I HAVE TWO BABY MONARCH CATERPILLARS ON MY MILKWEED!! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR 25 YEARS! LOL
What's in your Garden (& Indoor Plants)
- Thread starter Tom L.
- Start date
That is so cool! There is a park by the Lake that is known for migrating monarchs:
www.clevelandmetroparks.com
Wendy Park’s Migration Station | Cleveland Metroparks
Discover 100 years of Cleveland Metroparks in Northeast Ohio. Learn more about the parks, zoo, golf and dining in the Cleveland area.
@KLS52 Interesting... your milkweed doesn't look like the kind I have in my yard. The leaves you have are narrower and more sharply pointed at the end. Maybe that's why the Monarchs haven't been interested in mine: I've seen them apparently flying around my milkweed (more than the other plants), but they seem to finally decide: "Uhhhh... Nope. Not today, anyway.".
Does your milkweed have pretty flat-topped clusters of orange flowers?
Does your milkweed have pretty flat-topped clusters of orange flowers?
Sounds like you might have the same milkweed that I had when I was living in New York. I waited every year for the monarchs to lay their eggs with no luck. I had so much milkweed at times it would try to overtake everything else. Before I knew what it was, I would rip it out but it just kept coming back.
This particular milkweed i have now is called swamp milkweed. It’s kind of ironic that I purchased four plants last year but never got them planted. They stayed in the pots overwinter. This one plant is the only one that came back in spring so I decided to try and save it by finally getting it in the ground. It does not have any flowers or seed pods yet. I don’t remember seeing flowers last year on any of the plants, just the seed pods which came out more towards end of August.
I purchased a new and different variety this year but sadly it did not survive. I will stick with the swamp milkweed and hopefully build up a butterfly garden next year. But I’m going to have to do some research and put some work into my soil to make it better.
We have milkweed growing at my work and I checked them for caterpillars. I didn't see any, but did see some very interesting moths.
They are the purple flowered milkweek which is what I'm familiar with
They are the purple flowered milkweek which is what I'm familiar with
I could only find one of the caterpillars last evening. *sad face*
This is the other kind of milkweed that I purchased this year but it didn’t make it.
Asclepius Syriaca otherwise known as common milkweed. Looks like this:
Asclepius Syriaca otherwise known as common milkweed. Looks like this:
^^^ @KLS52 That's the kind I have. I didn't plant it- I think some of those seeds with those long, silky hairs drifted on to my property and settled in uninvited! I could probably send you some, or at least the seeds- or you could get some of either for free from someplace near you. It's native to our area, but very common- so I doubt it's illegal to either collect it or send it within the U.S. (But I'd make sure about that first).
EDITED TO ADD: A-googling I did go... a-googling I did go...
This website has some info about native milkweeds. It didn't say anything about collecting it from the wild. Part of me thinks this couldn't be wrong because the plant is so common, and then another part of me remembers how many Bison and Passenger Pigeons there were in North America not so long ago.
EDITED TO ADD: A-googling I did go... a-googling I did go...
This website has some info about native milkweeds. It didn't say anything about collecting it from the wild. Part of me thinks this couldn't be wrong because the plant is so common, and then another part of me remembers how many Bison and Passenger Pigeons there were in North America not so long ago.
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@Tom L. thanks for the offer of seeds. I actually have some from last year’s plants but never planted them. I wonder if they’re still good. They are in a bag in the refrigerator because supposedly they need to be over-wintered or something like that…simulate winter as if the were in the ground over the winter I guess. I guess I’ll plant them next year and see what happens.
My daughter also has some plants. I can get some seeds from her. And they grow wild where grand daughter does dance lessons. I don’t think anyone would care if I took some seeds.
My daughter also has some plants. I can get some seeds from her. And they grow wild where grand daughter does dance lessons. I don’t think anyone would care if I took some seeds.
The above link has info about swamp milkweed. Generally you scarify the seeds with cold and that improves the germination rate, but there's another option the link describes too.
The one is still there and a nice size. I’m so excited! And nervous! And stressed! Lol
I love my 🐿 chipmunks so much! I played with them for a good 20 minutes. They come so close begging for peanuts. So we chatted and I watched them fight over the peanuts and try to stuff too many into their pouches. 
SuicideBlonde
Adorkable rockstar!
I walked out to find one of my banana trees down. It was the one with bananas growing. I hope the bananas will ripen off the plant.
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My one guy is gone. I'm going to assume he moved on to a neighboring plant to form his chrysalis as they don't do that on the milkweed. He looked great when I saw him last, even after the two days of heavy rain. I looked around to see if I could find him but there are too many places he can be. So I'm thinking positive that he will emerge a beautiful butterfly and be on his way. 
I'm thinking positively too, @KLS52 !
I have a sneaky orchid cactus- or maybe I should be paying more attention to my houseplants. Yesterday I noticed a wilted flower on it. These flowers only stay open for one night- but the slowly-growing bud is quite large and hard to miss while it's getting ready to open. I don't have nearly as many plants as I did 25 years ago. I guess I've been busier with what I have growing outdoors lately (Romano pole beans, kale, hot peppers).
I'm planning on bringing the two hot pepper plants and two kale plants inside this winter.
I have a sneaky orchid cactus- or maybe I should be paying more attention to my houseplants. Yesterday I noticed a wilted flower on it. These flowers only stay open for one night- but the slowly-growing bud is quite large and hard to miss while it's getting ready to open. I don't have nearly as many plants as I did 25 years ago. I guess I've been busier with what I have growing outdoors lately (Romano pole beans, kale, hot peppers).
I'm planning on bringing the two hot pepper plants and two kale plants inside this winter.
