Planting Milkweed for Monarch Butterflies

[Ginevra]

Anyone have any experience of this? There used to be some milkweed growing wild in the “meadow” part of my property, but it’s been dwindling over the past few years and I want to plant more. Anyone know a good place to order seeds? 

[Lucy the Valiant]

I do this! 

The  seedlings (which I find in the wild) are notoriously hard to transplant because there's a loooong tap root, and you have to get the VERY end, which has a tiny hair on it. I've been most successful with digging up baby ones and transplanting the whole chunk of soil it's growing in. And once you get a few going, they self-populate pretty well.

We get seeds from Baker Creek, but I haven't bought milkweed seeds from them. 

I have a butterfly garden, and am a registered Monarch Waystation. ❤️ 

[Faith-manor]

18 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

I do this! 

The  seedlings (which I find in the wild) are notoriously hard to transplant because there's a loooong tap root, and you have to get the VERY end, which has a tiny hair on it. I've been most successful with digging up baby ones and transplanting the whole chunk of soil it's growing in. And once you get a few going, they self-populate pretty well.

We get seeds from Baker Creek, but I haven't bought milkweed seeds from them. 

I have a butterfly garden, and am a registered Monarch Waystation. ❤️ 

Boy, I wish I could help. We didn't start out own milkweed, it was here in a small amount when we moved, and I used to try to get rid of it until a few years ago when I came to understand just how important it is to monarchs. So I have allowed it to proliferate. The only time I try to restrain it is when it gets super close to my raised beds because I do not want seeds dropping in them. It is a pain to dig up because of the length of those roots. I do know that several local nurseries carry seeds now because butterfly gardens are getting so popular. There are several varieties so you want to make sure you get one that is for your zone. We can grow milkweed at our house in Northern Alabama, but it is a different species than the one here in Michigan.

[Spy Car]

Make sure you plant type of milkweed that is local to area and suited to Monarchs.

Also, be aware that the if you get the "latex" (the "milk") from milkweed in your eyes, it is dangerous. Be very (very) careful if you cut milkweed plants not to transfer the sap from your hands to your eyes.

I remember the local president of the Butterfly Club, whose backyard was devoted to all sorts of butterfly friendly plants--and who knew better--rubbed his eyes after doing some gardening, and he when through some pretty big drama that required being treated at Jules Stein. 

Bill

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Spy Car

[Faith-manor]

Just now, Spy Car said:

Make sure you plant type of milkweed that is local to area and suited to Monarchs.

Also, be aware that the if you get the "latex" (the "milk") from milkweed in your eyes, it is dangerous. Be very (very) careful if you cut milkweed plants not to transfer the sap from your hands to your eyes.

I remember the local president of the Butterfly Club, whose backward was devoted to all sorts of butterfly friendly plants--and who knew better--rubbed his eyes after doing some gardening, and he when though some pretty big drama that required being treated at Jules Stein. 

Bill

 

Good advice! I wear safety glasses and gloves on the rare occasions I have to do something with it.

[Spy Car]

Just now, Faith-manor said:

Good advice! I wear safety glasses and gloves on the rare occasions I have to do something with it.

Smart!

Bill

[Guest]

Yeah that is smart to use caution. I remember reading about that but it’s good to remember. 

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

I do this! 

The  seedlings (which I find in the wild) are notoriously hard to transplant because there's a loooong tap root, and you have to get the VERY end, which has a tiny hair on it. I've been most successful with digging up baby ones and transplanting the whole chunk of soil it's growing in. And once you get a few going, they self-populate pretty well.

We get seeds from Baker Creek, but I haven't bought milkweed seeds from them. 

I have a butterfly garden, and am a registered Monarch Waystation. ❤️ 

This is wonderful! How do you get to be a registered Monarch Waystation?

[Rosie_0801]

39 minutes ago, Quill said:

Anyone have any experience of this? There used to be some milkweed growing wild in the “meadow” part of my property, but it’s been dwindling over the past few years 

Why? What's changed? Is there more shade? Has the soil has been compacted?

[Bambam]

I buy milkweed from our local Master Gardener's plant sale - lots of natives.  We also have a nursery that has some native plants. 

Last time I thought I might need seeds, I contacted our local Master Gardeners to get their input on where to buy seeds.  We also have local Master Naturalists which might be another option.

Last summer my milkweed made lots of seed pods, so I collected those. I probably ought to figure out if I should have planted them earlier or when I need to plant them. 

