Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Now That I have Monarch Eggs, 1 by maryleek

maryleek wrote:
Nilly, you're most welcome. I'm so glad the photos were helpful. One more note and then I'll get out of everyone's hair.

Just have to tell you all about the eggs that have hatched! Those babies are so tiny ... can hardly make them out on the leaf but now I have two of the three eggs hatched and just waiting to see if the third one will hatch. The two tiny cats have already eaten holes in the fresh leaf by this morning. Both climbed onto it from their egg leaves, which were dried up. This will give me nine total cats to feed if all survive. I think I will bring in two or three more eggs as I believe I have enough leaves for up to sixteen by allowing 20 leaves per cat. By limiting to 12 to try and raise, this will allow a little wiggle room for their food in case I can't locate a source for some wild milkweed somewhere.

Also wanted to mention the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia 'Torch'. Someone told me they were a butterfly magnate and they certainly are in my location. The plants are huge (mine are now 6.5 - 7 ft tall) and leaves are rather coarse but the blooms are lovely and the butterflies are on them more than any other plant I have. I may change their location and plant again next year, planting other things in front. They need staking here as we have such heavy rainstorms. The flower stalks are big and thick but hollow. I guess the big leaves catch the rain and wind and down they come if they're not well supported. As you can see, the centers are huge and the butterflies sit for long periods of time, drawing nectar. This bloom must be 4-5 inches across. Next year I hope to have the purple coneflower and if they like it as well, I'll probably discontinue the Tithonia because of it's size, but for now, it's really providing a lot of nectar for these little beauties. I love this new hobby. :-)

Happy gardening and fostering to all.

Mary