Milkweed

[big rockpile]

Going to get couple Bee Hives going.

This Spring going to plant many more Flowers.

Pollinators like stuff blooming in my vegetable garden. I will have to worry more about neighbors using Chemicals on their gardens.

Oh I planted a Butterfly Bush but it wasn't what I wanted it is a dwarf I'm wanting full size.

Going to plant Zinnias and Sun Flowers seems they like them.

big rockpile

 

[Anniekay]

Planted some Butterfly Milkweed last Spring. They loved it.

big rockpile

View attachment 2389

Great photo Rocky !!

 

[Anniekay]

Going to get couple Bee Hives going.

This Spring going to plant many more Flowers.

Pollinators like stuff blooming in my vegetable garden. I will have to worry more about neighbors using Chemicals on their gardens.

Oh I planted a Butterfly Bush but it wasn't what I wanted it is a dwarf I'm wanting full size.

Going to plant Zinnias and Sun Flowers seems they like them.

big rockpile

Butterflies go crazy over Zinnias, especially the tall ones, not so much the dwarf varietires. I had butterflies landing on my hand while I was cutting zinnias to put in the house in a vase. Love zinnias and Parks seeds have a lot of really cool multicoloed ones.

 

[Mike]

Going to get couple Bee Hives going.

What kind of hives will you be using? My son and I have been talking about putting up a horizontal hive on the back side of the garden next year. If we're going to, though, we need to get it built ASAP!

 

[big rockpile]

My Son said Flow Hive but he has a Regular Hive. I brought up Horizontal but he was nope.

I know a guy with Horizontal and he got 10 gallons this year.

big rockpile

What kind of hives will you be using? My son and I have been talking about putting up a horizontal hive on the back side of the garden next year. If we're going to, though, we need to get it built ASAP!

 

[Mike]

My Son said Flow Hive but he has a Regular Hive. I brought up Horizontal but he was nope.

I know a guy with Horizontal and he got 10 gallons this year.

big rockpile

Oh wow! I'd be happy with a single gallon of fresh honey. Probably be plenty to last me the year. The flow gives are nice too. Definitely make harvesting the honey much easier!

 

[Meadowlark]

Thread Update:

Of the three varieties of attractor plants started last fall, two have returned showing excellent growth this spring.... swamp milkweed and calico aster.

The swamp milkweed looks like it is very adaptable to my local environment, so I'll try to get more of it going this spring.



The calico aster also looks to be vibrant and likely to spread. Eventually, this will become a thriving butterfly garden. Additions this spring include bee balm, butterfly weeds, coneflowers and other flowers.

 

[Mike]

Your milkweed looks a heck of a lot more vibrant that what we call milkweed here. I wouldn't even mind it if it would bloom but ours is just a vine that takes over everything. Even killed a crepe myrtle a few years back. Well, it didn't kill it. It's still alive. But it choked it nearly to death to the point where it wasn't even growing anymore and never bloomed.

 

[Meadowlark]

@Mike are you sure that is milkweed? A vine? I've never heard of anything that could kill a crepe myrtle

 

[Mike]

@Mike are you sure that is milkweed? A vine? I've never heard of anything that could kill a crepe myrtle

I don't think it is. That's just what we've always called it. My guess is because when you break the vine it pours out a milky substance. I could've been calling it wrong, along with everyone else in this area, my whole life.

I'll get some pictures this year so I can get some help properly identifying it. Someone posted something last year that looked similar but the leaves on ours are much smaller than than what was posted.

 

[Meadowlark]

The monarch caterpillars (Danaus plexippus) are gorging on the new growth swamp milkweed in my new butterfly garden today. The black, white, and yellow stripes are unmistakable. I counted about 7-8 on each milkweed plant showing new growth.

An exciting development for me in the first spring of my new butterfly garden.