butterfly Archives

Monarchs are Generational

This means one butterfly produces multiple generations, with each successive generation behaving differently. The last generation of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico and then reproduce on their way back north when days lengthen and temperatures warm up. Referred to as summer, or first-generation monarchs, these offspring begin laying eggs at a few days old and only live for a month as adults. Each new generation produced from that original migrant travels farther north, taking three or four generations to get as far as the northern United States and Canada.

Monarchs born early in the summer do not move far using their energy instead to produce as many offspring as possible. However, those that emerge later, referred to as generation four, will migrate to and from Mexico. Unlike the other generations, they do not reproduce right after birth. Instead, when days become shorter and temperatures decrease at the end of the summer, they feast on nectar to prepare for their long journey to southern climates. The delayed maturity of their reproductive organs is called diapause, a condition that lasts until the following spring, after which they begin to mate close to the spot they overwintered down south.

Monarch Joint Venture sums up the generations of monarch butterflies in this chart:

Migration Patterns and Practices

Monarchs cannot handle cold weather. As the only butterflies that navigate a complicated, two-way migration, when the temperatures dip, they know to head south. Not only do they migrate but they follow very specific routes to do so, traveling up to one hundred miles a day, and up to three thousand miles in total. Researchers currently believe that these incredible creatures use the position of the sun as well as the magnetic pull of the earth to navigate their routes and direct them. They also take advantage of air currents to ease their travel.

Monarchs living west of the Rocky Mountains migrate to southern California, while those living further east have several routes that merge in central Texas before heading to Mexico. Traveling only during daylight hours, monarch butterflies cluster together to roost at night to stay warm, sometimes as many as ten thousand in one tree! They prefer cedars, firs, and pines whose canopies offer comfortable temperature and humidity levels.

Milkweed Plants are Necessary for Monarchs

Each generation of monarchs begins its life on a species of the milkweed plant. First generations depend on Asclepias oenotheroides, A. viridis and A. asperula in the south. The other generations rely on A. syriaca (common milkweed), A. incarnata (swamp milkweed), and A. tuberosa (butterfly milkweed).

Conclusions About Monarch Butterflies

Well, have you learned anything? I sure did.

Although I have lots of milkweed planted in the two butterfly gardens I recently planted, I have no idea what kind of milkweed plants they are. I will investigate. Wherever you live, find and plant the appropriate species of milkweed to help the monarchs continue their cycles.

I now realize that the monarch I saw this week in my garden was a generation four. My camera and I followed its bloom-hopping trek as it competed with the bees for the nectar on the late-blooming asters.

Safe travels buddy!

Last fall, after much pleading on my part (plan approval is a complicated process), I was granted permission to design and create a butterfly garden at the local hospice I volunteer at. I have also referred to it as a wildflower garden to differentiate it from the more formal garden beds I have designed and planted there. This is my butterfly garden success story!

Although I posted an update this past spring, with details of the planting methods used, the final verdict on the success of my butterfly/wildflower garden was still out back then. These pictures were taken in early summer when things (not just weeds) finally started to grow…

butterfly garden success — Early summer update

This week, (late summer) I am thrilled to report that the experiment was a huge success! The warm and wet weather (and our hard work of course) has created a riot of colourful blooms in the garden…

Butterflies, Birds, and Bees…oh my!

Although I have been calling this a butterfly garden, the goal is to attract hummingbirds and bees to our new garden as well. The variety of plant shapes and flower colours in this garden is akin to a smorgasbord of delectables to attract all of mother nature’s creatures in droves. This type of garden is also referred to as a pollinator garden for obvious reasons. The stepping stones are to permit strolling through the garden as well as maintenance in the form of weeding and watering.

Hospice Garden Team

There are lots of I’s so far in this post. To clarify and assign credit where it is due in spades, (pun intended) this project (and the landscaping at the hospice in general) would never have reached this level of success without the keenness and diligence of our garden team at Ruddy Shenkman Hospice in Kanata.

These dedicated team members are on-site lots more than I am. For example, we have a watering schedule that ensures all the containers, new gardens, and new additions to older, established garden beds get attended to daily. We also have team members (one wonder woman in particular) designated for lawn cutting. With the extensive RSH property, these are huge, behind-the-scene tasks. As a (semi-retired) professional landscaper, my main role on the team is to design and create new projects (garden beds) and identify chores that need to be done to keep the gardens looking as great as they do. I’m getting good at making lists, although I still love getting my hands dirty in the planting stage.

Successes in Butterfly Garden Planning

I learned lots through the experimental process of this butterfly garden and made a few mistakes but my vision prevailed. Phew!

The mini greenhouses on my back deck all winter were definitely a success and something I would highly recommend! Those plastic clamshell containers from grocery stores come in handy for this purpose. They make for an inexpensive propagation method to sprout seeds, especially those that require cold stratification to germinate.

Also a huge success was the idea to plant seeds under clear plastic cups. On a whim, I did this in the early spring to fill in the blanks between the transplanted sprouts from the greenhouses. Using seeds of annuals from a big box store (poppies, asters, zinnias, cosmos, cleomes, and more) I simply put four or five seeds under each cup, pushed the cup into the soil to keep it from blowing in the wind, kept the soil wet around the cups, and waited for sprouts. I was amazed!

Mistakes Encountered

Sprinkling mixed seeds last fall was (relatively) a bust. These seeds were collected from plants in my gardens as well as from my clients’ gardens. I had a garden waste bag full of seeds. Although the thought was to provide a random dispersion of plants, the randomness was a little too excessive. Especially frustrating was trying to differentiate the weeds from the desired plants.

I also regret succumbing to the complaints about my “stick garden.” In doing so I removed the stakes that showed our team where the “keepers” (as opposed to weeds) were, making it frustrating for us all.

Convincing the Doubters

I think I also earned the respect of my fellow garden team members and hospice staff that were scratching their heads in disbelief throughout. Especially when the weeds were hard to differentiate from the wildflowers and butterfly attractors. I heard the term “stick garden” mumbled a few times when all that was visible was my stakes where the plants were supposed to be growing.

Conclusion

The good news? Everyone is enthusiastically on-board now. And, the most important critics of all, a few monarch butterflies and lots of bees were spotted enjoying the garden last week!

The beauty of self-seeding annuals is that they do just that, produce flower heads full of seeds that scatter randomly in the fall. Left in place, the seeds get buried in snow and pop up next spring as new plants.

I added butterfly-loving (brightly coloured) perennials, such as coneflowers, milkweed, Russian sage, blanket flowers, and many others to the bed to fill in the blanks between the annuals.