Mystery of the Missing Butterflies

  Several times in the past few weeks, I have made mention of the weeds/wildflowers that I allow to pretty much take over the gardens.  Fall sees these plants put on their finest attire which gives the gardens a lovely splash of color.  Fall, also, sees the migration of butterflies that come to visit these very flowers....usually.

  As I was out with the old dog this afternoon, I made a very sad observation.  Although, the wildflowers are in full bloom, nary a monarch was sipping nectar.  The wild ageratum are usually the desired bloom for the orange butterflies.  These and the milkweeds seem to attract more monarchs than any other blooms in the gardens.  Today, however, I found only a few small fritillary butterflies and nothing else.  

  Are the monarchs simply running late this year or did they take an alternate route through the area?  I have no idea other than to say that none of my neighbors have seen the mass migration of previous years.  This, indeed, makes me sad.