you are sharing some extra livestock with someone who will also share some of their extra livestock with you. IOW, no numbers are kept, no score card kept. When two people at this level are working together rearing leps they just offer what they have extra and if the other wants it, it is sent. Trust me, you will reap far more than you give when dealing with a professional with worldwide contacts. BTW, it's also possible you will have to import/export larval foodplants as well to feed the livestock, so beside learning how to ship living livestock worldwide, you also need to learn how to send plant cuttings as well. Another must do on your part is you have to take the responsibility for any livestock (or plants) you import into the US and take every precaution to make sure they do not get the chance to start wild colonies here. IOW, every individual you rear must be euthanized in the end. L.

Terrene, what kind of cage do you raise your monarchs in? Years ago, we had one summer where I though we had our first disease outbreak. we had always raised our cats in plastic ice cream buckets. Well, it turned out the bucket we used that year was toxic! The second we switched to a glass container all the sluggish caterpillars suddenly perked back up. Now I have two cages: This was my main cage this year. it works well except for when the caterpillars are in their first few days, they can crawl through the mesh: (so I put the wee ones in a glass bowl with paper over the top...only lost 1 adventurous cat this summer) http://store.discovery.com/detail.php?p=86231&v=discovery_toys-games_type_animals-bugs I also got another cage for next summer. I plan to put potted tropical milkweed plants and raise TONS of butterflies in a mini greenhouse: http://www.amazingbutterflies.com/butterfly_castles.htm I had one strange occurrence at the beginning of the summer. The first two monarch eggs I brought in off the tropical milkweed turned completely black so I just tossed them after a couple days. Nothing out of the ordinary after that. Here's to healthy cats and butterflies in 2011! Tony

Since my resident hummers have now left, I guess I can summarize how things fared to date, updating my previous posting on it: OBSERVED USED Syringa patula 'Miss Kim' (lilac) Syringa prestoniae 'James McFarlane' (lilac) Weigela florida 'Red Prince' Weigela florida 'Wine and Roses' Heuchera x brizoides 'Firefly' Annual Dianthus (dark pink/white center) Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red' Salvia coccinea 'Hummingbird Red' Salvia nemorosa 'May Night' (believe it or not...lol) Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' Salvia elegans 'Golden Delicious' Salvia elegans (species) Salvia microphylla x greggii 'Red Velvet' Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline' (bee balm) Morning glories (seedling volunteers from 'Grandpa Ott' & 'Scarlet O'Hara') 'Snow White' cherry tomatoes (tomato blooms nectared from!) Toma verde tomatillo blossoms Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Edward LaPlante' Agastache rupestris Lonicera sempervirens 'Blanche Sandman' (coral honeysuckle) Lonicera x mandarin (mandarin honeysuckle) Scarlet runner beans Cypress vine (lost behind B&B but used) Pentas lanceolata 'New Look Red' NOT USED Red verbena Red Petunias Hosta albomarginata Sweet peas (they may have but hard to see it) Dicentra spectabilis (may have been used but didn't observe it) Methley Plum (bloomed before first hummer arrived) Gloriosa lily (red-flowering - was looked at though!) Blueberries (Patio, Elliott, Nelson, Bluecrop - may have used though but not observed directly - one perched there) Annual snapdragons (magenta) Asiatic lilies (assorted) Yellow (unknown type) orientpet lilies Calla lilies 'Majestic Red' Aquilegia sibirica 'Biedermeier' (siberian columbine) Dianthus 'Cheddar Pinks' Penstemon 'Sunburst Ruby' (only had a couple blooms so far) HAD NOT BLOOMED Salvia guaranitica x gesneriiflora 'Purple Majesty' (only had a couple blooms early but now about to bloom fully) Salvia subrotunda (seedlings) Crocosmia 'Lucifer' Daylily 'Pardon Me' (won't be blooming this year) Canna 'The President' & 'Red King Humbert' Phlox paniculata 'Starfire' (won't bloom this year) Hyacinth bean Vine Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella' (seedling from last year) I'm considering doing some geraniums (pelargoniums) next year. I used to grow them all the time but kindof got tired of them since they often quit blooming when it's very hot. I understand that they are supposedly a good hummer plant and I know they sell all colors (including red) at just about every place that sells plants, so I'll give them another shot! I also want to try some lobelia cardinalis too - I did try looking for it locally and couldn't find it.

