NotJeff here. I am so glad to have found your videos, and so happy that you are continuing to put them out. After almost 10 years of having Narrow Leafed milkweed volunteer sprout in our yard, we had at least 6 monarchs grow up successfully in late October, the first time breeding here. What a happy shock to find a chrysalis, then the caterpillars .The last one eclosed on 11/3. Thanks to your videos we were able to monitor and assist them so late in the year. We are in the SF Bay Area, and for your California viewers, the principal garden natives still blooming are: Epilobum also known as California Fuchsia, Island Verbena. These are good pollinator plants, will bloom until it gets very cold, and look good in your garden. Non-natives blooming in fall are the ornamental Salvias, Lantanas and loquat trees, and of course the coneflowers.. Instead of AI, I suggest contacting your nearest Master Gardener group, people trained by the US Cooperative extension and associated with universities. These folks know a lot about gardening and usually a lot about how gardening fits into the local habitat. Master Gardeners are trained in plants, then pick up a lot of knowledge about the birds, insects and other critters that are attracted to gardens. Anyone willing to learn, then spend time teaching back to the community is welcome to become a Master Gardener.
Thanks loads for your efforts to create such helpful content - great guidance as we attempt to help the Monarchs here in New England. We're in MA, we found a total of 60 eggs and cats the past few months, lost maybe 25+ to NP virus 😞, and of those that emerged there were 20 healthy butterflies we were able to release. I was able to use the microscope to scan 10 of them which was so cool. Also appreciated your bleach solution recipe to dunk milkweed leaves. Next year we'll include the eggs too with hopes for a healthier harvest. Best wishes and thanks again.
You're very welcome. I'm pleased they've been helpful! And I'm tackling some OE here in my new area. I have had no problems in the past with taking in wild sourced cats, but in my new location, they seem to have about a 50% chance of being OE infected, despite bleach treating leaves. Too early to tell. I'll have to actually start taking data on it to know if it's real or just my "eyeballing" of a small set of experiences, but yeah...OE stinks. Working on two episodes related to it...more to come.
My question is not related to the topic of Fall Nectar Producing Plants. When should one stop bringing in monarch eggs/caterpillars for hand rearing? I live in Iowa zone 5B and am still finding monarch eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed plants in my area.
Greetings! Sorry if it's a slight detail I over-focus on, but because you used the word "should", it's tough to answer. Still, here's my attempt, and I think it's what you're getting at. 😉 I'm in the lower peninsula of Michigan. One year, I found some eggs as late as the second week of September, and I took them both in. It was later than normal for me to find any eggs, and school had definitely already started. Still, I thought, what a lucky find, and went all in. I found that it was pretty difficult to find quality milkweed for them as we went into later September. It was easy for me to feed them, with plenty of home milkweed, but still, it showed me that I wouldn't want to take on many that late in the season. In addition, the weather wasn't cooperative much around the time of what should have been release for one of them. We had a snap of below freezing temperatures for just one day when it could have been released, then three days of cold rainstorms and showers. I kept one that emerged on 10/6 for four days and released on 10/10. Four days was easily the longest I'd ever kept an adult Monarch. I learned through that another reason I personally, didn't want to be responsible for any released in October. Thus, for me, I drew the line at not taking in eggs once August has concluded. August 31st each year, for me, would be the last day I would take, and starting September 1st, I no longer take in eggs. But again, that's for me, from my experience, and based upon my location, milkweed availability, and the weather of Michigan. Does that help?
It’s excellent that you are highlighting native fall blooming flowers! It seems like most states or locations have people who are as dedicated to native plants as you are to monarchs. A quick internet search will put you in touch with these groups. For instance, here on Long Island NY (zone 7a) we have a group called the Long Island Native Plant Initiative that sells many - you guessed it - native plants. In planting my milkweed, I also took the steps to plant and cultivate late blooming natives, like New England Asters and several local species of goldenrod. I also added cone flowers and sunflowers, including Mexican sunflower - which is huge with many flowers. Gardening and monarch conservation go hand in hand for many of us! Since this is your first go around with asters, I suggest you really study up on them. I bought asters that looked like yours from a big box store (kinda short and squatty), and while I can’t recall if they were labled New England Asters, they didn’t attract any butterflies or bees, even after two years. My best asters came from heirloom seeds that were sown in the fall. The first year of growth, they look like weeds and don’t grow much - I ripped out several plants before realized what they were. The second year they come in strong and get very tall (over 6’ and flop over). There is an old gardening rule for asters and goldenrod, cut them in half or a bit lower, mid-spring to early summer. Pruning promotes more flowers and less height. I have to put metal garden cage sections around my asters to keep them upright and off the lawn because they top out at 5’ high.
