the Monarch Butterfly has always been a summertime visitor here at Olallie Daylily Gardens.

But in the past 3-4 years we saw a marked decline in their numbers with 2015-2016 with no Monarchs.

Last year we saw a few and this year dozens!. They really love the late blooming annuals including Zinnia and Tithonia.

It was unusually warm on September 26, 2018. The evening was calm and balmy and as a result the Monarch butterflies seemed unusually placid, allowing me to get with in inches of them to take these photographs.

Above a monarch inserts it's proboscis into one of the florets of the Zinnia flower. Seems like a lot of work!