Milkweeds: How many and which ones are in your garden??!

Janet, those leaves look exactly like the purple milkweed like mine, give us a picture of the bloom when you get one if it doesn't bloom this year then that may very well be the purple milkweed here is the link to it:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/162700/

The leaves are thick and a dark green with a red vien in them.

What kind of plants did you order? Are those three that you have left from that order?

Thanks LeBug for ID my milkweed. No this milkweed was spotted by a garden club member at a sight that was about to be torn down, so our club was dividing up the plants that they had planted several year ago. The just couldn't bear to see the whole garden dug up and hauled away with the parking lot. So I was blessed in getting three of these.

The other ones were Asciepias Curassauica. I ordered them from the Live Monarch web site. I notified them by e-mail that they had died and I received an e-mail asking for my order number and my address and they would resend the order. That was some time ago. I can never think to call them during the day as I'm just too busy and I get home after their day hours. I will somehow get them replaced.....

Janet

I wonder if plants can be sent safely now because of the heat? I don't think that I have ever had any plants arrive this late in the summer.

Oh I'm not wanting anything shipped right now... My last order from Bluestone was dead by the time I got home. The one week that we had any heat up here and what so the silly mailperson do, 90 degrees and the box says live plants and he leaves it at the front door in the afternoon sun. Got them out back and took them out and they were broken and dead... I then took pictures to send to them and layed the camera to the side forgot about my camera and destroyed my camera cause it sat out over the next few days and we had several thunderstorms.... Camera died and went to camera heaven.... Made me cry as it was a christmas present from my hubby. I just hate when I do stupid things like that.

I'm really going to ask for my money back since they didn't follow through.

Janet

Been there done that Janet. We all do stupid things that cause us grief later. Plus I think at the time I sit something down like that.... "I shouldn't put this here...I may forget it"....then I usually do!

Sorry about the plants you both received in bad shape or died.

Bluestone more than made up for the dead plants which wasn't their fault, but when I went up to their customer appreciation sale, they were very generous.

now the other place, that has yet to be resolved. LOL

Janet

I still think your milkweed is A. syriaca, because of the reddish veins http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ASSY&photoID=assy_2v.jpg I don't think the A. purpurascens veins stand out like that and the leaves are slightly more narrow and pointy http://www.missouriplants.com/Pinkopp/Asclepias_purpurascens_page.html
You'll know for sure when it flowers because syriaca's flowers are droopy while the purpurascens are more upright and a much darker color as you can see in the pictures on those links.

Meredith, nine in the field might be that one (A. syriaca) instead of cinderella, some of these are so confusing lol The blooms look like that one and on the cinderella in the plantfiles it doesn't have a red vein but the blooms look about the same, I'd like to get these straight for trading lol And for planting and my own sanity lol I can't get close to the plant too man weeds afraid of ticks.

I love that site I book marked it!

Heres some pics for the thread : )

Asclepias speciosa or Showy Milkweed

Asclepias purpurascens or Purple Milkweed

Asclepias syriaca or Common Milkweed

Asclepias incarnata or Swamp Milkweed

Cinderella is a selection of Swamp Milkweed but it looks like the species doesn't look any different, I think that happens a lot with wildflower selections. Here's the plantfiles link http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54062/

I have only 4 plants...all the same...the oldest, from last year, has been stripped to sticks...LOL :) ...I had to run around like a madwoman last weekend to locate more milkweed for the 13 huge monarch cats that had stripped the first plant.
Finally found some at MRT out east. (Flarda)

Here's a TOTALLY OUT-OF-FOCUS shot of mine (before the feast)...sorry...LOLAM

Wow! I've been away, haven't been able to keep up with Dave's Garden (or my real garden!), and was surprised to see so many posts on this thread! So much good information!

We all must have a huge crop of Monarch caterpillars coming on with all the milk weed growing, right??

Actually I haven't seen many Monarchs around our garden yet this year, and just a few swallowtails. I did see some Frittilaries this week. But I'm hoping for more visitors as the sun shines (and chases away the rainy springtime).

FYI I wanted to post this graph of the 'temporal distribution' of Monarchs in our area (ohio) from the Ohio Lepidopterists.

http://www.ohiolepidopterists.org/bflymonitoring/species/monarch.htm

From the graph it looks like the Second Week in July will be a really big week for finding Monarchs around here. I wonder if my Milkweeds will be ready for them?! (They look a little puny).

Have a fun Fourth of July Weekend (in the garden)! t.

t, did your purple milkweeds germinate for you and how are they doing? Mine are looking a little better but I'm down to 7 of them. I'm going to start the rest of the other pack in the spring and plant them in a different spot I think these are getting too much sun although my other ones are in full sun but the pack says part sun, didn't read it until I already had them planted lol

I am so excited to say that I saw the first Monarch of the year in my yard today! It just flew through in a rush, but at least I know there should be more soon! : )

LeBug, My purple milkweeds are still tiny. Next year I'm going to plant a lot though. They are so pretty in the photos (above).

