Snow's melted and my antennaria and anaphalis are coming up...
Awaiting the first butterfly, perhaps a Mourning Cloak or a Red Admiral...
I have flats of milkweed and False Nettle started for later this summer.
Looking forward to Butterfly Season!!!

Right now, the wind is blowing and blowing, giving us humid warmth. I've got on 'pedal pushers' and if it gets any warmer, I may have to put on shorts, but I think it's going to rain Thursday and cool off a bit. I've seen a good many butterflies lately, tiger swallowtails, including one laying an egg, a few palamedes swallowtails, some pipevine and black swallowtails that I probably released myself - I released another male black swallowtail today - one or two spicebush swallowtails, LOTS of cloudless sulphurs, sleepy oranges, including eggs, little yellows, red admirals, satrys by the jillions, and the southern pearly eye is still here! I've ordered some cane to plant down in the bottom of the hollow, because I'd love to raise some pearly eyes, never having done it.

I've got SO much work to do outside, better go! :)

Sherry

We're supposed to get 10" of snow tonight....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Mary, won't your oscar plants come back from last season? Their hardiness zone is supposedly 6b. The ones I'm growing inside are already 7" tall.

Glad to hear you're seeing lots of butterflies Sherry! There definitely won't be April monarchs in Minnesota this year.

Leafhead, hope you don't get the snow after we do...I assume it's hitting Wisconsin pretty hard too?

Cold in Minnesota

Yesterday I saw my first red-spotted purple - YAY!

Sherry

Nothing flying in Houma,La. this week and the wind has been 20mph plus most days. I had a few monarchs and sulphurs a week or two ago, The Milkweed is growing and full of cats., The fennel and parsley is lush green but no vistors. The pasionvine has started sprouting new leaves and shoots in unwanted spots :-). And I had a gulf frit cat on a recent purchase. Sasafrass and spice trees have leafed out. Pentas,Verbenas and lantanas are blooming and showing new growth.
C'mon Butterflies,your paridise awaits you.

Nothing here in Madison, WI yet, just some Antennaria and Anaphalis sprouts...
Cloudy, cold and rainy.
We just got our snow melted and it seems as though it's never going to warm up.
I'm hoping to see some Nettle shoots soon, and those will bring the Admirals:)
The parsley is showing signs of life from last year.
That's about it. No milkweed until at least next month.
Butterfly addict, I'm glad your milkweed is "working" hard; the Monarchs need all the help they can get.

I've been working outside nearly all day long. We got 2" of rain yesterday, so everything is wet or damp. I'm so glad we didn't get a tornado!
I've seen a good many butterflies today - several tiger swallowtails, two butterflies that kept chasing each other around, which I think were spicebush swallowtails, a palamedes swallowtail, lots of cloudless sulphurs, and sleepy oranges. My passionvines are coming up from the ground, too, Butterflyaddict, and the other day I dug and potted up two volunteers that are coming up in an undesirable spot - I can plant them later somewhere else. Everything's making new growth, especially my pipevines, so we're ready here for eggs!

I saw this black form female tiger swallowtail nectaring on spent blooms on a Rhododendron canescens in the woods. There are fresh R. austrinums blooming nearby, but, for whatever reason, she liked the old flowers! She may be the one I saw laying an egg on a leaf on a tulip tree in the bottom of the hollow -

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Sherry

Let's see if you can see the picture using the 'modern' Photobucket link -

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Sherry