We rescued 15 monarch caterpillars from our Butterfly Weed plant before the holidays. The freeze knocked out all our plants except the one close to the house. We brought the caterpillars in and covered the plant to keep a food source for them and watched patiently over the holidays for them all to cocoon. (We even gave a few away as presents).
On New Years Day our first two butterflies emerged and the girls released them the next day. We'll hope for warmer days so they can make the trip to Mexico.
What a beautiful way to start the New Year!