[Jaybee]

I know nothing about milkweed, but this brought up memories for me. In my childhood, I remember the monarchs migrating through, and how pretty it was seeing them everywhere.

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Jaybee said:

I know nothing about milkweed, but this brought up memories for me. In my childhood, I remember the monarchs migrating through, and how pretty it was seeing them everywhere.

When I was a kid, we were rather violent with the stuff. Nobody seemed to understand the danger of milkweed pod juice in the eyes, and we would collect the pods in two huge piles, divide into two teams, build make shift forts out of whatever we could find lying around behind my dad's automotive shop, and have milkweed pod wars. About 20 kids from the town, 10 a side, and the big kids kept the little kids they were supposed to be watching in the back to protect them from the grenades. Little kid job was to collect pods that landed inside the fort and replenish the supply or hop over the back wall and grab the ones that went long.

I don't know how we managed to escape someone having an eye injury. But we never had it happen. Our moms sure would get mad about the sticky clothes though! My brother started a pod war after church on a Sunday while she was cooking lunch, and he never bothered to change first. I thought his ears might fall off when she was done yelling at him! 😂

 

[Ausmumof3]

I doubt my info will be useful due to the climate difference but we have a thing here called Swan Bush that grows like a weed and the monarchs love it. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Ausmumof3
Edited to save some kittens

[Pintosrock]

Our local nature centers give the seeds away in the fall. Free!

[Guest]

46 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

Why? What's changed? Is there more shade? Has the soil has been compacted?

The county did some work on a well in that area and I think it harmed the plants that were there. It is on my property but the county has easement rights to a well that’s over there. 

[kbutton]

I would collect mature (drying out and popping open) pods and spread the seeds then. I believe the seeds need cold before sprouting.

[marbel]

We have bought milkweed plants at a local native plant nursery. They will sell you the right kind(s) for your area. Seeds have never worked for us.

[Kidlit]

1 hour ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

I do this! 

The  seedlings (which I find in the wild) are notoriously hard to transplant because there's a loooong tap root, and you have to get the VERY end, which has a tiny hair on it. I've been most successful with digging up baby ones and transplanting the whole chunk of soil it's growing in. And once you get a few going, they self-populate pretty well.

We get seeds from Baker Creek, but I haven't bought milkweed seeds from them. 

I have a butterfly garden, and am a registered Monarch Waystation. ❤️ 

Life goals!

[Sneezyone]

2 hours ago, Quill said:

Anyone have any experience of this? There used to be some milkweed growing wild in the “meadow” part of my property, but it’s been dwindling over the past few years and I want to plant more. Anyone know a good place to order seeds? 

Nope. I planted a bunch of black-eyed susans and coneflowers (purple magnus, echinacea) in my front yard, carpet flowers (lynnhaven) and switch grasses and they were glorious. Does that count? We hired a native plant specialist to redesign our yard. So far, I've only installed the front. We had TONS of butterflies and moths, to the detriment of my broccoli/cabbage plants.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Sneezyone said:

Nope. I planted a bunch of black eyed susans and echinacea (purple magnus) in my front yard and they were glorious. Does that count?

I am going to plant those too! 🙂 

[Lucy the Valiant]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

This is wonderful! How do you get to be a registered Monarch Waystation?

https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/

I had a neglected (invasive) weed-infested hill where I began a multi-year rehab program lovingly dubbed "Redemption Hill" (there's a story ❤️ ). I dragged in native pollinator-friendly flowers and milkweed to meet the required minimums, replanted when those died or were eaten by the groundhog, kept on mulching, and the metal sign was a birthday gift the year I finally finished installing it. 

 

My kids say the sign is superfluous since the butterflies can't read, but I like to remind them that we don't actually have hard evidence of that. 😉

The caterpillars are SO exciting when they come! 

[Kidlit]

32 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

Nope. I planted a bunch of black-eyed susans and coneflowers (purple magnus, echinacea) in my front yard, carpet flowers (lynnhaven) and switch grasses and they were glorious. Does that count? We hired a native plant specialist to redesign our yard. So far, I've only installed the front. We had TONS of butterflies and moths, to the detriment of my broccoli/cabbage plants.

I need to see a picture of this. Sounds like my dream. 

[happi duck]

Our milkweed is all volunteers and for some reason does best in the shallowest soil.  We just let the seeds do their thing in the fall. 

Our county forest preserve has a native plant sale each year, maybe there's something similar in your area.

