Butterlfies appear  . . .

Butterflies appear when angels are near.

It never fails there is always a butterfly that emerges on a big day for my daughter. Today we had two.

Nature at its finest.

We had two butterflies emerge today, an orange barred sulphur (81) and a monarch butterfly (639). 

Fly free . . .

We have had a great amount of rain yesterday and today and my garden is looking beautiful!

I had four butterflies emerge this morning in iur butterfly house, 3 monarch butterflies (now totaling 637 released) and one orange barred sulphur butterfly (now totaling 80 released).

The clouds finally parted, the rain stopped, and three of the four have been released.

Oh that smell

The only plant that remained in my front yard as we began to make over the front space for my butterfly garden was the jasmine tree. This tree blooms a few times a year and when it does the aroma is intoxicating. As soon as you walk out the front door the sweet smell attacks your senses in such a beautiful way.

A wonderful perk, the butterflies seem to enjoy the jasmine nectar as well. This great southern white butterfly spent a great deal of time drinking to its hearts content. It was not bothered by me standing nearby at all.

An extra perk

My butterfly garden is located right outside my front door and goes along the pathway to the driveway and then extends the length of the house. I have said this multiple times, it was a great placement, as I can watch the butterflies from my couch. The best, though, is catepillars love the little nook by my front door to create its chrysalis.

This time a monarch butterfly chrysalis.

Hidden well

The polydamas swallowtail chrysalis, I think, is very unique. The color often times depends on where they create it, as they can either be green, or brown.

The first one is well hidden in my Bahama cassia tree, resembling the color of a leaf. The last few photos are residing  in my butterfly house and are brown, similar to the color of the branch.

It will be interesting to see how long before the butterflies emerge. The last batch overwintered, which was fascinating because I live in Southwest Florida where the temps usually do not turn too extreme.