Free seeds!!

MaryMary

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This is so cool. I got the cheerio seeds but couldn't find out where to get the milkweed.
 
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I just ordered the cheerio seeds too! Thank you for giving this link! I hope to plants these all around my house and help save the bees. I didn't buy the milkweed because I don't want the butterflies laying caterpillar eggs on my plants. That would be counter productive.
 

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I got the cheerio seeds but couldn't find out where to get the milkweed.

Send a self addressed, stamped envelope for Milkweed or mixed seeds appropriate for your area to:

Live Monarch - Seed Campaign 2017
2901 Clint Moore Road, Suite 198
Boca Raton, Florida 33496


Live Monarch will send 15+ Butterfly Garden seeds including Milkweed and growing instructions. Even if you can not afford a contribution, just mail in a self addressed stamped envelope, one per household. If you want extra seeds, include a dollar, and they'll send 50 extra seeds for every dollar you send.


:oops: I guess I could have just posted that.


I didn't buy the milkweed because I don't want the butterflies laying caterpillar eggs on my plants. That would be counter productive.
That is sort of the point. The only plant that Monarch caterpillars can eat is milkweeds.:(
I know you grow in containers, so if you don't have room to spare, that's understandable.
But do not be afraid the Monarchs will eat your other plants!!
Grump.gif


And you don't have to buy the milkweed, it's free. (However, they will take contributions. It helps to fund them.)


Way back in 1991 :rolleyes: :ROFLMAO:, over 75% of the wintering Monarchs from North America froze to death in Mexico as a result of three days of rain and sub-freezing conditions. :( They haven't bounced back. In part due to pesticides. Mostly .because increased urban development and agriculture has taken away their habitat. Milkweeds just aren't "pretty" enough for people to plant.


Edited to add : Reading more on their site... you two being in CA and FL, you'll probably get Asclepias curassavica. (Also known as Tropical Milkweed.) ( I am SO jealous!!) They look like this:
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrB8pmIKsJYVFgAWA8unIlQ?p=Asclepias-curassavica&fr=yhs-mozilla-003&hsimp=yhs-003&hspart=mozilla&imgsz=medium&fr2=p:s,v:i
 
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I just ordered the cheerio seeds too! Thank you for giving this link! I hope to plants these all around my house and help save the bees. I didn't buy the milkweed because I don't want the butterflies laying caterpillar eggs on my plants. That would be counter productive.
They don't just lay eggs on any plant, it has to be a host plant and for Monarchs the host plant are the various types of milkweed; they won't be laying eggs on your tomatoes or anything else. And for the milkweeds, they do just fine being eaten by the caterpillars, they're use to it after eons of evolution. Actually, I can't think of any host plant that is negatively effected by caterpillars of any type.

I have two night blooming plants: Moonflower vine and 4 O'clocks, which attract tons of moths that lay eggs/caterpillars and they don't negatively effect my cultivated plants or any other plants. And the host plants do just fine, it's not as if they are scrawny, leafless clumps -- they look just as healthy as any other plant.

As MaryMary said, this is about creating habitat for wildlife to rebound, because between farming and housing and other infrastructure, various animals are losing their habitat. This is one small way you can turn your yard (which is basically just a desert to many animals) into a healthy habitat.
 

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Yay, CrazyConure!! Happy dance!!
banana.gif
banana.gif


This is my first year growing milkweeds, too. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to plant them in groupings of at least 3, that way if they do exhaust one food source, they can easily move on to another plant. This is something I know @JBtheExplorer or @Beverly would know.

Now that I've "called" them, ;) tune in later for more details! :LOL:
 

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MaryMary

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@MaryMary Where are my seeds?
smilie_girl_093.gif
:oops: :cry: I tried to look for "free seeds for bees Russia" and Google offered Russian organic honey, Russian sage, and Mammoth Russian sunflowers. Bee-related, yes, but still your little girl is mad at me.:( :cry:

And my bananas have stopped dancing. :confused:
 

JBtheExplorer

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Here's another site that will give three free seed packets of Swamp Milkweed. which is one of my personal favorites. I believe you have the option to either order them for the price of shipping, or send them a self-addressed stamped envelope.

http://www.saveourmonarchs.org/store/p17/Milkweed_Seeds.html


Yay, CrazyConure!! Happy dance!!
banana.gif
banana.gif


This is my first year growing milkweeds, too. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to plant them in groupings of at least 3, that way if they do exhaust one food source, they can easily move on to another plant. This is something I know @JBtheExplorer or @Beverly would know.