[Kidlit]

13 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

https://monarchwatch.org/waystations/

I had a neglected (invasive) weed-infested hill where I began a multi-year rehab program lovingly dubbed "Redemption Hill" (there's a story ❤️ ). I dragged in native pollinator-friendly flowers and milkweed to meet the required minimums, replanted when those died or were eaten by the groundhog, kept on mulching, and the metal sign was a birthday gift the year I finally finished installing it. 

 

My kids say the sign is superfluous since the butterflies can't read, but I like to remind them that we don't actually have hard evidence of that. 😉

The caterpillars are SO exciting when they come! 

I also need a picture of this 

[KungFuPanda]

I’ve had success winter sowing milkweed seeds. You could do that now and have some nice plants come spring. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by KungFuPanda

[Lucy the Valiant]

30 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

I also need a picture of this 

This is about 1/3 of it, but prefer not to show house.

Edited January 15, 2023 by Lucy the Valiant

[Sneezyone]

1 minute ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

 

This looks like my yard last spring! I am so looking forward to the butterflies/moths dining on my dandelions (not so much my veg)!

[bibiche]

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’ve had success winter sowing milkweed seeds. You could do that now and have some nice plants come spring. 

This. They’re very easy to wintersow, but you need to do it soon. If you can’t find anyone local to give you seeds, you could buy from Prairie Moon Nursery or Fruition Seeds. 

[Eos]

We're also focusing on milkweed and pollinators this year.  We have some that are in the beds next to the house, then the caterpillars crawl up to the eaves to transform.  Last year we had to do some chrysalis rescues from places where they were in danger to more sheltered areas.  We have a huge field near our house filled with milkweed and I thought I would just transplant come spring but it sounds like that isn't an easy plan.  Will rethink...

 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Eos

[Faith-manor]

10 hours ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

This is about 1/3 of it, but prefer not to show house.

Just lovely!!!

[Kidlit]

10 hours ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

This is about 1/3 of it, but prefer not to show house.

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  I have a regular suburban half acre (non-sod), but I REALLY want to work out some areas in my yard devoted to butterflies.  Your space is GORGEOUS!

Edited January 15, 2023 by Kidlit

[Lady Florida.]

Building on what Bill @Spy Carsaid, if you have a local native nursery that carries milkweed native to your area I highly recommend buying it there. I'm not sure how much it matters in a climate where plants die back in winter but I know here in Florida it's a major issue. There's a serious disease affecting monarchs known as OE, and is transferred via the plants. I can't recall the name but if you look up OE monarch butterflies you'll find lots of info on it. When the native plants naturally die back the disease is killed or at least stunted. Monarchs have enough problems as it is so if we can help prevent the spread of OE we should. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Lady Florida.

[Lady Florida.]

Here you go - link to a pdf about OE and how to help prevent it. It does look like it's a problem in milder climates than yours @Quill but I figured this could help anyone reading the thread who lives in a mild climate.

https://monarchjointventure.org/images/uploads/documents/Oe_fact_sheet.pdf

Edited January 15, 2023 by Lady Florida.

[bibiche]

To find what plants are native to your area, there are some links here, scroll down, on the Homegrown National Park site. If you haven’t read Doug Tallamy’s books you should!

https://homegrownnationalpark.org/faq-2/what-insects-and-plants-by-doug-tallamy

[JustEm]

18 hours ago, Quill said:

Anyone have any experience of this? There used to be some milkweed growing wild in the “meadow” part of my property, but it’s been dwindling over the past few years and I want to plant more. Anyone know a good place to order seeds? 

If you ever want to make a trip to northern MD just for the heck of it I have a neighbor who grows hundreds of plants every year and gives them out for free. We have tons in our yard because she gives us a bit each year and it has spread so much

[BlsdMama]

Plant seed. I had a few pop up in my front (carefully cultivated) perennial bed. I thought quaint. 😏 It has spread ridiculously. Granted, I guess it should be a good problem but I let it grow all over the south side of my house with echinacea & columbine. I can’t get it to stop in the front! It’s the wild ditch stuff here, rather tough, but the caterpillars love it. 

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

If you ever want to make a trip to northern MD just for the heck of it I have a neighbor who grows hundreds of plants every year and gives them out for free. We have tons in our yard because she gives us a bit each year and it has spread so much

I will totally do that! Let me know through PM when your neighbor has them available and I will absolutely take a drive. 

[JustEm]

16 minutes ago, Quill said:

I will totally do that! Let me know through PM when your neighbor has them available and I will absolutely take a drive. 

Will do. They're usually available in the summer. Let me know how many plants you want and I'll let her know once she asks how many I want.

