Raising Monarchs

[CountryEscape]

Also, two years ago, their numbers had been extremely low, so last year's "triple" didn't bring them quite back to what it had been the years before, but it was a massive improvement. Yes, we need to keep growing milkweed for them, no doubt. It amazes me how many people want to know more about monarchs and milkweed. Because of what I have learned and experienced with monarchs, I want to plant a large area of native and other flowers and plants, focusing on host plants for lots of types of butterflies, and nectar flowers for bees and hummingbirds, as well as seed flower plants for birds to eat in the fall and winter.
So, here is my newest project on my property. I've got 6 acres, 4 of which are pasture, so I've plenty of room to "experiment" with new plants. Since I love flowers, and have been collecting free "ditch" plants over the last couple of years, I decided to dedicate some areas which happen to be a long strip at the end of what was a garden at one time, or what used to be farmed 2 years ago. The composition of the soil is very different in all 3 of the areas, and I'll try to explain that here.
This area is what I call the "back section". It is about 25x50'. This area was farmed until 2 years ago, this will be the 3rd year not farmed. So, it has been tilled, sprayed with insecticide, herbicide and fertilized. Last year it didn't get mowed and there were some plants that were pretty tall, with clusters of white flowers that were VERY fragrant! It was at the end of the summer, and there were many many buckeye and other butterflies on them! This section goes to the 2 white posts. My pasture is on the right, and the land on the left of the fence posts is farmed. I bought this section so that at least this corner of my property would be squared off! As you can see, there are clumps of grass, but also open areas. I will be transplanting seedlings of many types of flowers in this area in a month or so.

Then the "middle section" at one time was garden, I have not tilled it up for 4 years, and mowed it up until a couple of years ago, then quit mowing it last 2 seasons, just let it grow, thinking I would let the horses into that area, move their fence out. What has happened is the grass again went into clumps, and is not thick throughout. I was told not to spray to kill everything, as that would only allow weed seeds to also sprout. So, I have some areas that are more bare, and I will add flowers to those areas. This area is about 35x125'. You can see electric fence posts on the right (well, the ones that are still up, since I guess deer ran through it ...) and there is a narrow strip on the left that I mow between this area and the field. The other end has some daffodils (white flowers) that I transplanted along that end.

Then this is the garden area. I tilled this last year and then only planted some tomato and pepper plants, but never really did anything with the harvest. Seems I am always busy when the tomatoes are ripe. There will likely be tomato volunteer plants that will come up, and I will let them grow for the bugs. I want to smooth out this area, but again someone said not to till it, as the weed seeds will thrive. So, I will move the tomato cages, pull as many weeds as I can, and then try to rake or move the dirt to level it out some, or maybe just leave it be. I've used composted horse manure (2 year old stuff), but had lots of very healthy weeds! I have pollinator seed mixture, plus 3 other boxes of seeds from 2 years ago, and then all the extra seeds that I collected last year that are going to get tossed onto this area! I actually tossed a 5 gallon bucket full of seed heads I trimmed off last year from lots of plants, onto the large area last fall! Will be interesting to see what actually comes up there, besides what I plant! So, this area will be the most "cultivated" of my three areas. The garden is about 25x25 and my shadow is the left side, and the hackberry tree is the corner on the far side.

I found this thistle and another one while I was walking the edge of these areas, and think I will transplant it into one of the larger areas. I have dug up thistle on my property in the past, but probably not more than a dozen plants, so I don't think they will be invasive or take over. I know they are good for birds and I think bees, so we'll give it a try. I can always cut off the seed heads to keep them from spreading too much. Thoughts?

Last, this was an idea I had so that I can walk around in the large area, without worrying about stepping on the seedlings I will be planting. I had extra pieces of flagstone left from the pond, and placed them in several different "paths" through the area. I put cardboard or newspaper under many of them, trying to get them to kill the areas below the rocks. That way in a month, if it works that fast, I can move the rock over and have an area with no vegetation to plant seedlings. No idea if it will work or not, but it was worth a try.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I found this thistle and another one while I was walking the edge of these areas, and think I will transplant it into one of the larger areas. I have dug up thistle on my property in the past, but probably not more than a dozen plants, so I don't think they will be invasive or take over. Thoughts?

There are native thistles that are great for wildlife and aren't as aggressive, and other non-native thistles and spotted knapweed are pure nightmares across wild habitats. I personally can't tell the natives and non-natives apart so I don't let any survive around here. Consider trying Button Blazing Star for the thistle-like flowers, and Rattlesnake Master for the prickly-looking foliage.

 

[addy1]

CE if the area is a lot of grass and not a lot of flowers you want, the best thing to do is to till is lightly, not deep, tilling up the grass clumps. The grass takes over the flowers.
But you only till when you are ready to plant. So the seed you want has a chance to grow before the other stuff takes off. I usually put seed out in the fall, but our winters have been tooooo warm it would sprout and then die when it froze. So I need to wait until our soil sits around 70ish, for the seed to sprout well, and if we are dry I need to haul out hoses to keep it wet until it starts to grow better. We were 25 this am.

I am redoing my 60 x 60 circle and a 150 x 20 foot area, the no good weeds, ie not critter benefit have taken over. I round up, then seed with a light raking of the soil after putting out the seeds so they have dirt contact. We have a tiller but it digs too deep. A monster machine, I can not run it.

