Ladybugs are friends. At least, friends to gardeners. Aphids, if they had feelings and thought processes, would feel quite different!

Food for your caterpillars? Is it dinner or is it deadly?

Buy two get one free plant specials! Look below ....

Welcome to mid-May ... and a late newsletter. We apologize for any inconvenience that our 'mishap' caused any of you while checking out our site. Stephen accidentally deleted all 700 items in the server database for the website (not the computer database). We are still working to replace all these items. If you have a question, please email us!

Thanks so much for your patience.

Watching a caterpillar eat and grow, pupate into a chrysalis, and emerge as an adult is an amazing experience. Little Monarch hatchlings start eating as soon as they hatch. By the time they become a chrysalis, they've grown over 2,000 times their original mass.

What is its first meal? It's eggshell! Eating its way out of the shell, it turns around and finishes it before moving to eat a leaf.

Now for the photograph above; a dead caterpillar with bright green liquid 'frass'. (Frass = caterpillar poop) YES! The plant it eats is deadly important.

Why is the plant 'deadly' important? Because too many plants are treated to kill 'plant pests'.

A butterfly caterpillar is a 'plant pest'. Insecticides and other treatments may stay inside the plant for up to (and perhaps over) eight weeks. If a garden center employee states that they do NOT treat the plants, they are most likely telling you the truth! But if they purchased their plants from another grower within the last eight weeks, the insecticide or chemical may still be in the system of the plant. The plant may still be deadly to caterpillars.

Certified Organic? Sounds wonderful BUT ...
    ... plants that are certified organic can be treated with Bt (Bacillus Thuringiensis). Bt is a naturally occurring bacteria that kills caterpillars. Safe for humans, it is allowed for use on certified organic plants. Certified Organic parsley, fennel, and other herbs that we eat are often treated with Bt.

Upon eating Bt treated plants, the digestive system of a caterpillar stops. The caterpillar will not eat after the first couple of hours and dies about the third day.

Be careful! If you purchase a plant that you are not sure is safe, keep the plant for eight weeks before feeding it to your caterpillars.

Choose a caption for this photo to win a $20 gift certificate from the farm. Email your caption suggestion to edith@buyabutterfly.com!

Ladybugs are wonderful! Eating those nasty little yellow aphids that cover our milkweed and oleander, they are friends of gardeners.
Starting as yellow to orange colored eggs, the nymphs hatch and start eating aphids.

Young ladybugs resemble little alligators. As they grow, they outgrow their skin. They must molt, or crawl out of their old skin, or die. Their new skin is a bit larger, allowing them room to grow.

This ladybug nymph is molting. Crawling out of its old skin, it lifts up high on its legs to pull free. Nymphs are small.

A ladybug nymph changes into a little pupa that resembles a ladybug. From this pupa, the adult ladybug emerges.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Just like butterflies, they also go through several stages of life; metamorphosis.

Butterflies and children, a wonderful mix! School is almost out and children will be home for the summer. It's time to learn about butterflies.

Butterfly Camp is a fun way for children or students to learn about butterflies, their lifecycle, their place in nature, butterfly conservation, their host and nectar plants, caterpillar care, chrysalis care, how to grow plants, how to tend plants, and more that relates to butterflies.
If you live near the farm, simply visit the farm or email us for a brochure. You can register your child via telephone or email.

If you would be interested in an 'online' camp, a program can be available in late July/August. Eggs and plants will be shipped to the student. The program will be emailed and shipped on cd that can be viewed on the computer. Please email us as soon as possible if you are interested. The price for the online 'camp' is the same as camp at the farm. We will ship plants, soil, pots, information, CDs, and butterfly eggs for your child's camp.

Camp is four weeks in a row;

• Week One:
  o Students will carry a host plant into the butterfly exhibit to allow a butterfly to lay a few eggs on his/her plant. They will carry the plant home with them today.
  o Students will learn how to care for their plants.
  o Students will learn what to expect during the week; hatching egg and young caterpillar care.
  o Students will learn about caterpillar predators.
  o Students will learn the lifecycle of butterflies.
  o Students will learn the difference between host and nectar plants.
  o Students will plant several plants to take home at the end of camp. These plants can be planted to create a butterfly garden at home.
• Week Two:
  o Students will learn about molting and instars,
  o Students will learn about head capsules and spinnerets.
  o Students will learn how and what a caterpillar can see and how they breathe.
  o Students will learn what to expect from their caterpillar this coming week.
  o Students will learn more about butterfly gardens; the difference between a butterfly restaurant and a butterfly world.
  o Students will learn about another species of butterfly that will use a host plant they will take home on June 28.
  o Students will care for their plants.
  o Students will learn what plants need to live and grow.
• Week Three:
  o Students will learn about pupation; the change from caterpillar to chrysalis.
  o Students will learn the difference between a chrysalis, a pupa, and a cocoon.
  o Students will learn what a chrysalis can and will do.
  o Students will learn about chrysalis enemies.
  o Students will learn about caring for plants in a garden.
  o Students will learn about another species of butterfly that will use another host plant they will take home on June 28.
  o Students will care for their plants.
  o Students will learn how to plant their plants in a garden.
• Week Four:
  o Students will learn about emerging adult butterflies.
  o Students will learn how to care for their new adult butterfly.
  o Students will learn how adult butterflies see, hear, smell, and taste.
  o Students will learn what adult butterflies eat. (They'll be surprised!)
  o Students will learn about adult butterfly enemies.
  o Students will learn about another species of butterfly that will use a host plant they will take home on June 28.
  o Students will care for their plants and gather their plants to take home.

Grades 1 and up: (Schedule above)
$35 Week One
$15 each week; Two, Three, and Four

Important Note An adult must accompany students. Students cannot be left at the farm for the course. Students who wish to learn will not be hindered by disruptive students. Students that are disruptive will be required to leave the room. Students that are continually disruptive will be asked not to return for the rest of the camp. If your child has special needs, please contact the farm.

Please contact us with questions or for a brochure.

Autumn Sage is a favorite of several butterfly species as a source of nectar. Hummingbirds also visit this plant to drink nectar.

Newsletter Special; buy 2 four inch pots of one Autumn Sage, get one four inch pot of the same plant free! Just mark in the comment box that you are ordering the newsletter special.

Buy Two Get One Free; These plants in four inch pots are also on special. Six inch pots are regular price.

• Tropical Milkweed Red/Orange only- Monarch, Queen
• False Nettle - Red Admiral, Question Mark, Comma
• Water Hyssop - White Peacock
• Pellitory - Red Admiral
• Frogfruit - White Peacock, Buckeye, Phaon Crescent

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