My 'cinderella' milkweeds are big and bountiful, but no monarch eggs that I can find. My tuberosas are scrawny. Not nearly as fine and fat as Kcrna's above.

My butterfly bushes are blooming like crazy and I hardly have any butterflies on them.

Have a great weekend!

I saw three monarchs yesterday! They are coming back I hope lol

I just shipped 5 purple milkweeds off to NY I hope they make it I've never shipped those before :) I'll find out tomorrow I hope.

Happy 4th of July everyone, have a safe one!

We have had tons of cats so far this year. I too was scrambling around buying MW plants. I think I have eleven now scattered through my gardens. I didn't think to plant them all in one clump.This was my first year attempting to attract monarchs. It has been so fun for my children to watch the process. We have had up to 22 cats at one time, currently we only have tree so the plants will have some time to produce new leaves.

I have some in my gardens, the pink swamp milkweed was planted out front and wish I hadn't done that cause it looks so ragged sometimes, I've tried to dig it out but it doesn't do any good so I have finally accepted the fact that it isn't going anywhere lol The orange I just love I could have it everywhere and I do!

Do all milkweeds produce flowers? I constantly have what look like MW volunteers
but I remember onetime I let one of them grow (in a small garden area in full sun)
but it never got any flowers.

carol, I'm not so sure about all milkweeds, but I do know that it takes a couple of seasons (or even three seasons) of growth for some of the milkweeds to flower in our region.

My asclepias tuberosas are very spindly and this is the first year that some of them have decided to flower. I'm hoping for a 'blooming break through' next year, though!

Here is a garden blogger's observations on growing milkweeds in her garden. It's full of good info http://hayefieldhouse.com/2008/06/23/asclepias-season/

Seems like they would have to flower to attrack the butterflies. I'm new to this...

As far as attracting the butterflies, the main thing is how much milkweed plants are around, IMHO. The flowers are more icing on the cake, I think, to help attract them. I've been seeing occasional Queen butterflies when I'm driving around lately. But none in the yard, so far. So my milkweeds aren't doing any host plant duties right now.

I've watched a mama Monarch touch seedlings with her feet, and anything green for that matter, trying to determine which are milkweeds in my gardens. Last year was my first year growing milkweed so the early Monarchs only had seedlings to choose from. No blooming buffet at my house until the fall. And come to think of it, no blooms last year at all on my A. tuberosa until this year. All of my early Monarchs laid eggs without blooms on the mw. Linda's right; and a perfect explaination that the bloom is just icing on the cake for the Monarchs and Queens.

The fragrance of the MWs attracts the butterflies, too. Apparently some have more fragrance than others...

Ok, the scent of of the plant! That makes sense! I have had so much fun with this new hobby. Thanks everyone for all of your advice & help!

I saw another Monarch flutter through this evening. : ) It looked like it landed in a tree in my back yard hopefully it's staying the night and will wake up and find these full of nectar for breakfast.
Asclepias tuberosa or Butterfly Weed

Nice clump and the little purple is really eye catching to humans too!

t, I have two milkweed vines trying to grow where my milkweed garden is I'm debating if I want to let them grow there lol I have castor bean planted pretty close to it that they could climb up but when they get bigger I can id them, I need to find that other thread this afternoon we were talking about milkweed vines, we cleaned under the cedar tree so those probably won't come up this year but this is a better place for them so I can watch and see if they have cats :)

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/69156/

LeBug, I can't recall quite where that milkweed vine discussion was, but I remember that I read that it was a nasty in the garden and in native woodlands around here, at least. But I also read somewhere that it was a popular MW for monarchs in Missouri (or someplace like that.)

I suppose if you can keep it under control for a season or two it might be interesting to observe the pollinators that visit the MW vine and make a report on Plant Files about it.

I just went out and checked on my MW encarnta cinderellas and they are covered with bumble bees and other bees. No butterflies near it. Could it be that the bees are keeping the butterflies away? We seem to have a zillion bees around this year (as compared to last year when they were scarce.)

My asclelpias purpurense (purple milkweed) are so tiny I can't find them in the garden now. How are yours doing?

My purpurense is doing better, we had a little rain this week and it seemed to help them a lot but they are still very small, I think I told you I'm down to 7 of them :) The are like thickening up a little, does that make sense? lol They aren't any taller but they are starting to look healthier lol

Get this I think I planted the wrong seeds for my orange butterfly weeds LOL I did it to myself! I thought for sure that I had orange seeds but it sure doesn't look like it so far, I had one of the bloodflowers reseed and looks like a yellow one that's going to bloom so that's why my orange butterfly weeds are growing so fast I think they are all seeds from annuals LOL I don't believe I did that!!! And I collected the orange seeds myself! LOL I'll never get over this one LOL

I have the room for one of those milkweed vines to grow I think I'll just let it grow and watch it, I'm courious to see what insects do visit it, I'm going to set a pole up with some chicken wire on it today for it to climb on and pull the other one, it's in my host garden anyway and when I saw the seedling I remembered how many I've pulled up before :)

My milkweeds are pretty much up now and most are in bloom (except the purpurense). But no monarch eggs that I can find.

