They are multiplying

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This morning I spotted a male monarch butterfly that has seen better days, as the wings are tattered. The mexican sunflower made a perfect resting place due to the size of the flower.

After admiring this beauty, I spotted new life everywhere I turned in the butterfly garden.

I spotted six newly emerged monarch butterflies on the house and in plants. And, well the caterpillars are still on plants in every instar.

For many years I raised them inside a butterfly house my husband hand built. It was an amazing project as it showed my family the lifecycle from egg to butterfly. This year I have decided to let that same lifecycle unfold in nature. Let me share, this is far more rewarding because when you spot a newly emerged butterfly, you know they have beat the odds of natural predators.

I began planting my garden at our new place almost six years ago, which is my second butterfly garden. Many of those initial plants have matured into great height and width creating tucked away places for caterpillars to create their chrysalis out of harms way.

Although not all of them seek out that route, as the trim on my house continues to be a destination. 

I have found that you have to inspect every branch and leaf before trimming a butterfly garden, especially this time of year.

My garden has never been manicured, as I let it grow naturally. During the Florida summer months when we get good rain, everything grows in the way, blocking some of my walking paths. So, periodically I trim the vegetation back so I can follow my paths.

Well, part of the walking path you had to duck under a sweet almond bush branch, as a sole monarch chrysalis was hanging in all its glory.

Today the monarch butterfly emerged!

The duo below emerged yesterday in my fire bush. Their green chrysalsis were greatly camouflaged among the leaves.

The monarch

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The monarch’s are having a pretty incredible year in the garden so far. As soon as the temperatures became warm a few months ago, they are spotted in the garden every day.

The one pictured below may be a newly emerged male butterfly. It has been in the gsrden for quite some time now, enjoying the many blanket flowers that have surrounded him.

The caterpillars, of every instar, are continuously chowing down on the giant milkweed and the balloon milkweed that are spread throughout the garden.

When I truly take the time to slow down and really look at the leaves, and bark of the giant milkweed, as well as neighboring plants, I spot a plethora of caterpillars everywhere.

Below are just a few of the many in the garden.

The beauty has returned

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Still to this day, the biggest thrill of creating a butterfly garden, is seeing a giant swallowtail flutter into the space. The pure size and beauty of this butterfly is incredible.

These beauties capture your attention as they glide through the garden from one plant to another, as their forewing span is from 11.7-17.5 cm for males, and 13.5 to 18.8 cm for females.

I planted a lime tree, one of their host plants, in the garden a few years ago. The tree is now taller than me providing plenty of food for the caterpillars. Yesterday, while I strolled through the garden I found many eggs on the top of the leaves, as well as a few small caterpillars.

According to the University of Florida, the egg has an irregular coating of an orange secretion, a resemblance of an orange peel.

Each instar looks different in appearance. They resemble bird droppings when younger and rest on the top of the leaves. The larger caterpillar will rest on stems or leaf petioles.

According to the University of Florida, the younger caterpillars are black, or brown, with a white saddle and have hairs on prominent knobs. As they grow in size they are mottled dark brown with a white or cream-colored posterior, and no longer have knobs.

Easy to spot

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The coloring of a monarch caterpillar has become easier to spot amongst all the vegetation.

I continue to have a burst of caterpillars go through the lifecycle, and then a break happens, allowing the balloon milkweed a chance to grow back, before it starts all over again.

I also have two giant milkweed in the garden, probably pushing 7 feet tall, and butterflyweed, so there is a plethora of food sources for them.

I hope in the coming months to continue to add more Southwest Florida native milkweed  to their space.

Tonight while walking through the garden I spotted a monarch caterpillar in its “j” form on my candlestick cassia, a neighboring plant to the milkweed. There were still droplets of rain on the caterpillar.  Hopefully, I can watch it make its chrysalis in the morning.

As I continued to walk through the garden, I spotted another monarch caterpillar crawling on one of the many sage plants. It seemed to be trying to find its spot to make its chrysalis.

Here are a few newly emerged monarch butterflies from the garden, as well as some visitors enjoying the nectar.

Certified

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I have worked really hard over the last six years to plant natives in my butterfly garden. 

This year has shown me why planting native  is so important – with the extreme drought SWFL has experienced – my plants not only thrived, but multipled in some cases.

Starry rosineweed

The starry rosinweed is a perfect example of a thriving native plant. I added a second one to my space this year, more in direct sunlight. The flowers are stunning and the leaves add a great hue of green to the garden. This plant thrives in hardness zones 9b to 10a. It can spread 1 to 2 feet and grow 2 to 5 feet in size.

This year has shown me why planting native  is so important – with the extreme drought SWFL has experienced – my plants not only thrived, but multipled in some cases.

Once spring hit this year, I spent a lot of time in the garden cutting back plants and making room for additonal walkways to finally finish my designated garden space, as established plants have continued to grow in size, despite the lack of rain, beautifying my space.

Another plant that is thriving are my coontie plants. All of them have new growth, which is incredibly encouraging. This is the host plant for the atala butterfly, a stunning butterfly that has found my garden once.

The coontie is native to Florida and grows well in zones 8a to 11. They spread 3 to 5 feet, and grow 1 to 5 feet in height.

Over the years I have visited other gardens that have had certified wildlife habitat signs, which definitely sparked my interest. So with that thought tucked away, I continued to add more plants to the garden. Although I have some plants that are not native, they have been added for either a host or nectar plant for butterflies, the vast majority are native to my area.

This week I received my National Wildlife Federation certified wildlife habit sign, which I will display proudly.

It’s truly rewarding to plant a variety of butterfly host and nectar plants and watch my space transform into a destination for butterflies, bees, ladybugs and more.