It’s that time of year when the only good time to work in the garden is very early in the morning, or about an hour before the sun goes down.
There was a male monarch butterfly that followed me around the garden feasting on the nectar of many different colored zinnias. It loved the white and the orange flowers.
The zinnia is a wonderful flower to add to a butterfly garden. Butterflies of every species loves the nectar. The best part is it is among the easiest plants to grow. The best part is it constantly produces more seeds to continue a steady new growth in the garden.
It was rewarding to spend time in the garden, as we both co-existence almost side by side.
A few weeks ago I began a new project garden, inspiration I saw from another garden. That project – identifying plants with garden metal labels.
I have done two different fonts and today completed all 25 labels I received using my cricut machine.
It has been a great project as it has given me the opportunity to take inventory of what I have. The great part, I still have more plants to identify.
I have tried to plant natives in the garden, as they can tolerate whatever weather Southwest Florida throws at them, and they multiple and fill in empty space quite nicely. A good example of this is the blanket flower and coreopsis, otherwise known as tickseed.
Here are a few of the flowers that have been identified so far.
Blue butterfly bush Purpletop vervain GoldenrodWild lime Firebush Starry rosinweed Penta Zinnia Blanket flower Fire spike SpiderwortPlumbago Lantana Almond bush and an atala butterfly.
Two monarch butterflies emerged today. One in the garden, and the other in our butterfly house.
Both of them hung out on my zinnia plants, which is a new feature in the garden, a DYI fountain, that has plants surrounding it in a pot.
The monarch butterfly’s scientific name is Danaus Plexippus, which means “sleepy transformation” in Greek. The male has two black spots in the center of its lower wings and are larger in size than the female. According to the National Wildlife Federation, the spots are scent glands, which help the males attract females.
The monarch caterpillars feed solely on milkweed leaves, which produces glycoside toxins, according to the National Wildlife Federation, which deters other animals from eating the caterpillars. The toxins are stored making them taste bad and remains after they emerge into a butterfly, continuing to protect them.
The monarch butterfly will emerge 10 to 12 days after making its chrysalsis. The transformation is incredible to witness as the green chrysalis eventually becomes translucent revealing the beautiful black and orange body within.
The butterfly emerges headfirst with small and shriveled wings. As it pumps body fluid through its wings they grow in size. The butterfly will remain in the same spot for up to two hours drying its wings, hardening them getting ready for flight. According to Arizona State University School of Life Sciences, during the two hours it is also waiting for air to replace some of its fluids.
The last few days the same female monarch butterfly has been visiting the garden. You ask, how can I be sure? Well, this beauty has seen better days and has very distinct torn wings.
She is truly incredibly to watch flutter about. A few times she flew by extremely close, almost as if she was saying hello.
Every time I see her she is stopping by one of the five potted zinnia plants, going from flower to flower. Once she has enough nectar she will fly to the giant milkweed, sometimes laying eggs, other times just resting. The photo below shows her resting next to a monarch caterpillar who was busy eating.
