Tag: Monarch Butterfly

Patiently Waiting

Yes, I’m patiently waiting. Looking forward to seeing my first Monarch (Danaus plexippus) of this year. This image is from September 10, 2014. Maybe one, or several, will be along any day now.

This Monarch is on an Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana). They haven’t started blooming yet. I’ve been trying to keep them watered so they don’t die because of the drought. Maybe their blooms will bring the Monarchs. I’m hoping that will be the case.

In the meantime, patience.

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The Season Ahead

Flip the pages of the calendar ahead to June and this is what you’ll find in some of my gardens. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a wonderful flower to attract pollinators, and what better example to find than a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

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Monarch Migration Time

Such a delicate being. Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

A beautiful creature that lives a short life, two to six weeks unless it is fortunate enough to be the last generation of the year. Those of that lucky generation can live eight or nine months.

They’re on their way. Escaping winter. They can’t survive a cold winter no matter what stage of live they are in — larvae, pupae, or adult. 

Using navigational aids such as the position of the sun and the magnetic pull of our planet, they travel south. Monarchs in eastern North America follow several paths to reach a common route that takes them to the same mountain areas of Mexico year after year. Monarchs in western North America fly to areas in the vicinity of Santa Cruz and San Diego to spend their winters.

All this travel, some flying as much as three thousand miles. Butterflies that have never flown this route before. Creatures that are not only delicate but incredibly intuitive.