Hi, Barb - I am interested in: Agrimony Callicarpa americana Cimicifuga racemosa (I grew one from seed, slow growing, hasn't flowered yet, and I'm moving...) Desmodium canadense Lobelia cardinalis, and Ludwigia alternifolia (landscapers who tidied up my yard for selling house destroyed mine, waah...) Please see if there's anything on my list this year you'd like, and let me know if you'd like to trade. Thanks, Kim P.S. Your granddaughter is adorable!

So, I'm still here a year later and still trying to decide on trees. We will plant in the fall. We just finished the main part of our total landscape overhaul and I'm waiting for cooler fall temps to put in trees. Since last year, I have discovered a new form of the Little Leaf Linden that has chartruse foliage- I can't remember the name of it, it's some Japanese name. So I am considering that. I am reconsidering planting a Burr Oak but a smaller one based on suggestions here- still not sure about that. I have a perfect spot for a Tricolor Beech that will be protected from the hot southern sun. I want a smallish, purple leaf something but I hate the purple leaf plums (Thundercloud et al). They always end up looking diseased and haggard around here. I'm thinking about a Crimson Sentry maple which is a slightly smaller, more upright form than the crimson king. When you speak of planting 'more interesting trees', I'd love some suggestions. I'm willing to push hardiness zones etc. with other plants but not so much with trees. Too much invested. My soil is strongly alkaline as I live at the low point of the Salt Lake Valley- Salt Lake being the important part of that. My soil ph is around 8.

Yes, they are small and brown. I even found one as it emerged from the ground near some shrubs. I heard this whirring noise (of the wings), and looked down and there it was climbing up a blade of grass. They are very small, which is why I often confuse them with bumbles. You usually find them around the edges of the leaves, where they blend in quite well. I, too, find them most often in the fall. Sometimes the fall crop will eclose then, but more often they will overwinter as pupae. S.B. - I think the sphinx are every bit as fascinating as the silks. But I would love to eventually get some silks, too. If you really want to see some good sphinx, get a Virginia Creeper. This plant is so versatile as a host for many of them. Also, check your elms for the Elm Sphinx, and your pecans and walnuts for the Walnut Sphinx. I also grow the red pentas for the Tersa Sphinx. These are fun as well. Nessus are a bit more complicated as they rest in the top of the vines during the day and come down to feed on the lower leaves (on the ground) at night. I just happened to find the cats very early one morning before they had climbed back up during the day. They are green at first, and in the last instar they start to turn pink and then a gorgeous mottled brown. Larvae: Adult: Susan

Sus, Oh but I've always thought that you had a lot of enthusiasm, so I don't think I have you beat there. You're nice to say that though. ;) I know what you mean about biting off more than you can chew. I do that a lot. Well, most of the time actually. I have projects galore that are sitting around waiting to get done. That's great that you're getting into birding too. I've been into that for probably close to 25 years and really enjoy watching the birds out at the feeders. I have bluebird boxes up for the bluebirds and have gourds on shepherd's hooks for the tree swallows. I also get wrens nesting here and other kinds of birds and lots at the feeders. I love birds and of course also butterflies. I'll have to email you sometime about birding. You mentioned sparrows, and I have some things to say about them and some other things. Maybe none of it would be new to you but I'll at least mention some things then. Isn't that odd how you have PVS one year and none the next two! Actually, that has fascinated me about different kinds of butterflies; I'll see them here and then not again for awhile. Well, I hope that you get PVS in 2010! Oh yes, I agree with your about those being like hyperactive kids. If you take the lid off the container, you'd better keep your eye on it because those critters move fast. I had one crawling on the table one day when I just walked away from the container for a short time thinking the cats would stay put. I might be imagining things, but they almost seem to sense when I take the lid off and want to hightail it out of there. Yeah, I raise a lot of Monarchs if you call hundreds a lot. The most I raised was I think in 2007 when I released about 520. This year was 350. It's a ton of work and I want to try to come up with a better way of doing it. You sure get to see a variety of butterflies there. I wish I would get to raise some more kinds. I only saw a Red Admiral here very briefly several years ago. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't have false nettle then. I actually thought I had it here because I have plants coming up here that resemble it but isn't that (don't know what though). So I planted some last year but didn't see any Red Admirals. I'm hoping that I will eventually though. I saw a Common Buckeye here for maybe a minute in 2008 but didn't get a picture of it (dead battery). I planted Verbena hastata in hopes of getting them to lay eggs but didn't see any at all this year. The one I saw last year was nectaring on the Verbena bonariensis. Unlike you, I've never seen any Tawny Emperors here, but I didn't have any hackberry trees here until this past spring/summer. They're not much more than a foot tall, but a Question Mark managed to find them and I raised a few of those cats. I think I've had American Lady cats here every year since I planted some pussytoes that some very nice person got for me. It's kind of hard to cut those leaves off to bring inside and raise the cats in here, so I think I'm going to make an enclosure with some boards and screen (any other suggestions are welcome) and put it over the plants. It will only cover a small portion of the bed. I was thinking I could move all the cats to that area and then move the enclosure as the food supply dwindles. I really don't know if it's a good idea or not, but every year I worry when I don't see the cats on the plants anymore. I think they mostly hide during the day and come out at night though, so I always hope that nothing gets them, but I'd rather be more sure of that with a covering to protect them from wasps and birds, etc. Of course, with as tight as those plants are, I don't imagine that it would be too easy for me to try to find all of the spiders that are on them to remove them. I don't have any overwintering BSTs like I did the past few years because the three that I raised eclosed in the spring/summer. I still have the GSTs here from last year when they overwintered. I think if they don't eclose in 2010, I'll probably take them out of the containers and give them up for dead. Only one of them eclosed out of about 40. I only have 5 out there (in another building, no heat) overwintering from this year. GSTs are discouraging for me to raise because a lot of them die. I feed them rue, but eventually I'd like to try raising them on wafer ash (I just started a couple from seed). I also have gas plants, but they are very small. I hope that my Wild Indigo Duskywings are okay that I have out there bunking with the GSTs. I fed them Baptisia australis and Lupinus perennis, which they are still on but not moving (as far as I know anyway). I've never raised any kind of cats before that overwinter (I mean that the actual cats and not the chrysalids overwinter), so it's making me kind of nervous wondering how in the world they'll be okay in the spring. I don't understand why they don't freeze and die. If they are alive, I hope that they quell their appetites until after my plants have some growth on them. You're absolutely right...every year brings a surprise and I'm so looking forward to this coming year to see what kinds of butterflies and cats I get!!! My head is always so full of plans! You've helped me and I really appreciate it! Cathy