2wg Healing Sound　

We who come to these Monarchs sites all want the Monarch Butterfly to survive. If I didn’t have Tropical Milkweed, I’d have NO milkweed. Really? I’m not sure how large the patch is, but something like this is an option to consider: plant cage protector. I plan to plant more tropical, not less, now. This can be a somewhat noxious weed here in the SF bay area, even with the climate being essentially the opposite of what the plant would naturally experience. All around it are tropical milkweeds, both the orange flower and the showy red, they are doing great and I do get frost in the winter, late in the season, last year the frost wiped out my tropical milkweed, though now most are coming back and the reseeds are sprouting too. I helped her by hanging up a sponge which I dipped in sugar water and refreshed often. I started heart leaf milkweeds, they are hard to start, my one plant is small, it is nice and it will if it survives it will be a beautiful plant. Dead flower heads of goldenrods, asters, coneflower…supply food for seed eating birds during winter. We probably won’t have our first freeze until late december, and who knows… it might be a temperate winter, but I just can’t stand the thought of all those potential butterflies freezing to death in their crysalises. However, there’s been noticeably less milkweed in corn and soybean fields recently as farmers have used modern techniques to keep these and other weeds out of their fields. There are issues with growing both native and non-native milkweeds. My five large plants were found by Monarchs almost immediately, and so far I’ve raised 7 Monarchs, (4 females, 3 males). Recently, after reading on the butterfly garden forum some posts that sounded rather alarmist, I started reading about this issue. It’s helpful to have a diverse selection of native milkweed and flowering plants, but avoid tropical milkweed (A. curassavica). I have raised monarchs for over 30 years. respectfully, a native plant enthusiast who pragmatically plants non-native tropical milkweed, in urban areas……. And I have to admit it is a beautiful color and attracted all kinds of insects. Instead, it continues to thrive, producing new leaves and flowers in the fall and winter, which is causing monarchs to stay where the food is instead of continuing their migration south for the winter. www.alexanderwild.com. The tropical milkweed monarch larvae ended up with lower parasite loads! Monarch populations are crashing and one reason is the lack of milkweed that Monarch caterpillars must eat to survive. Many are lethargic and spitting green liquid. I have seen at least 10 split green milkweed seedpods. Hi Lara, tropical milkweed actually has higher cardenolides than most other milkweed species so it is more toxic. Plus, the baby catz love the flowers produced my the Tropicals. THE MOST HEARTBREAKING MUTATION WAS PERFECTLY FORMED BUTTERFLIES UNABLE TO FLY, TWO OF WHICH WERE BORN WITHOUT THEIR PROBISCUS IN OTHER WORDS, STARVED TO DEATH. Keep in mind, monarchs that were tagged in California have been recovered in Mexico, disproving the theory that all western monarchs migrate to coastal California. If you read the headline “Gardeners’ Good Intentions Are Killing Monarch Butterflies,” you might get the impression that planting milkweed is bad for these butterflies. I gave away many plants to people who wouldn’t have been willing to deal with A. syriaca. (PS. This afternoon, I walked along several miles of roadside in and around the Austin, TX area looking for milkweed, I found hundreds of plants already growing. I ordered some other milkweed seeds to give them a go, but I’ve been told not to expect much success. I would occasionally see a Monarch but I did not get eggs or cats. But milkweed is a noxious, obnoxious invasive plant within the city limits of Monticello, Iowa. I hope more people are willing to stop giving ultimatums and start discussing viable options. The monarchs never lay eggs on my milkweed after the first week of September. The lady’s name is Diane: Here’s a pretty good article on the subject: http://nababutterfly.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Tropical-Milkweed.pdf. I told the ranger that I was raising milkweed in my garden, she thanked me, with a very sad look in her eyes, it is very desperate now. Popular nectar plant for butterflies…especially around the fall migration! Unfortunately, milkweed often has a bad reputation. This plant loses leaves as it grows and no study has shown it to harbor OE more than any other source or surface. I try to encourage people to diversify their milkweed, because having more varieties helps to insure you’ll always have viable milkweed that’s ready to support monarch life. I can see why folks might be concerned about OE, but for most gardeners growing this lovely gem, I don’t think it becomes a big issue. This is 6 times the OE levels of the monarch population returning from Mexico. I assume this gets off a high % of spores, but I’m not sure how effective it is compared to bleach…this is an experiment for someone in a continuous growing region. How To Harvest Milkweed Seeds: All of the Facts, None of the Fluff! I’m wondering if some caterpillars have started pupating within milkweed seedpods in order to be protected from predators. 3. Monarchs flooded my garden the day I planted in May. disease? We grow asclepias curassavica as well as asclepias tuberosa, and hands down, the asclepias curassavica is more popular…. Paul, you are quite the monarch historian. On my tropical, I raise and release about a hundred Monarch up to October when I cut back. Rather, it is winter-breeding that leads to increased parasitism, and tropical milkweed planted in warm areas of the U.S. enables monarchs to winter-breed. I’ve let the number of caterpillars that occur on each milkweed species guide me as to what to increase the next year. I live in Santa Cruz CA. on Monsanto’s payroll. I suspect we are seeing a similar shift with the migrating Monarchs not needing to go all the way to Mexico (where, I assume, their native tropical milkweed is found). Milkweed is not a cause. I keep up with my tropical milkweed, keep it cut back, and I use a mild bleach solution on the leaves I feed the cats (when I briefly stopped cleaning them with bleach, a large majority of my monarchs eclosed with deformities). Viridis and asperula are also supposed to be popular host plants in Texas. I want to grow milkweed plants to attact the monarch and other butterflies. Be responsible with information its misuse hurts us all. I live in SE Georgia. There are many eggs on the leaves so what do you suggest I do with them? Hello! In some years, I have had viable tropical milkweed for WEEKS after the monarchs have migrated. It will be a great science fair project for my kids. Do I cut back the milkweed plants or do I let them remain as they are? In Minnesota I’ve seen monarchs, swallowtails, hummingbirds, honey bees, and other small pollinators on ours…it’s even supported tussock moth caterpillars, which I admittedly wasn’t so excited about. I agree with Paul Cherubini, and I also question the Georgia research projects that go on and on about o.e. Milkweed is the only group of plants that monarch caterpillars feed upon before they develop into butterflies. There is room for responsible diversity. But relying on a single type of plant for survival is a risky strategy that has put monarchs in grave danger. Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal) that diapausing migratory monarch populations have thrived for 50-100+ years solely on tropical milkweed alone. Thank you again for this site, for this conversation, it is so valuable to have a place to learn from and discuss the concerns on this issue. Zone 9b. The goal isn’t to be OE free, but to greatly reduce the number of spores so that your milkweed supply can support healthy butterflies. The potential problems and solutions surrounding tropical milkweed both involve humans. Please help. Monsanto nor glyphosate is hurting the monarchs. Monarchs that are in diapause are not changed and trapped by the presence of ASCLEPIAS CURASSAVICA . And I don’t stop at Monarchs, I have been raising Gulf Fritillaries on my passionflowers and Painted ladies on my malvas. The Tropical does last a longer than the Common but I think that is nature’s way of telling the Monarchs to move on. The way I see it, tropical milkweed re-growers are putting adults that are spore free & migrating south at risk of becoming infected by luring them to one’s newly re-bloomed milkweed, not guaranteed to be “clean”. I am an avid native plant supporter, being on the board of Midwest Native Plant Society and Greater Cincinnati Wild Ones. If I grow any more of the tropical kind, I will cut it back. Hi Deanne, I think tropical milkweed is a good option for smaller gardens because you need to maximize your space with long blooming, viable plants. That would explain more success for predators. I look forward to hearing the results from your tropical milkweed experiment this season…. It’s warm, they have an abundant nectar and food source year round. https://www.learner.org/jnorth/sightings/query_result.html?record_id=1427199803 Milkweed plants contain small traces of cardenolides, bitter chemicals monarchs store in their bodies to discourage predators, which associate the butterflies’ distinctive colouration with bad taste. I find this subject very interesting and worth more study. I feel like planting this species that far north wouldn’t contribute much to and issue in continued migration, with such a short season the stragglers or cats that pop out much later than they naturally would, would just freeze. Night time temps are in the 40’s. And your survival rate is impressive, especially in California where OE infection is common. Also, there is a recommended stores section at the bottom of the page: I planted tropical milkweed (just labeled milkweed at the nursery) in my garden in New Orleans and now I’m worried because there are at least 10-15 caterpillars and lots of crysalises all over the garden. I feel it was important to leave them be until the first frost to help sustain them on their journey I feel it is more important now than ever to provide waystations for them with the growing popularity of GMO crops in this area that make it easier for farmers to eradicate weeds with herbicides, further diminishing native milkweeds. I’m making the fourth attempt with seeds kept indoors, and so far, so good. It has fed migrating monarchs … I do not understand why so many are concerned that milkweed is available AFTER mating & egg laying. a problem in Mexico where tropical milkweed is native? The whole tone & the writers bad attitude for people who may have a different view point, is a turn off. When Monarch larvae ingest milkweed, they also ingest the plants' toxins, called cardiac glycosides. !”, 1. Milkweeds line local, state and federal highways. Hi Michele, up north I have noticed that the younger plants always look healthier. Boy was I wrong. We grow 75 tropical and 500 swamp, showy, and common. The last set of eggs laid in September pull out of here well before our first frost. I have 4 eggs and no monarchs in my yard for the past 4 days. I just had a monarch lay eggs on my milkweed today and I’m not sure what to do. However, it’s important to note there is currently no conclusive data telling us if/how much this is happening. I live in the Bay Area in California – I am a novice – just started raising Monarchs this year. The article is titled Is Tropical Milkweed Killing Monarch Butterflies? It was “tropical” milkweed, asclepias currasavica. THANK YOU! All from the natives. They love it! You could also raise them indoors and pick/refrigerate the remaining milkweed leaves and use as needed, or use stem cuttings. I want to ask you this, to be certain my thinking is correct: November 4, 2016 my 1st grade students and I notice monarchs visiting our tropical milkweed. I brought them indoors because many were just hanging on the leaves. The preferred food of the small milkweed bug (Lygaeus kalmii)? Popular host plant for monarch eggs Good point, Kristin. There are more than 100 different species of milkweed, and they are not all created equally. Hi Terri, thank you for your thoughtful comment. This way, there’ll always be some milkweed available for unexpected monarch visitors. Tropical Milkweed(Asclepias curassavica) is a non-native milkweed that has exploded in popularity over the past decade with both North American butterfly gardeners and the objects of their desire…monarch butterflies! So that means these butterflies had to have grown up in the southern States or in Mexico on non-native tropical milkweed and then migrated north, thus helping to repopulate the central States. I have many native plants & some ornamentals, yet I am tolerant of others who have a belief that is different from mine. I am applying to have my garden considered to be a sanctuary for Monarchs and I need to have a minimum of three types of Milkweeds and a variety of nectar plants. I always rinse leaves with water before serving to caterpillars just to be on the safe side. Thanks so much……. Planting a nonnative milkweed doesn’t do any good to the other species of milkweeds or to the habitat at large. Is that a good idea? Milkweed seeds! We have quite a few of these bugs. Every year monarchs use ALL of our 15 milkweed species at various points in the season, and so do other pollinators and native wildlife. 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