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From seed to plant, caterpillar to butterfly (fedia.io)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/nativeplantgardening@mander.xyz
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I was curious if planting milkweed would really bring in a monarch. Hadn't seen one since I moved in 3 years ago. Planted swamp milkweed and butterfly weed this spring. Worked great, lots of caterpillars and monarchs already on just 8 plants. They just needed a reason to visit.

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[–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How beautiful!

I would like to get more of these - I had one swamp milkweed but it didn't reseed or come back the next year. One of the sites I work at has tonnes of milkweed in the back 40. Going to thief me some pods...

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago* (1 child)

    I planted mine in full sun, rich soil and watered it nearly every day. Really took off and they are over 3ft tall with a thick trunk. Next to them I planted butterfly weed. They are bushier and smaller but the monarchs lay their eggs on them, and then when they mature they move to the swamp milkweed. I have seen over a dozen monarchs now and they've been prolific with the eggs. Will expand this patch next year for sure! Good luck.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    That's awesome! When collecting seeds this fall, let the pods dry until they just start to split before harvesting. The seeds need cold stratification (just stick em in the fridge for 30 days) before spring planting to germinate well. I've had great success with this method and now have a thriving milkweed patch thats bringing in tons of monarchs every season.

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