Paul, I found QMs on my hops, but found some more on an Elm sapling. If you have any, check it out, too. I think the reason the laid their eggs on the Elm is because it is about 10' away from the fruit plate I put out for them. Obviously, they weren't just nectaring! LOL! Susan

We had a terrible storm this early A.M. Lot's of wind and rain. I can only spot 7 babies and can only hope the others are just under leaves. They had eaten the top out of one stalk and they were all bunched up at the top. The other stalks had gotten blown over so we propped them up with some poles agaist the one still standing. After a while, they began to move onto the other stalks. If they run out of dill, will they crawl over to the parsley plants? They're right next to each other but the babies would have to crawl onto the ground to get to the parsley. Also, I came across this picnic item while looking for the old curtain sheers. It springs open like an umbrella and is used to sit over food on a picnic table to protect from flying insects. If I use some tent pegs or made some wire hooks out of wire hangers to hold the base to the ground, this might make a good outside protection over the host plants. Of course, once you used it for this purpose, it would no longer be useful for human food protection. :-) I got this one from Camping World and I believe they're about $5 and less when on sale. Does this look like something that might work to help protect them while on the outside host plants? Mary unopened: From __Garden Flowers - plants opened: From __Garden Flowers - plants

It's a job to keep up with cutting off the flowers of fennel, for sure. Some years I do try to cut them off before they bloom, and other years, I just don't want to put forth the effort because it is a continuous battle. But, they do put out more foliage if you do cut the flowers off. I haven't done that this year, and, of course, I just have stalks now. When the days get a bit shorter and temps cool down a bit, the foliage will begin to grow back. I have had the frothy foliage overwinter in some years, reflecting a startling green against the brown background of the winter garden. I don't think cutting it back will induce much growth for the time being, but you could certainly try it with a couple plants and see how its does for you. Please report back and let us know, if you decide to do that. Susan

Sometimes the parents are able to keep the babies together, sometimes not. Once they start experimenting with flight on their own they can get spread out a little, but are still in the same area for the most part. In my experience, the babies start visiting the mealworm feeder about 2 to 3 weeks after fledging. At first they just sit on top of or inside the feeder and beg to be fed. It takes a while before they figure out that they're actually standing on their dinner! Kathy