I have 2 varieties of fruiting peach, bought last fall, bare root/dormant - 'Reliance' and 'Flat Wonderful'. Both are presently growing red/purple leaves, and both are growing from well above the graft. Whether they will go green as the summer moves on, I don't know. But I bought both on the basis of the description of the fruit, and I will be very upset if they don't bear fruit. Of course, the Japanese beetles may make the whole waiting period moot - they do seem to like peaches! The late frost did in the fruit for this year, despite what I thought was a sheltered spot - there's always next year, I guess.

Sandy, the leaf it's on now will probably be sufficient for about a week or so - it's practically impossible to get them off their original leaf no matter how bad looking it gets, so I don't even try any more. I'm amazed at how well they can grow when eating an old leaf! They always lay their eggs perfectly on the very end of the leaf. I saw a female laying eggs up close earlier this year, and I found out why - they perch in the general center of a leaf, then slide down 'til they reach the end. I saw this female slide, then go back and do it again, like maybe she overshot the leaf the first time. It takes about ?5 or 6 days for the eggs to hatch, a long time, since the eggs aren't very big - a good many RSP eggs must be infertile, because a lot of them just wither and disappear. Also, a good many RSP cats die in the first instar, regardless of whether you bring them in or leave them on the tree. They make up the difference by the huge numbers of eggs they lay. I can't remember exactly how long they stay on the "string" and the original leaf, but a week seems about right. Once I see the cat hanging over the branch (like a feline cat) just up from the leaf, I cut off the branch and bring the cat in to raise in one of my cages. I'm raising one cat now, and another one is in the "J" about to pupate. I'll guess they stay in the cat stage ?3 weeks. In the wild, they pupate in odd places, like I once found one on the outside garage wall by my husband's radio room door, and I found one on my street sign a few year ago! I once watched as a RSP cat pupated, and the ugly bumps they have on their backs are what change into the knob. Here's my famous road sign RSP chrysalid - Here's a picture of 3 RSP hatchlings on the same area of the same cherry tree - clickable thumbnail - And here's a clickable thumbnail picture of a RSP cat hanging over the edge of the branch, a good time to bring them in to raise - And here's a clickable thumbnail of a late instar RSP cat with a giant swallowtail caterpillar - the RSP is on the right - If your egg doesn't hatch, or the hatchling dies, don't blame yourself - this happens to a lot of them and you'll get more eggs! :) MissSherry

Sherry, I forgot to comment on your "porch". Once winter has a lock on your area you could put hibernaculum in a screen cage on your porch. Simply snip the branch leaving the hibernaculum "tied" to it and stand them in the cage. Stuck in a can with sand/soil in it would be a simple way to put a lot in a small place secure enough that even wind wouldn't bother them. I would try to put the cage where they do get some filtered sun part of the day though. When on our dead of winter hibernacumlum "hunts" any that were found with the larva out on the perch cathing some rays were always left alone. Once disturbed when out they often will not return to their hibernaculum or try to construct another one (even if viable leaves are still present). So without special treatment (like my wood block method) they may dessicate and die. Those left behind were counted in our standard MOA though, where we only took every third hibernaculum found to leave plenty for wild seed. But with 10 subspecies of Limenitis that were "local" to us, we could always find more than enough hibernaculum, and often 2-3 or more sp/ssp depending on where. The Limentitis were one my ex's favorites... she loved looking for their larva from spring to fall, and for their hibernaculum from late fall to spring. I'd spend some time netting gravid females for ovum, usually placing them in sleeves near where caught while we did other field work, then collected ova, fed them and released them later in the day. So we always had plenty for her to rear. L. lorquini lorquini and burrisonii were her favaorites. Larry PD Photo

GGG BTW, in addition to C. cheilanthifolia and C. lutea, I also grow Corydalis bulbosa(Synonym: C. solida), a pretty blue/purple flowered bulbous member. It is Spring blooming and then goes dormant until the following Spring and is very slow to increase in size. Have grown several other species and cultivars, but they were short lived, i.e., C. elata, flexuosa(Blue Panda, China Blue), ochroleuca, nobilis, flavula(a native annual with a very limited GA distribution) and an unknown blue-flowering species from the Himalaya's. There are a number of native species, but most aren't available in the nursery trade, however, you may find a seed source if you want to try some of them. Rb