I am hoping to get some BST in my garden soon. Am putting in some rue and fennel.

I tried rue but it didnt survive our heat. Bronze fennel did much better than the regular fennel did in attracting butterflies to lay their eggs. However the hungry caterpilliars didn't mind eating either. Parsley works well too but my neighbor got a litte aggressive with the roundup on a windy day and I lost the plants I had.

My butterflies don't stick around when I release them either. It must be instinct for them to spread out away from where they were from. I've tried to figure out whether they tend to fly in a particular direction but it just seems like they go the opposite direction of where I want them to. Or maybe they just tour the countryside and come back.
Eggs3 - I have Bronze Fennel and Rue and have had good luck finding caterpillars on both of those - not so much this year for some reason. Hope next year will be better.

Mine don't usually stick around either, although sometimes the male Monarchs will hang around a few days. I call them my boys, and sometimes they will fly right up to me and seem to be "checking me out". The females I never see again.

I'm sorry it's depressing, but the way I look at it they are wild creatures and belong in the wild. Releasing them to freedom to follow their natural destiny is the most exciting moment in the whole process for me.

Just think - chances are, that butterfly wouldn't even be on the planet if you hadn't helped it along!

Same here...they bolt if they have hung in my boxes long enough to have their wings dry! If not, I will put them on a nectar flower & they will hang on it until their wings are ready & then they fly away!!! ;o(
It seems that they come back in a few days or even weeks if they don't find host plants & have mated! The PVSTs seem to be the ones in my yard that seem to come back the most but I stopped bringing in the cats because I have had such poor luck raising them! They all seem to die in my boxes! The other cats I've brought in do fine...not sure why???
butterflyaddict...You have a beautiful yard & I bet they will be back to nectar & reproduce for you! I especially love the arbor!
What all host plants are you growing? Are the yellow flowers coreopsis?
Lila