I've got the milkweed, plenty of butterfly attracting bushes and flowers, but no monarchs yet?
The attached pictures show the various places I put milkweed. I like to put milkweed in pots raised a little bit and in flowerbeds for two reasons:
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female monarchs that visit flowers will have conveniently located milkweed for laying eggs.
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being away from other milkweed and off the ground makes the milkweed less likely to be invaded by predators
Many of my neighbors do not take care of the strip of land between their property and the alley and are happy to let me plant milkweed and especially flowers and bushes. The alley pictures show milkweed, and later I will take pictures showing the various annuals and perennials that I plant in the alley as well. Coneflowers, black-eyed Susan's, and Shasta daisies are all perennials I have started in these areas.
In the picture showing the area between two garages, mine is on the right-hand side and has a south facing exposure so it gets sunshine all day long. Just yesterday, the neighbors put in a couple of boxes full of honeybees. You can see them on the left.
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2 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Hang in there. I have already been visited and await egg hatching.
Is that Tropical Milkweed in the pot?
Leafhead
Level 8
May 23, 2018
2
Common milkweed, the native species to my area
@MikeEC
Great. FYI: While we're on the subject, Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is a risky species for northern areas.
For one, they stay active and viable long after the native species harden off, coaxing adults to lay well past their time.
The other issue is that Tropical Milkweed is a potential carrier of OE, a dreadful parasite that affects development.
Use with caution. Destroy well BEFORE migration South, and always ALWAYS wash well before giving to caterpillars!
So if you ever see this for sale with its pretty red and yellow flowers and slender foliage, keep this in mind
@Leafhead Thanks for sharing that information. It is definitely worth noting for gardeners in general that it is always better to choose native plants. When I first planted milkweed four years ago, my first batch of monarch caterpillars was delivered on swamp milkweed (listed as native to my area, but I have never seen anything but common milkweed growing wild in the fields), so I planted some swamp milkweed. The last two years, the monarchs have totally ignored it and laid all their eggs on common milkweed so that is the only type of milkweed I have. I'm sure I have well over 100 common milkweed plants in pots, in plant beds in my yard, and particularly up and down the alley behind my house.
When the monarchs finally arrive, I will have all of the eggs and caterpillars I can handle. Over the winter, I saved about a dozen 2.78 QT. size Tropicana orange juice containers to give "gift caterpillars" to neighbors with information about the completion of the metamorphosis. By doing this, I am hoping that more of my neighbors will plant milkweed. In a future post, I will include pictures and a description of how I construct and set them up.
Try not to get discouraged. This is definitely a case of if you build it they will come
CraeftSmith
Level 7
May 23, 2018
4
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OH, USA
TerriCity
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Silver City, New Mexico,
Photos 104 More
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Posted by TerriCitySulpher butterfly from caterpillar to pupa to adult butterfly.
Posted by TerriCitySulpher butterfly from caterpillar to pupa to adult butterfly.
Posted by TerriCitySulpher butterfly from caterpillar to pupa to adult butterfly.
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Posted by MikeECI posted this earlier In the Gardeners group, but had actually intended to post it here. Those of you who are members of both groups get to see it twice ?
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