23 .... O boy, o boy, what a thrill! Congratulations on your find!

I keep watching and searching the milkweed leaves but so far, nada here as far as Monarchs go.

I did discover 5 black swallowtail cats on the fennel and a whole bunch of just hatched pipevine babies today so at least I'll have something to tend to while waiting on mama Monarch. Good luck and please keep us updated on your progress.

Mary

Congratulations! Enjoy the journey. And, of course, this will give you something to do in your abundant free time...

Liz

If you are going to collect so many eggs, you will need a lot of Milkweed. I would buy some potted Milkweed to feed all the catts. Be careful how many eggs you collect unless you have a lot of Milkweed. Two Monarch Caterpillars can wipe out a good sized Milkweed in a few weeks.

Jane

Jane, I've been doing this for years, so I know what I'm getting into. That's exactly why I am hesitating about bringing in more. But thank you very much for the warning. Fortunately, I am blessed with a huge patch of wild milkweed just a few blocks from home. It grows on a very steep slope behind a gas station, and the combination of the steepness and the tangled stalks make it dangerous to navigate. But, there are plenty of healthy plants along the edge. It would be fun to go climbing through the mess and search for eggs and cats, though. Hmmmmmm.

Well, good luck to all. I wish I could share my bounty with everyone who is having a slow season. I was there myself until yesterday. Chins up!

martha

Lucky you to have that source of milkweed. I was inspecting a few eggs and a tiny cat on my milkweed and was considering collecting, but I seriously doubt I have enough milkweed to support many or maybe even one cat. Even the nursery plants at $10 each are skimpy with small, narrow leaves, not much nutritional support in them. Good for you, have fun.

Martha, you are so lucky! I can't keep the milkweed growing here (Florida). I have given up trying to collect eggs because I can't keep enough Milkweed alive to feed them all. We get Milkweed Beetles which decimate the plants. We have so many Monarchs who lay eggs year round and their caterpillars strip the plants before they ever bloom.

There is only one nursery close by which sells Milkweed (unsprayed) but the plants are always covered in eggs. I never get a chance to plant them because I don't want the wasps to get the babies. It is so difficult.

I warned you because I have run out of food and could not find any. I started Milkweed from seed and it was stripped before it could develop into a big plant.

Florida has year round Monarchs. It is very hard to provide enough food for all the eggs.

I am so glad you have a fresh supply at hand!!

Jane

Isn't it typical that one area has a glut of one thing but not enough of the other. If someone had a greenhouse down there they could plant seeds. But, a greenhouse would get unbearably hot with your weather. I can't tell you how many acres of roadside milkweed I drive by every day on my way to work. But, no Monarchs. And any eggs that get laid will be eaten by predators. That's why I feel guilty leaving any eggs out, when I have at least a decent chance of getting them to adulthood. I did bring in three more eggs that were on the same patch of milkweed in my side yard. I hope I can keep these all safe.

Martha

Martha-
I noticed you bring in the eggs on individual leaves or even leaf fragments. Do you transfer them to branches of milkweed eventually? And if so, how do you encourage them onto the branch?

Liz

Liz, when the eggs start to turn dark, approaching hatching time, I put the scrap of leaf on top of a fresh leaf. Usually, the baby cats prefer fresh leaves and move onto the new leaf. If I have actual branches or a plant, I'll trim the scraps to almost nothing except the egg and tuck the egg into a crevice on the branch. As these approach hatching, I'll spread them out among several containers so they are easier to keep track of.

I went egg hunting again over lunch and after work, as well. I'm now up to about 30 eggs. It is amazing how many cats get lost to predators. As I hunted, I saw tons of milkweed plants with small holes in the tips of the leaves, but no cats to be found. I spent an entire hour at lunch searching through almost an acre of milkweed. I only found two eggs, and one of those I watched the Momma lay. Interestingly, nearly every egg I've found was layer on the smallest baby plants. Rarely have I found eggs on the taller, mature plants. When I got home, I happened to check my newly planted A. speciosa seedlings. These are about 2-3 inches tall with very narrow leaves. Of my 12 plants, 7 had eggs! I'm so glad I found them so they weren't eaten to nothing. I had another similar patch planted last year of Poke Milkweed that disappeared over the weekend. All but one and a half plants--gone without a trace. I suspect deer or rabbits, but who knows. The deer have been through every night and hadn't touched them before. Maybe they'll come back from their roots. Or, I can plant more. Everyone keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing in my excitement.

Martha

Martha,

I made a short walk today and collected 2 cats, and 5 eggs, and like you, everything was on smaller immature plants. I wonder if Ms Monarch knows that a juvenile plant will be an adult plant more capable of feeding the young, and the larger leafed plants are exposed to more predation for one reason or another? Wind ]]blowing the big leave up and over, exposing them, maybe.

I have 2 second cousins visiting from California this summer that need (and want) an outdoor project. I think Im going to show them how to locate eggs and cats, and let them raise them.

Congrats, congrats! I haven't seen a single one this year, so tell one of those future monarchs to drop by my place on the way to Mexico! :)

Sherry

Rollie, where in California do your cousins live? They might have Monarchs present year round, depending on what part of CA they're from.

Martha

Martha, they're from LA but spending the summer here. They're only 7 and 4 years old, but hey, educating them early is good, right?

What a haul! I have released two, I have four big cats, three tiny cats, and three eggs. There are probably more eggs around, but I'm not going to bring them in because I'm going away next weekend. My dog sitter is so wonderful, she will take care of my babies while I am away, But I don't want to overdo it!

I have noticed the same thing. The Monarch females prefer the first year plants. I think they are softer and more tender. When I raise the cats, though, I give them stems from the mature plants. I don't have enough of the new plants to go round.

I think the mature plants are fine, once they are past those first few hours.

I strolled across my street to my neighbor's garden. He has an organic, wild-ish yard where he kind of let's things grow where they will. He has defined patches of raspberries, blackberries, asparagus, and small orchards of pears, apples, plums, etc. But, there are strawberries and lettuces growing everywhere, and many wild milkweeds that have sprung up over the years. He just lets them grow. Well, the first plant I checked had 5 Monarch eggs, and then I found a fifth instar crawling through the clover on the ground, so I swooped it up and took it home, with the rest. I went back for a few more eggs, but decided I may be getting in over my head.

I have sent an email to the Fredrick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, which is just a few miles from me, and asked if they would allow me to release my Monarchs into their Meadow. The Meadow is several acres of the outdoor gardens, and is planted with cone flowers, iron weed, native grasses, etc. One of their most popular attractions is the annual indoor butterfly exhibit, which is held in the tropical indoor garden area in very early spring. They import hundreds, or thousands, of tropical butterfly chrysalids, and thousands of visitors come to watch them eclose and flutter around inside the massive indoor gardens. I've always thought it would be fun to use the momentum they already have going with the foreign, tropical butterflies, to get some interest going for native butterflies when they are in season. So, maybe this is the opening I've been waiting for. It would be really great if we could get the donors who support these gardens behind the pollinator problem we face.

Martha

What a great idea!