And now for something completely different...

Title of this entry from Monty Python's Flying Circus..... IT'S!!  You have to be a python nut to get that one.

Some of you may know that I enjoy gardening a great deal as it’s kind of a way for me to unwind. Well, that hobby sort of extended into another hobby. You also probably know that I am easily distracted into new and often very expensive hobbies. It’s a problem for me.

Anyhow, the new hobby was/is butterflies, Monarch butterflies to be exact. It started out from me noticing that butterflies of various types liked different plants, so I did a little internet searching and found that Monarchs only go to one type plant and are having a tough go of it lately. There are all sorts of theories out there about why, but I really didn’t research that angle very much. I was far more interested in how to help the little guys out.

Seems it’s pretty easy. Just grow the milkweed plant. That’s pretty much it. There are a couple of other things that help out the process but aren’t required. In Florida it’s predominantly the tropical milkweed that they prefer. It grows wild but with all the development it’s getting pretty scarce in some areas. Well, not in my yard! I’ve created a sort of Monarch rest stop.

Now before I get too far into the rest of the story, I should give a really quick and dirty lesson on how they work. They have four stages in their lifetime.

First is the egg stage. The previous adult will lay their eggs on the underside of the milkweed plant leaves. Probably not the best idea as I’ll explain a little further on. Sorry, I don't have a picture of this stage. It's not much to look at anyway. It sort of looks like a black speck on the underside of the milkweed leaf.

Second is the caterpillar stage. These guys will devour every single leaf on the milkweed plant. Hence why I think it’s not a good idea for the eggs to get laid here. The caterpillars have no regard at all for the eggs on the underside of the leaves. If the eggs get in the way of the eating caterpillar, then they just get destroyed. Their setup must work for them as they never listen to what I have to say. They start out really tiny and will grow up to 3-4 inches in length depending on how much milkweed foliage they can find.

Third stage is the chrysalis. The caterpillar will find an appropriate spot to hang upside down and develop a shell around them. They will stay in this state for about 7-15 days but I have seen some go a little longer. I believe its weather related but I have no proof of that.

The fourth stage is the adult. The butterfly emerges from the chrysalis pretty much ready to fly. They will sit on a branch for a little while until they can open their wings fully. Then they take off and go do their thing!

The adults will come back to the plants to visit the flowers for the nectar. They don’t let me get very close to take pictures. Two or three feet seem to be about the closest they allow. I’ve found that I can get a good close-up right after they emerge mainly because they can’t fly away yet.

Other butterflies that visit the yard will let me get much closer. I’ve got some black swallowtail ones that will let me get within inches and they don’t seem to care. I’ve got others that will actually buzz me pretty close. It can be kind of startling to get a close flyby of a butterfly right next to your face if you don’t see them coming.

Now, I can’t prove it but it sure seems like my guys always come back to my plants to lay their eggs. That or there are a LOT of Monarchs in this particular area. I seem them all the time depositing there eggs to the leaves.

My only problem is that I can’t seem keep the plants in foliage and blossoms very well. Every time I get a plant really going again, they come in and chomp it to twigs in no time. But that’s ok, I don’t mind that they do it. I just wish I had the time to grow more plants for them.

I thought about registering my rest stop with the butterfly society as a registered Monarch ‘Way Station’. But I finally decided not to. I only do it for my own satisfaction. I don’t really care if it’s not official or anything.

In one of my next entries I’ll introduce you to my hummingbirds. These guys are CRAZY fast but extremely friendly. They take a lot of time and patience, but once they get used to you they will let you get unbelievably close. Getting pictures so far have been very difficult.