Two and a half years ago, I invested in a skilled horticulturist to transform my front yard into a haven for pollinators. Last year, I had several visitors, including hummingbirds.

I also had bees and many varieties of butterflies, but this year, I saw something I had never before seen in my front garden: Monarch caterpillars.

I saw them for three days and now they are gone. The life cycle of a monarch butterfly has four main stages: eggs from an adult Monarch which last about 3-5 days before hatching on a milkweed plant. The caterpillars last about 9 to 14 days as they eat milkweed and grow (see above photos). They then become chrysalises (none as of yet that I can see) that last for 9 to 14 days before emerging as adult butterflies. They live for only two to five weeks which seems sadly short, but perhaps the real joy is that each mating event lasts up to 16 hours, from one afternoon until the next morning.

Although I have seen adult monarchs (which are orange), I’ve never been able to see them long enough to take a photo. The yellow swallowtails, on the other hand, are quite the showoffs in my garden.

Maya Angelou has said, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” My garden butterflies have taught me a lot about transient beauty and appreciating fleeting moments. But perhaps they have also taught me that the many changes I have gone through have achieved a beauty I cannot always see. Add to that Mary Oliver’s words from the last stanza in her poem, “One or Two Things,” and I’m reminded that in the grand scheme of things, small failures will fade away.

For years and years I struggled
just to love my life. And then

the butterfly
rose, weightless, in the wind.
“Don’t love your life
too much,” it said,

and vanished
into the world.