I am a native Plant gardener. A member of "Wild Ones", growers of native plants. When the monarchs migrate in the fall they seem to love , aromatic Asters and Profusion zinnias (profusion zinnias not a native plant). The zinnias are orange and bloom all summer. The aromatic zinnias bloom in September until frost. I live in Northwest Indiana.
Hey, all, how is the planting going?? Hoping the native plants do well as they do seem to begin in fall. Native flowering plants here, Piedmont of N. C., include our much successful summer and full fall Lantana, that has even been known to root and made new “bushy” flowering ones! They will bloom til Oct. 31 here, when it’s usually below freezing temperatures, too cold for most any species. Even Datura, a night blooming lily , 9/26/24, attracts butterflies if in earlier parts of the shady days. You probably know about Coneflowers, Shasta Daisies, black eyed Susans, (though mine re-seeded itself during the early-summer drought), and of course Asters though haven’t seen as many butterflies including M. B.s on those as much as others. Goldenrod and other field-type native plants grow so wild it’s difficult to even walk through them. Also purple Mexican Sage, especially for smaller butterflies, are making a big bold round. Best to you, and hope I didn’t make many typos, take care!
I have a big yard ocer here near Ann Arbor and I let half of it go nuts at some point in early July. Native aster, goldenrod, queen anne's lace, chicory, joe pie, wild daisies all grow in that patch. Then they go to seed and the birds eat that all winter.
I'm easily open to a wild patch in our own area, but not too wild...I'm dealing with an invasive species in my own yard that has some seeds that spring out if it just gets grazed. Been hit in the eye several times while weeding them. Started wearing gardening goggles. So, as long as I can keep that sucker and my neighbor's tree of heaven out, I might have a wild patch too in the future. Thanks for the insights for a Michigan yard addition! I'll look into some of those options!
I'm in 6A as well....I would also recommend a plant called Button Blazing Star. It is also a late blooming nectar producer. Butterfly weed is another one that I would recommend you look into for the monarchs as well. They love mine for the nectar of the flowers, but it is also a host plant as is the swamp milkweed! I'm just south of you in Indiana!
My parents have a butterfly bush which, I don't really know the species taxonomy name of yet (I'm sure it's a quick Google search away, though), and come spring, I'm looking to go into that realm. There's a tree in the yard that the previous owner found decorative that I think needs to go, and that might be my planned spot for the bush. Not sure yet. I'm finding that my planning of gardening is similar to my chess moves...slow to make if there's no clock involved.
@@MrLundScience I can completely relate. My butterfly garden started in a little corner of our property by my shed. It is now trickled throughout my entire 12 flowerbeds 🤪🤣. I have planted milkweed (swamp, common, whorled, and butterfly weed) all around the house as well as tons of sunflowers, coneflower, blazing star, tickseed, blanket flowers, blackeyed Susan's, asters, chrysanthemum, and joe pye weed. We have an abundance of pollinators that visit 🤣.
@@MrLundSciencethanks so much, truly, as always you have such dedication and helping others as they help the butterflies. It is bound to be a gradual project for almost anyone adding to pollinator gardens. I have done it over maybe a decade ? and feel a lot more knowledgeable now than in the earlier days. I have “always” sought out and discovered a lot in the wild. I have discovered so many native original plants that started coming up in pastures out of the blue now that we simply stopped cutting areas 😅or planned when to cut, trim, etc. Meanwhile paddocks, once upon supported our “pet” horses with proper grasses, gradually gave-way to wildflowers seemingly everywhere. Best to you and it’s great to see you filming videos when time allows! Piedmont of N. C.
