Butterflies Are Free To Fly

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(Edited)

Sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away bye bye!

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Monarchs are Back!

About 20 years ago, we planted a dozen of these, along on side of the back garden. they are the butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). Over the years, we've pulled some of them out, leaving only four... these are all this lavender color. I see bees,moths, and butterflies at the lavenders, and less so at the white ones we did. Given that these are technically classified as invasive species for much of North America, I am not personally recommending planting them, if you haven't already done so.



It's impressive, to think this, and thousands of other Monarchs are making journeys, starting now, of some 2500, 3000 miles! Most leave Northern America and Canada, and head to either Florida, or Mexico/So. California. At little over 6-8 mph, that's going to take a bit, to get there!

In 2014, the number of migrating Monarchs fell to all time record lows, with numbers reaching dangerous levels, particularly, west coast populations. the number of Overwinter and Breeding monarchs, here, in New England, and East Coast in general seem to show that at least part of the species will survive! I know many friends who are working to plant, breed, raise, and cultivate in general.



Near as I understand it, this one pictured, is a female. the males have less vibrant blacks, more muted brown/black. Also, the images I found show males to be slightly less vibrant orange, as well.



Monarch, is joined by a Bee!


Given the challenges facing all insects and birds in finding nectar, there's no way we are pulling these plants, invasive, or not. As you can see, we get bees, too, at this plant, as well as all our lavender plants, the other othering fruits, and our flowers, too!


You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away bye bye

Songwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton John




Always, I strive to give back
To the animals and birds around me
to put more plants in than I take out
And be a good steward for the world around me!

All Photos by Bluefin Studios.


More Garden photos

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!steemitworldmap 42.009482 lat -70.082560 long Monarchs d3scr



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19 comments
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How beautiful and special. Love butterflies. Our spring and summer is coming. I can feel the weather changing from the anticyclonic winter weather to some warmer, balmier spring days. Soon enough we'll be complaining about the humidity and the heat. Love the photos. Glad I got to see them :)

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Awesome!
I love when the seasons change... it's always fun to see change.
Although, honestly, I prefer Spring, Summer and Fall.

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Well then Mauritius would be perfect for you... 😉 No proper winter. It doesn't get cold just a bit cool once you've acclimatized to the heat and the humidity but no real cold. 😊

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beautiful shots ... our changing world is impacting everything

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My wife's father passed away nearly a year ago. Since then, the family say they have been seeing a brown butterfly around a lot... and they don't live in the same country either...
Thank for sharing in #PYPT

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thanks for sharing at #pypt discord, photos are nice. I never thought that too many migrated there. By the way why did they left and went to Florida or Mexico?

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they spend their summers here, in Northern US, and Southern Canada, and their winters in Mexico, and Florida, where it is warmer. It's too cold for them to live over winter, here up north.

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SO cool.... I love that photography. And so nice to see that they're not disappearing either. Now if we can just do something about those bees........

Thanks for sharing this to #pypt this morning 😊🙏🏽☯️

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ahhh, the Monarch population is down, less than 50% of where it was two decades ago.
They are in trouble... but two reasons why they are doing OK around New England...(Northeastern US)

  1. People here spend money and raise them. Buy caterpillars and raise them, and release them to the wild.
  2. People here spend a lot of time making gardens accessible for Butterflies
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