Susan, I just noticed on the last few milkweed plants that I dug out this week for people that they had buds on them. So I guess spring is finally here. I also have various kinds of trees sitting around in pots that I kept outside over the winter, and they are starting to bud out. I had them sitting up against the east side of the house, and I mulched them from the top and also had bags of leaves sitting all around them. I'm glad I took those precautions because our winter was cold, windy, and snowy. Now I kind of dread planting all of those trees. lol

It seems like every day I see a new kind of plant poking its head out of the potting soil in the milk jugs where I have a bunch of plants wintersown. My wild lupine was the first plant to come up and that's been weeks. I think the sheep sorrel came up about the same time. Probably 1/3 of my plants are up now, although they're just little things. Well, I'm heading back out to the garden. I have a lot to get ready, but I love this time of the year! :)

Oh, and I hope that we get Monarchs to get the milkweed that we have outside, considering the devastation of this winter in Mexico.

Cathy

Susan,

My incarnata is just peeping through. I took some inside, that's in pots, and it has taken off. I wanted this to be ready for market.

My tuberosa hasn't come up yet. Nor as the purple or variegata. This warm weather should get everything going. The wild indigo has really popped up recently.

I have Sullivan's and viridis coming up in pots, as well as speciosa and Davis. It's an exciting year to see what is germinating! I have so much physocarpa that I will be bringing some to the swap meet. I grew it from my own seeds. And, I'll probably bring some curassavica as I have about 200 plants.

Bring on the Monarchs!!!!!

Sandy

That's great, Susan, Cathy, and Sandy!!
I think I'll go down to the bottom of the hollow to see if my swamp milkweed is poking through - I haven't been down there in months.
Sherry

Susan,

After the heavy rains this morning (we got over an inch) I checked the garden or "bog". I have tuberosas popping up! And I can see the little sprouts on what I think is a purple milkweed I bought several years ago, and only bloomed last year. The incarnata sprouts are coming up rapidly! We have nice, warm sunshine this afternoon which is coaxing lots of sprouts to leave the security of the earth and venture forth.

Sandy

I checked my wintersown pots of milkweed and A. tuberosa, speciosa, and purpurescens are now up, too. The False Nettle is about 4" tall, and the Wild Indigo (Baptisia minor) is about 1 foot tall. I have left the dead branches hanging on and I can see on the new foliage that little nibbles have been made. Darned if I can see those cats!

The A. curassavica will soon go outside to harden off, then pot up.

I'm also going to try to grow some Cestrum nocturnum (Night Blooming Jessamine) for the moths. I hear they really love it. Also have another red blooming Cestrum to try as well.

The Cheloni 'Hot Lips' is up about 3", and I got a new Lantana, Pink something, that is about to bloom for some early nectar. Altho, the Ribes odoratum is loaded with blooms this year. It is so fragrant and pretty. I got this from Marilyn, Sandy. Blueberries are blooming, too. Hummers have reached Marietta, Oklahoma, so they should be here soon, too. Dawn has promised to let us know when she sees the Monarchs.

Honeysuckle (flava) is about to bloom, too, but I am anxious to see if the Blanche Sandman will do well.

I have a beautiful carpet of dandelions in the backyard and they are stunning this year. Big beautiful perfect flowers and finally the honeybees are here and all over them. I don't know why but I have a soft spot in my heart for dandelions.

Have lots of fennel up now, as well as Zizia which never really dies back here. Coneflowers are up, Tulip tree has buds, Wild Cherry is flushed out now with foliage, and Willow is putting on leaves, too. So much happening all at the same time right now.

I haven't started my physocarpa or calotropis yet. But, tomorrow....

MissSherry, I bet your milkweed is up! Cathy, wow, that is great that your milkweed is up the same time as ours!

Susan

Oh, Susan, could I get a start of your false nettle? We talked about it last year, but I don't think I made it back over there.

I had the day off today and went to a few plant places :) Several pots of dill followed me home as did a few other things...and an interesting curved trellis, it bows out from the wall. I put it next to one of the passionvines that last year had to make do with a tomato trellis :)

I noticed all my bronze fennel from last year is coming up! Wooo Hooo.

Lisa

Lisa, I am so unorganized and I know we intended to get some FN for you, but yes, I am going to be working in the yard today and will try to pot some up for ya!

