Tag Archives: Giant milkweed

Earth Day

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I’ve been working pretty much nonstop on the garden for three days. I have to admit, I am in love with what has transpired so far.

I think of my garden in two phases, the first which is closer to my front door and the second which expands the length of my house to the right of my front door.

The first phase looks completely different from what it did when I first planted everything, as I worked from a clean slate. It was only yard at one point.

The only thing that remains is the wishing well my husband built, which now has bromeliads – the only plants that have survived in the space. Believe me, I tried multiple different butterfly plants.

The space around it now has a complete pathway that you can enter from three different points. I have three trees in the space- a bahama cassia and two giant milkweed that are much taller than I. They are pretty impressive. I have sprinkled in many other host plants and nectar plants in this section of the garden. I dug up and replanted many other plants to new spaces, or in pots my daughter has painted over the years.

Although I have experimented with many plants, native is definitely the way to go. And, well, not all plants do well in the direct sunlight.

The second phase is underway this week. I will be trimming plants, replanting, and hopefully add new plants to the space. Also, a new pathway, this one rocks, different from the bricks in the first phase, so we can stroll through this section of the garden.

My favorite part is adding the mulch, as it cleans up the space and definitely adds the finishing touches.

Here’s a zinnia, an all time favorite. A great addition this Earth Day, a butterfly attractor.

What’s your favorite part of gardening?

Angels watching over us

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I cannot help but take this as a sign. Butterflies appear when angels are near .  .  . Our grandparents are looking over us. The amount of butterflies in my garden this morning was amazing, especially with the overcast skies.

It’s such a great feeling to be surrounded by them as we prepare for Hurricane Milton.

I haven’t seen these many monarch butterflies in my garden in such a long time. They were laying eggs, grabbing a drink.

The gulf fritillary flew so incredibly close before making a stop at my red penta.

More eggs

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Did you know that a female monarch butterfly can lay anywhere between 300 to 500 eggs over two to five weeks? This butterfly spent a good amount of time choosing many giant milkweed leaves to lay her eggs.

According to Monarch Joint Venture, prior to fertilization, the egg is formed, as well as the hard outer shell – chorion – as this protects the developing larvae. This outer shell has a layer of wax to help prevent the egg from drying out. The monarch egg also has micropyles, which are tiny funnel-shaped openings.

In about three to five days, a tiny monarch caterpillar will appear.

According to “Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and Their Host Plant” (Marc C. Minno, Jerry F. Butler and Donald W. Hall), the milkweed plant has latex within that sticks to the mouthparts of herbivores. The caterpillars will cut the leaves near the base of the milkweed blade to drain out that latex before they begin eating.

So many

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And it continues . . . monarch csterpillars everywhere on my giant milkweed. The Southwest Florida skies were an amazing blue today, inviting more butterflies into the garden.

A stroll

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One day last week I was sitting at my desk working when a monarch caterpillar caught my attention going for a stroll up the window. It was a great distraction from writing articles. The caterpillar found its resting area under the windowsill for its chrysalis.

Both of my giant milkweed are crawling with caterpillars of every instar. My butterfly house has a tremendous amount of activity from caterpillars eating, to creating their chrysalis and emerging. It has been a tremendous few months for these lovely caterpillars and butterflies.