Raising Monarchs

[Dave 54]

Well done Country and I note you have one or two of the good books under your cabinet

Dave

 

[addy1]

I have a lot of the orange milkweed, planted by me and now seeding itself here and there. Love the color

 

[Mmathis]

@JBtheExplorer @addy1 The orange is lovely! Are the monarchs equally attracted to it?

 

[JBtheExplorer]

@JBtheExplorer @addy1 The orange is lovely! Are the monarchs equally attracted to it?

I'm not sure, to be honest, I have a feeling the larger milkweeds are bigger attractors, but it is a milkweed, so if you plant it, they will come. Not to mention it's a just great looking plant in general to have around a garden or pond.

 

[Lisak1]

@JBtheExplorer - I've seen this plant tagged as butterfly weed. Is it perennial?

 

[JBtheExplorer]

@JBtheExplorer - I've seen this plant tagged as butterfly weed. Is it perennial?

Yes, its a perennial. Milkweeds are often called Butterfly Weed or Butterfly Flower when sold at garden centers, but it seems they most often give that name to the Orange Milkweed.

 

[Mmathis]

I'm not sure, to be honest, I have a feeling the larger milkweeds are bigger attractors, but it is a milkweed, so if you plant it, they will come. Not to mention it's a just great looking plant in general to have around a garden or pond.

Reason I ask is that I've been reading quite a few articles about MW and monarchs, and it seems there are only a few varieties of MW that are noted for attracting monarchs. There are some VERY lovely MW plants, but they are way down on the list of "monarch favorites." I will look for something I just read where they rated about a dozen varieties and whether monarchs will use them as host plants or not. If I'm remembering, "common," "swamp," and "tropical" were the top 3 most likely to attract them. And the only reason I'm concerned with this is that we have limited space in our yard -- now that there's a POND sitting out there! -- so I need to limit my selections to what will get the best results.

I have never seen a MW plant close-up until I planted the ones I have. Have never seen a bloom, or smelled one, either, but I can sure tell I've been missing out! Sniff, sniff, sniff, [sniffing imaginary MW blooms.....] sigh!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Reason I ask is that I've been reading quite a few articles about MW and monarchs, and it seems there are only a few varieties of MW that are noted for attracting monarchs. There are some VERY lovely MW plants, but they are way down on the list of "monarch favorites." I will look for something I just read where they rated about a dozen varieties and whether monarchs will use them as host plants or not. If I'm remembering, "common," "swamp," and "tropical" were the top 3 most likely to attract them.

Yep, I have no doubt that certain milkweeds attract more monarchs. My guess is that they're most attracted to the species that can be found along their entire migration route, rather than rare species or species that can only be found in certain areas, but all milkweeds attract monarchs to some extent, either for laying eggs or for its nectar, and all are successful host plants for their caterpillars. I've seen Common and Swamp milkweeds often listed at the top of important Monarch plants lists. Tropical milkweed is not native to the US and some suggest it's harming the monarch populations by causing them to not migrate, especially in the south. I don't know if there have been enough studies on it yet to say how much damage its actually doing, but in general I suggest always sticking with milkweed native to the area or nearby areas.

As I was telling Lisak1, I had two monarch caterpillars on my orange milkweeds last year. I was surprised to see since my first-year plant was small and there was nothing else in the garden yet. I expect a lot more once my nectar sources fill in - Purple Coneflowers, Wild Bergamot, Black-Eyed Susan, Blazing Star, etc.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Well done Country and I note you have one or two of the good books under your cabinet

Dave

LOL! I noticed that too @Dave 54, was going to mention it but you beat me to it

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Had to take a photo of my Orange Milkweed since we were talking about it. ehh.. who am I kidding? I was going to take this photo anyway! Blazing Star is in the foreground, Spiderwort is in the background.

