This is the time of year when Monarchs are headed towards their winter roosting sites. Have you seen any Monarch butterflies in your garden yet? Here’s how to support them during their trip (and ideas for next Spring). Read my full post on Fiskars.com >>>
p.s. Did you know that the reason Monarch caterpillars feast on milk weed leaves is that the leaves contain a compound that makes the caterpillars and their eventual adult selves taste bad, which discourages predators. Pretty smart, eh?
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I have had a few Monarchson my Joe Pye weed and lantana, did you know that the Vicerory butterfly mimics the pattern and coloration of the Monarch so most birds avoid them? Good thing for the Viceroy because they are quite tasty, or so I have heard!
Lisa–Yep! There are actual several Monarch mimics that I wrote about in the article.
We start butterfly season with so many baby caterpillars but can’t stop the Wasps from eating almost all of them including the Chrysalis. Sheer netting helped but only slightly. Do you have any suggestions?
Tina–Are the wasps regular yellow jacket types or are tgey the small beneficial wasps that you would otherwise like to have in your garden? If they are yellow jacket types, there are traps you can use to lure them away from your garden and kill them.
I have also seen the Red Spotted Purple, Gulf Frittillary, Pearl Crescent, Cloudless Sulphur, Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Dusky Skipper,( lots of other skippers), Cabbage White, Dogface, Giant Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail butterfly in my garden. I moved last year to a new house, but in my old butterfly garden I had the Red Admiral often sunning on big rocks. I have not seen one here yet, and I miss him/her! It’s a work in progress, but I will try to get the plants I need to attract them lol
Sounds like your garden is a butterfly heaven!
I do love the butterflies and wildflowers, I majored in botany in college actually. I considered Entomology but I couldn’t face the the stuff they did in some of the upper division classes lol because there were dissections of mammals among some other unappealing things…. So I studied butterflies on my own, a hobby. And I garden in containers and in beds… too much shade here in my yard in subtropical Memphis TN, but I am working with it.
Butterflies are sorely lacking here in my part of MI. and I’ve been worried for a few years. We used to have clouds of Monarchs and all I see are an occasional cabbage white and sulphur. No more darling hummingbird moths either. Something hopeful tho-lightening bugs are starting to come back. They must have gotten used to mosquito control. Unfortunately so have the mosquitos.