Summer is here and half-way over already. Gardens are blooming, butterflies and hummingbirds are enjoying nectar, and fingernails are dirty. Life is good.

We totally missed the newsletter for the month of June due to my recent surgery (disc removal and bone fusion in my neck). I'm doing great and am glad to be back at the computer! In a few more weeks, I'll be released from my neck collar and back at work again. I removed the beige net and now use a butterfly scarf in its place, of course! A special thanks to all of your for your prayers, thoughts, cards, and chocolate! Thank you for your patience with the delay of this newsletter.

Remember, every 100th subscriber AND the person who recommends Butterflies! to that subscriber receives a gift from Shady Oak Butterfly Farm. We're super close to 1,400 - less than ten subscribers away!

In our next issue we will introduce you to one of the Monarch overwintering sites in California and the lady who has turned the area around. She came in and took charge (as a volunteer) of the overgrown park with zero overwintering Monarchs for seven years. Within two years, she changed it to a groomed beautiful park with Monarchs again overwintering. Hats off to Leslie!

Have a wonderful butterfly filled summer.

A J'ing caterpillar falls as it is pupating into a chrysalis. How do we save it? It's easy if it is freshly fallen!

If it is very soft and isn't hung to finish reshaping and hardening, it will either die or be deformed as a chrysalis and adult.

The answer is to simply pick it up GENTLY and move the cremaster to the silk pad. It will attach itself if the cremaster touches the silk pad.

If the silk pad isn't available, use a loosely woven cloth or cotton ball or something of that nature.

Presto! Saved chrysalis!

Choosing the right fertilizer for your plants consists of more than choosing the right size of bag; it means knowing what the three numbers on the bag means and how those numbers affect growth of plants. Do you want more green growth? Do you want more flowers or fruit? Your choice of fertilizer can make all the difference!

The three numbers tell the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium is in the bag. Higher nitrogen causes more green growth - but can reduce the number of flowers or fruit produced. Higher phosphorus can increase the number of flowers and fruit.

It's easy to vote for the winning caption in the new format we're using. Simply visit this webpage and click on the caption you choose and your vote will be automatically counted. After you vote, you can view the results of the votes online.

The winner will receive a $20 gift card from Shady Oak Butterfly Farm.

A letter just arrived in our inbox, "Hi I found a giant swallowtail caterpillar and I brought it home with me. I would like to know which would be an appropriate host plant so it could survive and I could see it turn into a butterfly."

Giant Swallowtail caterpillars are called 'Orange Dogs' because they eat citrus trees. They also eat other plants in the citrus family.
They will also eat rue. Normally, they won't easily change from other plants to rue so if you find one on a citrus tree, it is best to keep feeding it leaves from the same tree.

Shady Oak is pleased to offer one day seminars to one week internships at the butterfly farm.

Every aspect of butterfly breeding and farming is covered in this packed week. From breeding stock to egg production to larvae care to pupae care to emerging to adult care to predators to parasitoids to shipping and packing to marketing to plant production to plant pests to Lepidoptera disease to USDA permits to marketing to ....

A visit to the Butterfly Rainforest is included in a one week internship.

If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with your friends. Every 100th new subscriber (and the person who recommended Butterflies!) will receive a gift from Shady Oak. The 1300thsubscriber has been notified and will receive his gift shortly. We do not subscribe any person unless they directly ask us to do so. Subscribers have subscribed to this newsletter from one of our websites or through another sign-up location.

The 1,000th subscriber wrote, "I received my thank you gift for being the 1000th person to sign up for the newsletter. It was way more than I expected. THANK YOU."

Photo right: the Smith clan (missing four due to work and illness).

It's a new online store! The Bird Supermarket offers bird houses, bird feeders, bird baths, garden decorations, butterfly feeders, and more.

Until next time, Edith, Stephen, Ester, Michelle, Christina, Rachel, Charlotte, and the gang