Cool thing happened. I walked out in our front yard and found an orange milk weed growing. Have no idea where it came from. I am hoping it seeds and spreads in our yard like the red one has.

vitrsna said:@GrammaChar did you ever get an ID for...The little yellows behaved a bit better - but they are so flighty! I am lagging way behind. Could be an Orange Sulphur butterfly. I have one on the desktop but it doesn't want to upload.

So happy to see the action on this thread picking up with more sightings and such lovely photos.

ID for....??? The 'butterfly' that looked like an alien space ship turned out to be a Large Maple Spamworm Moth.

Yes, the yellows are tricky. I call them 'touch and go' butterflies. And swallowtails can be difficult because they tend to "flutter" while they eat. Monarchs and Queens are the easiest: they sit quietly and almost pose for photos.

Today I'm going to set up the Fruit Salad Bowl for the butterflies: over-ripe bananas, watermelon chunks, orange slices, with a drizzle of molasses and stale beer. It's always fun to see what shows up! Don't worry, I'll post photos!

Meanwhile, there are more butterflies in the making...

I found another monarch pupa today. It is on a pot that is hanging on a tree. And there are still several caterpillars on the asclepia curassaica

@grammachar for sharing your recipe, I'll have to try it but have to wait a bit yet since here in MI we don't have butterflies yet.

I don't blend it - just put the cut-up fruit in a dish. No cooking involved!

Char, I've never tried putting fruit out before, I can't wait to see what happens with your fruit bowl. I have lots of squirrels, so not sure it would work well here.

mine from 2017 , placed in a water filled plant tray moat to deter ants

Wonderful Kurt, I always had a lot of trouble with ants and you have found the solution to the problem.

Seeing your photos Kurt makes me get impatient for the butterflies.

I went yesterday to have a look at the monarch chrysalis and I found it was very dark...


So, when I got up this morning I went to see how it was going and I found that the wings could be seen through the pupa


I was very exited so I decided to go from time to time expecting to see the precise moment when the butterfly emerges.. But I was not so lucky. I had gone to see it about twenty minutes before and when I went back, this is what I found.

You were close!!

Yes Christine ! But not enough... !

Wow so cool!!!

I've seen a few butterflies fluttering by, but they won't land on anything. I tried putting out a bowl of fruit, but still no luck. I did get a picture of a dragonfly though.

Very neat looking creature Carlissa!
I've also seen some very nice butterflies but they just flyyyyyyyy away.

@ceci - wow. Awesome photos!

I purchased a hummingbird mint and not a thing is on it. I thought these were butterfly and bee plants. I have had it a week.

2 parsley plant pots are loaded with Black Swallowtail cats

Wow Kurt I should get some parsley plants. The butterflies aren't even in the making yet around here. I saw my first few yesterday but of didn't get any pics. Not sure what those were.

I started a thread for Sunset photos in the sandbox forum called Sunset shots. Sorry I don't know how to put it down as a link