Raising Butterflies

What Isaiah started in Preschool, continues…..

Many years ago, I planted White Asclepsia plants at the end of the driveway. Had no idea what the plant did, etc. Until one day when Isaiah and I were coming home from preschool and there were butterflies all over the plant. WI had to stop the van and Isaiah was fascinated. We stopped every day for a week or two to watch the butterflies.

We researched and found out our plant was a kind of milkweed and our butterflies were Fritillaries, only there for the nectar. We read books and learned about the stages of butterflies, host plants, nectar plants, etc.

I had worked for years to get common milkweed to live here for Monarch butterflies. It suddenly came up in the garden fence and we found 50 Monarch caterpillars eating on it.

And so it continued. He is not as enthusiastic as he once was but he will still help me search for caterpillars on the milkweed plant that has spread everywhere. We have just about every host plant growing here now.

I am pretty sure he can still identify most of the varieties of butterflies we have here. I don’t think he ever walks past fennel, parsley or dill without looking for Black Swallowtail caterpillars. I know I can’t. 🙂

That memory thing again.