It's not a butterfly ... what else hatches out of butterfly eggs?

Caption Contest! It's time to vote! Take a look at the submissions to date. First prize; $20 gift certificate.

It's a WEED! Should you pull it or grow it?

Gift Cards for Christmas ... brings butterflies in spring!

These microscopic monsters are considered a 'green' method of pest control. The pests they control are 'worms' ... otherwise known as butterflies.

So which caption do you think best fits this photo of a Giant Swallowtail extending it's osmeterium? Please send your vote in to edith@buyabutterfly.com before January 1, 2008.

In our first issue of 2008, we will announce the winner of this caption contest. Soon after, we will post a photo for the next caption contest.

Also coming in 2008 will be several other contests including specific poem contests. We'll ask for you to write and submit a poem for specific purposes (funeral or memorial butterfly release, Easter butterfly release, Wedding butterfly release, and more). Watch upcoming newsletters for more info!

Don't forget to send in your vote to edith@buyabutterfly.com.

Weeds fill our gardens. Well, some of us are great about pulling weeds but others of us just don't keep our gardens as well manicured as we'd like. Is that good or bad?

It depends upon which weed ... and if our ditches and roadsides are also full of the same weeds.

Certain butterfly species use pesty weeds as host plants; if these weeds are prolific in your area, pulling them from your garden won't hurt. But if you want to watch these little caterpillars at work, leave the weeds!

Common Buckeye, American Lady, Red Admiral, Phaon Crescent, Ceraunus Blue, Gray Hairstreak, and other species of butterfly (and moth) caterpillars are munching away on these weeds.

Can't find that perfect gift for someone who enjoys butterflies, moths, and gardening? Give a Shady Oak Gift Card!

Choose the amount and we'll ship your card before Christmas; either to you or your friend. Christmas cards included free upon request.

PLEASE bear with us as we adjust the colors of our new site and finish the links. This is a page on our new site which won't be finished for about two or three more weeks.

It's so simple to order from this page that we simply had to supply this link although we would have rather waited ... we would have preferred to wait until the new site is finished.

Please understand that although few links on this page will work and the colors are NOT the final colors, you can order your gift card easily through this page.

Until next time, Edith, Stephen, Ester, Michelle, and the gang