Token said, "If you get a frost, they won't finish.", in regards to Buddleia seeds/pods. A frost will not hurt the seeds in terms of them maturing. The frost will take the leaves but the seeds will continue to develope. I collect mine sometimes as late as January. There are times when I've gone out to check the seed pods in late November and they are STILL undone. ARGH!! My pods are just forming at this point in time. The Buddleias here only start flowering in late August so every year, in the 'dead' of winter, I collect the seeds and trade away. I know the seeds are viable by the multitudes of seedlings I get the following year. :O)

Make sure that you put about 4" of potting soil in the bottom of the jar because they form their cocoon underground. I have raised many of them, and they are fun! This time of year, they will almost always emerge in about 2-4 weeks. Also put some sticks in the jar so that when they do emerge, they can hang from the sticks to dry and expand their wings. The caterpillars raised in August-September will likely overwinter as cocoons to emerge next spring. Altho I have seen some emerge and some overwinter. If you overwinter some, you should keep the soil slightly damp so the cocoons don't dessicate. Also, keep the container outdoors, or in an unheated garage or basement. Otherwise, they will emerge too soon when there is no food available for them.....die, sadly. I attached a link to Bug Guide which has some good info on raising hornworms. Good luck with raising your caterpillars. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Raising Hornworms

Jeff, Congrats on all your Monarchs. I found 26 eggs yesterday so the cycle begins again. I have quite a bit of A tuberosa planted in my garden. It has never gotten as big as yours. I like it because it's a good nectar plant and good food plant for Monarchs, if you run out of other plants. They don't prefer it but will eat it and thrive. The Great Spangled Fritillaries love it for nectaring. The issue of transplanting is the long tap root. Also, it's best not to dig up any kind of native plant. It's better to do like you did and plant from seed. Harvesting of native plants depletes natural habitats. I have a "Hello Yellow" that formed a seed pod this year. It is a true yellow and quite pretty if you are interested in growing it. Sandy

I have had one in the ground near Waco for the past 6 or 7 years and so far it has been evergreen for me. Starts blooming in the spring and is still blooming now. Mine does not set alot of seed but enough to be interesting to see. Mine has been fairly slow growing. Patsy