If you have flowers in your garden, you already attract a variety of butterflies.
Monarchs love pollen-filled flowers, too, but they will stick around longer if you plant a milkweed native to your area.
A native milkweed for my area is Asclepias tuberosa.
Milkweed is the only plant on which the monarch butterfly will lay her eggs. When the egg hatches, the caterpillar eats the milkweed leaf and grows quickly. In about 10 days to two weeks, the caterpillar will make a chrysalis and begin its transformation into a butterfly.
Photo: iStockphoto.com/rainbow-7
The chrysalis of the monarch is a beautiful green with gold trim. Ten days to two weeks later, the chrysalis will become transparent allowing you to see the butterfly.
When this happens, the birth of the monarch is very near.
More posts on monarchs can be see on my blog.
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