Tales from the Garden

This fall, Uno and I have gotten to witness one of the most magical events on earth: the metamorphosis of three Monarch caterpillars into butterflies.    This incredible gift came to us from Coya Steele Silverlake, who as many Arivacans know, is a Monarch expert that also grows multiple species of their favorite food, milkweed.   In late October, Coya loaned us a mesh enclosure containing one of her milkweed plants, which already had two Monarch caterpillars voraciously feeding on it.   Later on, she brought over a third caterpillar to add to the party.      Newly-made chrysalis #1, with nearby caterpillar   Each caterpillar was in a different phase of growth (called an instar) and the “eldest” one created its chrysalis on November 3 rd .   After 17 days inside, a beautiful butterfly emerged (called eclosion) on a sunny afternoon, and within a few hours took its first flight.   Uno was able to keep watch over the whole process, and to capture his eyewitness experience with photos and