June 13: Something was just calling me to double check the Milkweed garden along the back fence. The caterpillar I found the other day can’t be the only one and when I found it I noted the garden was mostly Milkweed stems from caterpillars who have come and gone in[…]
June 12: The day contained several moments of gratitude starting with the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes this morning — the sun. I know it means the heat wave is on its way but for the briefest of moments it brings relief and a burst of[…]
Dear Friend, I am a Monarch butterfly. Apparently you are loving me to death. I am not supposed to feed and mate year round. I am supposed to migrate in the fall, rest in the winter, and send my offspring back to you in the spring. I know you mean[…]
I’m living vicariously through my friends who are now growing Milkweed. My ecosystem should have produced one more generation of Monarch butterflies. But it hasn’t. Only one butterfly has visited in the last few months. It was a female and it did lay eggs, but I never saw a caterpillar. Two friends[…]
Today I am inspired to continue my butterfly journey. This last generation suffered so many losses I was ready to call it quits, to shut down the sanctuary. Why am I even raising butterflies and writing about it? There’s much that can be said here about perseverance and failure. I[…]
I’m mourning the loss of 7 chrysalises due to a predator previously unknown to me. My tendency is to photograph and write only about the wonders of the butterfly’s development because it’s the beauty of change that inspires me. But this morning as I gathered the infected chrysalises in a bag I realized that[…]
Everything is quiet due to the sudden absence of caterpillars. It’s been a buzz of activity this past week with upwards to 40 caterpillars in my atrium. I step out and there’s a feeling of energy in the air. I move in for a better look and find the insect version of[…]
I currently have an abundance of Milkweed in my atrium and, as you know, lots of seedlings that I and my friend MC are growing to add to my Milkweed garden. You’d think the seedlings would go unnoticed they are so small. Why bother to lay an egg on one when[…]
Let’s recap my plight earlier this year — warm winter, tons of caterpillars, not enough Milkweed, too early in the season to buy plants at the nursery, starvation. And the plight of the Monarch population in general? In decline. Solution? More Milkweed. My book club read Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver the[…]
What comes first, the butterfly or the egg? Well, for the sake of my documentation and the likelihood of not being able to capture Monarchs mating on film, the egg. And this is my first photographed egg. The egg is laid on the underside of a Milkweed leaf and hatches in[…]
My atrium has Monarchs, my backyard has Mourning Cloaks. This butterfly has been flitting around my yard for a couple of days now. My hammock appears to be its favorite resting place. It was kind enough to let me take its photograph. So this is a Mourning Cloak. I am[…]
The population of Monarch butterflies has shrunk to record lows. One possible reason is agriculture. Herbicide resistant crops are expanding in the midwest, where most Milkweed is grown. Herbicides are used to kill unwanted plants. Milkweed is a weed and therefore unwanted. Milkweed is important to the Monarch butterfly life[…]
If nothing ever changed there'd be no butterflies.
Author Unknown
Except for the migrating generation Monarch’s live a very short life – 2 to 6 weeks. So there is no wasting time; 3 days after the female Monarch graces us with her presence she is ready to reproduce. During her life she lays hundreds of eggs, a very small percentage[…]
