Milkweed

It's been raining off and on today.  I did a little planting and looking around the yard after work.  While supper was cooking, I went out and took photos of the milkweed plants and what caterpillars I could see.  Milkweeds come up later than most perennials. It's always a treat when I see that they have made it through the winter.  The smaller butterfly milkweeds don't live more than a few seasons here.

This stand of common milkweed was planted by the wind 2 or 3 years ago.  I have been pulling some of it out so it doesn't take over the whole flower bed.  It has not bloomed yet.  I wonder if it will this year.

It's a nicer looking plant than I was thinking it was.  Can you see the caterpillar?

Here it is!

This is 'Hello Yellow'.  I probably got it from a garden center.

I'm thinking there were 2 caterpillars on it.  Here is one of them.

This is the orange blooming butterfly milkweed, which is widely available from garden centers.

There were two on this one, too.

This is one of the swamp milkweeds I planted last spring.  I planted some white and pink blooming ones.   I got these from the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, but I've also seen some at garden centers.
 

I saw one caterpiller on this one.

 I didn't see any caterpillars on this one today.

None were on this one, either.

I planted two purple milkweeds.  I don't remember if this one bloomed last year, but I know the one that did for sure did not survive the winter.  This one looks like it likes the spot where I planted it.  I got these from the arboretum, too.

I haven't seen any caterpillars on this one yet.

I also bought this showy milkweed from the arboretum.  I planted it at the edge of the vegetable garden.  On the other side of the fence is Virginia mountain mint, which attracts the black wasps that lay their eggs in caterpillars.  That wasn't very smart of me.  I just moved the mint there last year.  Maybe I should find another spot for it, but I'm guessing the wasps will find some of the caterpillars anyway.  I could stop growing the plant, but it's one of my favorites, and I've seen the wasps on other plants as well.  I just read on a site that some monarchs may not be able to tolerate this kind of milkweed if it is out of their normal range.  Do you know anything about that?
 

I saw a caterpillar on this plant a few days ago, and there are chew marks on the leaves, but I didn't see one today.  Should I be cutting the blooms off of the plants so they will focus on leaf growth?
 

The short and tall green milkweeds I also got from the arboretum were pretty small, and died back in the summer.  I don't think they made it, unless this is one of them.  Do any of you know if this is a green milkweed?  The leaves on the ones I planted were narrower than the other milkweeds.  I just looked at an online photo, and think this could be one.  I hope so!

I was planning on getting some rearing sleeves, but it's too late for this batch of caterpillars.  Have you ever used them?  My only concern is making sure to let the butterflies out when they hatch. 

I need to go visit some GBBD posts!  I hope all is well with you, and you are able to get into your gardens.