We had a very eager male monarch butterfly emerge in our butterfly house this morning.
He was not very interested in staying still for some photographs before taking his first flight. The trees they normally perch on when released were battered pretty badly by Hurricane Ian, which swept through Southwest Florida on Sept. 28. With that said, I watched it fly around the tree to a branch that was still attached.
This beauty marks No. 233 that we have successfully released.
This plant has not bloomed in probably a year, until this morning.
I was so happy to see the flower amongst the vining plant, as this plant lost a lot of its growth during Hurricane Ian. It just goes to show after some time things do continue to thrive.
The Key West morning glory, also called the skyblue clustervine, typically will flower during the winter, as well as early fall into the late spring. These vines appear naturally in coastal hammocks and wetlands of South Florida.
The trailing vine will grow 6 to more than 12′ when supported.
I have read they are among a dangered species in Florida. I have two in the garden that I purchased from a local native garden nursery.
We currently have three monarch caterpillars in our butterfly house, with one finishing up the molting process.
Did you know that a caterpillar will grow its new skin before shedding the old? When it molts, or sheds its skin, the larger skin is then exposed allowing the caterpillsr to enter the next instar and continue eating.
A polydamas swallowtail butterfly, which created its chrysalis in our butterfly house before Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida, emerged today.
Unfortunately the hurricane took all of its host plant, the Dutchman pipe, with it, so it will be a while before this beauty lays anymore eggs in our garden. Thankfully the hurricane spared some nectar plants for it to feed on still.
I will post more photos of this beauty once I can download them from my camera to the computer.
