I had a little break, and now, the monarch caterpillars have returned chomping away on the swamp milkweed. The last few days, a female monarch butterfly has been paying many visits, laying more eggs on the leaves. One good thing about the Florida summer months is tons of rain promoting more growth.
Butterflies and my daughter have been connected since before she was born. It never fails on the important days something memorable always seems to happen. Yesterday, my daughter turned 8 years old and had the opportunity to release, not one, but three polydamas swallowtail butterflies into the garden.
We, always think, butterflies appear when angels are near. Sure enough, my sweet girl said one of the butterflies was someone we recently lost, an amazing woman who was incredibly important to us. It made that moment that much sweeter.
The polydamas swallowtails are having an incredible year in the garden. We have raised and released 135 so far.
I put a fresh branch of the wild lime tree in the butterfly house, which got the giant swallowtail caterpillars moving around. It’s fascinating to me to see this, as this little head pops out under what appears to be their protective armor, their bird poop appearance.
It doesn’t get any sweeter . . . our three month old golden retriever puppy, Lily, saying hello to a newly emerged female monarch butterfly before she took flight into the garden.
The monarch caterpillars have not been constant this summer in the gardens, but we have definitely had influxes from time to time. Today, we had six butterflies emerge taking our count to 571 successful releases over the years.
The maypop passionvine flower is among one of the most unique flowers in my garden, and the most invasive.
This plant has taken over the garden, inside and outside, of the space. To say I have an abundance is an understatement. The gulf fritillary butterfly has a ton of host plant to lay eggs on, and the caterpillars food to eat.
