Re: Monarch Supporter

countrynaturals 5/11/2016, 10:40 pm

Scorpio Rising wrote:Yeah, she is a Mennonite lady who raises gorgeous plants! Tons of selection, right here, reared in my backyard. Needless to say, her things are very reasonable and adapted to our locale. Win win.

That settles it! I'm gonna find some more seeds and try again. It isn't rocket science. I WILL PREVAIL! Monarch Supporter - Page 3 1280598131

countrynaturals 5/11/2016, 11:07 pm

"Soak seed overnight in water then lightly cover the seed. soil temp 70-75FV & takes 40-60 days to germinate & then 12 weeks to be large enough to set out (green)."

That explains a lot. Rolling Eyes

I guess I'll be planting these puppies in July to overwinter for next year. thinking

At least I don't have to run out and buy seeds, tomorrow. geek

Windmere 5/12/2016, 10:57 am

Oh my word, you are hard core patient if you can wait so many days for something to germinate! I had no idea it took so long for lantana to sprout. Very good to know!

countrynaturals 5/12/2016, 12:50 pm

Windmere wrote:Oh my word, you are hard core patient if you can wait so many days for something to germinate! I had no idea it took so long for lantana to sprout. Very good to know!

Yup, that was a real eye-opener. Scorpio should go give her Mennonite lady a big hug for growing lantana. Rolling Eyes

countrynaturals 5/12/2016, 4:35 pm

YEE-HAH!

Checked on daughter Katie's garden -- she's the real green thumb in the family -- and found 4 LANTANA PLANTS that survived the winter. All are doing well. 2 are in full bloom.

Monarch Supporter - Page 3 Lantan10

One of them even has a ladybug (more of them this year than ever before).
Monarch Supporter - Page 3 Ladybu12

Now that there's no urgency, since we have many other nectar plants, too, I'm going to collect the seeds and try to grow a few more for next year. Wish me luck! geek

**Scorpio Rising** 5/12/2016, 8:46 pm

countrynaturals wrote:
Windmere wrote:Oh my word, you are hard core patient if you can wait so many days for something to germinate! I had no idea it took so long for lantana to sprout. Very good to know!
Yup, that was a real eye-opener. Scorpio should go give her Mennonite lady a big hug for growing lantana.

I will! No idea! Wow! I cannot believe that!

BeetlesPerSqFt 5/12/2016, 11:48 pm

About half the butterfly weed comes back every year. I didn't have time to sow replacements this time. A vole (I think) bit the tops off most of them last year, I should probably preemptively sprinkle some blood meal and hair soon, since here it is, coming up:
Monarch Supporter - Page 3 Butter10

A few of my swamp and common milkweeds sprouted, and a bought a few more to supplement. The common milkweed will go in the garden and the swamp milkweed by the creek. Last year's attempt to establish were not particularly successful. I don't know what happened to the common milkweeds. The may have just gotten shaded out by the grass in the un-mowed section I put them in. Two of the swamp milkweeds got eaten by slugs/snails, the mower got one, I lost track of one, and the other got chowed down by a(n adorable) swamp milkweed beetle.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/21/2016, 4:44 pm

The gardener in me wants to pinch the tops of these milkweed plants to get a bushier habit. Last year was their first year, and a couple of them grew straight up and fell over!

Pinch? About top 1/3? They are about 8" to 16" in height varying.

**Scorpio Rising** 5/21/2016, 4:47 pm

Sorry! Lol

countrynaturals 5/21/2016, 6:04 pm

I've never pinched back any milkweed, but then the caterpillars do it for me so you may as well go for it. Rolling Eyes

**Scorpio Rising** 5/21/2016, 11:16 pm

I am going to do it and see if it gets bushier. Should.

countrynaturals 5/22/2016, 11:22 am

Scorpio Rising wrote:I am going to do it and see if it gets bushier. Should.

Go for it and let us know how it works out. It certainly can't hurt anything. Monarch Supporter - Page 3 3170584802

**Scorpio Rising** 5/22/2016, 11:22 pm

I did. I had a good vibe about it. It was right! flower

**Scorpio Rising** 7/24/2016, 12:14 pm

All in all I counted 7 of these beauties this AM! On both types of milkweed, swamp and common.

**Scorpio Rising** 7/24/2016, 12:18 pm

Here are a couple on the swamp Asclepias!