I don't know about other areas, but here in 6a Massachusetts, my common and swamp milkweed was done blooming in July. I've already cut off the seed heads to save and plant elsewhere. I do have Joe pye, but that will be done blooming soon. Asters haven't started blooming yet and I let native weeds like snakeroot stay in my garden because they bloom Sept Oct. Physosteggia and blue lobelia are pollinator magnets and bloom for quite a long time.
I’m in Texas and my favorite choice of nectar flower is Turks Cup. Butterfly and Hummingbird love them. It’s low maintenance, bug tolerant and blooming till late year ❤
You are great and I love that you are highlighting nectar plants! Just a note that talking to a Florist is probably not a great recommendation as a resource. Florists specialize in arranging cut flowers, which for the most part they don’t grow and are usually imported and have been sprayed with chemicals. That’s a whole side tangent I won’t get into here. I’m not saying that there aren’t Florists who are mindful of native plants, but it’s not really what most of them do. I would recommend people ask their local nursery or garden center for advice. Even the big box stores are starting to have a natives section now. You gave some great examples of plants like goldenrod and aster that would work anywhere down the US Eastern migration route. Echinacea, rudbeckia and liatris also work well across that route. Hope everyone starts planting more natives! Monarchs are what got me into native gardening and I hope they do that for a lot more people 😊
Many thanks! I'm guessing too, this just boils down to my word choice and using "florist" rather than...I suppose I still don't know. "Gardener" sounds too general, as some don't specialize in nectar producing flowers...and while "botanist" would certainly fit accurately, I suppose some might hear the term and not immediately connect it with the worker at a local plant store. Likely, "local nursery" I know the person I spoke with seemed very informed with ready to go answers to what I was asking, which was cool, and that at the previous place I had gone to, though a similar store, didn't offer a similar experience, so to speak. It can definitely come down to who is working what shift that day. 😉 Thank you for the other tips for some plants to try. 🙏 I'm interested in the goldenrod for sure, though none of the local gardening stores carried it. I tried to call around a bit before making the drive. I'm excited to see how the aster turns out first, though, to make sure I don't muck it up. I'm starting to think already, I should have maybe spaced them further apart.
Whoa, get ready for the dummies on Reddit, Rich! The monarch groups are full of them. I had to leave those groups! Good luck! 6 of my final 22 eggs made it to chrysalis and am waiting for eclosure later this week into next week. Lots of good flowers around here for them to get some food before the big flight.
Great episode. I concentrated on swamp and common milkweed first. Now, I am focusing on native host plants. I am glad you decided to put an episode out on this subject. I found a list on line of native host plants for butterflies of MI. It has been very helpful. If you ever do a road trip Weesies nursery in Montague MI sells native plants for under 2 dollars each. I get about 20 plants for them a year and it seems like they add new varieties regularly.
Hi Mr. Lund Science. I'm in my 5th summer now and I have to say that last year was not so good. This year is better however, my first 3 summers I used to see so many monarchs and I think they were ones that I had released as they kept coming back to my garden. Last year and this year, I don't see them coming back only about 4 maybe. I wonder why and it has me worried. I have a small garden but, I have it jammed packed with flowers for the monarchs, humming birds and bees. I love watching them all. It seems that the summer here is winding down and I haven't found any more eggs. I go to a couple of locations that has a lot of good fresh milkweed but, I never find any eggs. So ,I have food for the ones that I have and that's a good thing. I would like to ask you about a microscope because I don't have a clue what I would buy and I couldn't afford an expensive one. Let me know if you have any reccommendations, please. Thank you for all of your time and information.
