This is very common, and a very good thing for the larger insect population. It is disappointing for you not to see the Monarchs if and when they show up, but you are still doing a great service to the pollinating world. Check all of your plants carefully for eggs on the under side of the leaves, and the smallest plants most carefully. Give the garden more time, and continue to expand the number of native plants you have available to all the bugs. If you build it, they will come.

Martha

Thank you - I actually already have a fair amount of diverse plantings in my garden, though I've been expanding my postage-sized front with more plants that enjoy the direct sun that happens there. And as I've mentioned, there's loads of other insects doing their thing. Just an observation that, at least in this area, monarchs have become a very rare thing. Hmmm.

No one has answered my question on the houseflies - what seems to be the attraction to milkweed, specifically at this time of year? They are still buzzing crazily along. Is it the milkweed, or the aphids, or the aphid bodies maybe? Certainly, the ladybugs are coming on strong at this point, enjoying the aphids. No monarchs yet.