I saw a Monarch flitting around the yard today, just before lunch. As you know, they are mostly soaring, so I went out to see what was happening. The female was hopping all over the pink milkweed plant (asclepias incarnata) that I had sheared all the flowers off of; I sheared the plant hoping to delay the flowers for later nectaring. And then she started laying eggs. She would stand on the leaf and curl her tail under so that the egg was deposited right under the leaf. This keeps it hidden and out of direct sun, for safe-keeping, I guess. Then she went to another plant and did the same thing.I think she laid 3 eggs per plant; except for this tiny self sown milkweed that only seemed to have one egg on it. So I should get about 6-12 caterpillars if all goes well.
Last year I had no monarch caterpillars and the year before I had a bunch that pupated and I got three or four monarch butterflies from them.
I planted two additional milkweed plants this year and some self seeded. I'll keep you posted.
A happy day in our garden at the pink house. Go Caterpillars!
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