We (my kids and I) love raising Black Swallowtails, Monarchs and Gulf Fritillary butterflies in particular. I am lucky enough to have a partially heated mini-greenhouse (enough to keep it from freezing) so I can start seeds early in the season. We raise parsley and milkweed from seed and have done some lantana cuttings. I tried to grow common milkweed seed bought on ebay and had no luck with it. I have had great luck using the milkweed seed for "butterfly weed" and "tropical milkweed" collected from our own plants in the Fall. The Monarch butterflies seem to love both of those and I have read that common milkweed is invasive so I guess I was lucky that it didn't take! We raise parsley every year for the Black Swallowtails. We have done both the curly leaf and flat leaf and the butterflies like both. My experience with these is that they are easy from seed but don't let them dry out while they are still in the pot! Anyway, my kids love raising butterflies indoors. It is a great hobby. If you have any interest in raising butterflies indoors we would love to have you visit our website at http://www.joyfulbutterfly.com. Thanks for an incredibly informative blog about butterfly gardens! Loved surfing around in here!