Common Milkweed

With the great migration of Monarch butterflies in serious danger of becoming extinct, I knew I needed to have milkweed in my new garden.  I started seeds, ordered seedlings, and ended up with a few dozen milkweed plants clustered around the garden.   Apparently I didn't need to worry so much about planting milkweed - while exploring the back wild edge of our property, I found that Mother Nature had beaten me to the punch!

cluster of milkweed flowers, starting to bloom

I found an entire stand of Asclepias syriaca, otherwise known as Common Milkweed, in my back yard.

The pollinators were in love.

I'm just going to lie here and drink some nectar...

I had never smelled Common Milkweed flowers before.  Beautifully fragrant, they smell like lilacs to me.

The nickname of Common Milkweed shows how plentiful it used to be.  This plant was considered a terribly fast-growing, hard-to-control weed by farmers (and still is, oftentimes).  

One of the few herbicides that works on it is glyphosate (known often under the brand Roundup), which one of the reasons why Roundup-ready crops were so welcome by farmers.  Finally this weed and many others could be easily gotten rid of with what (at the time) seemed like minimal impact on the environment...

In 1996, 3% of corn and 7.4% of soybeans grown in the US were herbicide-tolerant.  By 2013, 85% of corn and 93% of soybeans were herbicide-tolerant, much of it grown in the Midwest, the corridor of Monarch migration.  Of course, the increase in herbicides led to a sharp decline of milkweed...

...which led to a sharp decline in the population of Monarch butterflies.  I'm sure other wildlife populations are affected, as well (and we won't even go into the evolution of Roundup-resistant weeds that are now spreading.)

Skipper butterfly on Milkweed

It is interesting how many plants we think of as weeds, really turn out to be important in the ecosystem.

A noxious weed to farmers that invades their crops and can affect their livelihood?  A necessary plant to survival for a butterfly?  It is hard to strike balance when talking about this one small but impactful plant, but it certainly can't be healthy to lose such large numbers of wildlife.

So I will do a little gardener's dance at the fact that I have Common Milkweed weeding it up in the back yard and plant a few more milkweed seedlings in the front.  I haven't seen any Monarchs yet..

...but I want to be ready for them and any other native wildlife that might need a helping hand.

Calling All North American Gardeners - Help!

If you want to keep seeing this:

Monarch butterfly

you are going to need this:

Monarch laying eggs

Help our Monarchs make babies...

a baby Monarch

plant Milkweed!

one type of milkweed - Asclepias tuberosa

As the population of Monarchs dwindles severely, the great migration of the Monarchs is in serious danger of becoming extinct. 

area of land occupied by Monarchs at their overwintering sites in Mexico
source - Monarch Joint Venture 

The Monarchs have taken a battering on all sides.  Harsh weather and habitat loss have led to record low numbers of these beautiful butterflies in North America. 

While we have no control over the weather, we can plant Milkweed in order to help the monarchs as much as possible! 

Milkweed is especially critical in the Great Plains regions.  With the rise of corn prices (due in part to the government mandate of adding ethanol to gasoline), millions of acres of grasslands have now been converted to Corn and Soybean farms.  

Furthermore, these large farms are switching to the new varieties that are genetically engineered to tolerate herbicides (such as Roundup Ready Corn).  The spraying of herbicides has eliminated the milkweed that used to sprout up in and around the crops - and thus eliminated much of the breeding ground for Monarchs.

Monarch laying eggs on Milkweed

So calling all North American gardeners - especially you all in the Great Plains region!

Let's do what we can to save the migration...

and hopefully not witness the end of an era.

Milkweed comes in a variety of colors, and there are Milkweeds for just about every type of garden, from dry to swampy.
Here are just a few online sources for Milkweed seeds and plants:

Annie's Annuals & Perennials
Prairie Moon Nursery

Prairie Nursery

Shooting Star Nursery
Rose Franklin's Perennials & Herbs
Lazy S'S Farm & Nursery

Everybody Loves Cosmos

Beggar Lice and Treasure Hunts

One wildflower I love seeing in my yard is Desmodium, also known as Tick Tre-foil or Beggar Lice.  Nice nicknames, huh?  

There are many different species of Desmodium.  Many people consider them to be a weed, but I rather like the airy look of the ones in my garden.

Beggar Lice are a part of the pea family, clearly evidenced by their seed pods.

The seed pods are what give Beggar Lice a bad rap - I'm sure many of you have gone for a walk in the woods and found these seedpods stuck to your clothing afterwards.  (I'm assuming this talent for 'begging' a ride is the inspiration behind that particular nickname.)  The little hooked hairs on these seeds stick impressively well to anything that brushes against them.

Beggar Lice are important to wildlife as a source of food for animals such as the White-tailed Deer and Northern Bobwhite.   They are also host plants for several types of butterflies.

Long-tailed Skipper laying eggs on Desmodium leaf

It's rather fun to hunt for caterpillars on my Beggar Lice plants.  If I see a rolled leaf or two leaves stuck together, I know something is probably inside..

It's like a little treasure hunt.

