Beautiful pictures, Rhonda! Keep them coming, I am already missing having the butterflies around. It went down to 25 degrees last Sunday, so the only ones I have seen all week were two Gulf fritillary and one skipper.

Thanks Iris! The Mexican sunflowers that I grew from your seed are very popular with the monarchs.

Our butterfly population is actually picking up now.

Love your hairy balls! They remind me of Joe's Charlie Brown Christmas tree :)

The pictures are great. I've never seed a tiger swallowtail in my garden. I've had no luck with the Hairy Balls, or the Giant Milkweed. Everything the Monarchs get them, they eat it all, the plants never really recover. I've had more luck with the Tropical milkweed, they do come back.

Thanks Ily! I have only seen a few tigers here. I had many more in my Williston garden in North central Florida. My tropical milkweed gets pretty sparse by the end of summer but it is very full now...just in time for the influx of new monarchs.

I ran out of milkweed recently, had to go buy more. I bought 2 of the Giant Mlkweeds, and some of the Tropical Milkweeds. The seeds I planted in the summer, barely grew, planted some a couple of weeks ago. They are growing faster, but not fast enough. I've planted a lot this week, hopefully, they'll grow.

Ily, does the giant milkweed stand up without staking? Do the monarchs like it as much as the tropical? I saw some HUGE ones for sale at a favorite nursery but thought they would be too big for my garden.

It does stand up without staking, but I've had no luck with them as of yet. There leaves are thicker, so they last longer than the tropical ones. I've seen people that have been able to keep a plant of it, through the years, but mines get eaten and don't really come back as much. The plant does last longer than the tropical ones, but they are also more expensive. I think I paid almost $15 each. I don't know if there's anyone else with milkweed in my area, because I get very swamped with Monarch cats. I haven't seen the Queen in about 2 years, give or take. I recently got on ebay, Giant milkweed seeds. I haven't had luck with the planting of them, going to try again now. Mines have never given me seeds. I tried planting the native ones, even the Common one, that I said I wasn't going to plant it, and nothing came from them either. I tried to later in the summer months, will try again now. It's a lot cooler here now, than in years past. Not cold, but cooler.

Thanks for the info. I think I'll hold off buying one for now. As you said, they are quite expensive and if they aren't as attractive to monarchs I'll stick with the tropical for now.

They are very attractive to Monarchs, they just eat them. Mines really don't come back. I've seen others come back, but not mines.

Beautiful pictures, Rhonda! I'm not seeing any swallowtails, too cold here, but I did see a cloudless sulphur and a gulf frit today, so we still have a few butterflies.

Sherry

Beautiful pictures ! Thank you for sharing them.

I have a giant milkweed. I've had it for about three or four years now. It is very drought resistant. For me it doesn't work well. The monarchs like it and lay their eggs on it, but what happens is that the leaves are so big and separate that the cats are easily seen by predators. I have very few cats that make it. From what I understand from others, it is very good at producing leaves for cats that are in cages. They take to the leaves easily and there are a lot of leaves for them to eat.

I have them outside, not in cages. Mines they eat up, but the plant rarely makes it back. I've bought at least 15 to 20 plants in the past, but none return. Haven't had luck with the Family Jewels. either. Just planted seeds for the Family Jewels, they're looking good so car, maybe 3". Tom did you ever get seeds on you Giant Milkweed? I got some seeds on the internet for them, but I never got seeds on mines, even after flowering. Going to try and plant some seeds now.

In my garden the Carpenter Cup{Silphium perfoliatum}

Hey, Ily. My plant just keep growing. I have to prune it back frequently. It did flower last year, but I can't remember any seeds. You seem very persistent--planting them even though they die or get eaten up. Are you interested in cuttings? Or are you sick of attempting to get them to grow?

I keep buying them, hoping that they'll last this time around. The leaves are thicker than the tropical ones, so they last longer. I just don't have the luck of them returning. Good for you that yours comes back, mines gets eaten up, and it doesn't recover. I wonder if they're different types of them? I bought seeds on ebay, supposedly of the Giant Milkweed, but they haven't grown much. I did plant them later on in the summer, and Florida is very hot. Going to try again tomorrow and see. The Family Jewels seeds that we planted some weeks ago, is growing now. I bought 1 big plant of it, and 2 medium ones, but after they got eaten, didn't return either. Those are more expensive than the Giant milkweed. I tried growing them from seeds, and nothing. I bought the bigger one for $30, and the medium ones for $15 each. My friend never saw seeds on her Giant milkweed, or her sisters. I tried growing cuttings of mines before, but haven't had any luck. The Tropical ones are so easy to grown, just threw them in a pot and they come out, put pieces of it in water, and they come out. I have seeds for most of the native ones, but I haven't had luck with them either. Need to start planting them again and see. There are some plants that I haven't been able to grow. I've had about 3 mamey trees, I don't know how many Gardenias I've bought, maybe 7 to 8 give or take, but nothing. I recently bought another one to try. I've done better with orchids, not 100%, but at least 75%. I might try more Giant milkweed cuttings.

I love gardenias, but they are difficult to grow. I has a very large one finally die this year. It was in a place where it didn't get enough wind and the white flies really weakened it. The only ones that make it in my garden are the ones that are grafted. The nematodes kill ones that are own root.

My neighbor had one in her yard that was big and beautiful. It was there before she bought the house. I just found out, that she cut it. We've both been here 15 years already. Hers was already there, she didn't have to do anything to it, and it flowered every year, and she cut it. I've tried all of them, even the grafted ones and nothing. I have a new one now in the yard. My mother gave it to me for my birthday in April, and planted it too. So far, it's still there. I want to plant 3 more trees in my yard, have the room now because of the hurricane. The 3 are going to be Pantin mamey, Mauritius lychee, and probably the Catalina avocado. After that, no more trees, only small plants to bushes. I might try and plant some citrus for the butterflies.