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/24/2016, 12:42 pm

Adorable babies!!! Thanks for sharing! My swamp/common milkweeds in the garden aren't big enough yet. They are itty-bity... I'm hoping it's just because it's their first year. I think my swamp milkweed at the back of the yard died after a three year run. It seems like the right biome but it has stiff competition from the tall grasses back there -- and the army of hungry snails/slugs doesn't help. I haven't been able to convince myself to transplant the three remaining three seedlings this year after last years failures...all 7 plants survived transplanting, but at some point I couldn't find them among the weeds anymore when I tried to check on them. They didn't show up this year, so I guess they died. I thought wildflowers were supposed to be hardy but I'm sure not having much success growing milkweed.

countrynaturals 7/24/2016, 1:19 pm

I have 3 babies in the house in a butterfly enclosure, 9 chrysalides in the butterfly house, and one adult to release that emerged this morning. I released a beautiful big female, yesterday -- she was my first of the season. Monarch Supporter - Page 3 3170584802

BeetlesPerSqFt 7/24/2016, 1:23 pm

countrynaturals wrote:I have 3 babies in the house in a butterfly enclosure, 9 chrysalides in the butterfly house, and one adult to release that emerged this morning. I released a beautiful big female, yesterday -- she was my first of the season.

Woo-hoo!

**Scorpio Rising** 7/24/2016, 3:26 pm

Beetles, mine are in the patio area, up by the A/C unit. No competition at all. They have naturalized nicely, but again, I dedicated 2 sections of the patio to them. It is the doggie area, and my plants seem to love the ahem, fertilizer.

Woohoo, CN! I was getting worried, I have yet to see an adult monarch! Must have been at least 2 in the area! And my milkweeds are overcome with aphids. There are ladybugs doin' their thing, but aphids are so, numerous! And being farmed by some ants....but the plants must be healthy enough to keep these babes going!

Monarch Supporter - Page 3 3170584802

countrynaturals 7/24/2016, 4:43 pm

Scorpio -- same here. We've had very few adult monarchs. Last year at this time I probably had 2-3 dozen babies and had already released that many more. I think our nice rainy spring gave them more options this year so they didn't all compete for our limited resources, which is fine with me. Raising monarchs was a fulltime job for me last year. I ran out of milkweed twice and had to feed cukes and pumpkin, which is NOT a good thing. Sad

The aphids are HORRIBLE this year. I've probably logged over 20 hours pinching and washing them off the milkweed. Grrrrrr! Evil or Very Mad

**Scorpio Rising** 7/24/2016, 6:15 pm

countrynaturals wrote:Scorpio -- same here. We've had very few adult monarchs. Last year at this time I probably had 2-3 dozen babies and had already released that many more. I think our nice rainy spring gave them more options this year so they didn't all compete for our limited resources, which is fine with me. Raising monarchs was a fulltime job for me last year. I ran out of milkweed twice and had to feed cukes and pumpkin, which is NOT a good thing.

The aphids are HORRIBLE this year. I've probably logged over 20 hours pinching and washing them off the milkweed. Grrrrrr!

Oh, wow, no idea, I am new to this! I literally was thrilled to have one fat and sassy cat last summer, and couldn't have been more pleased to see so many after we got home! But I have yet to see an adult. Have seen many Tigers, blues, Frits, etc. but no monarchs....alas.

Roseinarosecity 7/24/2016, 9:10 pm

I want to share this about the western monarch from the Xerces.org blog:

"A new report, State of the Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Sites in California, released by the Xerces Society shows that in less than two decades the number of monarchs which overwinter along the California coast declined by an alarming 74% . This significant loss of butterflies mirrors the troubling trend seen in monarchs in central Mexico in recent years"

This year I left a milkweed in one square, but I have plenty of wasp that come by to snatch the caterpillars.

**Scorpio Rising** 7/24/2016, 9:15 pm

Good girl, Rose! I have mine in a kind of throw away spot, where stuff never did well, or I never planted anything!

They are loving their spots, I think my cats are pretty large now. Will keep an eye on them! Keep trying! If you have a spot that is kinda undisturbed, under utilized, that is where I put my Asclepias.

cheers

countrynaturals 7/24/2016, 10:51 pm

Roseinarosecity wrote:This year I left a milkweed in one square, but I have plenty of wasp that come by to snatch the caterpillars.

That's why I don't leave any outside. I have plenty of milkweed in containers in 3 locations. As soon as we see a cat, I move that plant inside to rear the young. The survival rate of cats outside is 5% or less (might even be as low as 2%). Inside and protected, the survival rate is about 90%. (Sometimes the bad guys win no matter what we do. Sad

)

**Scorpio Rising** 7/24/2016, 11:07 pm

Noooooo. I need to be vigilant. My baby last year got huge and metamorphosized. But no way to know after that.

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