Summer 2018 Monarch Diary

The Monarch Butterflies have a memory of where the Milkweed patches are.

The first butterflies appeared Mid-May. One female looked like she had traveled a long way to lay her eggs in my Milkweed patch.

“This is why it is a commitment when you plant Milkweed. It is also why the loss of Milkweed patches is so devastating to the Monarch Butterfly populations.”

I began collecting caterpillars on May 25. This year, there were so many, I couldn’t collect them all. I went on vacation on June 23, and did not return until July 4th. Many of those I raised were in cocoons when I left. Most of them hatched before I returned. My husband was the Monarch father that month!

Asters began to bloom at the end of August and continued until first frost on October 14.

The Gathering began the last week of August. Cosmos and Phlox were in bloom.

Butterflies came to the Asters and Thistles throughout the fall. The last two butterflies were in my garden until October 11.

I released 55 healthy butterflies, lost four to black death and pesticide poisoning, and had four with cripples wings.

The Pesticide Registry

My neighbor's arborist, who came to spray the trees for fungus, told me

about the Pesticide Registry in Wisconsin. It is kept by the Department of Natural Resources Consumer Division. Those of us on the registry receive calls from commercial property management businesses telling us when they will spray our neighbor's yards. I registered in November and it worked! Knowing when the yards would be treated gave me a chance to harvest my leaves before the landscapers came. I also scouted out patches of Milkweed to

keep me in a good supply of leaves. It takes two weeks for the poisons to recede and for my own patch to be safe again.

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