I have some thistles the finches love the seeds, they are actually seeded from the thistle seed I have fed them. The bees love it to.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I have to laugh at my comment from March 1, say I'd be growing a total of 30 Orange Milkweeds.

I have 100 growing now! So many germinated that I just kept planting them.

 

[CountryEscape]

Wow, so lucky of you, JB! I need to check my winter sown milk jugs again today. I think I have 3 jugs with the orange milkweed/butterfly weed seeds in them, from different sources. My common and swamp milkweed plants are not up yet from last year yet, so I guess I can't expect to have much going on with the seeds either, although they are in a warmer more protected environment than the plants in the ground.
Addy, that's a very good point, about the thistle seed fed to birds. I'm going to transplant that one thistle plant, and then see how it goes.
In the main largest area I'm going to be transplanting flowers in, I did round-up circles here and there, about 3' in diameter, so those areas should be fine for planting flowers. I don't want to start with bare dirt in that area, leave it more wild. The grass clumps never did fully take over in the last 3 years, so I think the idea is that they don't spread as much if they are not cut back like lawns. We shall see. I am going to work on removing the weeds from the garden area today, then decide how to proceed with seeds there. It was 32 this morning, and two more mornings around or below freezing coming up this week. Weird weather! Temps for just the LOWS fluctuating 15-20 degrees different day to day sometimes this week!

 

[Ben]

I've sown 50 milkweed seeds this spring so hopefully most of them will survive. I've planted milkweed in my flower gardens for the last 3 or 4 years and have several good "clumps" that are spreading nicely. Hope to do my small part in helping the monarchs again this year!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I've sown 50 milkweed seeds this spring so hopefully most of them will survive. I've planted milkweed in my flower gardens for the last 3 or 4 years and have several good "clumps" that are spreading nicely. Hope to do my small part in helping the monarchs again this year!

Glad to hear it! I'm all about native gardening, and milkweed is a big one given it's necessity to the Monarchs. What kind of milkweed do you grow?

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, I bought a Quaking Aspen (Trembling Aspen) yesterday at the Native Plant Sale, as my grand daughter is named after them, her name is Aspyn. Yes, the grass is taller in this area, but that's ok. There will only be plants placed here, and in areas where I have sprayed round up to kill small circles for them to get going in. I bought 2 new types of milkweed, and am growing another type from seed to be transplanted when it gets large enough. Planted asters (2 varieties) and several native flowers and plants for butterflies, plus bought a "Baby Joe Pye" plant at a nursery. Excited about that one! I tried to grow Joe Pye from seed, but my seeds were maybe not mature enough, so none of them grew. Will try collecting again this fall.

Here is the garden area, which is about 25x25'. I've planted some seedlings on the perimeter, (African Daisies) as well as Perennial Verbena, Aster, and Cannas. Then I scattered soooo many seeds from boxes (marigolds and pollinator garden mixes), and seed packets, and seeds I collected last year and had tons of extra, so should be a field of green in a couple of weeks. We shall see how this goes! I tilled it all up and then raked it before seeding. A nice shower that evening pushed the seeds into the dirt perfectly.

This is the perennial verbena. I got one plant last year, from a friend who grew it from seed. This year it's come back and is full of flowers. If I pinch off the flowers periodically, it will continue to bloom all summer long. Found some growing about 20' from where the original plant was, so I moved them to the wild flower garden. This is the first plant, next to my koi pond and stream.

 

[Ben]

Glad to hear it! I'm all about native gardening, and milkweed is a big one given it's necessity to the Monarchs. What kind of milkweed do you grow?

Oh goodness I don't know - I've collected seeds in the wild and bought some too. I've also dug up a couple of smaller milkweed clumps. The type is native to my area and that's the best I can tell you.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Oh goodness I don't know - I've collected seeds in the wild and bought some too. I've also dug up a couple of smaller milkweed clumps. The type is native to my area and that's the best I can tell you.

You should definitely try Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). It's native to your area, and about 40 other States.

Swamp Milkweed is not half bad either.

 

[Ben]

You should definitely try Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). It's native to your area, and about 40 other States.

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Swamp Milkweed is not half bad either.
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Mine are all like pink. Love the orange flowers!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Mine are all like pink.

You likely have Common Milkweed. Many say that it's one of the Monarch's preferred milkweeds.

Orange Milkweed stays considerably smaller, about 2 feet tall, and has narrow leaves. Many garden centers that have small native plant selections carry Orange Milkweed, and its seeds can usually be found at most stores that sell seed packets. It's worth adding, and happens to be my favorite plant.

 

[Nepen]

I saw a few butterflies last weekend that look like Monarch. I still don't know if the plants I have are milkweed. They didn't even have flower last year. I'll have to take a picture and post here for the ID!!

 

[Nepen]

I have to laugh at my comment from March 1, say I'd be growing a total of 30 Orange Milkweeds.

I have 100 growing now! So many germinated that I just kept planting them.

none of the seeds I ordered online grow I guess it's too late to start now but may be next year do you send seeds for shipping?

 

[JBtheExplorer]

none of the seeds I ordered online grow I guess it's too late to start now but may be next year do you send seeds for shipping?

Milkweed seeds start really easy as long as they have a couple months of cold, wet weather first, or if you keep them in your fridge in a wet paper towel.