Cater To Those Monarch Caterpillars!

» Cindy_Hepp - Catering to Monarchs and more

Naomi, what a wonderful article! Very informative, accurate, and interesting. So many people include the beautiful nectar plants in their gardens, but overlook the host plants. Probably the hardest thing for most gardeners to adjust to is the look of ragged, chewed leaves on their plants! For those of you who are interested in adding milkweed (Asclepias) to your garden, I have a few bits of advice.

For fast-growing annual milkweed, try Asclepias currassavica. It is actually a tender perennial in warm-winter areas, but is grown as an annual in most of the U.S. 'Sunset' variety has red/orange/yellow blossoms, while 'Silky Gold' has yellow blossoms. Both reach about 3-3 1/2 feet tall.

My favorite perennial milkweed is Asclepias incarnata, also known as Swamp Milkweed. The 'Ice Ballet' variety has white blossoms, though pink varieties are more commonly found. Both grow in clumps and are not considered invasive. They are a very pleasing addition to a butterfly garden.

As a monarch breeder, common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca is a lifesaver - simply because its leaves are huge! Those monarch caterpillars love to eat, and the larger the leaves, the fewer times you have to replenish food supply. However, it can be very aggressive. I wouldn't recommend it in a smaller garden unless you sink a large pot in the ground and plant the common milkweed in it. It can spread rather rapidly by underground runners. It actually prefers disturbed areas with poor soil, so you'll frequently see it growing by roadsides, railroads, pastures, etc.

Very often, you will find Asclepias tuberosa, 'Butterfly Weed' or 'Orange Butterfly Weed' in garden centers. It is actually not the favorite of the monarch. Granted, it is a milkweed, they will lay eggs on it, and the caterpillars will eat it, but given an alternative in the region, the monarchs will choose another plant on which to lay. Caterpillars will also choose other species of milkweed to eat when given a choice as well.

As for disappearing caterpillars, mentioned in a previous posting: They probably fell victim to a predator of some sort. Though they do taste bad to birds, certain insects will still lay eggs inside the caterpillars. When those eggs hatch, the resulting larvae feeds on the caterpillar, killing it. Also, some birds have been seen eating monarch caterpillars and adults in spite of the bad taste and toxin of the milkweed. Insects are not affected by the toxins of the milkweed and many such as praying mantises will eat the caterpillars as well. Most eggs layed by butterflies will never result in adults due to predation, natural selection, and/or pesticides often used in gardening. That's most likely the reason that butterflies can lay hundreds of eggs.

To bring in other butterflies, investigate what their caterpillars eat, and add some of those plants into your garden. Females can detect a host plant from a great distance away. Check the undersides of leaves for eggs. Females will light on a leaf, curl their abdomens under, and deposit an egg on the underside of the leaf. They are often found singly, but certain species lay them in clusters.

I'm looking forward to further postings and discussing butterfly rearing and gardening with all of you!

Cindy Hepp
Milkweed Cafe
http://www.milkweedcafe.com

-- posted by Cindy_Hepp

» Naomi_Mathews - Hi there Cindy! Thank you so much for the info...

The "Ice Ballet" (asclepias incarnata) sounds like a pretty one, although I personally prefer the pink blossoms of the Swamp Milkweed. Many gardeners do plant the incarnata for Monarchs, and have really good luck.

I'll bet those Monarch caterpillars DO eat you out of house and home, Cindy! What fun you must have raising Monarchs. And I LOVE your web site, it's really cool and has a lot of good info on it.

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Cindy. And do stop back often! You're always welcome here in my "Butterfly-Hummer Hangout!" (-:

-- posted by Naomi_Mathews

» terri_in_pa - butterfly weed

-- posted by terri_in_pa

» Naomi_Mathews - Hi Terri, and thanks for the info about...

-- posted by Naomi_Mathews

» Sarah_Sunn - Fuzzy-Wuzzy's

It is quite similar to how God can take an ungrateful creature called man, and by a simple act of salvation turn him into a beautiful creation for His enjoyment. Hubby preached last night about the love relationship between God and Man, how the new man emerges from the old. Quite parallel to the caterpillar and the monarch! What an awesome God we have.

Keep up the good work. So far I haven't seen any hummers or butterflies. It has turned cool again, maybe they are still hybernating somewhere. So your neighbor thinks you've taken leave of your senses? Well, she is probably envious of your beautiful yard.

Love Ya,

-- posted by Sarah_Sunn

» Naomi_Mathews - Hey Sis! Missed you while you were gone...

As to my neighbor -- well, she's a whole 'nother story! You won't believe what she DID when I wasn't home, or maybe even when I was asleep! Sis, you've seen my lovely row of beautiful boxwood that we planted between our yard and the one next door. Since the yard goes down hill from where we left off with the fence, we decided a dozen lovely DWARF boxwoods would make the perfect break between our yard and their driveway.

And so it did--and my boxwoods grew and waxed strong over the past five years with no problems. They've been admired by every neighbor on the block. That is--until SHE moved next door! Now, I'm not much given to complaining about neighbors, and I always try to be nice to them. Wave, say good morning or good evening, share a few stories with them now and then, even share my posies and rosies with them!

But who doesn't like my boxwood? You've got it! My next door neighbor! Since she had already informed me she didn't know a flower from a weed (last year!) I was a bit wary of her from the beginning. I just knew she had her eye on MY boxwoods. Believe me, they are NOT on her property...no siree! Besides, they aren't even that big! Just nice and green and pretty.

As I was taking a nice long walk this past Saturday since it was a beautiful sunny day, I looked toward my boxwood from HER side. To my absolute horror, I saw they had been "pruned" (that is shaved FLAT) on what she apparently thinks is "her side" (of my plants) all the way from one end to the other! And all done without asking me, and doing it while I was nowhere around to cry out in protest!

Now I ask you -- was that a neighborly thing to do? I must admit, I was more than a bit perturbed. I've been looking at them every day since, seeing how lopsided they now look, and wanting to cry! Will that help? No--but I've come to a better conclusion, one I had hoped to avoid. MORE FENCE will be going up before too long. I'll leave the boxwood there and place a fence just behind them, thus hiding her driveway from my view--and my lovely boxwood from hers.

What other choice does a nice "butterfly gal" like me have? It's either that, or have very lopsided boxwoods from now on. If she did this once, I'm sure she'll do it again!

Sometimes I wish we lived way out on the back "forty" Sis--like when we were kids and our closest neighbors were a mile away! That was a little bit of heaven in my opinion. How about you?

Glad to hear your flowers are doing good. Mine are still growing in the greenhouse, as it's still too cold for tender transplants. Haven't seen any butterflies or hummers yet either! Have two feeders out though! It shan't be long now.