I'm fixing to go out and get more sweetbay leaves for the still eating sweetbay cats [I know that "fixing" isn't the proper word here, but sometimes I like to type like I talk :)] even though they look big enough to pupate to me! Here's one of them - Sherry

Randy, you can move them out of the small containers whenever you want. Judy (www.butterflynature.com)never takes hers out of containers, only graduates to larger containers. I just like to wait for them to get a lil size to them, so that it is easier to find them in the larger enclosures. The larger that they get, the more they eat, the larger the frass (poop), and the more they poop! Are your milkweed leaves growing larger? You will need to get larger cuttings, and more of it, as the cats grow depending how they eat. When I move them to the larger enclosures, I put the mw cuttings in the ziploc containers with the water oasis inside the container, and drill holes in the lids to put the mw cuttings in. You don't want the holes too large for the cats to crawl down into the holes, and drown. :( I like to set the containers close to the screen of the enclosure. The Monarch cats like to crawl onto the screen when they are ready to change instars (shedding their skin). Sounds like you and Amber are doing an "excellent" job on 1st time raising Monarch caterpillars!!! Way to go!!! We thank you, and the Monarchs thank you. :) I am getting low on native mw. I keep hoping that more will pop up any day. Perhaps, with the 70 degree days that they are predicting the next 3 days? I have found that the cats found on swamp mw are more willing to go to the Trop. mw once they get a lil size to them. The ones that I've found on the Showy mw have not adapted to the Trop. mw at all. They've been dying on me. Don't know if it has anything to do with the toxicity of it??? Keep us posted.

I've had good luck with PC. But, the best to grow, are the old ones, not the new varieties. I have good luck with magnus, and I have some pink ones that I'm not sure what the variety is. Mine die back in the fall and come back in the spring. They also come up everywhere in the flower bed. So, I transplant them where ever I want some. I just deadheaded them, and threw away a lot of seed. But, I can keep seed and share them. If you are interested in some hardy, no name coneflowers, that even attract red spotted purples, I'll share my seed this fall. How I grow them: I stick them in the ground, and water them until they are established. Then I just forget about them. My soil is sandy loam, but has lots of silty clay in it also. It can get pretty hard when it gets really dry. Silvery crescentspot cats sometimes defoliate the plants, but that's ok with me. When everything starts to droop in the garden, I water. I don't feed them, and I don't mulch them. I also have the new named varieties. The blooms are pretty when they first appear, but they don't stay true as they age. They actually look worse than the old no-name variety. But they are spreading and thriving. Sandy

Thanks, adellabedella_usa. I happened to be at Walmart today (picked up a packet of Torch Tithonia seeds...will have a ton leftover, I can see!), and the same purple zinnia packet caught my eye -- I am such a sucker for purple flowers. But space is limited, and I should focus on my tithonia experiment for now. As it is, I planted Short Stuff and Profusion zinnias -- unless I'm just not paying attention, no butterflies on the zinnias so far. We have had a monarch swoop the garden and enjoy the purple buddleia. I found eggs on one of the smaller milkweeds in the yard. I've got several tropical milkweeds under netting for now, trying to increase the leafage to feed the 12-15 eggs I harvested (and am raising indoors...trying to fight this OE parasite one caterpillar at a time). I've been working non-stop in the yard for at least the past month. It could very well be that the hummers are already cruising in abundant numbers; most likely I just haven't taken time to look up often enough. I managed to force myself to sit for a couple of hours when the cool weather came through last weekend (boy, was that ever nice!) and did see a hummingbird by a(nother) purple flower I planted (it may be an angelonia, but not sure...bought it years ago, and it doesn't look like any other angelonia in the stores). The hummer also visited one of the pink Short Stuff zinnias. By my unofficial clock, the hummer returned every hour. Thanks for the confirmation, PKponder TX Z7B. I may just pick up a packet for next year. If I weren't traveling out of state for 10 days in late July, I might risk potting up a few, since all the 'full-sun real estate' in my yard is pretty much spoken for. Heck, I think I have ~ 10-15 tropical milkweed seedlings sprouted, and I hope I have space for them.