mid summer is a lull in fragrance.... but come august.. the hosta species plantaginea... with its 6 inch trumpet flowers is sublime ... as well as many of its progeny.. like royal standard... etc ... also.. here in the great white north.. august is time for many things that self seeded... to finally peak .. and a large area of 4 o'clocks.. can fragrance the whole yard .... and then in fall... the fragrant autumn clematis ... and then its winter.. and its all over ... my point.. if you missed it.. is that there is NOT one 'best' ... you need to plant for fragrance.. in waves.... so they bloom... one after another.. always with something coming.. something to anticipate ... my theory.. for whats its worth ... is that the scent is a bee attractant... and by the heat of the summer.. bees are not as active.. most of their work done ... so things sorta peter out .... also.. a lot of the late summer things.. are night bloomers.. attracting the night pollinators... like moths ... [both the 4 o'clocks.. and the plantaginea] ken

You've got mail, Dan. I collected 20 more eggs this morning, which brings the total number to around 63 now. I'll send you about 50 because I don't have enough pipevine to support them all. Also, it would be nice to populate your yard, too. Sometimes now all of them make it to maturity. They're not quite as predictable as Monarchs and BSTs, IMHO. Do you guys think a CD case would work reasonably well? It's big enough to hold several stems with eggs on them and allow some room in case some of them hatch. Should I put a damp paper towel in it or not? I don't have any Glad containers that small, or any other containers that I can think of. I will put the CD case in a bubble envelope, too, and mark it for hand stamping (altho I don't know if they read that anymore). I have to give it to my mailman because my daughter is gone to the lake right now and I have no transportation. I will try to put a LOT of postage on it Dan, so that it gets to you w/o you having to pay anything. Thank goodness I have plenty of stamps. I'm excited to be doing this for you, Dan, and wish you much luck in establishing a population in your garden. They certainly found mine this year, and this is the 1st year I've had them. Susan

pixie_lou: Nice pic of the butterfly on the White Swan! That's my favorite coneflower. Not knowing much about dragonfiies, I turned to google and found this Dragonfly Site. They have a page on What Do Dragonflies Eat? which gets pretty gory, but the gist is: " Adult dragonflies eat just about anything that is edible and can be caught. They are a treasure for humanity because they keep mosquito populations under strict control by feasting on them when they are in abundance. Similarly, they also feed on ants, termites, butterflies, gnats, bees and other insects and tend to hunt in groups when large colonies of ants or termites are spotted. They are considered a pest by apiaries because they can polish off a good chunk of the bee population before one can realize the threat looming large. Writing about what dragonflies eat makes one wonder what would be the case if some of the older dragonfly species that have been found as fossils existed today. These fossil species belonging to the Meganeura genus were carnivorous insects with wings spreading to spans in the range of two and a half feet and made their food out of other insects and even small amphibians. If they were still alive today, weâÂÂd have to constantly watch our small pets to be sure they didnâÂÂt end up a dragonflyâÂÂs lunch!". Nectar is apparently not on the menu. Claire

Cool terene. I should note I don't have Elderberry but rather Serviceberry. Some are of fruiting size. Many I planted between 2007 and yesterday. I didn't move here until Sept. of 07. Viburnum Blue Muffin; Manchurian Viburnum; and the native plants here: dogwood shrub - wild cherry - blackberry - rosa rugosa - etc- all have fruit. Also for a root-hardy plant here (all zone 5's) you can plant "Peanut Butter Tree" Clerodendrum trichotomum. That's another beauty that blooms on current wood and sets fruit. It's considered invasive because it suckers, but, anything that can be controlled with my lawnmower - I don't consider to be invasive. That's a good one to know about. I also have Pecans, Cherry trees, and just an ungodly amount of trees generally-speaking... Sassafras albidum is another. I'm planting on a slope beyond my property line more Sassafras and also a large variety of Oaks. Currently, that area is dominated with Osage Orange. My neighbor has a grand Corylus american growing on the outside of his woodland, and, next year I'm going to harvest the hazelnuts to grow them on. I didn't think of bayberry but I've rubbed those leaves in my hands and they smell incredible. I'll add that to my list. I would think Xanthoceras sorbifolium (Yellowhorn) & Heptacodium miconiodes (Seven Sons Flower) are two others worth considering. Crabapples, of course... I just can't deal with the disease problems. Instead, I planted full-size growing Cherries... one is an all-gold cultivar so I get to eat too! What do you guys think of Snowberry? yea or nea? Best Regards, Dax