Now that I've "called" them, ;) tune in later for more details! :LOL:


There is no specific number you need to plant them in, and in most cases they won't finish off an entire plant, although it has happened when Monarchs lay more eggs on a plant than the plant can support, especially with non-native Tropical Milkweed. I would always suggest growing more than one in close proximity to each other. That allows for more eggs to be laid and a better chance that a caterpillar will be able to avoid predators.




If anyone here is new to Milkweed and curious about it: There are many different kinds. Some grow aggressively, some don't. I grow four different species, but there are many, many others out there to choose from.

The first, and my personal favorite, is called Orange Milkweed or Butterflyweed. This plant does not spread by rhizomes, and like all milkweeds, the seedpods take months to develop, so you have plenty of time to remove them if you choose to. The plant grows up to 3 feet tall, but often stays around 2 feet. Around here, it's one of the latest plants to start growing in Spring. It doesn't appear until May, sometimes well into the middle of the month, but it grows quickly and starts blooming in late June.
IMG_1489 copy2.jpg



Here's another favorite. Swamp Milkweed can grow a couple feet taller than orange Milkweed, and doesn't grow as thick and full. This one spreads by rhizome, but very, very slowly. It starts blooming about a month later than Orange Milkweed. Many people grow this in large groupings along their houses. It attracts all kinds of butterflies and pollinators.
IMG_0821 copy2.jpg



Third is Whorled Milkweed. This plant looks considerably different than the rest, though it has the typical milkweed flower. The flower is usually a greenish-white color. It has a very narrow stem and very narrow leaves. It grows around 2' tall but I wouldn't be surprised to see it reach 3'. It often times will flop over and rest on other plants. This one spreads by rhizome as well as seed. This photo was taken in the wild. Rabbits keep biting off the top of my plants so I haven't seen my own bloom yet.
IMG_2778 copy.jpg




The last one is the most common of them all: Common Milkweed. This is the one most commonly seen in the wild, along roadways, and along the edges of farm fields. Like Whorled Milkweed, this one also spreads by rhizome. This plant will not stay in one place. It tries to move around. It's something that you will possibly have to maintain depending on your gardening style. My garden is designed to let my plants grow and pop up wherever they'd like within the confines of the garden, so Common Milkweed has not been an issue for me. My neighbor has an asparagus garden where Common Milkweed also grows, and he also has no problem with it. He gets about 10-12 plants that pop up around his garden but they never escape it. As a bonus, if you grow a lot of them, you'll quickly notice their flowers have a scent that is very much like lilac!
IMG_1676 (2) copy.jpg




If you're looking to attract Monarchs, there is one plant you'll want to pair with Milkweed.
While Monarchs need milkweed to lay their eggs, their favorite nectar source is, by far, Meadow Blazing Star.
It's a magnet to Monarchs. It's almost magical. I haven't had much success growing seeds, so you might want to buy a plant at a local nursery or online. No other Blazing Star specie will do what this one does. Monarchs will choose this plant over everything else. Just about every Monarch I saw in my yard last year was found on this plant. Many people report seeing nearly a dozen Monarchs on this plant, and Youtube videos show it to be true.
IMG_0942 copy2.jpg



Lastly, one more plant suggestion is New England Aster. This the Monarch's favorite nectar source in Autumn as they're migrating back to Mexico. Nectar sources are scarce that time of year, so it's one of the most important plants for Monarchs. I did not see any Monarchs on mine last year, however mine were in their first year. I have personally seen about a dozen on a large, well established plant in the wild.
IMG_2450 copy.jpg
 

JBtheExplorer

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Thought I'd share this with you all. It's a personal pet-peeve of mine. Packets labeled "wildflowers" that aren't plants that actually grow in the wild in your area. In fact, most times you see a packet labeled "wildflowers" they aren't native and can occasionally cause more bad than good. At best, they can provide nectar for bees and other pollinators, but they still aren't a replacement for the habitat that native plants can provide. Here is an entomologist's response to Cheerios and Monsanto's free "wildflowers":



This has been making the rounds on social media, and I find it a classic example of good intentions paving that road to hell. (Or at least a marketing ploy benefiting from the desire for good intentions.) The seeds listed in these free packets are a mix of European, Asian, and East and West Coast North American species. The seed organization partnering with General Mills on this project has responded to inquiry that the plant species comply with Canadian regulations that aim to prevent invasive species spread, but the ecology of flowering plants is a bit more tricky than simply their ease of spread. Non-native flowers may not be invasive (which is to say, penetrating new ecosystems and spreading), but they may out-compete natives in other ways, most notably by providing a more attractive nectar source than native flowers, reducing the pollination rate for natives. There has been some research that finds this is the case, though rates differ across species (of course, nothing in nature is neat and tidy): Plant natives for your region (that includes the coasts of North America: if you are on the West Coast, don't plant East Coast flowers and vice versa), and you'll be helping more than just the bees!
 

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