Two years ago, I wrote a diary on raising monarch caterpillars inside. It was a thrilling and magical journey.
This year, like last year, I let the monarchs be monarchs outdoors. I can firmly state that it is no less thrilling and magical. 🙂
It starts with eggs… so tiny that they appear like white dots on a leaf.
I’ve been on the lookout for monarch cats all summer long as I have been spotting monarchs flying around the garden here and there, but was finding no action. And then one day while checking things out in the frontyard where I stuffed some milkweed into a planter, lo and behold I find this one, munching calmly along…
The following day, while checking on the hungry caterpillar, I saw it was already on the move. The restless traveling off the milkweed usually means the first step towards metamorphosis…
And the next morning on my way out of the house and down the walkway, lo and behold right along the way…
Last time raising monarchs indoors, I knew that the time frame to emerge from the chrysalis was usually around 10 days to 12 days. But last week it was wickedly hot and humid. I wasn’t certain if temperatures affected metamorphosis.
Well, I guess it does, because 6 days later as I went down the walkway to put out the trash early in the morning, I checked the chrysalis and saw …
It never fails to amaze me how a butterfly can fit into such a tiny space…
I never fail to feel the awe of this moment:
What’s going on in your garden?