Perennials: winter 2018, 2 by Loretta_NJ

Loretta_NJ wrote:
Thank you! This year though I\'ve been sidetracked with raising butterflies. There was a bumper crop this year so it turned out to be a lot more work than my last year\'s attempt. I think I\'ve had 80 monarchs coming through. I\'ve stopped collecting anymore. In the past, they never made it to adulthood in my yard. I would find them dead and deflated at some point, possibly Assassin Bugs which I finally caught in the act.
Next will be Black Swallowtails which I collect because I don\'t see them like I used to. We have a parasitic wasp that lives and lays its eggs in the caterpillars. So instead of a butterfly hatching, you get a wasp. I also have a couple of Giant Swallowtails which is also have a comparatively good year for a butterfly I hardly saw around here before.