Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Daily Butterflies (page3), 1 by debnes_dfw_tx

debnes_dfw_tx wrote:
Thanks all! Great pic Roxie! Glad you are getting Monarchs.. I have seen a few sail through looking for females, but no eggs yet.
Yes Carla, snip the spent ones off and it will bloom more profussly. What are ya feeding them? Becky got me started on Osmocote, lol. I put a bit in under the mulch and scratch it is good, then let it rain and now I'm seeing buds. Guess I was right on time with it. Bet you will do good to do that too. I always snip the blooms off when they begin to look scraggly. I do that to all the flowers, except the BF Daisies, from which I want to get some seeds, so I'm letting some dry on the stems. You should see results pretty fast.

Thanks for saying something Adrienne. I know a lotta ppl peek quietly, LOL! Glad ya didn't!! This way I know who all I'm talking to, lol!

On Friday one of the last broods of Gulf Frits elcosed. There were 4 hanging, and one I couldn't hang bc it had no cremaster to tie it on... When he eclosed he wasn't able to hang so his wings were both bent. It was so so sad I couldn;t even talk about it. I still let him in the back yard and carried him around to lots of different flowers to drink from, I set him in the Passionvines and left him. The next day I found him walking out there getting caught in the Coreopsis, so I set him up in the tuteur of Sweet Peas. That night it rained, I just knew he was a gonner..:-.
Then today I was out there potting and snipping plants, and I saw several frits, 2 females ovipositing, and 2 males chasing them around. With a closer look I realized that it was 'ole Bentwing' chasing a female trying like crazy to get at her... Relentless!! What a relief!! All that carrying around to nectar gave him the strength he needed to fly and even be a part of the next generation,, WOW! What a tough little fella. I was so relieved!!