Please keep askin' me for some because I really do want you to have this plant for the Red Admirals.

Susan

Oh oh, what's this. We need false nettle in our butterfly garden? I saw some yesterday at my local nursery. This is a good butterfly plant to grow?

I've got two A physocarpa seedlings ready to plant out this weekend. Can't wait to watch this 'new to me' plant develop. Also many more milkweed plants that need planting out this weekend. This is going to be such a fun butterfly season.

Mary

Yes, Mary, it is the host plant for the Red Admirals. Mama layed about 55 eggs that I raised last year. It is much better than the Stinging Nettle, which they also use, but FN (Boehmeria cylindrica) has no stinging hairs. I have mine growing in part shade and wait to cut back the dead growth until spring. Just cut mine back yesterday. Question Marks have also been known to use FN as well. I did find one on mine last year, but they prefer the Elm and Hackberry. It does like to be kept fairly moist, but you can tell when it needs some water. No need to fertilize, so very easy to care for this plant.

Lisa, I dug up a pot of FN for you. I am hoping it does okay, so give a couple or 3 days to see if it takes. It's a nice clump in a gallon pot.

My Golden Hops is up about 2' now. Once it breaks dormancy, it grows like a house afire!

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: False Nettle

Mary,
Yes, false nettle is a good plant to grow. It's a host plant for the Eastern Comma, Question Mark, and Red Admiral. If I forgot any, I'm sure someone else here will know. I just started some last year and hope that they made it over the winter. Some kind person from the forum gave me seeds and I started the plants myself, as I do almost all of my plants, including the trees. Planting all of these different kinds of plants for the butterflies is tons of fun! I even made up an Excel file for quick reference of butterflies that I get in my area or what I think are possible to get here. It lists the host plants for all of them, nectar plants (of course, that one can vary), and the habitat of each kind of butterfly. It's basically what butterfliesandmoths.org has listed for them, only in an Excel file that I can scroll down through. I looked at the map for my state (PA) on that site and then noticed what counties the various types of butterflies were reported in and determined from that if my chances were good for getting them or not. If I thought I might be able to get a particular kind of butterfly here, then I'd list it in my file. That helps me decide what plants to buy for the butterflies.

The first year I just bought nectar plants, mostly because that's what the local nursery had. I barely knew anything about butterflies back then and just happened to luck out that they had some good butterfly plants. I think the only host plants I had the first year (2005) were coneflowers (they're also a great nectar plant) and milkweed. Then I started doing more reading on here and other sites and learned which are good host and nectar plants and have been working on planting a lot of different kinds for butterflies that I've seen here and for ones that I think I might be able to entice into coming here. I saw a Red Admiral here a few years ago...just wish I'd have had false nettle at the time, but at least I do now. :)

So far I've been able to report the Giant Swallowtail and Pipevine Swallowtail as first sightings for my county. I also hope to someday be able to report the Zebra Swallowtail. Besides providing housing for birds, planting for the butterflies is a great passion of mine!
Cathy

Susan, will you be home Wednesday about 4:45? I can swing by after work.

Lisa, yes I'll be here, so come on by! The FN is doing fine. This is a pretty tough plant, so you shouldn't have any problems with it at all.

I checked my pipevines Sunday and nothing was happening yet with them. I went out yesterday and I have A. clematitis up about 4" - how does it grow that fast in one day? and the A. macrophylla and A. tomentosa are putting on leaf buds now. No sign yet of A. serpentaria, but it is always behind the others anyway.

The Hops has doubled in size since my last report. This stuff is crazy! I have the golden Hops and it's so pretty in spring!

Saw Goatweed Leafwings, Black Swallowtail, Red Banded Hairstreak yesterday.

I have bloom clusters coming on all over the Baptisia australis var. minor, which is just a smaller version of B. australis. Someone told me that they might take awhile to bloom, but I guess they forgot to tell the plant. I absolutely love the blooms on this Baptisia. It is the 2010 perennial plant of the year. I hightly recommend it.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Baptisia australis

Susan, I came by, but I must have missed you. What about tomorrow? (I'm getting better at finding your street!)

Lisa

Hmmm - I was here, so don't know what happened. The door bell does not work - or at least it is not very loud, so if you used it, I probably didn't hear it. I will get the pot and put it in the driveway, so if we don't connect face to face, you will have it. The new shoots are kind of bronzy in appearance. There won't be any other pots in the driveway, so the one you will see, will be yours.

