I counted a total of 12 cats last week, but my grandson( 4) and my daughter (5) love "wormies" and took care of a few before I was able to convince them to leave my caterpillars alone! The 6 that are left had decimated the butterfly weeds by Friday morning, with still a week or so to go before beginning their transformation. I hit Wal-Mart and Home Depot hoping to find milkweed plants of some sort. HD had some later in the summer last year, so I prayed they might. Nope. My husband got the bright idea of calling one of the local nurseries this morning @ 730. Glory hallelujah, she said yes I have milkweed and we open at 8. DH was worried that she would be way more expensive than what we are used to, but I was prepared to pay even $10 a bush if necessary to keep the cats alive. I was quite impressed! Tropical milkweed, 2 1/2 feet tall, 2 plants to a pot, for $6. I bought 5 pots of milkweed, 2 a 6 pack of golden marigolds, one of purple salvia, and 2 packs of a plant called Gazania. the Gazania are a full sun plant that closes the blossoms at night, it vaguely reminds me of sunflowers. And she will have a variety of the yellow milkweed ready next month that has the ability to survive our winters if mulched. And maybe some of the purple/blue lantana, but hers is not coming up yet, so she wasn't sure. I believe I have found a place to buy all my plants now, hers made the ones I see at wally world and home depot seem puny in comparison ( and she gave my daughter and grandson their own tom thumb tomato plants to plant, so they will leave mine alone. As I sit here typing this, they are both gathered around their containers talking to the tomato and marigold plants they just planted)
Vicky