Its certainly a sulpher of some kind, Cabbage whites(nasty little things as they are) do not eat popcorn cassia. My guess as to the caterpillar is, orange or clouded sulpher.

Iris, the first picture looks just like a little yellow or a sleepy orange - the two butterflies look nearly identical as caterpillars, the only difference being size.

I'm very surprised by the second picture. I've never seen a little yellow or sleepy orange with yellow spots along the edge, like that one has. I looked it up, and it does indeed look like some of the pictures of cabbage white caterpillars, which is strange, since senna/cassia is not in the cabbage family. I'd sure like to know what it turns out to be!

Sherry

They sure are eating and growing well. I don't have any cabbage planted, unless there is some wild stuff, but I do see a few of the butterflies around. The popcorn Cassia is in a pot, so It should be a bit easier to keep an eye on them. Since they are not hardy for me I was planning to take a plant or two inside for the Winter. I was hoping for some sulphur caterpillars, so I planted a bunch of wild Senna and Partridge Pea. It's the first year though, so I have no idea yet what the caterpillars look like.

Iris,

Whatever they are, they sure are cute :) Can't wait to see what the cats turn into. Glad that some of the seeds germinated and grew well for you.

Today I had to severely trim the 8' x 8' popcorn cassia plant your seeds came from. We had a very severe storm two nights ago with 60 mph winds, torrential rains and lots of thunder and lightning...got 4" in an hour. The plant was so dense that the wind bent it sideways. I thinned it out and removed several lower branches as it was drowning out some low growing plants. It looks more like a tree now...I think I like it better that way :)

A couple of Joe's banana plants were pulled out of the ground but we got them replanted. They seem to be doing well.

The next door neighbor's 10' tall and maybe 6 ' wide cactus got pulled entirely out of the ground. Tom said it was around 15 years old so it has survived several storms. Since it is so heavy and covered in spines, he's cutting off several of the pads and potting them up. Then, if it is manageable, he'll replant it.

Rhonda

Rhonda,

i would love to see some new pictures from your garden! I do need some rain and am spending a lot of time watering, but I will pass on 4 inches in an hour. My husband was disappointed I just planted 2 watermelons for him ( that was the payment for him tilling my 2 new flower beds), but they are taking over the world. Can you prune that stuff?

Found on my sennas this morning.

Iris,

I will try to get some new pics of the garden later today. I haven't been feeling well the last couple of days and this heat knocks me out. But, I am feeling better today and will do my best :)

We got another 3 inches of rain last night so I haven't had to water in a while unless I'm planting or transplanting (Mexican sunflowers and pentaspete phonecia started from your seed and another forum member's, red porterweed from cuttings sent by another friend, cannas, and more). I also have several seedlings started in pots.

Hope you get some rain since watering takes so long.

Watermelons do take over. If they have started to flower, pruning them now may stop them from producing fruit. But, I'm no expert so you might want to post on the fruit or vegetable gardening forum.

Rhonda

This is a nice looking caterpillar! Is it a cloudless? I am still very bad at this without getting my book out.

Rhonda, no rain yet. 45 minutes away from us they got 2 inches yesterday. So I am trying to keep mine and a neighbors stuff alive. Thankfully they will be back later this week. She planted a lot of stuff (most from my garden) in places I have yet to find.

Pretty sure my pic is a cloudless. Great day for butterflies today. Saw probably ten species. Sleepy orange (likely) on that same senna. First time I've seen one. No picture unfortunately. fritillaries were going nuts. Visited the newly opened Alba skyflower among others. Pentas a huge favorite.

Iris, did the unidentified caterpillar, subject of this thread,
become adult?

I hope so, but I really don't know. I lost track when he crawled out of the pot and into the flower bed. It looked the same, only bigger at that time. The smaller one disappeared a few days after.