Monarch season is starting very slowly. The first Monarch I noticed, perched on a stockade fence, in our Lake Forest garden visited last week. Alas, I had no camera in hand. Yesterday morning, however, this mistah buttafly flitted onto the Allium ‘Summer Beauty’ (a must-have plant, durable as hell), completely ignoring the nearby, wait for it…Butterfly Weed [Asclepias tuberosa]. I haven’t seen any Monarchs at all at our farm in Richmond, about an hour northwest of Lake Forest. Hopefully it’s still early, but the Milkweed is going to seed already so…
Right nearby, a Red Admiral was enjoying the Allium as well. These are common “lady butterflies” which do take nectar but are more partial to eating overripe fruit, sap, and yes, old meat and poo-poo. (Butterflies may look beautiful, but the back story can be really terrible.) And, like some males of our species, it is said that the “males are territorial, especially in the late afternoon and evening. They select a perch where the sun shines and dart out at passing objects as they search for females.” Bring it on, fellas!#
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Yes. Butterfly season slow to start here too. have not seen monarch yet. Just small little white butterflies flitting around garden. Beautiful weather here. Martha
The Milkweed blossoms are open right now and two Monarch Butterflies have been flying around them occasionally for the past few days, those flowers do smell so nice!
I saw one on perched on my carrot tops last week. I went in to get the camera…but he/she had left to find something more exciting. ~Ginene
Saw my first Monarch of the season yesterday, on, of all places, the small dead branch of a massive oak down the street. It rested, then fluttered away. A reminder of our Gordon Setters, two of whom, with their very soft mouths, would catch Monarchs, then bring them, dampened but unhurt, to one of us. We would open the dog’s mouth, remove the Monarch, then place it high on a sunlit bush. Each Monarch would spread its wings, and when dry, fly off to another adventure.
This happened many times! We each found that to be astonishing!
Saw a Monarch this morning while weeding—lovely!!
And found part of a wing the other day—wonder what happened to that beautiful butterfly……….