 

[CountryEscape]

JB, I just dug up that same plant, and I've also heard of it called a butterfly weed. Either way, I have 2 pretty good sized root systems of them! They seem to have huge tubers under the surface, and are pretty deep. I took a spade, and found them in the road ditch along the highway. Asked the farmer,and he said SURE! I've admired them for 3 years now, and never got up the guts to ask if I could dig them, as only found them along the interstate (never try to dig up plants on an interstate .... ) or highway. Anyhow, I'm thrilled to have 2 sets of plants. I hope they both make it, but so far, so good.

I also dug up black eyed susans and chickory (the blue flower) along the back roads.

To be quite honest, I have only seldom seen the monarchs on the milkweed plants. IMO, they go there to lay their eggs, so the caterpillars will have food supply. Yes, pretty sure I will have plenty of food for the babies! If you look close, there are tall (yes, they are 5' tall, the ones that are on 2-3 year old roots) and also smaller 2-3' sized plants. I see the monarchs much more often on the coneflowers. So, if you want a food source for the butterfly, get coneflowers, too! This was a pretty small monarch, so wonder if it just emerged?

And, not to get off the subject of this thread, today the babies are 3 days old. I found 6 of the 7, and they are growing! Isn't he cute??? I can't believe how colorful they are at such a young age. I put fresh leaves in, too. Someone said to get the leaf water thingies that florists use to keep flowers fresh, so I may see about buying a dozen or so of them. That would be much easier than the cup with water and saran wrap. I think one of the babies got down in the water.

 

[CountryEscape]

And, Dave, you have a very sharp eye! Those are the books you recommended, and I requested for Christmas two years ago.
IMO, the swamp milkweed has no aromatic smell. If you want milkweed for the monarchs to enjoy, and for the frangrance, get the common. I do like the looks of the swamp milkweed, too, though. Here is my swamp milkweed. I planted it last year from seedlings my GF wintersowed and gave to me. It did not bloom last year, but is/was full of blooms this year. Smaller flowers, tinier leaves, doesn't look anything like the common milkweed, so I get what you say about many varieties.

As I said, I will be happy to send milkweed seeds in an envelope if people send me a PM with their address. Make the subject of the PM "milkweed" and I will get them to you when the seeds are mature. They do need to be put in the ground this fall, to be cold stratified (is that the right word?), then they will sprout next spring.

 

[Mmathis]

 

[JBtheExplorer]

JB, I just dug up that same plant, and I've also heard of it called a butterfly weed. Either way, I have 2 pretty good sized root systems of them! They seem to have huge tubers under the surface, and are pretty deep. I took a spade, and found them in the road ditch along the highway. Asked the farmer,and he said SURE! I've admired them for 3 years now, and never got up the guts to ask if I could dig them, as only found them along the interstate (never try to dig up plants on an interstate .... ) or highway. Anyhow, I'm thrilled to have 2 sets of plants. I hope they both make it, but so far, so good.

Orange Milkweed is noted for being extremely difficult to transplant because of its long taproot. Hopefully it'll make it for you. It also might go through transplant shock but then come back nice and strong next year. Also be careful with the Chicory. I get the stuff all over my lawn and I don't even have a chicory plant growing in the yard, it just pops up. Black-eyed Susans are biennials. The first year they usually grow leaves and roots(occasionally flower), the second year they flower and seed and die. You have to drop the seeds in the same spot in autumn if you want to keep them.

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks, JB, I didn't know that. I'm still trying to decide if I want a true wild flower garden, or just put extras in that space, and mulch it so grass and weeds don't grow. Not sure the seeds would come up if I mulched it, though, so it's a toss up.
Well, MM, looks like that pic above proves I posted a pic of a Viceroy, not a Monarch! Wondered the difference, besides the wing patterns, and learned the Viceroy does not migrate, and it's host plant is a poplar or willow tree. Also, Viceroys are faster and more erratic in flight, but Monarchs are more graceful. Viceroys are a bit smaller than Monarchs, so that's why I thought this guy was newly emerged! I think when they emerge they are full size, but for some reason I thought maybe they continued to "open up" for a few days, stretching their wings. Nope, I was wrong thinking that. Thanks for pointing out the difference, MM!