Buying milkweed plants

[Gwynne]

I hope I am not asking on the wrong forum but I have seen people here mention buying milkweed. Where do people go to buy this? I know it is very important that it be pesticide free. I am trying to buy some dill and parley and milkweed and thought that I would call some nurseries and other places that grow plants. I decided to ask for dill and parsley before I even ask about milkweed. Most people are acting like this is a very unusual question. I must be calling the wrong places?

The few people that had dill and parsley said they dont grow it themselves and cant guarantee it is pesticide free. For the people who have bought milkweed or any type of plant, but not from the internet, where do you go?

[ORANGEMUSTANG]

I bought 1 milkweed plant off ebay from the plantranch. (red)
I bought two milkweeds from the home depo. (yellow)
I bought all 3 this year. They are growing well and have lots of eggs and small monarch cats on them.
I bought dill and fennel from 2 separate local nurseries last week. Both had lots of swallow tail cats and eggs on them. From tiny to near pupating. the manager gave them to me at 75% off because she was thrilled I was helping nature.
I went again this weekend and "cat" napped a few more larva off their herbs. They didn't mind though...lol

[John Beaulieu]

There has been a big trend in the last few years towards butterfly gardens and most of the garden centres (at least here in Ontario) have sections devoted to butterfly and hummingbird gardening. Milkweeds are usually included in the selections, but often the actual name 'milkweed' is not used. One of the most common at the garden centres here is Asclepias tuberosa, commonly known as Butterfly Weed (not to be confused with Butterly Plant and Butterfly Bush). The next most popular are cultivars of Swamp Milkweed, going by commercial names such as 'Ice Ballet', 'Milk Maid', 'Soul Mate' and 'Rose'. to name a few. Quite often the staff do not know that these plants are milkweed. A good number of garden centres are also growing the tropical milkweed and offering it as an annual, sometimes simply labelled as 'Asclepias'. Check through the butterfly garden sections looking for those names.

John

[jen]

I found a site that sells milkweed seeds, plants, among other things dedicated to the monarch. The site is www.livemonarch.com, give it a try,
Jen

[Gwynne]

I finally felt a nursery at lunch time that had a couple of dill plants. First of all, I cant imagine where you would even find eggs!! There are no leaves.

When I asked about pesticides, they said they do lightly spray some plants. They try not to but say some wouldnt survive if they didnt use any pesticide. The dill, they said, probably got some indirect spray from other plants several weeks or months ago.

I did not know if this would be harmful so did not buy it. Does anyone know? Angela, did you ask about pesticideds when you purchased your dill or did you figure if the caterpillars were doing okay, it was okay? As I said, I did not know where to look for eggs on the dill.

[Jim]

I did not know if this would be harmful so did not buy it. Does anyone know? Angela, did you ask about pesticideds when you purchased your dill or did you figure if the caterpillars were doing okay, it was okay? As I said, I did not know where to look for eggs on the dill.

It depends on what they treated it with...some chemicals do not have much residual strength after only a short time and can be easily washed off the plant; others get into the plant and stick around for a long time (washing won't help in this case).

Look for tiny round yellow swallowtail eggs, often near the tips of the (very) narrow leaves.

[Gwynne]

Thanks, Jim! I will ask them what they used. I guess I will have to also buy some plants that attract butterflies and put them together and hopefully the females will lay eggs.

[Gwynne]

Angela, where are you finding dill and fennel? I have only found dill at one place that raises their own products. Are the nurseries you are talking about chains or individually owned?

[James Price]

Before engaging in this hobby (monarch rearing) my favorite hobby was native landscaping, and I've learned a couple of lessons about milkweed from the one that apply to the other.

One, it's usually worth the wait to start from seed with most varieties, rather than transplanting. Many milkweeds don't transplant well, and some not at all. The few times I've had any success transplanting common milkweed, the plants survived a couple of seasons but never thrived.

The exceptions seem to be the ones most people say they do find in garden centers, swamp milkweed (often sold as "red milkweed") and butterflyweed. These transplant well and are super-showy, and that's why nurseries raise them.

Common milkweed is still considered, um, a weed in the nursery trade as well as by far too many agricultural and extension agents.

I'd like to make a plea for some other native milkweeds that are exceptionally attractive to the eye and incredibly attractive to monarchs, but pretty much have to be grown from seed.

In the upper Midwest (I'm writing from Wisconsin), two fabulous milkweeds, purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurescens) and Sullivant's milkweed (A. sullivantii) are both endangered and beautiful. Plus, they don't spread nearly as far and rapidly and unpredictably as common milkweed.

Planting these milkweeds not only helps monarchs, it helps preserve and restore important species of the milkweed genus that are disappearing from the landscape.

My favorite seed source is Prairie Moon Nursery near Winona, Minn. They have seed of both these and a half dozen other Asclepias species.

So, wherever you live, don't just rear monarchs, rear milkweed. Find out what your region's native species are and grow them from seed from the nearest source. You'll have better-adapted plants and a great sense of accomplishment, even if it takes a season longer.

[Pat]

Gwynne if you want seed for next year, let me know, you can have some of mine. I always save some pods and I have seveeal species that have done well in our area.

[Gwynne]

Thanks, Pat. It will have to be something that is small enough to grow in a pot, although it could be a large pot.

I finally found my parsley plant. The guy at the nursery says they grow them themselves, no pesticides, and he said he saw one with a swallowtail larva yesterday. I asked him to check and see if it is still there and he did and he is supposed to save it till tomorrow. I just home my caterpillar doesnt crawl off anywhere in the meantime.

[ORANGEMUSTANG]

Sorry for the delay.
I bought my dill and fennel from two local nurseries. I didn't ask about pesticides. Both places I went had eggs and babies, so I just figured they didn't use it. I have been going back every weekend and "stealing" their babies off the plants. They don't mind though.