In article <470fef3e$0$7506$4c368faf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Wooly <nobody@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Omelet wrote:
> > Nice pic. :-)
>
> Thanks ;D
>
> > I'm presuming you are planting milkweed just for the baby butterflies?
> > Where did you get it and is it an annual or a perennial?
>
>
> I've been trying to get some sort of native/wild plants established
> under my kitchen window for years. Every fall I toss out random flower
> seed packets. Last fall I think a couple of them included milkweed
> seeds but I have no idea what variety.
I've been putting in more Lantana. There are some really really pretty
cultivars now. I have 3 different colors of the Dallas red, including
one in my big concrete pot that has double blooms. If I plant star
flowers next to them (unfortunately those are annuals), I get more
flutterbys.
>
> My milkweed strongly resembles the milkweeds at my son's school - tall
> with very tapered oval leaves and clusters of small round orange
> blossoms. My single plant never bloomed - too many aphids, not enough
> ladybugs, and the assassins can't keep up. I did filch some ripe
> seedpods from school about a month ago, hopefully the seeds will
> overwinter in my yard and not the neighbors', and bring me more
> milkweeds - and more Monarchs - next year.
Hm. For the aphids, try picking up some Lacewing fly pupae. "It's about
Thyme" often orders those in the spring, or you can mail order them. I
bought a batch a couple of years ago to wipe out scale in my greenhouse
on my cacti. I had a very bad infestation.
Worked like a charm. :-) I never actually saw the baby lacewings, but
I've seen nary a scale since, nor mealy bugs.
>
> The caterpillar is gone now. It was nearly 3" long when I found it and
> it fattened considerably as the day advanced and it decimated the
> milkweed. Even money says it was a 5th instar and has crept off to a
> spot under the eaves to pupate.
>
> Here's a slightly bigger pic:
> http://www.fysh.org/~slinky/monarch/monarch_large.jpg
Pretty pretty! Hope you can find and photograph the chrysalis?
--
Peace, Om
Remove both _ (underscores) to validate gmail e-mails.
"Human nature seems to be to control other people until they put their
foot down." -- Steve Rothstein
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