Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY Butterflies Page 25, 1 by mwperry

mwperry wrote:
Sheila, Melanie, Linda, Becky and Debnes (I'm learning your names and it helps to type them):

You girls are spoofing me. You are experts with your cameras and you're just being kind to me! Those are stellar pictures. BTW Debnes. where I live, a photo of a Sharp Skinned on a backyard fence is a rare and extraordinary sight.

Below is Senna (Cassia) that I grew a couple of years ago. I couldn't get the seeds to germinate into healthy seedlings indoors, tho they did come up naturally when I left them in the ground for the winter. The horticulturist at a local nursery where I bought the plant said the seeds are very hard to germinate and sometimes his suppliers are low because of that.

Funny, I know everything about a butterfly's structure (2 pairs of wings, scales or modified hairs on the body, mouthparts, 4 stages of development, etcetera); yet I cannot identify a one of them (except maybe a Monarch or Viceroy). Can you recomment a good book with lots of color pix to ID the beauties? I have 2 very large hard back book on birds that I love. Of course, I would also need a field guide on leps, or even the whole insect class.

Debnes, you are a doll. Go to your Dmail in just a few minutes.

Martha