My garden is coming alive again with a ton of monarch caterpillars in many different stages, or instars. I spotted the one below while it was still molting, which never gets old. It’s amazing how they wiggle free the old skin, so they can continue eating more leaves.

But, the part that I am super excited about is the male monarch that I found in the yard hanging out. He crawled onto my finger and I put him on one of my zinnia flowers, which I grew from seed, and he went to town. He remained for a good long while sipping away to his heart’s content. The excitement lies in seeing the monarch sip nectar from a plant that I watched pop out of the soil and grow taller and taller slowly producing buds. I love knowing my hands got dirty to help the butterflies who visit the garden. I am also very excited about the photographs I was able to capture. The hair on the butterfly that was so pronounced in the photo left me giddy!