LeBug, I'm glad to find out that you collected those (mixed up) orange annual milkweed seeds yourself! I was afraid they were from a (mixed up) batch of seeds I sent you. I am prone to getting my collected seeds confused!

I'm getting ready to put in a new Butterfly Garden for my nieces here and I found a great book, "Life Cycles of Butterflies", by two local authors, Judy Burris and Wayne Richards, for reference:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3U69SK22YW29T?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview

I'm going to lay out the new garden just as they did, with divided areas for different plants so that the butterflies can find the host plants and nectar flowers they want. Right now my garden is pretty jumbled up and most of the milkweeds and nectar flowers can't be found...

Here's a picture of Judy Burris's garden on her website: http://www.butterflynature.com/ourgarden.html

One of my tuberosas bloomed a 2nd time, never had this happen before. I removed pods as they formed, and within a few weeks it was literally covered in blossoms again. Love it.

Karen

Oh man kqcrna lol I have those cats that look like they are made out of yarn on my orange milkweeds and they are all over them! Still haven't seen many monarch cats around, can't do the black and white cats in I think they make a pretty butterfly but can't remember which one it is, I'm getting ready to collect seeds but the pods are taking forever to turn brown lol I hope mine blooms again after taking the pods off :) The milkweed bugs are starting to show up now too and I've found a lot of them in the pink milkweed pods when I opened them up!

Yep t, I did it to myself but it worked out good because at least I have some milkweeds for the cats if I ever get any :) I bought supplies to raise them but had three kittens spayed at the same time so needless to say, I have spent my time in the house with them while they recooperate lol I'm going stir crazy in here want to get my hands dirty and wanting to raise cats, the kittens won't be able to go outside for five more days! You know the 'purpurense' won't bloom for three years I hope :)

I took some pictures of my host garden and if I get time today I'll post a picture of it, the kittens have been keeping me so busy I haven't had much time lately lol They get into everything and are jumping so much I'm afraid they are going to rip their stitches out so I have to let one out at a time and watch them like a hawk they're usually outside.

I bought a couple of disposable camera to take pictures with got tired of trying to figure my digital out lol

Yes, as soon as pods form on mine, the milkweed bugs are not far behind. And they always get in with the seeds.

Karen

Tabasco, I hear ya on the jumbled mess. LOL I just glanced at that link and was immediately envious. I have plain 'ole Mexican milkweed by the tons, which is why I joined in. Not so much for the what kind but how many do you have. Last year I swear I had probably a thousand plants! I thought about counting one day but stopped when I had over a hundred in one tiny spot. Because of the years past when I've needed it, along with others, I just let it all grow. How was I to know I would have just a few Monarchs?! What I learned too is that the more you have then the less chance of finding the cats. And when I did find them they'd be the little flat black spot on the leaves. Since it's perennial here and I did not want that many again I spent several weeks this spring pulling them up. Talk about work! I ended up having to cut most of the roots with pruners to get them out but it was worth it. This year I've got plenty in the beds and it still comes up in the grass. Still only a rare Monarch sighting tho and no cats. Good thing my cottontail bunnies like it too!

Here's a pic from last fall. It's a little hard to tell from this angle, but there's tons of it and this is only part of the back. I had a full other bed, along the side of the house and in front.

So how come you didn't pot those up and call me?? I went out and bought plants last year because I forgot to plant in time. of course we didn't have that many bfs and don't this year either. Just can't think about them getting dumped.
I have about 35 -40 plants this year with only three or four just starting to bloom. I can't imagine ever having that problem; I can only dream.

Oh, yes, it makes me cry to think of all that beautiful A. curassavica going to the compost pile! I can't believe your monarch population is so skimpy this year compared to other recent years...well, our monarchs are few and far between too, but it always seems to me that the TX folks have zillions of butterflies all the time.

LeBug, your stand of A. tuberosa is beautiful, and so is your border! And, No, LeBug, I didn't think about the purpurense taking three years to bloom! I don't think I can be that patient! Maybe I'll go out to the August half off perennial sales and see if anyone has some on clearance.

I counted butterflies yesterday evening and found about 10 Eastern Tiger Swallowtails at 6 p.m. in the garden nectaring on verbena bonarienses. That flower may as well be the only thing I plant here. I did see one lonely monarch checking my milkweeds, but she didn't seem to like any of them...Nothing on my Mexican Sunflowers which is weird. They usually are a big attraction.

Oh, I also saw a Zebra Swallowtail (again on the verbena). They are kind of unusual for around here. And so pretty.

I wondered if I could start some various perennial milkweed seeds now to plant out in September/October here in zone 6. Any thoughts on that anybody?