First of the New Year

Posted on January 30, 2023 by SweetButterfly Bliss

We had our first of 2023 monarch butterfly emerge yesterday in our butterfly house. This beautiful male was eager to fly away, making it No. 350 that we have successfully reached since we began this journey.

The great thing is the garden is very active, as well as the butterfly house with many chrysalis and caterpillars.

It is incredibly rewarding to witness the life cycle of the butterfly. The nest part is sharing that passion with not only my daughter, but iur fsmily and friends too.

I am excited to share that 2023 is bringing a new vision for me, one that includes growing many host and nectar plants from seed. I am having huge success with zinnia and dill so far.

Super excited . . .

Posted on January 18, 2023 by SweetButterfly Bliss

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!

No. 17

Posted on January 18, 2023 by SweetButterfly Bliss

Another Julia emerged in our butterfly house yesterday, late, after the sun went down and the chilly Florida temperatures presented themselves. This beauty marks No. 17 that we raised from egg, which we “adopted,” if you will, from The Butterfly Estates. This beauty made its chrysalis way before Christmas. It sure took its time to make its grand entrance. It was not eager to fly away either this afternoon when the temperatures became warm, so I put it on one of our “Hurricane Ian self planted sunflowers,” where it remained for a while.

Soon to be baby galore

Posted on January 11, 2023 by SweetButterfly Bliss

This female monarch butterfly sure was busy in the garden this morning and into the afternoon. The best part is she was not at all bothered by me watching. She flew very close many times as she fluttered in to land on a new leaf, both high and low. She must have landed on every leaf either resting, or leaving behind eggs.

My giant milkweed is slowly growing back, producing beautiful new growth, which is now covered in both monarch eggs and baby caterpillars. The cycle continues again. There are a few caterpillars in the butterfly house, two of which have already created its chrysalis. I have a feeling more are going to make its residence in the house soon.