After I stopped spraying, I encouraged Baronne for about 2 or 3 years. Considering the stress the 2 plants gave me when I cut them out of my garden, I don't miss them. In my garden Baronne grew tall with huge canes, but also put out horizontal canes with thin canes off of them. It was difficult for me to maintain a decent shape, and I was always stuck by the canes. The blooms were very pretty, but I had them beside Maggie and Fredrick Mistral who also had pretty blooms. In Tulsa the leaves were not often clean. At this point I would say you are very patient. I don't know much about Florida weather, but in the spring in Tulsa, we do need to cut back dead or dying canes, and we like to go as far down as possible. I found it very difficult to get around BP without coming out with injuries. Sammy

I found a little red bay coming up near my best red bay earlier this spring, so I dug and potted it up. After the female palamedes visited, I put it on a bench in my garden to make sure she could find it. I was rewarded today - She laid her egg on some new growth at the top of the plant. I'm planning on keeping this one in a pot for as long as I can. I know I'll have to keep potting it up to bigger pots, but having one that's easily accessible would be so good! Most of the other red bays on the property are tall, with the lowest branches too high up to reach. Even the good red bay has gotten so tall, I'll need the big ladder to reach the lowest limbs. I went to the garage to get the big ladder, which is hung sideways on nails, and found a Carolina wren tending her nest in it! Hopefully, my short ladder will be tall enough I can reach the leaves of the good red bay. Most of them on the property look terrible, with those awful galls all over. I looked for more eggs and couldn't find any, but she may have put some on the good red bay - I don't blame her for shunning the bad ones here. I'll pot up all the seedlings that come up around the good one and plant them out eventually. Red bay/Persea has SO many problems! Here's a full picture of the one in the container - the 'good red bay' may actually be P. palustris/swamp bay and the ones full of galls may be P. borbonia/red bay, I don't know. If I can get time, I think I'll check out the many red bays/swamp bays that grow along the main road here. They look better than the ones on my property, at least when I'm driving by. They may or may not look so good close up, and they may have some cats on them I can raise. Another thing I've considered doing, if I can find a lot of cats to raise, is raise some on sassafras. I once had palamedes and spicebush swallowtail cats together in the same big cage. The palamedes swallowtails would occasionally eat some of the sassafras leaves meant for the spicebush swallowtails. They developed fine, with no difference from those who didn't eat any sassafras. Since sassafras doesn't have the blight and the galls that red bay gets, if palamedes swallowtails would start laying eggs on it, I think they'd do fine. Maybe if I could raise a female on sassafras, she'd lay her eggs on it? Hmmmmm.........I don't know, but if I get enough to raise, which I doubt, it's worth a try. Sherry

Thanks everyone. I couldn't check the plants tonight, it's been storming non-stop since I got home from work. I'd love to try and raise them but I'm gone from 7 am to 7:30 or later each weekday. Mother Nature will do a better job than me. I hope it/they survive, I haven't seen an adult this year.

Teresa emailed me and asked me to post her pics. of the hawk that landed on her deck railing! She's having some problems getting Photobucket to cooperate with her, it appears!! :o) He may be *shopping* but it looks like he might be a vegetarian, instead of a vole hunter! Looks like he's eyeing her tomatoes pretty intensely,to me!!!! Good shots, Teresa---if you look closely at the second one, you can even see the glint in his eye!! I think he was messing with ya! LOL I'm not happy about hawks in my yard!! I love my chips and squirrels and my new little dog, more than those agreeably beautiful creatures of prey!!! I always chase them off, telling them to go *graze* in someone else's restaurant--not mine!!! I know--not the politically correct stance to take in a world of environmentalism gone manic!! I'm all for the balance as per the design, but I also appreciate the fact that I can manage my environment, responsibly, without making it more the priority than human beings and their quality of life and health!!! I'm only adding this to avoid any bashing from those who think some life creature forms are more privileged than others! I am all for their doing what they are designed to do, but if I can protect what I value most on my little 1/2 acre--I will with no guilt!! :o) No question about it--hawks are pretty awesome creatures--just enjoy them most in open fields! Now---if I have a plague of voles--I just might change my mind--I have that right, too, you know!!! ;o)