🌼 Bright Lights and Flames in the Garden 🌼 😍

Happy 4th of July Weekend Good GROWer,

it’s been hot and steamy the past couple days and mother nature (not wanting to be upstaged) is putting on her own fab fireworks show ⛈️

An abbreviated garden tour continues today with two containers on the far side of our back garden, bordering the woods. 🏡

But first, an update on Raise The Migration 2025…

Raise The Migration SUPPLY LIST

As we enter into July, the time has come for Raise The Migration 2025, where I’ll teach you our process for raising HEALTHY monarchs through the 4-stage butterfly life cycle.

Over the last month I’ve been testing out two new locations for raising butterflies (one inside, one out) from the eggs we brought in on May 29th, and both locations have worked well.

I know not everyone is able to raise butterflies in/out for various reasons (limited space, pets, etc…) so I’m hoping that having the option to choose what works best for your situation will let more in the community participate this season.

As I’ve mentioned before, we are moving all the information from Raise the Migration to a course platform where it will be organized and available year round for your convenience. Much more on this in the coming weeks. But for now…

The Supply list for 2025 has just been published, and all supplies are 10% OFF through Monday July 7th:

Raise The Migration 2025: Supply List Suggestions ⬅️ (10% discount automatically applied at checkout)

Raise The Migration SIGN UP ⬅️ (sign up if you’re not receiving the ‘Raise The Migration’ newsletter and feel free to send this link to anyone you think might be interested in learning how to raise healthy monarch butterflies)

Garden Wildlife Report

In your last newsletter, I mentioned a baby bunny had found its way through our back yard fencing. I’ve seen the little guy a few times now and he seems to have taken to the clover, and hasn’t messed with any more large plants…that I’ve noticed.🤞

He has munched down the bright lights cosmos planted on the edge of our yard, so I’m happy we planted a large pot of them in another area, along with an annual we moved to a new spot this year…

Garden Plant Report: A NEW Location for…

The Mexican flame vine (along with the cosmic cosmos listed above) is thriving in a new area of the garden this season where it receives morning shade and afternoon sun. It did not approve of the reverse conditions last year, barely flowering at season’s end. That’s why we’re always experimenting with LOCATION in our garden and I encourage you to do the same.

The flame vine isn’t flowering yet, but it will start in mid-July and bloom all the way to first frost…in fact, it has thrived (surprisingly) in our northern garden in past seasons when it cools in September and October.

If you’re interested in seeing if flame vine or ‘bright lights’ cosmos are a good fit for your garden, check out the garden resources section below…

Garden Resources

Below are a few of the standout plants featured from the above video to consider now, or for future gardens:

Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides (Mexican Flame Vine) ⬅️ (climbing nectar vine for monarchs and more)

Cosmos Bright Lights Mix ⬅️ (brilliant orange, red, and yellow blooms all season long)

Coming Up Next?

I’ll be sharing more from our gardens and revealing more details about Raise the Migration 2025.

Until Next Time,

Tony your Butterfly Guide