My Volunteer Milkweed

[recurve]

i had a few milkweeds pop up in a couple areas last year now there are dozens!

And the monarchs are taking advantage!


I actually had a bunch browsed down by deer in one area where it is mixed in with a bunch of red clove I'm pretty sure that deer had a stomach ache that night

[turttle]

Wow! Lucky you. Great caterpilllar hatchery you have. And maybe the deer will be discouraged from ever coming back.

[jack]

Originally Posted by recurve

i had a few milkweeds pop up in a couple areas last year now there are dozens!
Attachment 29645
And the monarchs are taking advantage!
Attachment 29646
Attachment 29647
I actually had a bunch browsed down by deer in one area where it is mixed in with a bunch of red clove I'm pretty sure that deer had a stomach ache that night

That's A. syriaca, and it will spread far and wide in that area. I love the plant, but you have to be a wildlife gardener to smile at its appearance. It spreads in the most uncanny ways. Sometimes I think every seed that it disperses germinates. It also, no doubt, spreads via runners.

Of course the reward is enormous! It attracts wasps and butterflies and is the host for the Monarch. Hence, in one plant, one gets protection from pest insects with the wasps, and also gets to enjoy Monarchs making their home in one's yard. What more is there to ask for???

[recurve]

Originally Posted by jack

That's A. syriaca, and it will spread far and wide in that area. I love the plant, but you have to be a wildlife gardener to smile at its appearance. It spreads in the most uncanny ways. Sometimes I think every seed that it disperses germinates. It also, no doubt, spreads via runners.

Of course the reward is enormous! It attracts wasps and butterflies and is the host for the Monarch. Hence, in one plant, one gets protection from pest insects with the wasps, and also gets to enjoy Monarchs making their home in one's yard. What more is there to ask for???

Thanks for the info Jack I was wondering if it did in fact spread via runners. I'm going to collect some seeds in the fall I have a few other spots were I think this will do well. And it seems to hold it's own against the golden rod that seems to just dominate every nook and cranny of my yard.

[sprucetree]

Very Nice! You've also provided cover for all kinds of Wildlife by letting your prairie butt up to that blue spruce. Normally that's how you see Milkweed growing in Nature, A few stems here and there. It probably benefits egg survival and I wouldn't be surprised to find crystallasices formed in that tree. That picture is a perfect example of edge habitat, But the idea that popped in my head was that the area under the spruce tree must be undisturbed needles and leaves blown in, A perfect habitat for the bennie bugs and firefly's. ---I finally got around to cleaning a pile of leaves that had collected behind some equipment and noticed one lady bug larvae which I carefully placed near a more sheltered area with grass clippings.

[dapjwy]

Congratulations, not only for the milkweed volunteers, but also for the monarch larvae!

Just a week or so ago, I was suprised to see some milkweed growing among a patch of (ugh) mugwort. Maybe, tomorrow, I should check them for monarch caterpillars!

[bridget1964]

Very nice milkweed, indeed!