Greetings Jan! I'm sorry that the last two years having been as plentiful as the three prior. But, looking at where the numbers have been in the last five years, that seems to be a reasonable possibility. Something to consider...I personally, have not experienced Monarchs that I release returning to my yard much. Throughout my time of doing this, no matter the residence, it just hasn't happened to me. And at the previous residence, we had cone flowers beyond cone flowers galore. Still, I do know from the tales of others, they have had tagged Monarchs of their own return to their gardens after a day or two of release. (Perhaps they weren't migratory, but on the cusp, hence, the tagging...not sure.) So, from their testimony, there's certainly evidence that some Monarchs do return to yards. Thus, during seasons when the numbers are higher, Monarchs might be returning to yards because there's more competition with other Monarchs for territory, especially with males that stake out territory. Monarchs might return to establish territory in your yard because there isn't better available territory out there, and they gave up looking for better stuff. This is certainly no insult to your yard/garden, but I would imagine on sparse years, it's more likely Monarchs would disperse and find open territory that is less competitive, and years where they are more plentiful, those years might have a higher chance of return visitors. Just a guess, though. As for the microscope, I avoid endorsing any product brand names (unless it's something I truly have used and love, like Faygo soda, which is amazing, and I'm not paid to say that either...they just are) but I can easily say, if "handheld microscope" is searched for, there's quality ones from $10-$15 that can do the job. I'd get one with a build in LED light, though. Some have different features, and the one I have and use in videos that is handheld cost me $12 at the time. From what I can see, too, the price hasn't really gone up much, even after inflation. They're still in the $10-$15 range, the more expensive types of the same quality exist. I hope this helps! But also, the next episode shows off the two microscopes I use pretty well, and was to address this kind of a question! You're not the only one who has asked it, so I thought, perhaps being more specific in an episode was worth some time. Thanks for your efforts in this!😃👍🦋
@@MrLundScience I can't thank you enough as you are the only person I have for information that I trust. Next year I will have more time and I will invest in a microscope then and I thought they would be far more expensive. Good to know. I was hoping that my Monarchs found good gardens elsewhere as there are many in my area as well as milkweed. I appreciate this information and all the videos you have made and put out here for all of us willing to help. I am more confident when unusual issues pop up and I know I can handle them. I am always experiencing new things. Thank you again!
I don’t see monarch butterflies, at all. Next year, I’m planting native milkweed for them. Currently, I plant passiflora lutea, and zinnias to attract gulf fritillary butterflies, and have watched several full cycles of them this year. I’ve seen the monarchs migrate south across Lake Pontchartrain (27October,2019), and it was really something. I wish I had thought about their needs in the spring.
These are the best suggestions to help our Monarchs on the Internet! It has more meaningful values when it comes from real people who don't use a lab or try to sell a book. We also provide a Habitat for the Monarchs that makes them visit our garden by the hundreds every Summer with a mix of native and non-native plants. Our UA-cam channel has more proof: www.youtube.com/@leosilvestri5440/videos
Im outside los angeles, and sad to report minimum cats this year. Good news, tons of giant swallowtails at least. Butterflies of all kinds love my lantana monarchs and others! Very drought and heat tolerant perfect for where it doesnt go below 50 so the plant stays alive. Hopefully next year will be better for our beloved orange and black gems.
I too hope next season is better, for if it is worse, depending upon how worse, it could be pretty critical. If it's nectar producing and drought tolerant, where it's native, it's likely a great source to have for them. (I just don't know.) And how the climate is changing, where it is "native" might change too...tough to say, and our continent domestic idea of a native vs. introduced species might need to change as the climate does. Tree lines and the armadillos already are. Where lantana might be able to thrive and not freeze out could be different on the map in 5 years. In the efforts of keeping nectar along the migratory fall paths, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on. Thanks for the tips!
Only problem with those beautiful zinnias is their water requirements are too high for me. With our 90-100 degree heat i was having to water every day, sometimes twice with my big barrel planters.
You can also plant zinnias they bloom into the fall butterflies and bees love them you can plant them by seed and they bloom middle summer into the fall-bonus you can also pull petals there will be a seed attached and can plant them in the spring
Thanks, Mr. Lund. Would you know if using a 50/50 mixture of whey and distilled water on milkweed to help with aphid infestation would be harmful to monarch eggs? FYI Calendula is so easy to grow even I can do it and it lasts through summer and into frosts even in zone 5 way longer than the golden rod and echinacea does- It's a reliable volunteer plant that can handle a lazy gardener.
Thanks for you channel and I hope you continue for a long time. I live in zone 9a and very bad OE here. I don’t have good microscope but have a video scope with some magnification. Looking at a moving 3rd instar, I saw something strange towards its rear. Got the scope and made a 5 second video would have liked to send to you. Something moving inside below the skin. Thinking tachinid fly larvae but don’t have enough magnification. The caterpillar moving and so far does not appear to be ill. But worm-like creature inside. The poor thing is doomed. Have you seen this? Would it usually be dead before larvae would be growing?