Scott, I still have tomatoes producing heavily, and a few slow-pokes (planted late because of weather) that haven't produced a ripe one yet. And, there's no way I am going to list every single variety because I plant too many, but I'll give a brief synopsis of the ones that have produced well. Better Bush--earliest tomatoes...picked ripe ones in late April from plants set out in containers in mid-February. The flavor was very good considering these ripened in cool weather. The one in the ground in the garden produced one of the earliest ripe fruit in the garden too. Early Girl--early, lots of fruit, average flavor Jet Star--earlier than Early Girl, heavy bearers, better than average flavor Supersonic--very heavy yields of very large tomatoes, great flavor Prime Time--very heavy yields of large tomatoes, great flavor Ramapo--heavy yields of medium to large tomatoes, great flavor Moreton--heavy yields of medium to large tomatoes, very good flavor Momotaro--heavy yields of large pink tomatoes, excellent flavor Livingston Gold Ball--Heavy yields of golf-ball sized golden-yellow fruit with great taste. I like these so much they seldom make it indoors because I eat them while working in the garden. Indian Stripe--moderate yields (not as good this year as last year) of tomatoes similar to Cherokee Purple in flavor (excellent flavor) and appearance Chocolate Stripes--moderately heavy yield of red and green stiped tomatoes with average flavor Brandywine--low yields--so far 2 tomatoes from one plant and 5 from the other, but the flavor is great, and they are blooming now so hoping for more fruit set during the cool spell (which hasn't arrive here yet--it was 84 degrees here at 7:30 a.m. and felt like 89) Nebraska Wedding--Moderate yields of orange beefsteaks with outstanding texture and flavor Royal Hillbilly-moderate yield of fruit with amazing flavor--did not produce huge numbers like last year Tess' Land Race Currant--One of these is all you need. The plant currently is 8' tall and about 4' wide and I've had trouble keeping it upright. It currently is staked with 3 8' tall metal fence posts and 3 shorter wooden stakes. This produces tiny, red, round, tasty 1/2" wide tomatoes in great profusion....I'd say I've easily picked a thousand of these so far and it will produce until frost is heavy. A lot of flavor in a tiny tomato. We use these in salads and also I dehydrate tons of them. Sweet Million--heavy producer of red cherries with very good flavor Rose Quart--heavy producer of pink oval cherry types (not really as oval as most grape tomatoes) with very good flavor SunGold--as always, a heavy producer of golden-orange cherries with great flavor. Less cracking than most years. Black Cherry--superb as always and ties with SunGold in terms of great flavor and great productivity Ildi--a very prolific yellow grape tomato with amazing flavor. I've tried other yellow grapes and none of them can touch it in flavor. Some of the others are late to ripen.... Red Defender and Scarlet Red both have very heavy loads of large tomatoes. I am just about to start picking them. I think I picked a couple of Scarlet Red last week, but sent them to work at the fire station with DS, so can't comment on the flavor yet. These plants (and Moreton) have just about more fruit than foliage, and their foliage is heavy. I've never had plants in 7 to 10 gallon containers produce as many tomatoes per plant as these are producing. I can't wait to see how they do in the ground next year. Arkansas Traveler is producing medium-sized pink tomatoes with great flavor as always. Box Car Willie is just now ripening fruit. San Marzano Redorta is slow to ripen this year. Viva Italia has been a heavier producer and earlier and with fine flavor Black Plum was wonderful but both plants---one in a container and one in the ground--died of bacterial wilt. Mountain Princess produced heavy loads of pink, tasty fruit early on but was the first to die....of bacterial wilt. It was in a container too, and in fresh soil. (sigh) Some plants that won't be back: Dr. Carolyn (ivory cherry), Snow White (ivory to yellow large cherry) and Yellow Pear (kids love them). All three struggled with disease and died about the time they're producing heavily. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I didn't grow a lot of my real favorites this year because I was worried about drought and wanted some heavy-producing hybrids. Next year (Jay, do you think I'll stick to this plan?) I am determined to grow only the best-of-the-best of the plants I've tried, and maybe allow myself to try 5 or 10 new varieties. I think I'll do a 50-50 split between heirlooms (better flavor, but usually lower productivity in our climate) and hybrids (flavor can be iffy, but heavy production). Dawn