Update from the Nursery

First of all, we give thanks to nature's glue, and the tenacity of the tiny. The day after Mama Monarch came through, we had a one-hour deluge that sent water rushing and flooding everywhere. The garden looked flattened, and the Joe Pye Weed looked like a big fat cloud had sat on it. 

Naturally, we worried about what had happened to the youngsters, like we were new parents and like major storms never happened in nature. We were happily reassured in both our nurseries. Although hard to find, we did find what we believe to be a Monarch egg under a milkweed leaf.

Meanwhile, out by the driveway, in the Long Tailed Skipper creche, we found this morning that the eggs had hatched, the casings empty under the leaf!

Not only that! We could also see leaf-cutting in action. According to the guides, the newborn caterpillar cuts the leaf and makes a little shelter for itself. It's so small that Rick at first thought the little green shard was the caterpillar itself. Only when the picture was blown up on the screen did we see the caterpillar itself, only about 1/8th inch long.  It is circled in red. The leaf itself is about an inch and a half long. 

We are truly amazed watching all of this in action. We will keep you up to date on the developments.