It's Spring again, and I find myself neck deep in Florida Monarchs.
There are worse problems to have, and this one I made for myself.
All year round I keep some milkweed growing in my garden to attract and help
Monarchs find a place to lay eggs. I also try to keep some parsley or dill
growing for swallowtails. Both are butterflies, so you might expect similar behavior?
Oh no. Swallowtails lay their eggs, turn to caterpillars eat everything, then find the closest
thing they can find and create a chrysalis.
Monarchs on the other hand are travelers and who knows where they may go.
Lets call it Monarch hide and seek.
Some are lazy and take the closest twig, while others hit the road.
I generally try to keep some on my lanai to protect them from predators, which creates
some of the silliest chrysalis locations.
The photo collage above was created by my lovely wife on PicFrame using her i-phone
posted to her instagram page, check her out @sottpa
The photos below are some of our favorite meandering monarchs.
Below that is a list of links to my various butterfly videos.
Enjoy.
Video Links
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I grow ;milkweed also, in Texas, this year the monarchs did not come until December. Was your migration late? Then 1 weeks later all my milkweed plants froze. Luckily I had a dz plants inside on the window sill to put in my caterpillar enclosure, but I am afraid I will not have enough for the spring migration.
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Nature will find a way. Here in florida we have a local population, so it is often hard to tell who is migrating and who is hanging out. florida is a biologic sink, many migrating birds and insects come down the peninsula and never leave. I bet you will get a warm up and spring rains a spurt of milkweed growth just in time for their arrival or they will go a different direction. :)=
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