Yes it is and very easy too, I started a cubit too,
Gardening with Texas Native Plants and Wildflowers, what else!!!

Hey Josephine welcome!...glad you jumped in. Not sure just what we are doing yet, but it is a fun winter doldrum boost.
I will have to pop over and see the cubit you started.
Sheila

loved that photo Becky, I grow quite a bit of parsley for the cats to eat on, I grew fthe forest green parsley I hope it comes back for me, alot of parsley stays green through the winter for me. and I don't hve to replant it, and my cats eat it like they do Becky's in her photo. I grow alot so I can use some too.

My Rue is still going great, still putting on leaves. It is a favorite of the Giant Swallowtail and BST use it also. I switch any small cats that I find on it over to using parsley since I have plenty of it.
I hope to have more rue this year, I gathered seed and sowed some in the same flower bed as the mother plant. I have bought some in the past and can't seem to keep but one or two alive. Parsley grows so much I have to cut it back as I gather the eggs and cats. My parsley also made it fine throught the winter months.

Rue in 2007

mine was little last fall, I hope it comes back this year, I use to have this all the time, and it was about 3 foot around and completely leafless, those cats ate it to the ground almost LOL

You must be speaking of the Rue, mine was too eventually. It was so skimpy and the 8 GST cats were big enough to make their chrysalis, so I quit feeding them and turned them loose on the plant. After a few days they abandon ship and pupated.

yes, was talking about the rue.

I don't know why, but I can't get Rue to grow here. Maybe it is too hot?

I doubt it. I couldn't get any to survive for very long until I got some from Cat. I'm telling you...those must have been different!

I have tried to start threads for all of the differnt butterfly host plants in my yard. Please anyone who has others, don't hesitate to add to it.

http://cubits.org/gdn4bfs/foru...

Thank you Sheila!

Nice cubit!! We cant have too much info on host plants!

Becky.. the BSTs like Fennel and Dill most here too... It does seem feathery, but it is packed more richly.

So stormyla~ I would with Becky on Dill, and Bronze Fennel is excellent too. They love it!

:-D

Welcome Deb! Glad to hear from you again...miss you on Daves Garden.

Becky,

You can't it any hotter than south Texas. We get 100 plus temps during the summer. Last year I think we had something like 90 days straight of over 100 - whew!!!

The rue grows like crazy out here...gets to be about three feet tall if the caterpillars don't munch it to the ground :o) Mine survived from last year and are back to about 18" tall. I haven't gone to the local fleamarkets to see if anyone there is selling starter pots. Last year I got them in three inch pots for $1.00 each. Will keep you in mind if I find some.

One of the local nurseries also sells it for $1.99 in a three inch pot. Let me know if you're interested. It's on my way home from work and I stopped off a couple of days ago saw some there.

The BSTs out here prefer rue over dill, fennel and parsley - guess it's a local thing? Every now and then I'll find GST cats on it too...but the majority of GSTs use the tangerine and orange trees.

I have had a problem with Rue also, not sure why. The lone plant I had last year set seeds so I am hoping to have a few extras from the seeds.

I forgot to check mine to see if it's coming back, but if it isn't I'll holler at you, thanks, for that offer, I'll check it sometime today. see if it's showing any signs. It was new last year and never got really big, but I have had it in past years and it did get huge before.

My rue came through the worst freezes we've had in a long time like troopers! Kept its foliage even.

it dies back to the ground here in the winters. pops up each spring, but mine was a teeny thing last fall cause it was new. I use to have a huge plant and it reseeded all over the place, but we had to dig up that flower bed and i lost the big plant then, so i'm starting over, I still havent' had a chance to go look to see if it's out there.

That's something you don't see too often at nurseries is Rue. I love the looks of the leaves on it.

I gave up on the nursery rue plants, because they seemed to always die for no reason. I got these from Cat in far south Texas and nothing seems to bother them!

Glad to hear it Linda!!! I usually get them at the local flea market :o) Haven't been to any this year though. I think they make their rue plants from cuttings instead of seeds - maybe that's why they are more resilient?

Look what eclosed today - a Tersa Sphinx! I'd found the caterpillar at the ranch back in December. Took it long enough to make an appearance! Guess it was waiting for Spring!!!

Wow that is a long pupa period. Was it using the Penta as it's host or something else?