Yesterday there were three monarch caterpillars on this particular milkweed leaf. The others must have found their final resting place to make its chrysalis. There is a tree nearby, I would imagine they are somewhere in there seeking shelter to transform to a beautiful butterfly.
Now, just this lonesome caterpillar. I moved him to a milkweed plant that offered an abundance of food.
A monarch stopping by for a morning snack, nectar from a milkweed.
I am happy to say, as of today, we have successfully raised and released more than 300 (303) monarch butterflies. It has been an interesting journey learning about this species up close and personal. It’s truly amazing what obstacles they are faced with as soon as an egg is laid.
The female monarch butterflies have been busy laying eggs in the garden, as my giant milkweed, which I have been growing for more than two years, is now all stems. Once taller than me, is now trimmed back encouraging new growth again. It’s truly amazing now much eating a monarch caterpillar can do.
With my milkweed pretty much non existent at the moment, my good friend took some caterpillars to her garden, so they can finish eating.
Every time my daughter and I go out into the gardens we spot a new chrysalis, some in very hidden places, while others in odd places. It’s fun to see how far they travel and what they use to create their silk mat on outdoors.
The butterfly house is active once again with very hungry monarch catepillars munching on a giant milkweed.
The monarchs have been busy as almost every milkweed in the gardens have caterpillars of every instar enjoying the leaves. What better why to wqtch the life cycle than to invite them into our butterfly house?
A constant battle, keeping aphids off milkweeds. A welcome guest, the ladybug, as they can eat up to 50 aphids a day. I am happy to say the ladybugs are appearing in every butterfly garden on my milkweed.
When my milkweeds become incredibly infested, I cut them back so new growth will begin, and throw the infested leaf into my horticulture bin for pick up. Although the aphids do not harm the caterpillar, they can deplete nutrients from the milkweed leaf. It seems that the summer time, when it is much warmer, they appear.
