Congratulations! I think it would be better to feed them whatever weed they were eating. American ladies like cudweed and closely related plants. Painted ladies could be fed sunflower leaves - maybe they're painted ladies? Sherry

Sherry, thank you so much for the ID and for the explanation of how you determine the difference. I didn't locate a photo of the wing underside and the photos of the top side of both Ladies looked very similiar to me. I agree, the underside is so colorful and different. I could hardly believe the difference when it spread its little wings and I could see the back. Going to go and correctly tag the photos right now. And thank you for the nice compliments on the photos. A picture is, indeed, worth a thousand words, especially when you're trying to ID these little guys. Got my two Passi incarnata vines planted out yesterday and hope to see a gulf frit one day, too. I planted them in a big pot and am using a wooden teepee trellis over the pot. I've never seen this vine grow so don't know if it will be enough trellis but time will tell. My garden is small and I didn't want to have it coming up in unusual spots! Hopefully, the vine roots are hardy enough that it can overwinter in the pot. Are you guys getting some of this very hot weather? Heat index here today is supposed to be between 105-110. Mary

YES!!! You've got American Ladies. Congratulations!!

Wow, you're right. I never thought to look, but the leaves aren't right. It's strange, since it was commercial seed. Could it be nettle? I haven't tried handling it to find out! The only salvia I grow is Yvonne's, and it's not that. I just found out on Sunday that I had nettle growing in my jug of mountain mint. I learned the hard way. Fortunately, I also have a lot of mint seedlings--I smelled them to be sure. It wouldn't be surprising if I got the same contaminant in two jugs. Too bad about the anaphalis. I'll order plants if I can in the fall.