Wednesday, June 26, 2013

June's Wildflower Wednesday

Gail's Wildflower Wednesday is here, and I'm glad I saw someone's post on Facebook to remind me of the day.  I decided to limit myself this time, and focus on the Milkweeds growing here.  I've mentioned that this nice stand of Common milkweed was planted by nature.


They were starting to sprawl, so I tied them up.


The blooms are fragrant and beautiful!  The buds, and I think, the blooms are edible, but I have only gotten around to doing something with them a time or two over the years.  I also cooked up some new shoots a few years ago, but haven't gotten that done this year.  You have to change the water I can't remember how many times, so if you decide to try it, look up the instructions, because it can be bad for you if you don't.


For the past few days, I've been seeing one or two monarch caterpillars on the plants, which is the reason why I grow them, by the way.  This is the first one I saw this morning.


This is the second one I saw.


When I saw a third one, I was truly tickled!  I am hoping there are more.  I didn't want to get too invasive checking for them.


In the past, there have been several caterpillars on the Butterfly milkweed at a time, but so far, I haven't seen any on them.


I've just been growing Purple milkweed 3 years, and can't remember if I've seen caterpillars on them.  I sure like them, though.


This is blooming shorter than last year, but some of the other plants are, too.  The one on the east side of the house has gotten taller, though, I'm thinking, because the other plants there are taller.  It hasn't opened its bloom yet. This one has sent a new plant about a foot away from it, so I will need to move a Liatris to another spot in the spring so they will each have enough room.  


This cultivar of Swamp milkweed, 'Ice Ballet' has been here a number of years.  I am thinking there have been some caterpillars on it before, but I wish my memory was better, because I'm not sure.


This is another cultivar of Swamp milkweed, 'Cinderella'.  I won't be planting any more cultivars now that I've found more sources for native plants.


I just planted this Swamp milkweed this spring.  It was the last one at a local garden center.  Oh, I just noticed from the photo that there is a hole in one of the leaves that looks like it could be from a caterpillar.  :o)


I decided I wanted another one, and found one at a different local center.  When I first planted it, the leaves looked to be either wider or narrower than the other one, so I wondered if one of them was actually 'Cinderella'.  Now that they've grown a bit, I can't tell the difference as much.  I hope they are both what the tags said they were.  I am pleased to see they are going to bloom soon.


Back in the vegetable garden, the Showy milkweed, which has been here 3 or 4 years, has spread more than usual, but is looking like it has a problem.  It is not getting as tall as before and the leaves are looking misshapen or something.  I hope it is OK.  (That's kale with seedheads on the right.)


Go visit Clay and Limestone to see what wildflowers Gail and others have posted about.

18 comments:

  1. How I admire all your lovely milkweeds! A beautiful and informative post. I would love to have the Monarch cats! I have been trying to grow some milkweeds from seed and planted the little seedlings out in the fall, but they didn't return the next year. Where I live is not really considered milkweed territory. I did get a mailorder A. tuberosa plant this year but it is very tiny and I am afraid to plant it out. Perhaps it would not transplant very well when it gets bigger?

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    1. Hannah, I forgot to answer your question in my comment on your blog. I would go ahead and plant it, and make sure to keep it watered. It should grow better in the ground.

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  2. Wonderful, beautiful wildflowers!
    Several years ago I had only a couple of Butterflyweed plants, and the caterpillars ate them down to the ground! I had to buy more plants to get it started again. I already have seed pods beginning to form on the orange blooming ones this year. I have spotted two clumps of milkweed blooming on the side of the road. I'm watching them closely hoping to collect seeds. I read somewhere that Milkweeds are difficult to transplant because they have a long taproot.
    I bought three Swamp Milkweed plants this Spring, but they haven't bloomed yet. The plant tag shows a pinkish bloom.
    Happy Wildflower Gardening!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  3. That was a great post, Sue. I had no idea there were that many types of milkweed! The Butterfly weed that I thought I'd lost has started to bloom so that makes me happy. My friend, Fran and I dug a wild milkweed but didn't get all the roots and it's given up the ghost.....I'm not done, though. I'll have some in the flowerbed yet!

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  4. Hi Sue, I have the common milkweed in my garden. My 3 butterfly weed plants all appear to have bitten the dust...none showed up this spring. I definitely want to replant. Glad to see your monarch cats! Cool!

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  5. Sue, you have so MANY milkweed varieties...it's a great collection, and I wouldn't be at all worried about having 'cultivars' because even when I went shopping at a strictly native plant nursery, the guy sold native plant cultivars. He said they are cultivars between natives...so one native matched with another. THat's different than a hybrid, which is a non-native bred with a native. Anyway, I love that you have monarch cats! I so wish I would see some here. I have a few milkweed varieties...but NO cats yet. I hope yours will go through the cycle and you'll see butterflies eventually.

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  6. You sure are doing your part for the Monarchs! This spring, I planted A. tuberosa, which isn't doing very well, but is still alive; A. purpurascens, which is so-so; and A. incarnata, which seems to be thriving in one spot and not so much in another. I haven't noticed any Monarch butterflies or caterpillars, yet. Trying to be patient! Your garden must be beautiful when the butterflies are flying around it!

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  7. Thanks for the encouraging comments. I hope you have success with whatever milkweed you can get to grow, and that you get to see caterpillars. Make sure you have plenty of parsley and dill for the swallowtails, too. Oh, that reminds me. I had some swallowtail caterpillars run out of parsley last year, and had to call around to see who still had some. That won't happen this year, because I planted about 3 times more as usual.

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  8. In reply to your comment on my blog:
    I got my Evening Primrose from a packet of mixed wildflower seeds several years ago. I don't remember if it bloomed that first year or not, but I guess not. I was surprised to learn from Wikipedia that it bloomed in its second year only. It grows in amongst a lot of other wildflowers so it is hard to really see if there are smaller unblooming plants hidden in there waiting for next year. I let it self-seed, but I may try to collect seeds this year to get it started in another place.
    Have a wonderful day!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  9. I just remembered something else I read about the Common Evening Primrose. An identifying characteristic is the center X. When blooms first open the pistel looks like a single straight up stem surrounded by the stamen, but as the bloom ages it upfolds to display the X. Look for the X in the center of the blooms the next morning before the flowers close.
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  10. Bring on the monarchs. You've got the place for them.

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  11. I have all the same milkweeds as you except I do not have the common milkweed in my garden. I've had very few caterpillars, so great that you found three on just the common milkweed.

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  12. I used to have that native milkweed on the farm but it isn't in that same spot now. I think it is a beautiful plant and what a plus to have the butterflies.

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  13. What a great collection of milkweed you have, Sue! I recently read about the declining number of Monarchs; you are certainly doing your part to nurture them--wonderful! I received a packet of swamp milkweed seeds from Prairie Moon, but I noticed they need to be planted in cool weather, so it may be another year before I have any.

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  14. I am planting Butterfly Milkweed for the first time this year after reading about the plight of the monarchs. Great resource for me to learn quickly all about them. Thanks Sue.

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  15. How exciting to see so many different types of milkweed. I only have the red and yellow tropical milkweed (at least I think that's what it's called). It's interesting to see Monarch caterpillars on different shaped leaves :-)

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  16. You have a really nice collection of milkweed there! I'd like some common milkweed, but I'll watch the local nurseries for some. I have swamp milkweed, and I often find monarch caterpillars on it. But I've never found a chrysalis, darn it!

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  17. Impressive display! Seriously wonderful and with cats! I celebrate your commitment to wildflowers! You rock Sue!

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