It's in Monarch Waystation #1370. Do they have a map?
how did he know?
What a beauty. As for a map, I think they do in their little heads as they sure know where to go every fall. Brilliant BF's and beautiful too.
Leslie
LadyCleo, did you just start seeing Monarchs there? I hadn't seen any around here, and just the other day started a thread asking about why, then the next day I had several here! I haven't seen any milkweed in my area so I figured I wouldn't be seeing any, but there have been two hanging around my lantana...
I only started seeing Monarchs in early-mid July here this year. Milkweed is a host plant. The adults lay their eggs on it and the cats eat the leaves after they have eaten their egg cases. Adult Monarchs visit many other plants for nectar, which they feed off of. Butterfly bush, coneflowers, black eyed susies, zinnias, cosmos, lantana, monarda, petunia, ornamental oregano, asters, liatris and russian sage are all popular favorites. Hopefully, there is some wild milkweed nearby, if the bozos with the herbicide haven't wiped it all out. Why don't you plant some just to be sure? It's a pretty plant. I love the height, bloom, seed pods and beautiful silky stuff that explodes from asclepias incarnata. It's not hard to grow either. Mark the spot where you have planted it though, as it is very late to break dormancy in the spring and easy to assume that you have lost it. There's lots more info on MonarchWatch.org if you'd like to check it out.
My first Monarch arrived on August 5th. It had a damaged wing. It really enjoyed my butterfly bush, zinnias, lantana, cosmos and heliotrope. I hope I see more this weekend.
I have a few volunteer milkweed plants growing under my deck and alongside my front porch. I even 'borrowed' a few from the grounds at work (before they cut them down) and transplanted them. My container garden will probably not qualify as a Way Station, but I hope I can attract more Monarchs than I did last year.
