Garland Community Garden- Garland Texas October 8, 2022 1PM

This afternoon I  counted 25 Monarch butterflies in a Zinnia patch near our Monarch wings sign. 

All of the Monarchs I saw were female.  You can tell the males from the females because the veins in the female's wings are thicker and the hind wings of the male have a black spot on the top of either side.  It was a thrill for me as I have been disappointed at the lack of Monarchs.  Usually they start drifting toward the middle of August.

Wing photos from Journey North--a great  website for current information about the Monarch butterflies migration.

Savoring the nectar.  They were so busy eating they didn't even notice me.  However the bumblebees did.  I also saw several of them but they got away before I could snap a photo of them.

They are  so beautiful and fun to watch. Tomorrow would be a great day to come down to the garden to see them and take your photo in front of the wings.  Also we have packets of Common Milkweed seeds to give away that are hanging from the back of the sign.

Now we are going to have to check the milkweed in the garden carefully for eggs and caterpillars.  Monarch caterpillars in the wild have a 5% chance of making it to adulthood as they are a delicious snack for birds.  Rescued caterpillars have a   95% chance of surviving.  

The photo above is from this year. I painted them and we installed on October 1, 2022. Honoring Monarch butterflies is part of the tradition of Loving Garland Green and the Community Garden.  Below is a photo of me and my two granddaughters from four years ago.  I also designed this participatory art as well.

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