Is there anything else I can get you for now? Please let me know!

Did you notice what a mess I am in? I move much slower than I used to. Today I worked in the back yard, throwing down some chicken manure and some Espoma and watering it all in. Had to put the acid fertilizer on the Bottlebrush Buckeye, which is putting out new shoots thankfully.

Saw my first Red Admiral today! Don't think the FN is up enough for egg laying yet, though. It looked pretty freshly emerged. I hope you get some of them this year and don't worry, your patch will spread quickly, maybe not this year, but next year for sure. I planted it in pretty good amended soil and it really likes that, and I generally put down some chicken manure on it in spring, altho I haven't done that yet.

Susan

Thank you Susan! It looked like you had been working hard. I have worked in my front yard a little, but I haven't even touched the back yet.

You have been so generous to me, in plants, caterpillars and host education! Thank you! I have fresh dill, fennel, lantana, 2 asclepias, 2 a. tomentosas, and 2 p. incarnatas lined up against my south facing foundation waiting to be planted when we get past all the frosts. The false nettle will be a great addition. I am determined to be a good butterfly momma this year!!!

I haven't seen any butterflies yet, but that's not too unusual, with working I miss so much.

I'll be by on Thursday. Thank you so, so much.

Lisa

Lisa, when I was working and raising butterflies, I didn't see a lot either, especially this time of year, so I understand what you're talking about. I saw evidence of their presence, in finding eggs and cats on my plants, but I didn't have as much host plant diversity then either. Mainly BSTs, GSTs, Monarchs, and Gulf Frits. Now, I have so many more hosts and nectar plants than I used to.

I will probably have a few milkweed babies in about a month to share with you, if you'd like some. Mainly speciosa, viridis, curassavica, purpurescens. I need to harden off my Tropical milkweed that is growing under lights in the kitchen, but I'm glad I haven't put it outside yet because of this light frost we have this morning. Brrrr!

So much to do.....

Susan

Susan, thank you! I would love more milkweed. I have had trouble getting and keeping it going. I decided this year I was going to make a concerted effort to build up a milkweed patch.

I'll see you this afternoon.

Lisa

I guess we missed each other again....so sorry. I spent the morning in the backyard and gathering the trimmings I had cut from the plants and putting out at the curb and in the trash, and just general puttering around. I was so tired, especially from yesterday that I fell asleep in the chair this afternoon. Drat... I'll keep some milkweed plants set aside for you, though. The A. hirtella finally came up! So hopefully I will have about 5 different species. The hardest one for me has been A. tuberosa. I probably kill it with kindness. I hope I can transplant it successfully and keep it going.

Susan

Susan, I left you a little thank you ;) It's not much, but I really appreciate all you share with me. Look underneath your felcos on your front porch.

Thanks for saving the milkweeds, I'll be happy to come by again later. Just let me know.

Thanks for the False Nettle!!

Lisa

You are so absolutely welcome, Lisa! I love your enthusiasm, and realize that some of these plants are so hard to find. If you're interested, check out Wild Things Nursery. They sell butterfly host and nectar plants and I've gotten a number of my plants, including the False Nettle from Marilyn and Ken. They only sell at Farmer's Markets. plants are outstanding. They will be at the Edmond Farmer's Market both May 15th and 30th. But on June 12th will be at the Will Rogers Garden Center.

There is a spreadsheet of the plants they have on their website, and if you find something you want, you can email them and they will bring it with them to the sale.

They always bring plants with caterpillars on them, and containers with caterpillars, to demonstrate to the public what plants are used and what the cats look like. Even if you aren't able to buy, it's fascinating to go and check them out and meet and talk with them.

I'll check out the "Felcos" this morning when I go outside. I wish I really had some Felcos....sigh.....
You didn't need to leave anything but that was such a nice thought! I just like to "pay it forward" and a lot of very nice people helped me out when I first started.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Wild Things Nursery

OMG - Lisa, thank you so much! You didn't have to do that, you know, but I appreciate it so much!

Hmmmmm. I'll have to visit that place very soon, VERY SOON!

Susan

I'm glad you like it! I've been carrying it around for you since last fall!

Hey, I saw my first glimpse of a butterfly for this season. It was a flashy orange color, I wasn't close enough to id it.

I'm hoping to get plants in the ground tomorrow.