I think I’m in 9A as well and those tachnid flies are the dang WORST. IT’S SO SAD that you generally don’t know until chrysalis. I understand how best to prevent but it’s tough. Especially because while I didn’t intend to raise monarchs this year, I kept my eye on this one big milkweed plant that I pass on my dog walk because it was alive and blooming way longer than usual due to it staying warm for so long here in NWFL. Yesterday I walked by and it was COVERED in cats - and had practically no leaves left. Couldn’t stand just walking by and leaving them exposed and hungry so I also couldn’t help myself and gathered as many as I could and set up my home Monarch Midwifery station. I have 18 instar 4/5, 5 instar 2 and probably 17 unhatched eggs. Not at all sure it was the right thing to do especially since the 4/5s you find in the wild very likely could already have the tachnid larvae.
Hey, I just had a caterpillar try to form a chrysalis, it was already having a tough time trying to get a good anchor, it eventually did, when it was forming the chrysalis , and as the skin was splitting, i thought everything was doing great and i kept checking on it and checking on it, and i want to say after a day or so it was not making any progress at all i did not have a good feeling about it, maybe the skin was stuck and he or she could not molt and i checked this morning and he or she had died.
Greetings Alex. I'm very sorry that this happened. I can certainly say, this has happened to me before, and multiple times. Not every molt goes perfectly, which is what that final molting of the skin still is...a molt. I've had molts occur in between instars where it doesn't go well, and only have of the molting occurred. As housed with other caterpillars, I've also known, it wasn't really due to any conditions, but due to just the imperfect process of molting. In other cases, if an OE infection or another type of infection is heavy enough, it could disrupt the process in the way you're describing, but it's tough to tell. In all honesty, though, it sounds like just a bad luck situation with this one. Sorry that it occurred.
@@MrLundScience It was heartbreaking, but i did see a Monarch on one of our window screens and i just decided to go out and test it for O.E, it was my first test, happy to say, it was clean, now hopefully when i used the clear tape on the abdomen, i gathered enough scales to definitively say that “yes that Monarch was clean”
It's good to know that it was clean, as that's a great sign, but I must pose a question, just to make sure...what was the plan if it was not OE free? I very much hope, it was to still release. In the case of OE parasites, we know that they are out there in nature. The Monarchs and OE have been together for millions of years. So, truly, there is no goal to remove it from nature, as that would mean having to remove even more butterflies from nature, which is never the goal. Instead, we need to have more of a goal of ensuring that we aren't increasing the amount of OE that is naturally out there in our environment. So, if we are rearing Monarchs at home and we have a large OE outbreak...say all 10 of 10 of our individuals have OE, and we're in Michigan (as I know we both are) where OE is low, we probably shouldn't release. If someone else in, say, Florida, where OE is around 60%, rearing 6 out of 10 individuals wouldn't really cause any true harm to the population, and all 10 could be released. Thus, if it is a wild Monarch, there's never a reason beyond just curiosity, I suppose, to test for OE. Positive or negative, it should remain wild and free. 😉👍 (I'm confident that you already knew that, Alex. This is just in case others happen by to read of this.)
@@MrLundScience the plan was to keep it until i confirmed the test was clean or not, the thought of euthanizing did cross my mind but without thinking i put the monarch back on the screen and flew away, and i said to myself “well, I hope you are clean”. It was also curiosity,m as well, nature presented an opportunity for me to do a test and i did. You do make a great point since I did not rear him myself, clean or not he or she should still be released, that would be an interesting topic for a video though.
Be careful with Joe Pye Weed. Once established it will start popping up everywhere like common milkweed. If you try to grow coneflowers from seed, remember you must CMS the seeds first like common milkweed seeds. The New England aster will get huge. Mine are about 4-5 feet tall now. Always remember with perennials the 1-3 year saying. First they sleep, then they creep and then they leap!
