This summer I immersed myself in helping mother nature nourish Butterfly eggs protecting them through the 4 stages as they developed into full grown Monarch butterflies. In past years I have collected a few eggs from the butterfly milkweed plants in my backyard, but this summer it was a monumental undertaking. I was waiting for back surgery and my activities were very limited, so this preoccupation suited me beautifully. Keeping my garden growing is my favorite thing to do in the summer besides swimming. I even love weeding...which was a chore when I was young. But this summer I had to leave my garden grow however it wanted because of my back situation. So, watching my beautiful garden grow wild this summer at first looked like a bit of an eyesore, then the magical butterfly appeared.
She loved my garden growing wild....weeds and everything. She started laying her eggs beneath the leaves of the milkweed one day. As a few weeks progressed, I collected about 75 eggs. Keeping them warm, humid, and clean, was now my daily chore along with the help of my grandchildren.
The tiny eggs all soon grew into tiny caterpillars....and within days they would ferociously eat all the milkweed leaves I could supply them. After my milkweed plants were completely stripped of their leaves I had to go hunting on the sides of the road to replenish my food supply for caterpillars. When the caterpillar had eaten enough it would climb to the top of my caterpillar box and "glue" itself to a spot where she would hang and begin to form her chrysalis.
The first butterfly appeared just short of a month after finding the the first egg.
The first butterfly appeared just short of a month after finding the the first egg.
One by one, or even six by six some days, the chrysalis would crack open and a beautiful butterfly would appear. Magic!