Lisa

Probably a Goatweed Leafwing. I see them frequently this time of year; they'll hibernate when it gets warm and wake up again in the fall. With their wings closed they're hard to see because they blend in with the leaves and stuff on the ground, but when they fly, you can see the brilliant orange of the upper wings.

Have fun planting today. I need to plant my seeds and continue clearing out part of the front yard for new plants that I've placed in pots for the interim.

Susan

The milkweed seeds I started indoors are up, but I'm astonished that none of the wild plants in the yard have returned yet, or even peeped out of the ground! Granted, it's a little early - mid-May is when chance of frost has past here, but I thought there would be some little sprouts....guess I have to wait!

Cat, what milkweed did you start indoors, and what kind do you have growing outside? I'm always interested in what other people are growing.

I was searching the net the other day on root systems of the various milkweeds, common and not so common, and had a difficult time finding any listing with them all addressed. The only helpful site was Monarch Watch, but even they do not have all the information I am looking for. I want to know what kind of root system (rhizome, and whether it creeps or is a vertical, as in tap root, fibrous, etc.; what is its natural habitat, but how other people have grown it and whether or not they have been successful in growing it in soil conditions other than what they are commonly found, like clay for instance; germination, e.g., winter sow, direct sow, etc.; when to harvest seeds; whether to deadhead or not; fertilize or not; shade, partial shade, sun. It would be so helpful to have a centralized database so you don't have to check each milkweed individually on the Internet. Also, when it emerges in what zones, and information from different regions on growth habit.

If we could do this at GW, and have people provide reports on various species and what regions they grow it in, it would be so helpful to oldtimers and noobs as well.

Anyone up for this?

Susan

Excitement!!! My A variegata that I got from Seneca Hills last year is sprouting! Yay!! I ordered a second one this spring, so hopefully I'll get a colony eventually. The plants that SI sends out are really healthy and established. Mine have all been shipped dormant but began sprouting immediately.

I never got any more of the seeds to germinate this spring, after the first 2. So, I'm wondering if they were infertile or if age effects them. The 2 seeds that did sprout didn't make it. Marylittlerockar, did your seeds that you germinated make it?

Sandy

That's great, Sandy! I know you were probably sweating bullets waiting to see if it would come up this year, right? Well, I immediately went to the website and ordered two of the A. variegata. They seem so appropriate for my garden, and I intend to grow them under my pines (not too far under) as I saw lots of images of them growing in these soil situations.

Grrrrr.....no more plants for me. I must, I must, I must restrain my lust! For milkweeds, that is.

All of my other milkweeds are up, but I am holding off transplanting them until they have their true leaves. The nice thing about growing them in the soda bottles is that I can keep an eye on the roots.

Susan

Susan,

Sorry to be tempting you, but I think you'll like the plants. I had hoped to get some from Mary Ann when she comes in May. I called her and she didn't have any this year. So . . . I went ahead and ordered the second one from Seneca Hills. I thought I was ordering two of the variegata this year, but apparently goofed and only ordered one. I also have ordered two purple milkweed from them, one last year, and one this year. This one has done great as well, and actually came up before the variegata.

I don't like to spend that much money on plants and lose them!

Sandy

My A. tuberosa is up but my A. incarnata is not (yet).

Also up:

Aristolochia tomentosa, A. macrophylla, monarda (man alive! It's going to swallow everthing), L. benzoin, Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Coreopsis, Plumbago, Violets, Lupines, asters, daisies, Humulus, NJ Tea, Parsley, Dill

Not up:

Joe-Pye, Wild Indigo, A. serpentaria

Well...

I winter sowed some Incarnata and Tuberosa as per the Winter Sowing Forum and they are sprouting!!! Actually, the Tuberosa started sprouting 2 weeks ago, and today the Incarnatas started. I have lots of the I. in the gardens and some of them are showing signs of life already. Can't believe this as they usually emerge in late May here in Nova Scotia, Canada.

It could be one great year!!

The incarnata is now up about 10". The Joe Pye Weed began to show this weekend; the Wild Indigo is blooming!! A. serpentaria is up now also. The Lemon tree is starting to put on foliage, Liatris spicata is up, as well as Cosmos 'Cosmic Orange', 4 o'clocks, baby Plantago major seedlings, and old seed of Button Bush, Desmodium canadense, and Silphium laciniatum have all germinated. This seed sat on top of my microwave for the past 4 years and still germinated. I didn't think it would.

