I haven't seen Monarchs passing by here in several years, weather conditions they find on their trip will change their course and destination. This year the Big A**ed orange Cosmos reseeded and some have out done last years crop. I need to get Randy to help me photograph the tallest one, it has to be 7-8 feet tall. Large patch of Cosmos ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) I saw three Monarchs, but by the time I got back out there with the camera only one remained. Monarch having a snack ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden )
That's great Toni! I didn't see a single Monarch butterfly last year but I did see several this year. I do hope they are starting to make a comeback!
Say Toni--what is the name of that sort of cosmea? I think that it is exciting that you are on their trail to Michoacán.
Sjoerd that's Cosmos sulphureus (Sulphur Cosmos, Yellow Cosmos) It's a great re-seeder, I haven't had to plant new seeds in about 5 years.
Great pictures! I don't think I've ever seen a Monarch in this area. However, I just looked up my county and there has been confirmed sightings. I'll have to watch for them and also check and make sure I have flowers that they like.
2ofus....check out This website. They have a list of good nectar plants for attracting Monarchs for those who live west of the Rocky Mountains.
Thanks Toni. I had planted them this year, but they got not much taller than one-and-a-half feet tall. Darn it. Those of yours would work better in my garden, but I can't get them to grow that tall. Is there anything special that you do to get them to perform so well?
I think I saw one or two monarchs, but i don't think they really like it here in NY lol. Beautiful shots btw
I was wondering how your orange cosmos did this year. I much prefer the foliage on the white/pink/red ones, but I was noticing the other day that I need to add some more orange. I may just have to give these another try. I "think" I saw a monarch the other day, but I didn't get a close enough look. I was actually a little surprised to see a butterfly... haven't seen any in about a month. Great photo!
Netty, from what I read on the Monarch Watch website, they are making a come back, quite a few more reports than last year. http://www.monarchprogram.org/where-to- ... -monarchs/ If anyone is near enough to California to visit them there are several Monarch overwintering sites there. It seems the monarchs west of the Rockie Mountains go there instead of to Mexico. 2ofus, you can go to google.com, enter in your city and state and the world latitude (ex..Lawrence, KS latitude) then compare your latitude with the chart http://monarchwatch.org/tagmig/peak.html to find out when the midpoint and peak time for seeing them in your area. Sjoerd, I do absolutely nothing to help them along. The package of seeds said they would be around 1.5 to 2 feet tall. This is the second year for the really large ones and there are also some of the regular size ones in other parts of the garden. I wasn't sure the seeds from the large ones last year would be viable but it appears they definitely are!! I have pulled up about 2 dozen of the little ones that would never be able to see the sun and there are still a couple of dozen out there. Next year I will be transplanting the seedlings to other parts of the yard. Shawchert, sorry you didn't see many. Maybe it was colder there than they like. It's been years since I have seen any here because of the last few summers and autumns of scorching heat. Cheryl, your latitude is 30 deg so the midpoint of the migration on their chart is October 12-18 and the peak is Oct 4-27. Butterflies have been few and far between up here too. There are usually lots of the Gulf Fritillary and Swallowtails, Red Admirals and several others. I was totally shocked to see 3 Monarchs out there yesterday.
this year it was way too cold, I have seen many different butterflies and moths, but we arn't really in any monarch path, but they do breed here, so we see them every once in a while, not this year though, too cold.