Long-tailed Skipper caterpillar

Though it seems slightly dangerous somehow, doesn't it?  Who knows what might be inside!

Anyone know what this is?

Next time I shall post about my latest project in the garden.  My computer has been rather neglected lately with the beautiful weather beckoning me into the garden.  I'm enjoying it while it lasts!   

As always, happy gardening!

linking with Wildflower Wednesday

So Did I Win?

Well, I'm back home in North Carolina after my trip up to the Northeast.  Of course one of the first things a gardener does when they get home is check the garden.  (Is everything still alive?  Have I lost any more plants to my serial killer Vole?  No?  Phew!!)

Then I wonder, did the Monarch butterfly I saw up in New Jersey beat me back home?  Who won the race?  Are there any Monarchs in the garden?  Well, I don't see any orange and black butterflies fluttering around in the garden in a taunting manner, but I do spy something possibly even better.........baby Monarchs!

Monarch caterpillars on milkweed

A monarch has laid eggs on my milkweed plants, and now I have several little hungry caterpillar babies enjoying the feast.  The monarch must have visited just last week - it only takes 3 to 5 days for an egg to hatch, and my caterpillars were still pretty young.  With any luck, some of these caterpillars will grow up to be butterflies and take their place in the yearly pilgrimage to the mountains of central Mexico to spend the winter.

Ah, but what is this flying into the garden?

Monarch butterfly on butterfly bush

You haven't by chance just flown in from New Jersey, have you?

Either way, having a monarch here in my garden is a win!

linking with Mosaic Monday

Racing a Monarch

This week I am in New Jersey for a few days, 500 miles away from the Red House.  Here I've seen a Monarch butterfly in the garden, resting and nectaring on her way down to Mexico for the winter.  

Monarch butterfly on Coneflower

Five days after spotting the Monarch I will be going back home, and I wonder, who will make it down to North Carolina first, me or the butterfly?

MONARCH FACTS:  

• Monarch butterflies usually travel between 50 to 100 miles per day.  The average is about 80 miles (129 km) per day.  
• The farthest a Monarch has traveled in one day on record is 265 miles (426 km).

265 miles in one day?!  This Monarch looks tired just thinking about flying that far!

• Monarchs travel at around 12 mph (19kmh), but can fly at speeds up to 30mph (48kmh) or even much faster with a tail wind.  
• Glider pilots have recorded these butterflies flying as high as 11,000 feet (3350m) up in the air.  

AIRPLANE FACTS:

• My airplane has a cruising speed at around 400mph (645kmh).
• The airplane has a maximum cruising altitude of 25,000ft (7,600m).
• Flight time to NC is under 2 hours.  

I wish I was going on this plane!
picture source: Wikipedia

So with a 5 day head start, could the Monarch butterfly end up at the Red House Garden first?

Well, the butterfly would have to travel an average of 100 miles per day to get there before me, which is theoretically doable...

Ready..... Set..... Go!

See you at the Red House Garden?

Want to join in tracking the Monarch butterfly fall migration?  

Report your sightings of Monarchs at the Monarch Butterfly Journey North website!

A Little Love and Respect for Moths

It's been a big flap forward for Moths everywhere this past week, as the first ever National Moth Week took place!  Mothing events were held around the country, where people got together to learn more about these weird looking fascinating creatures and to see what moths they could find. 

This Imperial Moth (Eacles imperialis) showed up at the Red House Garden awhile back.  The picture doesn't do it justice - this thing was enormous!

Mothing is pretty easy - just turn on your porch light at night and see what shows up.  Moth enthusiasts also use special lights and baits to attract more moths.  I did the porch light thing the other night and went outside to see what I could find.  I honestly thought it would be a little unpleasant and, well, buggy with bugs flying all around, but it was actually pretty fascinating to see what was attracted to the porch light (and thankfully nothing bit me).

A moth that was attracted to my porch light

Moths and butterflies are from the same order of insects (Lepidoptera).  I was surprised to learn that there are actually many, many more species of moths than butterflies.  (All these things that you never knew were out there in the night.) Most moths are nocturnal, but there are a few that fly during the day.

Here are two examples of moths that fly during the day:
TOP:  Snowberry Clearwing moth (often called the Bumblebee moth)
BOTTOM:  Hummingbird Clearwing moth 

So what's the difference between a butterfly and a moth? 
Like previously mentioned, most moths are nocturnal.  And, unlike butterflies, most moths have thick and fuzzy bodies.  They also don't have little knobs at the end of their antennae like butterflies.

moth attracted to my porch light

Another difference is that butterflies usually rest with their wings held up above them, while moths rest with their wings spread out flat.

a resting moth

There are several other less noticeable differences.  An interesting one is that moths are the ones who make cocoons of silk - butterfly pupae have a hard, smooth skin called a chrysalis.

Are moths pests?
Moths are actually very beneficial.  They are important as pollinators, and they are a large part of the food chain.  Also it is the silk moth (Bombyx mori) that produces silk.  These creatures that are so rarely noticed do deserve a little love and respect!

Now moth caterpillars, on the other hand, are a very different story as we gardeners know...