I find fennel to be most attractive to BST in my yard. I gave 19 eggs and caterpillars to a teacher friend. She said the students were really enjoying watching them grow. She divided the eggs between the second grade teachers. Then, I was able to find another 14 for myself. I collect them ASAP as eggs. I take the fennel sprig with the egg and place those into a deli plastic container. Small holes in the lid, insert the sprig through the hole into the water. I usually recut the bottom of the sprig before I place it in the water. I monitor the water level in these containers. It takes a good 5 days for the eggs to hatch. By the time the eggs hatch, they need some fresh fennel. I use another deli container and place that near them so that they can crawl over to fresh food. If they don't move, I carefully snip the piece of plant that they are on and place that on the fresh fennel.

KC, to look at that camera, it's like looking at my old camera. The reviews on amazon are confusing. Some think it's great just in auto, others say you need to mess with the megapixels and the ISO. I have not a clue on either, probably why my pictures look so bad. As far as a camera shop...what's that? My gosh, you'd think in such a small community, we'd have something like that, but I don't think I've seen anything like that. I drive an hour to get to Best Buy. Or I can go to Wally World or Target (Target is 20 miles away). I know I didn't see that camera at Best Buy. I would have bought it if I had! Another great picture Sandy! Doing a search for woolly croton, it came up as an invasive. I don't know though, everything was talking about TX. So maybe only TX has a problem with it...? I have no clue. Elisabeth, I asked at Best Buy about a Panasonic Lumix. I was told they had all low end cameras except for Canon. Canons sell, at this particular store, so that's what they push..sales guys words, not mine. Is yours like the new Sony that you put lenses on? Could I have the model number please? Sherry, what kind of camera do you use? Oh hey! I found 16 more eggs on my buttonbush!

Over the past few years I've been adding more native plants to my garden, and I'm seeing more butterflies, honeybees, native bees, hover flies, green lacewings, dragonflies and hummingbirds. Our visitors increased yet again this summer, when a beloved but severely damaged (thanks to Superstorm Sandy) oak tree was removed, allowing more sunlight into our back yard. I have several New England asters for late native blooms, although the garden has had something in bloom year 'round for several years now. Various hyssops are still blooming, along with obedient plant, scarlet runner bean, passiflora incarnata, native honeysuckle, and several herbs. Like you, we are in USDA Zone 7, in mid-coastal NJ.

Hi Tom We just put it in last year. The house we are in now, we didn't buy until 10/15. I bought a sterile variety at Lowes, mid range size I would say. It's doing fine. I have actually started Rose of sharon from seed before, 2 houses ago. If you planted very small/whip sizes, they are probally just a year old and may need a year before they really start putting on growth. Once roots take hold, unless you have very bad soil, they will grow quickly. Once they seem established, don't be afraid to prune them to get them to branch out more. I don't think they do much for Butterflies, but Hummers do love them. Also if you have the time to dead head the flowers once petals drop, it does extend the bloom season, might be too time consuming for some though. Keep in mind the more you put in, if it's not a sterile variety, unless you get rid of the seed pods, Rose of Sharon is known to be invasive. I personally love to just be in my garden, so dead heading my bushes even when I had over 10 of them, wasn't a chore for me, but some may think it is.