Love that little hairstreak, MissSherry! I think Sandy has seen them in Oklahoma, but, alas. I have not ..... yet! I have 2 or 3 BSTs on the fennel and then mama needs to make a return visit!

The Partridge Pea is just now poking up its little head, as is the Senna bicapsularis, or Xmas Cassia. No Cloudless or Sleepies yet, though.

Today, I watched a Mama Monarch lay eggs on the milkweed. This year, the A. Speciosa has really bloomed well and they are stunning blooms. She was really enjoying the milkweed patch!

Susan

Thanks, Susan!

That's great about monarch eggs on your milkweed! I haven't seen a single monarch this year - last year a female laid eggs on my milkweed in early spring.

The cold spring has slowed all the plants down, but it's been warm down here recently, in the upper 80's. Things are growing good now. I finally saw a swallowtail today, a male tiger.

Sherry

I went out to check the Milkweed patch and some, if not most, of the eggs are on the top of the leaves rather than on the underside like usual. Wonder why.....

Susan

Beautiful! I love the hairstreaks. They are so cute. That one looks really fresh with its tails so intact.

I am surprised that you have seen so few swallowtails. We have seen quite a few tiger swallowtails and a lot of black swallowtails. We have even had a zebra eclose in the house this spring. Do you have any idea why so few?

Elisabeth

Elisabeth, there is normally a spring lull, between the time you see those in early spring that overwintered and the new summer crop. Problem is, I didn't see many swallowtails in early spring. I saw one spicebush swallowtail, a male, and one or two palamedes swallowtails. I saw a female laying an egg high up in the redbay in my front yard, so there might be a cat or a chrysalis in that one. I also saw a black female tiger lay an egg high up in a tulip tree. I haven't seen any pipevine swallowtails since the ones I released flew off.

There has been a lot of logging around here lately, so I suspect that a loss of host plant trees has a lot to do with it. Plus we lost so many trees after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Somebody is building a house down the street, and they've made new power lines - they've cut down a LOT of trees road side for this project. And my neighbor is making more pasture for his expanding herd by cutting down more trees.
I could do without all this 'progress'!

There may have been pipevines growing wild that got torn down in the process, I don't know.

I'm hoping things will improve!

Sherry