Another explanation is the unnatural transfer of monarch butterflies that are shipped all over the United States of America and Canada by butterfly farmers. I've been told by someone in Mexico that monarchs are widely sold for many occasions within their country, too. Many Midwestern states (those to the east of the continential divide) including Texas allow the transfer of monarchs into Florida by permit from the USDA/APHIS. Up to 200 monarchs can be transferred and released with this permit. Exceptions are given for larger releases. Right now monarchs are transferred to Arizona from CA and released. This has been going on since 2004. Another source may be people who vacation in FL from those states who have native A. asperula. Some people take their butterflies on vacation with them and then release them in a warmer area. You might try posting a message to Monarch Watch to ask this question, too.

Good grief! Here's the problem...ESPECIALLY if you live in Southern California... We have SO many micro-climates that if you were truly to find 'a' native, chances are, it is NOT going to grow in the supposed area you are told it is native to because of the micro-climate. Yes, this is true. I don't care what anyone tells you. I have had so many people contact me asking why their 'native' milkweed isn't growing. hmmm...shall I explain wby? Why does the A. curassavica grow better in certain areas whereas the A. fasicularis just sit there and, well, NOT? Could it be the soil? Water quantity? Moisture in the air? Fog layer? Altitude? Oh my, I could go on and on and on. Even within one city, there are a variety of micro-climates so that you can't state that a 'native' is going to definitely grow! Sheesh. If people are this fired up over a Milkweed plant, then perhaps they should just grow it in a pot. There are many plants that are NOT natives and there aren't any complaints that I hear of. In fact, lots of the fires that we've had lately? Native plants not having any water *but that's natural because they're not supposed to, right? so the area is dry and brittle and fire prone...and by leaving it 'back to the native' it opened up a huge fire zone So was it bad? Bad meaning bad having these native plants out there? No. Bad for fires though, yes. I'm not saying we shouldn't have native plants. Nah, not that at all. I just think that it's like politics and religion and not something people should argue over. Each person should be entitled to their own opinion. Plain and simple. I don't think this is something worth arguing over. Sherry

Hi, I'm a noob when it comes to butterfly gardening. I really want to attract butterflies to our garden. I searched online on how to attract these insects and I found this blog post: http://finscar.blogspot.com/2011/06/invite-butterflies.html The post includes plants that a certain butterfly species feed on. I'm not sure about the post. I don't want to go buying plants that would turn out useless. Could anyone please verify if the plants mentioned would really attract butterflies? Thank you.

Awesome pictures, Kathy! The thistle really is beautiful. That planting for the birds thing is a great idea. I haven't seen it done here. Now, the butterflies will migrate and the tag will be read by someone far away? Stupid question alert***Will this butterfly survive the winter and come back up here to lay eggs? Or is it a goner? (School was a looong time ago and I have an appt soon and cannot research right now - and it will be out of my head by the time I get upstairs to change, lol) Jeanne