Several months back I started narrowleaf milkweed plants (seeds from livemonarch.com). About a week ago I noticed the first caterpillar, and the next day the second. Today the one at the top of the photo left the plant and started looking for a spot to pupate. Also today, found 4 (!!) more caterpillars amongst the plants. I am beyond thrilled, I never expected to get monarchs actually laying eggs on these plants so soon.

  • pomegranatefern@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    14·
    16 days ago

    Majestic! Now just make sure that everyone who helps out in your garden understands that these caterpillars are supposed to be there. You would be astonished the number of people I have encountered who have planted milkweed for monarch butterflies and then picked off all the caterpillars who were “ruining” the milkweed.

  • TIEPilot@lemmy.worldBannedEnglish
    7·
    16 days ago

    We need to “Johnny Appleseed” milkweed*. I so miss seeing the Monarchs every year like I did as a kid.

    EDIT:

    *Please read the comment by @Nautalax below. It clarifies that not all milkweed planting would be a benefit. Some is invasive, you could accidentally introduce invasive or none beneficial milkweed to the area.

    I’m all for saving the Monarchs but we have to do it the right way :)

    • Nautalax@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      16 days ago

      I agree but I do think we have to be careful to specify that locally appropriate milkweeds be planted rather than blanket saying plant milkweed no matter what. Some damage has been caused by people importing and planting ex. tropical milkweed Asclepias curassavica which is invasive in certain regions and has negative effects in those areas like tricking monarchs to stay and breed in regions where cold snaps may roll in to wipe them out, cut down on migratory behavior, and also allow Ophryocystis elektroscirrha spores to build up and infect many monarchs.

      There’s such a huge variety of native milkweeds to fit all manner of situations, there are something like 19 different species native to my region of my state that can handle anything from standing water in dark forests (ex. Asclepias perennis) to blazing sun on sand (ex. Asclepias humistrata).

      • TIEPilot@lemmy.worldBannedEnglish
        6·
        16 days ago

        Excellent point and I should have been more clear on my intentions.

        You are 100% right you can’t get amazon milkweed seeds (if thats a thing) and go nuts. I was planning to wait til fall and collect local seed pods and should have said that. I will edit my post to make sure I am more clear because someone may go the bad route with good intentions and bad things happen.

        I will also work on IDing the other variants to make sure the ones I harvest are not invasive but native. Plus if I can ID the invasive species I can do my part to eradicate them as I go along. win/win

        Thanks again, I appreciate all constructive criticism and advice. We can’t know it all and the road to Hell is paved in good intentions like my original post!

        • PlantJam@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          15 days ago

          A big nursery near me sells plants that do well with labels like “Texas xeriscape” to imply it’s native even if the plant name is something like “African lions mane”. You can’t even fully trust the internet either because of confusing phrases like “adapted”. Yes, anyone with enough knowledge of the issues could understand what they’re seeing and know the difference, but they’re clearly marketing to well meaning amateurs.

        • Nautalax@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          15 days ago

          I’d advise caution and make sure independently that the species you’re buying is native rather than trusting a company’s website because they can sometimes play a little fast and loose with what’s native… I get why, it’s hard to research the particulars of every plant you offer and to gate them off to some people cuts into the money when native plants are kind of a niche market anyway, and some people have looser definitions of native plants than others.

          But for example, if I go to that website I am zoned for where they would send Asclepias syriaca.

          However, if I open up Flora of the Southeastern United States which is a very authoritative and updated resource on determining if a plant is native to my region or not, it turns out that Asclepias syriaca is actually not native to my entire state. Perhaps not the worst non-native, but not something I would personally want to be planting when there are many native alternatives I can buy instead that fully integrate with my local ecosystem.

          Also, even for states where it is indeed native, you have to consider site conditions. So for instance they provide Asclepias incarnata to northern Florida which is indeed native there (assuming it’s the pulchra subspecies, which may or may not be the case since they don’t say) but it’s called “swamp” milkweed in part because it needs moist or wet conditions common in places like marshes bogs and swamps. There are plenty of areas with conditions like those in north Florida, but if you try to plant that in dry & sandy conditions which are also abundant in north Florida that poor plant will have a terrible time of it due to the site conditions despite being native to the region. I have a dry sandhills site with STRONG sun for instance so I would want to focus on getting a milkweed that can thrive in those conditions rather than needing to be on constant life support to barely make it.

          • dirthawker0@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
            3·
            15 days ago

            We have the same issue with California. It’s a huge state with a wide variance in climate, plants, soil types, etc but we tend to be treated as one region.

  • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    6·
    16 days ago

    I can’t get milkweed to grow but I have 3 short cassia leptophylla trees grown from seeds in pots. And I’ve got a couple generations of Cloudless Sulfur butterflies going now with the caterpillars monching away and making cool chrysalises. The trees aren’t native but the butterflies are! So I’m happy, and when one tree gets too bare I can move the sprig with the caterpillar to another so he can fatten up.

    • Nautalax@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      16 days ago

      I have the same caterpillars going wild on partridge peas (Chamaecrista nictitans) and some are winding up in weird places to make their cocoons… like the inside of my porch somehow…

  • plantsmakemehappy@lemmy.zipEnglish
    4·
    16 days ago

    I’m up to 4 monarch butterflies in my garden but I have yet to see a monarch caterpillar. The butterflies bring me immense joy.

  • switcheroo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    16 days ago

    Oooh! Someday I want to have a little bit of land that I can plant some things for our lovely pollinators— will remember milkweed (and beebalm).

    • m4ylame0wecm@lemmy.zipEnglish
      1·
      15 days ago

      borage early season, late planted bee balm to follow, and forgotten basil gone to flower are a huge hit here… bumble party! Grab a couple pots/buckets if you’ve got any outdoor space