🪴Butterfly Plants to Consider Overwintering❓🏠

Happy Sunday Good GROWer,

it has been cool and quiet outside and I haven’t seen a monarch or hummingbird flutter by in more than a week.

My hope is, the 13 monarchs we released have joined their migration generation brothers and sisters, perhaps at this bountiful 🦋 garden in Kansas:

There’s still nectar in the garden for serious stragglers, but I’d be shocked to see any more migrators as we flirt with frosty (again) this week. ☃

Meanwhile, the swallowtail caterpillars continue to grow, but…

Raising Report 

I can say with almost 100% certainty these 5 swallowtails would not have survived without our help because:

• wasps would have likely eaten all of them in early October (there were at least 10 caterpillars when I first saw them)

• at least 2 would have succumbed to cold temps before forming their chrysalides…I think. It would have been a close call 🌿🐛🥶

2 swallowtails remain feasting on parsley while 3 have already started their journey to find the perfect pupation spot inside their large overwintering habitat.

I rolled their outdoor enclosure into the kitchen again last week to prevent the life cycle slow down that accompanies close-to-freezing temps.

I brought them outside again Thursday, but will them back inside today as the north winds blow in more crisp Canadian air.

They will be inside until the final caterpillar pupates…which should be this coming week.

Then, they will be rolled back outside to spend the entire winter in freezing temps until they emerge next spring.

I do love this set up, but there is one change I will probably make raising forward (with swallowtails)…

Outdoor Raising Setup

Unlike Monarchs, swallowtails are serious about hiding their chrysalides, so I literally have no idea where they are inside this massive enclosure except for the ones that hide in plain sight, like the one pictured above.

My guess is the ‘missing chrysalides’ are under their deck railing container, which easily has enough space for them to eclose ⬅️ and dry their wings next spring.

If butterflies eclose under the container, there will be sticks on the cage floor so they can crawl up to dry their wings in the sun next spring.

However, trying to find 5 chrysalides in here might be quite the adventure…this would be much simpler if I put them in one or two indoor mesh cages and placed those inside the outdoor enclosure like this:

For more info on this evolving outdoor set up, check out:

How to Raise Butterflies Outdoors ⬅️

It might be late to utilize this set up in 2025, but this could make an amazing holiday butterfly gift for 2026! 🎁🎄

🌿 Garden PLANT Report 🌺

This week could bring the first frost of the season🥶…which means it’s time to decide if we want to overwinter any plants not winter-hardy to our USDA hardiness zone…4b-5a.

We used to overwinter a dozen plants or more, but that was too much work, and definitely not worth the effort, in most cases. Perennial plants perform better when left outside to experience their winter growth cycle.

In recent years, we’ve narrowed it down to only a few annual plants where it will have the most positive impact for next season’s garden.

So, what factors do we consider to make these overwintering decisions?

🦋 Plants to Consider OVERWINTERING Indoors

This has become a less frequent event in recent years, but this season we will be bringing in three butterfly plants:

Lantana plant ⬅️

a. not hardy to zone 5a

b. can’t find this variety/intense color locally in Minnesota (not sure what variety)

c. attracts more pollinators than other lantana varieties we’ve planted…including monarchs (see photo at the top of the page lined above.)

Mexican Flame Vine ⬅️

a. not hardy to zone 5a

b. does not perform well as a first year plant in our region

c. grows quickly in northern regions from cuttings/plant

c. not available locally

Gregg’s Mistflower ⬅️

a. not hardy to zone 5a

b. favorite monarch plant during the migration

c. difficult to source locally

d. super slow growth from seed in our northern region

If you’re considering overwintering any plants from your garden, here’s more info about what to consider before making those decisions and why:

Annual Plants to consider Overwintering Indoors ⬅️

Garden LIFE Report

As the season winds down, our biggest garden pests from last winter have returned, so I’ll be covering plants today:

• Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady Butterfly)- one weary-winged warrior was feeding on Mexican sunflowers and zinnias yesterday

• Resident Green Frog makes another brief appearance- we are winterizing the water feature next week. I hope he leaves soon. The leopard frogs have never overwintered in the feature but have stayed in the garden into November

• Turkeys still making daily visits- this flock of about 20 birds walks through our front yard twice daily…down the street each morning, and then back up each evening

• Oh DEER! I haven’t seen them all year before today. Time to put plant protection ⬅️ on small plants and trees they decimated last winter

Coming Up Next Week

I’ll be back with photos of our overwintered plants AND to tell you how we insure that we’re only overwinters plants, and NOT bugs! 🐜🐞🕷️😱

Until Next time,

Tony your Butterfly Guide