Pn, I think you can keep the thrill alive by growing something new, but you're right the first year is probably the most exciting lol... Congrats on the zuke Aili!

Wow, it looks like she left you the mother lode there, Sherry! ;-) I think the most I ever had in a bunch was about 24. They're my very favorite caterpillar to raise. I love to put a few lengths of vine in a big storage container and watch the cats scurry along on their way to somewhere that I guess they have in mind. They always make it look like it's urgent. Ha. That's a Carolina wren for ya, building a nest in such a strange place. One year I had a pair build a nest on one of the shelves in my workshop after those little opportunists sneaked in there a few days when I had the door open and made themselves right at home. I didn't shut the door again until after the babies fledged. I have bluebird houses stacked up in our corncrib and one year the Carolina wrens made a nest in one of them even with it turned upside down. My dad had one build a nest in his fishing net one yet. Out of all of the birds that I get here, I call them the most eccentric. :) They sure are cute little things and they love the peanut butter/cornmeal/shortening mix that I put out in a log feeder for them in the winter. Cathy

The first has bloomed now, and I've posted pictures. I'm doing a time lapse video of these growing, so I think I have the light too far away to accommodate the cameras. They are under a 7" humidity dome, and the light is on top. If I didn't have to accommodate the cameras, I'd put the light about an inch or two away from the top of the plant.

I would advise strongly against using black plastic netting and instead use tobacco netting. It may save the lives of many birds in the long run. I lost a male bluebird and cardinal in this type of netting. It was just awful and totally preventable, I was so sad about it for weeks. The tobacco netting I use is white plastic and although it may seem that less sun gets through, its actually fabulous for my berry plants. I use it for my blueberries. Its wonderful and no birds have gotten caught in it because they can easily see it.