Monarch Butterflies

We had a wonderful experience this summer with our butterfly garden that we planted this spring.

We were out looking at our beautiful flowers when a mother monarch butterfly came and landed on our milkweed and layed  her eggs.

 

We brought them inside and put them in our butterfly cage.

and waited

about 4 days

and out hatched little 5 tiny caterpillars.  They ate their egg casing first.

Then they went on to eat the hairs on the milkweed

until they got big enough to eat some holes in the leaf itself.

They grew very quickly.

They shed their skins several times and then would eat the skin.  Nothing was wasted!

They were so cute and fun to watch.

Five siblings all eating on the milkweed we brought in for them.

After 2 weeks of feeding they shed their skin for the last time. and became a beautiful crysallis

10 days later they broke out into a butterfly.  Such a wonderful and amazing transformation.

We let them hang outside on our morning glory vine to dry their wings.

One we put on my orchid plant for some pictures.

They were very tame while they waited for their wings to dry.

Mary had so much fun holding them and looking at them up close

Finally we put them in the little garden where their life began.

In a short while they took to the skies, heading South

It was so rewarding to see them fly and know that we had helped and protected 5 beautiful butterflies to become strong adults and continue their migration. 

The lovely Monarchs, amazing creatures of God's beautiful world!