Congrats, Tom! Things are shaping up to be the best butterfly year I've had since the hurricane, too.
I've only been visited by a zebra longwing once, about ?10 years ago in the fall. It circled in and nectared on my butterfly bush and some mist flower/wild ageratum, then left. I didn't have a camera back then, or I'd certainly have taken its picture. This might be my year for a return visit - knock on wood, throw salt over shoulder, etc.
Sherry

Wow Tom, you are certainly having a successful butterfly season. Every-time I go out in the garden I remark how this is going to be the best year yet. It is awesome that you have that variety in a season much less this early.

I haven't seen a black swallowtail yet as well. My dill is already looking spent and stalky but I still have plenty of parsley; hopefully enough to get through the season.

My husband had a zebra swallowtail spend a couple of hours in the garden with him this weekend. It was all over a lantana shrub for the entire time. It was amazing.

Another blessed day in the garden!

Hi Tom - I have also seen several ZLW while last summer it was very late in the summer/fall before I saw the first one. Haven't found any eggs yet on the vines.

I have lots of herbs for the EBS, another one that I did not have last summer - not the first one - remember when we both were overloaded with them a couple seasons ago?

I think my female Ruby has left and I am not seeing any migrants - nada - and am missing them terribly. It was actually a disapointing winter - lots of migrants in the fall that stayed a few weeks each and into Dec. but after that only a couple that hung around and now its been several days since I saw the female.

Hoping that we get the rain we need to keep all the plants alive all summer and the butterflies around to nectar and lay eggs.

Good luck - enjoy your flying friends!

This may be your year, Miss Sherry. I will probably have quite a few this year since I'm seeing them now. The problem I have is that I see very few ZLW cats. I have vines all over the place and I look for them and I've only found a few in all the years I've been gardening. If I could find a bunch I would be tempted to drive them up to you in Mississippi, Miss Sherry.

Went for a walk in the park today and saw three large Zebra Swallowtails. They were flying around a paw paw patch. Talked to the ranger and he said that there are also bunches of Zebra Longwings in different places in the park. Lots of Palamedes in the park also. I only see a few in my yard.

Yes, Mary, I remember when you had so many black swallowtail cats that you couldn't feed them and you sent me a bunch via one-day mail. I had some last year, but they tend to come in the spring and then I see very few later on.

Saw a gorgeous sulphur today in my yard. It was yellow mostly but had a brilliant orange near its body. It was very large. I really cannot differentiate amongst the sulphurs.

Sorry about the hummers, Mary. It's difficult to figure out why they vary so much from year to year. I have had them almost year round now for the last two years. This year I had a Rufous that stayed for about three months. The juvi male that stayed with me all winter seems to have left. I now see just one adult male that came with the migration. I should be seeing more soon. My coral bean tree is in full bloom as are my shrimp bushes and my coral honeysuckle. In fact lots of things are blooming.

If we get normal rain and don't get a hurricane this is going to be the best year I have ever had for butterflies and possibly for hummers.

It's nice to have place like this to share the joy.

Tom

We've had a great year too but especially for the ZLWs. We have released about 50 (45 last time I tallied and a few since) compared with 35 the whole year last year. But the real difference is that I'm actually seeing at least one flying most days. In previous years I would only rarely see one flying.
Not a single BST here either so far. Dill is dying but parsley is hanging in and got a pretty good crop of rue (except for the weevils eating the leaves!).