Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Monarch Migration Confusion, 1 by FarmerCharlieB

FarmerCharlieB wrote:
This is my first year to observe Monarch butterflies, and I need some education on the migration. Yesterday ( 9-11-15) I observed what I am pretty sure were Monarch caterpillars on some unknown milkweed plants that I planted from seeds a friend gave me. I was surprised to see them in Alabama in September, because I had understood that the fourth generation was already headed back to Mexico from the northern US and Canada. When I posted my observation to the JourneyNorth site I noticed lots of other sightings in my area [HYPERLINK@www.learner.org] in addition to my own posting at [HYPERLINK@www.learner.org]
The only thing I can figure is that some third generation adults make it no farther north than Alabama, and that these are fourth generation larvae.
I could also use some help identifying the unknown milkweed plants in the 2nd and 3rd image. Some have deep red blooms, and others have yellow blooms that are much lighter than the tuberosa I have in a nearby area. And so far none of the unknown ones have opened fully like the A.tuberosa in the 4th image.
Thanks,
Charlie

This message was edited Sep 12, 2015 1:02 PM