Nice pic, Sherry. Glad to see that you have one now and may have more later.

For me this is the best year ever so far for Giants. I see several every day. I have seen one "dance" where three of them whirl around in a circle going up and then dispersing and coming back down to do it again.

You mentioned red pentas. That plant continues to be the best nectar plant for me. I always have a bunch in the ground and some in pots. The ones that do best are the large ones that I find only in small garden centers. The smaller ones that one finds in the large box stores do attract butterflies, but not nearly as well as the large red ones.

I was excited to find that Kartuz greenhouses has a similar large, dark pink, penta, called "Pentas lanceolata 'Nova'" This form seems to have a very high nectar content and looks to grow quite large.

I know what you mean about pentas, Tom. They're not winter hardy here, always die in the ground even with one light freeze, so I dug these two up, pruned them down to about 2' tall, potted them up, and brought them in when it got below 40 degrees at night. When spring sprung, I planted them out in the same spot. Previously, I'd order new ones from Almost Eden every spring, a nursery I love, but they'd arrive about 3" tall. These red ones get tall, and the butterflies really love them. The short ones didn't attract any butterflies at all here.

I went out to check my rain gauge, and my female giant was still in the garden, a good sign. (I got 1.7" of rain to add to the .5" from the day before, good, because we were needing it.) It's been my experience that butterflies lay the vast majority of their eggs in the middle/heat of the day, so it shouldn't be too long before I find out if she'll lay me any eggs.

I've seen that upward twirling of giant swallowtails many times in the past, during the period when so many were here. I'll look for a picture of the dance (I seem to remember getting one) and post it.

I'll look up Kartuz greenhouses and check out the pink pentas you mentioned. Pentas do double duty, serving as host for tersa sphinx moths, who seem to prefer them over the native buttonweed, unusual. I plan to pot these same two plants up before the first freeze again this coming winter! :)

Sherry

P.S. Here's the picture -

I believe I have seen the butterflies in my yard twice, besides the ones I raise. They just don't hang out here. But they do show up and leave me eggs so that is good enough for me. Did not leave me a whole lot this year. I'd say I have around 10 eggs/cats so far.

Well, KC, if you've got 10 eggs/cats so far, that's more than I've got, at least so far. My gal is still living in the garden - if she's not already there when I go in the garden, she soon flies in.

I was very happy to find two eggs this afternoon, both on the rootstock of my old orange tree. This tree had gotten real big, but was killed by a hard freeze about ?2 years ago. New growth came up from the rootstock last year, which appears to be 'Swingle' rootstock, a hybrid of Poncirus trifoliata/hardy orange and Duncan grapefruit. Its leaves are too big to be hardy orange (which comes up on my property, so I'm familiar with what it looks like) but smaller than grapefruit leaves, for sure. The weather has continued to be mostly cloudy since the rain stopped, not good egg-laying weather, so, hopefully, she'll lay more eggs when the heat and sunshine return. I have several wafer ashes, several rue bushes, the Swingle rootstock and an orange tree. I don't think she'll lay eggs on the leathery leaves of my (new) orange tree, though.

Here's a picture of one of the eggs -

Here's a picture of her yesterday during a brief sunny period, still on those pentas!

Tom, I've put Pentas lanceolata Nova on my wish list at Almost Eden, a mail-order nursery in Louisiana. I don't like to order plants from too far away, especially when it's hot - they're a lot more likely to arrive dead, damaged or dried up. Kartuz Greenhouses are in California, as you know. Almost Eden says they're 'temporarily out' which is okay with me, I have enough plants for this year. But Nova looks like a good one!

While I was on the web site, I checked the mountain mint, and they've finally gotten some of our native type, Pycnanthemum albescens or something like that, not sure I got the scientific name right. I ordered the 4 plants they have of the mountain mint, plus a blue porterweed. The butterflies always like porterweed, but I haven't grown any lately, because I didn't want to fool with the coral colored type, the only type that reliably comes back from the root each spring. It grows so tall, it always falls over and makes a BIG mess. Now that I know how easy it is to dig up pentas and replant them the next spring, I'll do the same with the blue porterweed. I bet you have porterweed, too!