When I get home I can send you pictures of my milkweed and give you info about how many young plants it started from. But I'm in Puerto Rico right now until the 18th

[Guest]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Will do. They're usually available in the summer. Let me know how many plants you want and I'll let her know once she asks how many I want.

When I get home I can send you pictures of my milkweed and give you info about how many young plants it started from. But I'm in Puerto Rico right now until the 18th

Have fun in Puerto Rico! 

[Eos]

Here's my friend's advice about transplanting.  He grows perennials for sale with an emphasis on native plants.  He says you don't need to get the taproot entirely.

Go in spring anytime after the frost is out, but a little forgiving, you have like 3+weeks. Go to where it's growing, if it's in tilled/soft soil all the easier. Use a spade and/or spading fork, but a spade works better. unless the soil is real soft.You're gonna dig down at an old stalk and just follow roots wherever they go. Might be 6-8" down, many less, all sizes. The roots will break but that's fine. You'll find fresh white pips along the roots and they'll be this year's plants. Everyone will grow. (If you wait too long they will have started growing and will bust off easy.) You just root around like any mole or pig. If it's a good patch you'll end up w/hundreds, ground will look tilled. Can plant as is, laying them in  maybe about  4-6"down, more or less, give or take. You're really digging roots, not plants. I'd say don't let em dry out too much, but you don't have to hurry to plant them if you keep them damp and covered. 

[Lucy the Valiant]

On 1/14/2023 at 9:03 PM, Spy Car said:

Make sure you plant type of milkweed that is local to area and suited to Monarchs.

Also, be aware that the if you get the "latex" (the "milk") from milkweed in your eyes, it is dangerous. Be very (very) careful if you cut milkweed plants not to transfer the sap from your hands to your eyes.

I remember the local president of the Butterfly Club, whose backyard was devoted to all sorts of butterfly friendly plants--and who knew better--rubbed his eyes after doing some gardening, and he when through some pretty big drama that required being treated at Jules Stein. 

Bill

 

 

On 1/15/2023 at 11:00 AM, Lady Florida. said:

Here you go - link to a pdf about OE and how to help prevent it. It does look like it's a problem in milder climates than yours @Quill but I figured this could help anyone reading the thread who lives in a mild climate.

https://monarchjointventure.org/images/uploads/documents/Oe_fact_sheet.pdf

 

Thank you both for sharing these warnings! I had never heard of either thing! (We live up north, but I'm still happy to have the knowledge. I've only ever seen native / common milkweed here, and swamp milkweed.)

We sometimes eat them, too, when we're with our local foraging group - they are similar to asparagus.

[Sneezyone]

On 1/14/2023 at 11:09 PM, Kidlit said:

I need to see a picture of this. Sounds like my dream. 

It’s going into its second spring so still not ‘full’ but coming along nicely. We took out an invasive (and damaged) maple tree with resident owl (sorry, not sorry to see the pellets go) and mistletoe problem and put in a native serviceberry instead. The squirrels are back already. We had some more aggressive reclamation options but decided on this one to keep the neighborhood happy. Plus, we already have a no-fuss, no manicure native weed/grass ‘lawn’.  We keep it mowed and edged but never water it. The plan for the back yard is more aggressive. This weekend, I’m finally cutting the stalks off the coneflowers (leaving the heads to reseed) but the dry grasses are still lovely. Behind that there’s a row of traditional ‘hedge’ stuff so even when I cut the grasses back in a month or two, it won’t look barren. The design she gave us was very thoughtful.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Lucy the Valiant]

https://monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/milkweed/free-milkweeds-schools-nonprofits/

[kbutton]

On 1/20/2023 at 1:59 PM, Sneezyone said:

Plus, we already have a no-fuss, no manicure native weed/grass ‘lawn’.  We keep it mowed and edged but never water it.

I've not really heard of one that I also hear about mowing. I'm intrigued.

Do you like your pine needle mulch (at least that's what I think I see in the pictures)? We've used it in a few spots, and we're thinking of maybe transitioning to this all over. 

[Sneezyone]

2 hours ago, kbutton said:

I've not really heard of one that I also hear about mowing. I'm intrigued.

Do you like your pine needle mulch (at least that's what I think I see in the pictures)? We've used it in a few spots, and we're thinking of maybe transitioning to this all over. 

Our ‘lawn’ still has some bits of fescue here and there and lots of dandelions so it does need the occasional haircut, just no water. I love the pine needle mulch tho. It’s abundant naturally so I never need to buy anything.