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Post by paulf on Mar 21, 2024 11:56:20 GMT -5
My area is in the direct flyway for Monarch Butterflies. In the past there were wild common milkweed everywhere but farmers have systematically been eradicating milkweed in ditches and roadways. A large loosely organized group of gardeners have been replanting and cultivating milkweed for several years. Since moving to Nebraska twenty years ago our yard has had milkweed which was leftovers from when it grew wild. Last year and now this year Common Milkweed will become one of the main crops for us.
Last year I grew twenty or more plants. Direct sowing method did not work very well for us in the past so I started the seedlings along with tomatoes and peppers indoors and then replanted outside. They did well so we shall see how they do this year. I purchased seeds and have cold stratified them and now will see if they will germinate for replanting fifty or seventy-five plants outside depending on the success of the germination process.
Being new to milkweed growing are there any tips to help with success? We actually did see a few Monarchs last year but the numbers have been way down for several years. I don't know if the butterflies are visiting by chance or if they know from one year to the next where the food supply is. A large part of the landscape we plant is in butterfly and hummingbird friendly flowers and other plantings. I would love to see Monarchs like we used to years ago.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Mar 21, 2024 14:12:48 GMT -5
I don't know about milkweed, except that it is a perennial, which you know, and I remember my Mom had a couple of huge plants in her yard, that would get a lot of monarchs on them. But I don't remember how long they bloomed - is this the problem you are having, that you are trying to get them blooming like an indeterminate, STS? There is something I've grown the last two years that does this, (though it is an annual) that attracted monarchs, and other butterflies, as well as bumblebees, and other pollinators - the Mexican sunflower. Only problem was they are sort of messy - the flowers only last a week or a little longer, before drying up, though eventually they are covered with flowers, attracting the pollinators, and I've even seen hummingbirds attracted to them, which I've never seen on others here. And once they start - it was in mid to later June when I see the first - they keep flowering all season. Another Mexican Sunflower, with a butterfly I often see on them, but not on zinnias or other flowers around the garden. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by paulf on Mar 21, 2024 15:15:54 GMT -5
Hyssop, butterfly bushes, butterfly weed, coneflowers, rudbeckia, asters, goldenrod, hibiscus, hollyhocks, phlox, ironweed, lilacs, several different sunflowers, several redbud trees, sedum, zinnias, russian sage, dill, parsley, apples, pears, cherries, apricots. All these are in the landscape here and loads of butterflies and moths frequent along with hummers and bees, wasps, bumblebees. We keep reading that Monarchs only feed on milkweed so that is why the milkweed push. I will have to notice the bloom length.
We have tried to plant flowers and shrubs that bloom from spring to fall for the pollinators and butterflies. The earliest are pussywillows and forsythia but they tend to be gone before their pollen can be used. Milkweed is supposed to replenish itself from seed drop, so we will see.
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