Sandy, I just have to give the A. variegata a try since I have pretty ideal growing conditions for it. My pines have proven to be a great boon to many gardening situations. I keep checking my Lobelia cardinalis to see if there are any seedlings showing, but I don't see anything that might resemble them. I know yours reseeds, so when do you normally see the seedlings?

I saw a Clouded Sulphur laying eggs on the Clover today. I tried my best to identify the locations where she layed the eggs, but darned if I could find them! I must have been a sight for sore eyes, down on the ground with my nose practically in the clovers, my booty in the air! The hardest part was getting up again, LOL!

Susan

"Marylittlerockar, did your seeds that you germinated make it? ... Sandy"

Hi Sandy,

Yes, still alive. From the eight redring seed, I had five germinate. I have planted out three and they're holding their own. I really should get the other two planted out but they're still much smaller. I may work on the planting spots and wait as we're supposed to get a cool front through this weekend with possibility of some rain. That might be a good time to set them out.

The wild A variegata I discovered and transplanted late last summer (with permission from the commercial land developer) is up and looking strong. One really big shoot and I can make out five more little shoots just starting to poke up out of the soil. Hoping for a seed pod this fall from this one.

I also have lots of swamp MW ready to be planted (and already have eggs on about 15 of these little shoots still sitting in their little pots) tropical MW already planted in big pots (with eggs on many of them) and two eggs sitting right on top of the leaves on the 'Family Jewels' MW I started from seed this winter. It's growing strong and I'm excited to watch this plant grow as I've never seen one before. Supposed to provide a good nectar source throughout the summer as well as being a host plant for the Monarch. It was easy seed to germinate so you might want to consider trying a couple of these plants.

Also have tiny new seedlings of Showy MW, Eastern Purple MW, Orange Tuberosa, Hello Yello Tuberosa, common, and another one (can't remember the name right now). Trying lots of different varieties to see what does best here in my area.

MW vines I'm trying are the Honeyvine (Cynanchum laeve) and the Oldfield Milkvine (Matelea Decipiens). The honeyvine is already planted out in a big pot and is settling in and looking strong and the Oldfield is still in the greenhouse so don't yet know how it will do outside.

Honeyvine milkweed:
{{gwi:463023}}From __Garden Flowers - plants

It's going to be a really fun butterfly season.

Mary

"....I thought I was ordering two of the variegata this year, but apparently goofed and only ordered one. ...."

Funny you should say that, Sandy. I got an e-mail from Seneca Hills that I only ordered one variegata. I absolutely remember changing the number of plants from 1 to 2, and doing an "update" to the order form. However, I am only getting one. I wrote them and explained the situation, but doubt they will do anything about it. I am just a very small grain of sand on a very large beach!

I do know it is not my nature to order just 1 of something from an online nursery because it costs too much to ship just 1 plant. Oh, well......

I hope I can get this 1 plant to survive now.

Susan

Susan,

I did the same thing, remembering that 3 plants ship for the same price as one or two. I don't know if they just don't have the inventory of variegata, or if their ordering system is messed up. Something to think about. You could call them and have them send another one, that is if you haven't received your order. The one plant I got last year is doing great--so yours should make it. It's just a lot for postage to order one plant!

Frustration!!!

Sandy

Most of my milkweeds are up about an inch or two already; about a month early I'd say. Even the tuberosa is up, and that normally comes up late May into June!

They are unwilling to rectify the matter, so I give up..... I suggested that maybe there is a problem with their shopping cart, but she insisted that it was my error. I will not be ordering from them again and am so frustrated I thought about refusing the order and having it sent back. But, that would probably please them too much to have another A. variegata free of charge returned to them. She didn't seem one bit interested in customer satisfaction, unfortunately. Oh, well.....

This morning I saw my little Silver Spotted Skipper nectaring close by a pretty little Eight-Spotted Forester. I think the ESF was a male and is probably hanging around waiting for a female to show up. I hope! Most people think they are butterflies since they fly during the daytime hours, and they sure are pretty enough!

Susan

looking for honeyvine milkweed seed can anyone help Cheers Glenda

Glenda, mine is not blooming yet. Maybe someone further south of me has some blooming, or seeds, but generally it doesn't bloom here until later.

Susan