Monarch Prettiness

The Monarchs have been so pretty in the backyard the past few days. This is the male dining on Jatropha. There is a female that has been laying eggs on what I believe is Scarlet Milkweed.  I know Scarlet Milkweed is not truly native ( I believe it is native to South America), but, we have a difficult time finding anything else locally. I make sure I plant my own from seeds after the first flower in the spring. That is coming up again for a second go around after it was depleted and cut back. I also let the seeds blow in the wind so much comes up naturally. This year I wanted to make sure I had enough and hubby picked some up at Biosphere. He came home with Scarlet I think (no flowers to be sure). I am not sure if Biosphere is carrying anything else this year but I might take a ride over this coming week to see. I know many years ago they carried the true native Milkweeds. My neighbor down the street about 4 blocks is reporting 12 Monarch chrysalises hanging from her soffit next to her screen lanai. Let's hope this is a good year for the sweet Monarchs to make a recovery!