Plant an orange tree! They love mine. I guess in MN you'd have to overwinter in a warm "sun room" or similar.

They have laid eggs on my rue, but love the citrus!

K

HI

Thanks for responding I tried to do the lime tree for two years but it flowered in January so I wouldn't get any limes. The few Giant swallowtails I saw never found the tree.

Jacob

I first started butterfly gardening in 2005 and planted rue here a couple years after that, and it didn't take long for a female to find the bushes and lay eggs on them. Since my husband and I are quite allergic to the rue, I took out the one row last year to try to lessen our exposure to it. I had started a few wafer ash trees a couple years before that and planted them in the yard. The one already is taller than I am! The Giant Swallowtails really seem to like those trees and I've found many eggs on them (not this year yet, but I bet I will). The females have developed quite an affinity towards my gas plants (Dictamnus) these past few years too and I've found a few dozen eggs on them every year.

caterwallin-

Which color gas plant do you have? I thought about getting a host plant for GSTs, but wasn't sure what to get. There's a white flowered gas plant that I liked. Do they prefer a certain color?

My gas plants are a pinkish-purplish color. The Giant Swallowtails seem to prefer those now over the rue. I really don't know if they prefer one color of gas plant over another; I only have the one color. The plants that get the most eggs on them are the wafer ash/hop tree/Ptelea trifoliata. I have about a dozen of those trees now, having just planted most of them last fall.

If you are in Florida try a native Wild Lime. The fruits are not much nor very commercial for consumption but those Gigant Swallow Tails love to lay eggs on them.

Are your Wafers in full sun, Jacob? Not sure if I should plant in full sun, considering my zone.

Yes they are but a hanging plant is kinda shading it. The two I over winter have grown almost 3 inches! They are awesome little trees.

I couldn't remember where you from. I guess I'm second guessing myself because I don't know anything about the care of these trees. I know they prefer sun in the northern states and good drainage. Delaware is sort of in the middle of either warm or cold. Never consistent weather. I prepared the soil in the area where I thought about planting 2. Mixed manure and peat.

Im in the land of ten thousand lakes(minnesota) and They love my sun

I ordered 2. I'm going to plant them in a semi shaded bed, and I going to do my tree dance to the tree gods in hopes that they survive.

Haha, they seem to be hardy, one was chewed down by a deer but is big and happy now.