Molanic, yes, I have grown many plants to attract the Painted Lady, but never had any eggs/caterpillars at all. Maybe they prefer prairie habitat? I am a city gal, but I still get lots of them and American Ladies, too. I have grown the following: Hollyhocks False Nettle (still have for Red Admirals and QMs) Sunflowers Malva (High Mallow) Wormwood/Artemisia ssp. Thistle (Carduus ssp.) Lambsquarters (Chenopodium) Plantain (both lance-leaved and Dooryard) Yarrow The Dallas County Lep Society lists the following larval host plants for them, by family, genus and species. You can see I grew/grow many of the plants mentioned: ASTERACEAE: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), Western Sagewort (Artemisia campestris), Mexican Sagebrush (Artemisia ludoviciana), Musk-Thistle (Carduus nutans), Basket-Flower (Centaurea spp.), Tall Thistle (Cirsium altissimum), Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum), Wavy-Leaf Thistle (Cirsium undulatum), Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare), Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), Milk-Thistle (Silybum marianum). BORAGINACEAE: Borage (Borago officinalis), Blueweed (Echium vulgare). CHENOPODIACEAE: Beet (Beta vulgaris), Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium album). FABACEAE: Soy Bean (Glycine max). MALVACEAE: Hollyhock (Alcea rosea), Common Mallow (Malva neglecta), Little Mallow (Malva parviflora), Running Mallow (Malva rotundifolia), High Mallow (Malva sylvestris), Globe-Mallow (Sphaeralcea spp.). PLANTAGINACEAE: English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), Dooryard Plantain (Plantago major). URTICACEAE: Nettle (Urtica spp.). I have found several other butterfly species on a few of these plants, like Red Admirals and QMs on False Nettle, Gorgone and Silvery Checkerspots on Sunflowers, Buckeyes on Plantain, and Sooty Duskywings on Lambsquarters. You would think that as common as the Painted Ladies are, and as larval plant generalists, we would have found them on something, huh? I would like to add Artemisia ludoviciana, Milk Thistle (Silybum), and Pearly Everlasting (I have tried this but not been successful at growing it yet). Maybe another thistle other than Silybum, altho it's potential invasiveness makes me a little nervous about growing it. Also, you'd think with the numbers of PLs I see in the garden, at least one might be a gravid female, right? But, no such luck so far....... Maybe we will get lucky this year. Susan

Hello, I used to be a regular at this forum but life got busy and I just can't seem to find time to post but I do lurk and am still regular at the RR forum. I started growing Chinese Foxglove a few years back (received some from GGG...Where IS she?) but it seemed to start taking over so I pulled it out before it even bloomed but now I wish I had left it. I may have to give it another try. Here's some pics from this past spring and summer in my north Florida garden: The quality of these are not that good but you get the idea....Florida is not all the tropics. Theresa

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words :) Hm... weather is splendid here, in reality, it's back to "normal". We've had unusual weather for one month and a half: from 20 inches up to 60 inches snow from mid-November till the end of December. Now wheather has got back to normal: it's raining all day long :D

Happy new year to you,too,Jannie. I'm seeing Marci next Tues. and will tell her you were on the forum.