Are there always this many???!!

My word, we have had the butterflies this year! Wonderful! We just moved here last summer and I proceeded to start my perennial and butterfly gardens. The yards on either side never have anything blooming ... they aren't gardeners. But I believe we have had the most butterflies this year that I can recall ever seeing. Of course, some years are better than others but is this typical for TN? I was a little worried about the Hummers as I didn't see any for a long time but they did show up and all is well.

I can't really answer you question. Just wanted to Hi & welcome! I lived in Clarksville for about a year a long time ago(74-75) when DH was in the army. I loved the river passing thru there. Then we moved across the state line to Hopkinsville KY which was a great little town.

It does seem everyone has had a great year for butterflies!

Thanks, nanny_56. I was born in Hopkinsville but lived elsewhere. Spent almost 40 years in CA. We're on the Ft. Campbell side of Cville so see lots of the military. I'm enjoying it here a lot. You would most likely be surprised at how it has grown. It's quite a nice small city these days. I have a good friend up your way in W. Lafayette.

"They" are saying it was a good year compared to last since we had a good spring. Last year there were cold snaps and the year before so much rain in the midwest. I've had a decent turnout, but some species are still way down in the count. Haven't seen a giant swallowtail in 2 years here. That year I had all kinds of silver spotted skippers too. Now only one of those every once in a while. But then I've had 4 new species to the yard this year that I didn't before.

So I really think that every year must be different. I'll just keep planting the good stuff and hope they find me!

My neighbors don't grow that many flowers either and have already cut every thing down with their lawn mowers that they had blooming lol

I had all kinds of butterflies this year I've never had this many butterflies and had a host bed along with a nectar bed think I might have been growing the wrong plants or there was something I wasn't doing right lol I'm getting a butterfly book that was suggested earlier in another thread so I can id a lot of them trying to count them was just imposiable don't see how you can do that they are so fast Mrs_Ed lol

I could have sworn that I read that Mexico said the population would be down this year but not at my place I'm proud to say it was quite a show! I'm down to the spice bush swallowtails and monarchs now most of the others have gone for now and a few black swallowtails.

I had my first Giant Swallowtail that I know of because I had no idea what it was at first and now I have a rue plant with all kinds of black swallowtail cats she must have just stopped by to leave me presents yes! Giant Swallowtail orange dogs! I have seen my first orange dog and they are soo cool looking LOL I've already had to move several off of one rue plant onto another because they stripped it completely. I planted extra rue plants but with this weather this year only two survived in the side yard I still have several in the back incase they run out.

LOL. They can eat, can't they? Same thing happened with my flat leaf parsley and the Swallowtail cats. I think Mexico may be in for a surprise! ;-)

Right now I have a lot of Buckeyes and Cloudless Sulphurs ... and some other smaller ones that I don't recognize.

Could you tell me the name of that butterfly ID book that was suggested?

The monarch population was supposed to be down because of torrential rains they had in the winter at the roosting locations in Mexico. So it was important for them to have lots of food and help this year. I was told that when we see good numbers in Illinois, that generally means good numbers at the winter location.

I can't ID everything I see, so that's why I have my camera with me. If I can get a picture of it then I can usually ID it either with my book or by posting here. I use this guide as suggested by TexasPuddyPrint. I like it because it has the pictures on the left and then the description and other content on the left. I suppose it can be confusing for some because it has the whole US. But I figure I'm in good shape if I go on vacation anywhere.

http://www.amazon.com/Butterflies-North-America-Kaufman-Guides/dp/0618768262

I have several host plants that aren't used as well. But I keep them anyway. some day they will come! LOL.

Thanks! Yes, some day they will be eaten.

Cville, I have to go back and find it I'll look for it sometime today forgot which thread it was. I think it was the National Audubon Society book of butterflies pretty sure that's what it was. Or maybe it was the book that Mrs_Ed put the link to that looks like a good one too and probably cheaper :)

My butterflies don't usually go to the rue that much until the end of the summer for some reason but this year they have been using it all summer for a change. I have rue in the back yard with not one cat on them! That's fine though I can use those for reserve when I run out out front :)

I've only seen one cat on my parsley this year usually I see more but there are more on my Queen's Lace but then I have it every where this year I pitched seeds last year every where and doing the same this year they make such nice fillers for in between my other plants but they are all turning brown right now only thing left is the rue and parsley.

For black swallowtails, I do like to have a variety of hosts. I have parsley, dill, fennel and rue. They usually like the dill the best, but by mid summer it's really dried up, and that's when the other plants come in handy. I've never had a cat on the rue in this yard. had it in my old yard, but I didn't have the abundance of other sources. I was a bad host this year and didn't get them brought into the cages in time before a little chickadee made a meal of them. Grrr. The other ones I lost when I bought new parsley from a greenhouse and there must have been something on them. Sad.

The thing I can't do is provide some of the host plants that are trees. willows, cherry, hackberry, etc. I have to hope that someone in town has them.

I've been seeing a lot of chickadees out front lately thought my cats were missing because of the Cardinals. The Chickadees drink out of the water things above the humming bird feeders lol I keep them filled up for them maybe I'll stop doing that! Never even thought about the chickadees getting my cats :( I've sat out there for the longest time trying to see who was the culprit besides the wasps. My Cinderella milkweeds are so bushy the birds can't get the cats there so usually if I find one on my smaller milkweeds I transfer them to the Cinderellas.

Sorry about the parsley Mrs_Ed that is sad that they have to use so many chemicals on plants. I just checked my fennel I grow the bronze I can't stand the smell of dill so I don't grow dill but my fennel has dried up too.

We have a lot of trees around here in the country including the hackberry, I planted a corkscrew willow about six years ago and I've planted a spicebush for the spicebush swallowtail but haven't seen any cats on it it's about five ft. high with babies I can move for other shrubs :) It looks kind of sad right now with no rain for two months :(

Oh I hear you. My garden is pretty ugly now. Just trying to keep some things alive with quick waterings.

Funny you should say that about the cardinals, because that's who I blamed too. Until I saw a chickadee checking out the plant as if it KNEW something was there. ha.

Those darn cardinals do the same thing!!! I noticed them when I had my host garden I have a lot of assign bugs this year too but you can tell when they get a cat they are all pitiful looking hanging from a leaf :(

I didn't know we could grow spicebush up here...duh!

Same here ... dry as a bone. :-(

This is what I have nanny_56:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/550/

I'm hoping it's a good one :)

Thanks!

I just saw another GST in my flowers but it wasn't as big as the one I saw earlier can someone tell me how long it takes for them to become a butterfly after making their cocoon?

Seemed like all of the Tiger Swallowtails were leaving too guess some are hatching out now and they aren't as big either my flowers are smaller and my butterflies are smaller at the end of the summer Ha!