A Little Help

[iowahiker]

As a reference point, we do not herbicide, fertilize, or pesticide our lawn but do mow. We read a lawn will attract more birds if you just mow and we are pleased with the many birds that visit and stay around our house.

Three summers ago a single milkweed plant sprouted in our lawn and we decided not to mow the one plant since Monarch butterfly populations are declining. We thought our choice "Quixotic" since we never see Monarch butterfly caterpillars on milkweed plants while hiking. The one milkweed plant grew to over 30 plants by root sprouting and seeding over the following two summers (I suppose they do call it milk"weed" for a reason.). And...

We got 7 Monarch butterfly caterpillars on our milkweed plants this year, the third summer. They are all growing quite large.

And so... "Quixotic" does sometimes produce results.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

That's cool.We get a few caterpillars but mostly the adults.
There are a lot of eucalyptus groves that they like to rest in.
Post "growing" photos.
Thanks
Frank

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

That’s great! Every bit helps, sometimes a lot.

 

[Taku]

Very nice!

 

[Lighthawk]

Good job!

 

[craig333]

How long did it take? I have yet to see any on my milkweed plants.

 

[iowahiker]

Craig, We had caterpillars in the third summer after the first milkweed appeared.

 

[ski3pin]

Good job that is yielding results! Well done.

 

[iowahiker]

We did search for Monarch chrysalis but did not find them (well hidden might be safer). Bright and colorful adult butterflies did appear right on time so we appear to have success. After the milkweeds finished flowering, they had another growth flush of leaves and stem. Now we have a second crop of Monarch caterpillars too numerous to count.

Inspired by success, I am having trouble convincing my wife to devote the entire yard to milkweed cultivation (which would negate the need for mowing ).

 

[WjColdWater]

Nice to see you involved in the native plant movement. This is a very important issue around the nation. The roundup era has been devastating on native plants. Great pic!