Butterfly Garden

Monarch Butterfly

We were so thrilled Monday to see the first of the Monarch butterflies hatch out and fly off.  We've really tried to make the front yard into a place where butterflies, humming birds and bees can find the food, water and plants they need to thrive.

It became apparent after the first caterpillar fiasco last October, when the Scrub Jays evidently picked off all the Monarch caterpillars, that we needed to keep the butterfly plants away from the bird feeders in the back yard.  Just one of those moments that make you smack your forehead and say, "Duh!"

So Cindy moved all the Asclepia plants to the front yard where we already had the Bush Germander, Mexican Heather, Butterfly Bush and Yarrow that butterflies like.  We also have the Bougainvillea that several of them have chosen for making their chrysalises.  There are several plants that Humming Birds like, but the hummers don't seem to bother the butterflies.  Other birds don't seem to spend much time in the front yard, probably because the shrubs are too low to provide much cover and the bird feeders and water are in the back yard, where there's better cover and more nesting sites.

We're lucky to live in San Diego, California, where the temperate climate makes it possible for some butterflies, such as the Monarchs and Painted Ladies, to live here year round.  We also enjoy the Zoro Butterfly Garden, a sunken garden that was originally designed as a nudist area for the 1935 California-Pacific Expositon in the city's incredibly beautiful Balboa Park.