You might be a gardening geek if...
- when you find a Monarch chrysalis, you plaster the news over social media;
- you are convinced if there is one, there must be more so you crawl around on your knees in the mulch along the house and fence searching for other Monarch chrysalises—and you were right(!);
- you read everything you can about the process, all the way to the last page of the internet;
- you postpone travel plans because your Monarchs are likely to emerge during the time you would be gone;
- you photograph your chrysalises several times a day (more often than you photograph your dogs) to monitor changes even though there don’t appear to be any;
- you might even talk to them;
- on the morning that two of your chrysalises begin to show true signs of metamorphosis, you skip an all day writing class because what if they are born while you are gone?;
- you head straight to Westwood Gardens where you ignore the giant containers of fall mums in favor of more milkweed, your new favorite plant;
- when you return, TWO OF THE MONARCHS HAVE BEEN BORN!
And you feel disappointed that you missed the actual “birth” yet joyful and happy and proud to know you have accomplished something of significance, even though they are only a butterflies.
Because they are butterflies.
You might be a gardening geek if you write a birth announcement for your Monarchs (i.e. this blog post).
Look at those glorious, fresh wings with no miles on them yet. They hang on the chrysalis shell for 2-3 hours while their wings “dry out”.
Read this because it’s fascinating. Everyone should understand the miracle of the butterfly…
These Monarchs that just emerged in my garden are this summer’s fourth generation butterflies that will soon fly south for the winter. These butterflies will help populate next summer’s butterflies, and when the process begins again, the new butterflies (their grand babies) will fly back to the same roosting areas in Mexico…usually to the same exact trees…in which these butterflies will soon hibernate. Let that sink in because it’s amazing.
Watch this to see my Monarchs. Yes, I made another YouTube video…
Every third bite of food we eat comes to our table courtesy of a pollinator. Monarchs, bees and many other pollinators share much of the same habitat—so what happens to monarchs, happens to other pollinators. (MonarchWatch.org)
NOTE: Since I wrote this, another butterfly emerged, and I still have one yet to finish the metamorphosis process. And, yesterday I noticed another monarch caterpillar! Yay.
You might be a gardening geek if after all this, you vow NOT to leave the yard until the other one has emerged.
And you consider throwing a watch party.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
[tweetthis]#Pollinators are responsible for every third bite of food we eat. @monarchwatch @monarchco #monarch #milkweed #NWArk[/tweetthis]
Musical Pairing:
Bill Conti, Gonna Fly Now
I shall never look at a Monarch again without thinking of you. I am so impressed with your efforts and I completely understand your excitement. NOT boring. I was able to see your Monarchs flying around in the video. Great job!
Well that’s a nice thing:)
It’s so much more interesting than people realize. The structure of the adult butterfly is actually present in the larval caterpillar. Once they “dissolve,” the structures that were there from the beginning take over, and become the adult form. Fascinating stuff. 🙂
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/caterpillar-butterfly-metamorphosis-explainer/
Yes! It’s truly fascinating.
Oh, and this!
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/14/3-d-scans-caterpillars-transforming-butterflies-metamorphosis/
Absolutely fascinating! Congratulations on becoming a Naturalist! Great post.
Thank you, Dorothy!
Very cool!!!
I just loved this all to pieces:) Monarch hatching is a big deal at my grand kids school. They raise and release them and are then contacted when “they” arrive. Such a neat project.
What a cool thing for your grandkids! Thank you, friend.
This makes me want to plant milkweed so I can have my own monarchs!
You should!
A year ago a black swallowtail butterfly used my dill patch for her nursery and her babies goggled up all my dill on a matter of hours. I was furious! Now I wish I had let them be! Maybe I will plant a patch of dill and milk weeds far away from my herb garden to host two of nature’s great beauties!! We have reclaimed an area near the house with plans to return it to native grass and wild flowers. That is a challenge in a farming community, with herbicides and pesticides being sprayed and otherwise applied to nearby crops…
I plant dill just for that purpose and sometimes they share it with me. The swallowtail is the state butterfly of Oklahoma right next door, so we get lots of them. They are so beautiful!
Oh Palsie, you are so precious. Love this and you. xxoo
I’m late to the butterfly party, but if you haven’t already, you should read Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. Monarch butterflies figure prominently in the story … 😉
Kathy, I’ll add it to my list. Thanks!
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