These little ones are in for an unpleasant surprise Thursday night 
. But our pollinator garden officially attracts monarchs! I don’t know if I can overwinter them or not……
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Could we re-home them to the butterfly garden at Botanica?
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Don’t they over winter as a chrysilis (sp)?
These aren’t big enough to be mature by Thursday night
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Is there still some milkweed somewhere that could be harvested and put in a container with the caterpillars in a warmer place till they got mature enough?
I’m considering doing so Wed evening or Thursday. The other side of the garden has a little bigger plant I could harvest. I’m hoping that one’s seed pods mature. I’m already overwintering a polyphemus moth on my porch.
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That would be a fun experiment Sherry. Have you raised butterflies before? I’ve always thought it would be fun to try some time as long as a person had a good place to keep them.
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I’ve never tried raising butterflies before but giving it a go. They’re inside until they form a chrysalis, in a mesh playpen locked away from the cats. I’ll move the playpen to a colder location once they do, possibly a window well.
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Looks like a great setup Sherry. Hopefully they get to their chrysalis stage before food runs out. Sounds like you have a great plan there. I enjoy seeing different types of caterpillars in my garden and then suddenly there are chrysalis everywhere. Once in a while I have seen the butterflies soon after coming out of the chrysalis and hanging on to stretch and harden their wings. It’s pretty fascinating.
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My niece and I saw a Monarch flitting around MakeICT at the end of the summer… the butterfly garden definitely works
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