Sherry

Like you, Sherry, I've gotten rid of the coral porterweed. It got too large and it only bloomed sporadically. I have a "native" blue porterweed that has lasted about three or four years now. It's quite healthy and attracts small butterflies. The real winner for poterweeds in my garden is the large purple one (Stachytarpheta frantzi). It's terrific for butterflies and the hummingbirds love it also.

What butterflies do the mint plants that you ordered attract?

Missed a chance to take a photo of a Tiger that was visiting my garden yesterday. What was really encouraging is that I first noticed her laying eggs on my Sweetbay Magnolia. This is a tree that I planted specifically for the Tigers. It is very large now, but I seldom see Tigers laying eggs on it.

I'm still seeing several Giants every day as well as Monarchs and Zebra Longwings. I'm beginning to see a few more Polydamas now and the Gulf Fritillaries are becoming more numerous also. There are some Pipevines and Eastern Blacks around also, but I don't see them very often.

Tom, after reading your post, I contacted Almost Eden and changed my order from blue porterweed to the purple one/S. frantzi. I almost ordered it to begin with, but went with the blue one, because the size Almost Eden gives for it is almost as wide as it is tall, and it sounded like it might sprawl too much. But they said it's usually hardy in my zone, so I might just leave it in the ground over winter, but take some cuttings in early fall, just in case. Even if the cuttings don't take, I can always order another one. I have hummers here, and like to cater to them, too. They love my big Orange Septre butterfly bush, which is a surprise. The turk's turbans are blooming, very popular with the hummers, also my Salvia guaraniticas and S. Armistad are blooming and popular.

I've been wanting to have some of the local, native mountain mint for the side of my gravel road. It grows along the main road here and there and the half white leaves look so pretty! I've read that it's a favorite nectar plant, but I can't remember off the top of my head if I've ever seen a butterfly nectar on it. Regardless, I just like the plant. The porterweed will go in my garden.

The giant swallowtail is still here, and I found one more egg on the orange tree rootstock, plus two eggs on a wafer ash/Ptelea trifoliata. So, things are looking up!

Sherry

I have found the purple porterweed very easy to grow from cuttings. New ones also just pop up around the garden. They are, however, quite sensitive to cold weather. I'm not at all sure they will survive your winters, Sherry. We haven't had a hard freeze here for about five years now, so they are doing fine. They do get quite tall, but that is more a plus for me.

Good luck with your mint, Sherry. There are just some plants that we have to grow, regardless of how good they are for butterflies.

Got my pink pentas from Kartuz Greenhouses yesterday in priority mail. They had been in the mail since Monday, but they were in good shape. I'm really looking forward to seeing them grow. Once they get a bit of growth I will be taking cuttings.

The problem with Kartuz for me is price. They charged a flat rate of $10 for shipping and handling and then 3$ for each plant shipped. Three small pentas cost me almost 40$. I knew this when I ordered them. I did it because these pentas look like they will be perennials for me and I will be able to take cuttings and never have to order any again. This is what I do for the large red pentas. I always have some cuttings growing and I'm able to add or replace plants every year.

These pink pentas seem to have a very high nectar production. They should be excellent for butterflies.

How exciting, Tom! I don't think $40 is too bad for plants that come all the way from California. If Almost Eden doesn't get in any (or grow cuttings for) this pink pentas, I'll order from Kartuz, but not this year.

I keep finding a few more eggs each day, this 'resident' giant swallowtail seems to be a two-egg-a-day gal. :) I found one of the eggs had been eaten, so I brought in all the rest of the eggs. Also, one of the eggs turned clear right away, a dud. As I recall, giant swallowtails lay more duds than any other butterfly I've raised, they're also eaten at every stage more than other butterflies - the eggs and caterpillars seem to be 'fine dining' for every predator out there!

She still prefers the red pentas, but I see her nectaring on lantana, too. Good ole lantana, always a winner!

Sherry