Butterfly release
 

Today I went to the Butterfly gardening lecture at Lake Miona Rec. Center where I helped tag Monarch butterflies and then to the release at Lake Sumter Landing.

It was wonderful!

Wish I would have been there. Was there a notice in the Sun?

Butterflies
 

Connie, I have been raising Monarchs for years. A number of other people in my neighborhood do also. I have a few asclepias plants I can spare if you are interested in butterfly habitat. Asclepias is the host plant for the Monarch. They lay eggs on it and the plant is eaten by the caterpillars.
I love seeing butterflies take flight for the first time. It would be so amazing if we could make TV one huge butterfly habitat. There are dozens in my yard at any given time..and not just Monarchs.

Plants should also be making seed soon, so I will have lots of seeds available later in the fall.

They should call them flutter by's because that's what they do.

I will be a new resident in December and if I recall, there used to be an area with buffalo? Perhaps the developer would be interested in taking a portion of that preserve and making it a butterfly garden? I know they do a lot of plantings and that would be such a lovely addition-especially for visiting grandchildren! With some trails, asclepias, coneflower, gardenia, snow on the mountain. Oh... How lovely!!! It would be a lovely place to take a walk and meditate. Like a small botanical garden! Just a thought....

Pics by Bruce Kavin
 

Attachment 5251

Attachment 5252

These are two of the pics taken by Bruce Kavin in Hemingway from the Butterfly Release. He was fortunate to be up close to take the pics.:bigbow:

So beautiful. I love butterflies.

This morning I jumped into a thickly planted flowerbed because an anole had just grabbed a beautiful sulfer. Unfortunately, the lizard was faster than I was and got away with the beautiful butterfly.

That anole was a real a-hole if you ask me.

Is Asclepia the Latin name for Milkweed? I would love to have some....let me know later on when the pods start getting ready. I haven't prepared the ground for plants yet......still working on the inside of the house! but I can always put a few milkweed in among the landscaping....thanks for the offer!

yes, there was an article about it in the Sun a few days ago. I cut it out and put it on my calendar. Not sure if it was in the paper yesterday.

There were lots of people there.

oh, I can see a tag on the monarch's wing. I helped do that!

Yes, showy milkweed! See link.

PLANTS Profile for Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed) | USDA PLANTS

I have the plants in the bottom left corner.

I had the privilege of tagging 10 of the butterflies released Friday.
Incredible experience.

Where is the best source for butterfly plants....both host and nectar? I used to go to Lucas' nursery in Oveido, but I sure don't want to have to travel so far!

Watched a monarch around my milkweeds today (brought with me, moved 4/2/13 to Gilchrist).
So went out to look at the plants...
Look what I found!

Here she is on a sunflower! I hope she wasn't looking for a mate. let's hope she's hanging around the milkweeds to lay her eggs.
Thanks for the release back when, ya'll.
anybody giving out milkweed seeds these days?
Kitty

I have started some by seed, when they grow big and reseed, I'll be happy to share.

lmk how your plants are coming. wouldn't you love to see the monarchs in Mexico?

who checks the tags after?

Kitty, Normally I have extra asclepias plants and seeds but this summer I don't. The caterpillars have been voracious. I will be lucky to get my whole group raised. I have some in chrysalis and many ready to go into chrysalis. I also have lots of babies. I love butterflies!

Before moving to The Villages, I was a volunteer tour guide at a large indoor butterfly garden (Brookside Gardens, Montgomery County, Maryland). We had butterflies from the US, Central America, and from Asia and usually had around 500 flying at one time. People loved the Blue Morphos from Central America!

I mainly gave tours to 2nd and 3rd grade kids and that was fun. However, my favorite was when groups of senior citizens from some of the nursing homes would visit. Quite a few had Alzheimers or dementia and were just blank in their wheelchairs. Sometimes when a butterfly would land on them, their eyes would brighten up visibly and a smile would appear on their face.

My wife and I have milkweed for Monarchs here in The Villages as well as passionflower vine for Gulf Frittelaries. Pretty good crop of butterflies this year.

for now I have room for a few on my plants. lmk if you need to rehome some.