Hi Linda,

Usually Randy sees it in his pastures first, but I saw some today, NOT in my dry, drought-tortured pastures, but alongside a road about a mile south of my house where I was walking the old dog. The milkweed (and there were several, mostly in the 4" to 6" range) does look like A. viridis and it had come up practically in the roadway itself....just right on the edge where the dirt roadside meets the road (country road--no curbs, etc.). This is an area that sometimes has standing water after rainfall, so I think that fact plus the warmth of the pavement may have encouraged this milkweed to come up earlier than the stuff in the pastures that I don't see up yet.

Even better, though, is that I saw the first monarch yesterday morning. It was new, not faded, and I meant to come here and post it but forgot. (Didn't forget I saw it, just forgot to post it. LOL)

Because Love County has had a whopping 3" or so of rain this year--and about half of that just a week or so back--the wildflowers have suddenly sprung up out of nowhere and we also have had some skippers and sulphurs the last few days.

When I see a faded monarch, or if I see a group of them, I'll let you know.

The one I saw was flying fairly low, about 10-12' above the ground, about 1/2 mile from where I saw today's milkweed. It was flying south so I'm guessing it was looking for that milkweed. If you need a physical location, it was at about the equivalent of I-35 mile marker 8 or 8.5, and about a mile west of the interstate. In fact, it was in about the same area where I saw the migrating monarchs settling into the trees for the night on their journey south/southwest last autumn.

Happy Monarch Watching! Oh, and the purple martins returned yesterday, so I guess they and the monarchs were waiting for spring to arrive!

Dawn

I dont have the native milkweed here - what is a good source for the seeds to grow it here and is it too late this year to plant? I grew a lot of natives in TX for the butterflies but it is much harder in OK to find the natives for sale.

Linda,

It's still a little too early for plants in the pasture. Checked about 10 spots this morning and nothing so far. Just last years carcasses. :-)

okiegardener,

Need to check, but I think I have quite a few A. viridis seed in the garage somewhere.

It's probably too late to start seed for the migration this year. But You can get a start on next year.

Below is a good person to get natives from.

randy

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

Thanks Dawn for posting your mw being up. I would be almost positive that it is indeed viridis. You are correct that the mw tends to come up faster by the edge of the road more than likely due to the warmth of the pavement, and tendency to hold water.

Congrats upon seeing your 1st Monarch!!! Even if it looked pretty fresh, it was still your 1st sighting, and they are always the most special. Probably a Houston migrant looking to leave some eggs. I will post your sightings. I always look forward to your reports. They are appreciated. :)

How wonderful to hear that you got some much needed rain. I know that you were really dry, and it will make a big difference.

Okiegardener, good to hear from you. Like Randy said, it is probably too late to think about planting some native mw seeds in April. Alot of them them require cold stratification. But, tropical mw does very well in Ok. Occassionally, it will reseed for me in warmer winters, but I have never had it come back from the roots in Okla. I have been able to overwinter some in pots in the garage. The Monarchs do tend to prefer it in laying their eggs.

What part of Okla. do you live? You may have some luck finding the A. tuberosa in some nurseries. It is perennial, and comes back every year. The blooms are gorgeous, and really attracts the butterflies, but does not do well in the heat. The A. incarnata (Swamp mw) does well in a lower wetter area with morning sun in central Ok. Sometimes you can find it in nurseries.

I would highly second Randy's recommendation in trying to make one of Marilyn's plant shows from Wildthings Nursery. She is a dear friend, very knowledgeable about natives and butterflies, and has quite the green thumb. She carries alot of hard to find butterfly host plants that she grows from seed or propagation. E-mail her, and perhaps you can work something out. Good luck with your butterfly garden!

Randy,hope things are going well for you and your daughter. Are you about to get caught up on your ice storm mess? I'm sure that your daughter is continuing to win gymnast awards.

Thanks for checking on your mw. :) Hope that the Monarchs stay put. Forecast of high of 49 on Friday, with temps down to 30's on Saturday with possible SNOW???? Oh,no. Keep in touch!

Hi Linda,

Second sighting, one new butterfly, nectaring in the pasture across the road from our mailbox. I dread the cold and the possibility of snow (it is even in our forecast way down here).

I never thought about the milkweed springing up earlier alongside the roadway until I saw it.....and I KNEW it was MW but it seemed too early!

I will keep my eyes open and report further sightings. Hopefully the monarchs are watching the weather and staying put down in Texas because it is going to turn so cold and yucky here.

Dawn

Linda,

I've been seeing faded monarchs since about April 3rd or 4th and am seeing much larger numbers of new ones this week.

Our first milkweed plants that came up early alongside the road froze back hard when we went down to 19 degrees one night, but the ones in our pasture are up 2" or 3" now, although I haven't seen any eggs on them yet.

Dawn

Linda, I saw my first monarch yesterday. I didn't get an upclose look at it, it was flitting around.

Lisa