Date: 05/28/2002

Number: 1

After days and days of cool weather in northern Michigan, including a cold, wet Memorial Day weekend, temperatures soared into the 70's, the strong sun appeared--and tiny milkweed shoots emerged from the sand dunes in countless places. Although they stand only about 1 inch tall, their leaves are already present and available for the eggs of any meandering monarch.

I was surprised to see milkweed growing in the dunes, as it seems to be such an inhospitable climate. But last year's stalks and pods are abundant, so it's cleary capable of growing here. I can envision these dunes as a migration corridor for monarchs moving up the western shores of Lake Michigan--so will be watching for monarchs carefully over the next days. (I noticed first monarchs were reported from the Ann Arbor area on May 23rd, 5 days ago.)

Cross Village, MI

Latitude: 45.6 Longitude: -85

Observed by:
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