so far all of those have been sent to me to raise from other gardeners who had more than they could handle! I got nada in my own yard!

Nice! You've been busy. After you release these, maybe they'll build up a population in your yard or nearby.

That's what I am hoping! I raised 69 last year, but I was on vacation the week they all eclosed and I had to farm them out over the city ....none of them found their way back to me. So! Trying again...

Well you have been busy. Raising all that livestock. My babies(swallowtail) are on their own. I let them have large fennel and dill bed and they put it to good use. Amazing how hungry they are. I enjoy watching them so it's definitely worth while to sacrifice a plant or 4

ha, you think they are hungry, pipevine cats can devour food like machines at the end. You can hear them chewing. Seriously! I have an awful lot of fun raising them. Your little man might like it too!

:)

That is so true of many cats. They'll devour the very food plants that we plant for them. My brother planted a passionvine near his front porch (probably not the best place for it) and by the time the cats were through with it every year, it was eaten back pretty much to the ground, which annoyed him. I thought it was worth the annoyance of having the vine decimated just to have the Gulf Fritilaries every year but I would have planted that particular vine in the backyard instead of in a prominent place by the front door. Vines grow back and some butterflies cannot survive without the specific host plant their larvae need, so I always like seeing host plants eaten.

Lisa, that is really cool. Can't wait to hear how it all goes!

Wow that's really neat. You have a bunch of them.

So far cays haven't found my Passion vine. It's still blooming away!

It's not by the front door but by the garage in a pot so if the cats take it over I can move it to the back yard!!

Thanks for sharing your pics. You are a busy woman!!

Lisa, what are those leaves they're eating?

Carol

Carol, the pipevine cats are eating pipevine. I grow it just for them, otherwise it's a kinda boring green vine!. The gulf fritillaries, in the last pic, are eating passion vine. (p. caerulea). The passionvine is worth growing all on its own, but I grow it for the gulf frits, mostly.

There was a great article I saw yesterday on raising pipevine caterpillars. How one man repopulated a rare butterfly species in his backyard.

I love this story! What amazing success he has had and it blows my mind that he has been able to release thousands of them. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for linking his story here.

So a black swallowtail cat is eating my parsnips. I expected it to go for the dill. Or the parsley root in the same bed, but parsnip?

Parsnips are related to carrots and parsley, so I'm not surprised.

Lisa, I would love to hear more about your butterfly growth process. I think that is something my daughter would absolutely love and I could use it as a science project as well.....kill two birds ya know?! I haven't seen very many butterflies around here but then again, I don't have a lot of flowers either. The previous homeowners had absolutely no flowers whatsoever in the backyard. I plan to change that and would love to bring in some swallowtail. There have been a lot of dragonflies appearing lately. I made a post on a bug identification that Dawn gave me some help on and I really thought it was a hornet. However, turns out it was a dragonfly. How I could've not known.....oh maybe because it was a flying big bug that came right at me while i was mowing lol. Anyway.........what you do sounds interesting and fun!!!

Melissa

Melissa, it is a LOT of fun. I became interested because of GW. Susan used to actively post here and on the butterfly forum. She (and others) encouraged me to focus on growing host plants for the butterflies. You will have greater activity in your yard if you have host plants as well as nectar plants. Plus you will be helping to grow the butterflies in your neighborhood. It is amazing the ratio of eggs laid to surviving adults. So I take them inside as soon as I see eggs, if possible. I have grown black swallowtails, gult frits, pipevine swallowtails and maybe a few others. OU puts out an Oklahoma butterfly book that I find really helpful. I have found a used copy cheaper through Amazon or other sites. It a pretty small little book, but it is so helpful. I know everyone thinks of raising Monarchs, but I have never had them lay eggs in my yard. I keep planting more and more asclepias...maybe one day!

If you are on FB, there are two good butterfly groups, one for Oklahoma and one called Butterfly Enthusiasts.

And...here's pics. I have been posting most of them on Instagram...if you are on there...let me know and I will add you. I use my Instagram mostly for garden related things or items that catch my attention.

The chrysalises for the pipevines are so unique. This one strikes me as Jar Jar Binks watching a youngin' earn her wing!

How much room do you have? Passion vine is my favorite host plant because it is so pretty.

this is one of my more boring ones...but it's the one producing at the moment. My favorite got knocked back pretty hard this winter.

I saw this one in a local plant place and had to peel my fingers off of the pot...I could tell looking at the leaves it was more closely related to maypop...which can be kinda, cough, rambunctious. But soooooo pretty!

Great photos!

My backyard and front is pretty decent sized. I'd love to add plants in both front and back. What do you think I should start with? I think this is something my dd would love to do, she's 10. I almost ordered a butterfly kit a few years ago but then we moved. You said you bring the seeds inside, how do you know there are seeds? Are they that big that you can see them? Love the pictures btw!!! And, I am on instagram. I am mel_yanoo. Add me, I'd love to follow your pics!

P.S. changed my username to my first name, so it's still me....Melissa (mspriggs) lol

I'm not sure which part of the state you are in, but I would focus on swallowtails and gulf fritillary host plants to start with. They are easy. Black swallowtails will eat fennel, dill, parsley, and a few other plants. If you are buying them, not growing from seed, try to get plants that haven't been sprayed or drenched with pesticides. The plants will grow out of it, but it is better if you don't start with them. Caterpillars that try to eat them will die.

The passionvine, the native version is the hardiest, but it can also be a bit of a thug. I would be careful where I put that one. A fence where you could mow down the excess vines might be good!. Common name is maypops, scientific name is passiflora incarnata. I usually grow passiflora caerulea, but it is a little less winter hardy. There are many passifloras. A friend down in southern Oklahoma grows passiflora lutea, which is yellow.

I watch for butterflies in the garden, then I start looking for eggs.

eggs are TINY :) first pic, it's on the curly q. Second pic the egg is the yellow spot on the leaf.

Lisa, I'm just N of OKC. I do have some dill and parsley seed but it's probably too late to get that started this year? I "think" I might have some passion vine seeds as well. Can't wait to start seeing beautiful butterflies in the yard!!! Wow!! Those are tiny! How in the world do you keep from crushing them when you remove them?

Melissa, I am in The Village. We are probably close to each other. I clip the leaf it is attached to. If you don't want to bother with seed, or you want to have some instant passionvine while the seed is starting, Precure on Reno is where I find my passionvine locally. PM me, you can come look through my garden. My caterpillars are all starting to pupate right now, won't be long now.