It's Reigning Butterflies!

The Surprises Keep Flying In

After all the excitement of having an eclosure yesterday and having a gorgeous male Monarch fly away, I
didn’t have great expectations for today. We had high hopes for chrysalis #5, but it looked about the
same,  still beautiful and green. I was delighted to see a lovely Painted Lady also.
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At 12:30, when I went back to the garden, we had a busy yellow Cloudless Sulphur, as well as a Cloudless Skipper, the busiest of all little skippers.

​The greatest surprise was yet to come: at 5:30, a big male Monarch appeared  on a Miss
Molly butterfly bush. He flew away and almost immediately, a gorgeous, pristine female Monarch landed
on the same plant!  Two Monarchs in the garden at once! I was thrilled. I watched them
fly about, sometimes flying together in twirling fashion. Then, I saw a flurry of orange on the ground by
one of the small logs. Could it be what I thought? Oh. My! The flurry continued frantically
and there was no doubt. Suddenly, the male flew up carrying the female and off they
went!!! The Monarch life cycle had come full circle in this first year of the garden! What joy!

Monarchs at play in the garden.