Friday, August 28, 2009

It's a Monarch!



Take a look at the Chrysalis in the last post. I did not know it at the time but this contains..and will soon turn into a Monarch Butterfly! There are not many Monarch Butterflies around here, making it that much more incredible.

First hint was the caterpillar spotted on one of the new Milkweed plants I purchased for the front yard this spring. It was not the same type as the caterpillars that inhabit the back yard, and frankly I did not think much about it. Hint #2: 3 days ago I saw a Monarch Butterfly resting on one of the long leaves of my lilly plant but convinced myself it was not. The colour was not quite as bright as I am used to seeing. Hint #3 The chrysalis today has changed to reflect the picture above . Final Hint ( Ok. So I needed 4 of them before figuring it out): Tonight I saw the same caterpillar portrayed in the movie The Future of Food. After doing some research I found that this beauty will likely hatch tomorrow when the bright sunlight comes out. It should take about 10 minutes. I am going to bring my youngest out there and with some luck we should be able to witness this event. What can I say except that I am overjoyed to see the butterflies come to this yard and what little effort and time it took to bring them here. The only thing to do now is to keep on planting!

2 comments:

  1. Dear Midella, Have you heard about butterfly gardens? Apparently it is all about having the right plants so that they come to your garden...
    Bye!

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  2. Yes, but my only intention was to plant native North American species. Now I will intentionally choose plants that are butterfly friendly to help keep the cycle going!

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