Cool, Angie!

I've got 6 spicebush cats, and one of them came out of the nest long enough for me to see it. It's brown but you can see green coming through, so it's almost exactly at the stage as the one in your picture.

Sherry

That's cool Sherry. I am so entertained by them. When I woke up this morning, most of their Spicebush was gone, and I had to run out first thing for new cuttings. After I had finished tending to all of the caterpillars, hummingbirds, and dogs, I was almost too hot to want my morning cup of coffee. :o)
Angie

Spicebush caterpillars are just the cutest! Those eyes really make them look like cartoon characters.

I just bought three spicebush plants from the gentleman on eBay. They look like healthy first year plants. I potted them on into bigger pots and I'm going to hold those overwinter in the ground. Next spring I will plant them in the ground permanently, once I am sure where I am going to put them. I just hope the deer leave them alone. It is so difficult to grow anything around here because of them They just polished off my two elderberries-there is nothing left but stems. The spicebush is supposed to be moderately deer resistant, but...so was the elderberry.

Then I just have to hope that a butterfly will find them someday. I've never seen spicebush swallowtail around here, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I am not so good at identifying butterflies yet. They are not rare in New Jersey, on the whole, so all I can do is try and hope for the best. They are so beautiful!
Liz