@@MrLundScience just thought I’d let you know, in 2015 I started my first garden in hopes of getting some butterflies because I had purchased my first DSL camera. I started researching and found your monarch series. My elderly neighbor would leave articles on my back door about monarchs being in danger. That’s why I started researching. Your series was so helpful and now 9 years later, I have 5 pollinator garden areas in my yard with native plants and I am Monarch Waystation certified. I can say over the past five years there is significant decline in activity in my yard. I have over half an acre. I’m in Illinois about 70 miles southwest of Chicago and this year has been so upsetting. So very little activity. I am concerned. My grand kids and I did raise some monarchs and black swallowtail butterflies but we haven’t now for the past three summers 😢
WowI Nine years deep with me? I do feel very honored. This stuff still blows my mind. Honestly. And I never quite know what to say. This all would be nothing if it weren't for others using the information to take actions, and plant milkweed, so thank you triple-fold, always. Always. 😂 (
I still try to be polite to AI. If I were an AI developer, I'd definitely incorporate some way of returning better/more results to people who are polite, lol.
NotJeff here. I am so glad to have found your videos, and so happy that you are continuing to put them out.
After almost 10 years of having Narrow Leafed milkweed volunteer sprout in our yard, we had at least 6 monarchs grow up successfully in late October, the first time breeding here. What a happy shock to find a chrysalis, then the caterpillars .The last one eclosed on 11/3. Thanks to your videos we were able to monitor and assist them so late in the year.
We are in the SF Bay Area, and for your California viewers, the principal garden natives still blooming are: Epilobum also known as California Fuchsia, Island Verbena. These are good pollinator plants, will bloom until it gets very cold, and look good in your garden. Non-natives blooming in fall are the ornamental Salvias, Lantanas and loquat trees, and of course the coneflowers..
Instead of AI, I suggest contacting your nearest Master Gardener group, people trained by the US Cooperative extension and associated with universities. These folks know a lot about gardening and usually a lot about how gardening fits into the local habitat. Master Gardeners are trained in plants, then pick up a lot of knowledge about the birds, insects and other critters that are attracted to gardens. Anyone willing to learn, then spend time teaching back to the community is welcome to become a Master Gardener.
I just have to say, I would've LOVED to have you as my chemistry teacher! You're amazing!
A strong compliment, which I appreciate. 🙏
Fear not...I have chemistry to still teach here on UA-cam! You can still be my Chemistry student!😃
Thanks, neighbor, for another helpful, humorous video. The Monarchs and Michiganders are lucky to have you around.
Thanks loads for your efforts to create such helpful content - great guidance as we attempt to help the Monarchs here in New England. We're in MA, we found a total of 60 eggs and cats the past few months, lost maybe 25+ to NP virus 😞, and of those that emerged there were 20 healthy butterflies we were able to release. I was able to use the microscope to scan 10 of them which was so cool. Also appreciated your bleach solution recipe to dunk milkweed leaves. Next year we'll include the eggs too with hopes for a healthier harvest. Best wishes and thanks again.
@@terrymott2816 You lost 25+ to NP and released 20. What happened to the other 15 ?
You're very welcome. I'm pleased they've been helpful! And I'm tackling some OE here in my new area. I have had no problems in the past with taking in wild sourced cats, but in my new location, they seem to have about a 50% chance of being OE infected, despite bleach treating leaves. Too early to tell. I'll have to actually start taking data on it to know if it's real or just my "eyeballing" of a small set of experiences, but yeah...OE stinks. Working on two episodes related to it...more to come.
My question is not related to the topic of Fall Nectar Producing Plants. When should one stop bringing in monarch eggs/caterpillars for hand rearing? I live in Iowa zone 5B and am still finding monarch eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed plants in my area.
In 2022, I released monarch butterflies thru to the end of September.(Omaha NE)
Greetings! Sorry if it's a slight detail I over-focus on, but because you used the word "should", it's tough to answer. Still, here's my attempt, and I think it's what you're getting at. 😉
I'm in the lower peninsula of Michigan. One year, I found some eggs as late as the second week of September, and I took them both in. It was later than normal for me to find any eggs, and school had definitely already started. Still, I thought, what a lucky find, and went all in. I found that it was pretty difficult to find quality milkweed for them as we went into later September. It was easy for me to feed them, with plenty of home milkweed, but still, it showed me that I wouldn't want to take on many that late in the season. In addition, the weather wasn't cooperative much around the time of what should have been release for one of them. We had a snap of below freezing temperatures for just one day when it could have been released, then three days of cold rainstorms and showers. I kept one that emerged on 10/6 for four days and released on 10/10. Four days was easily the longest I'd ever kept an adult Monarch. I learned through that another reason I personally, didn't want to be responsible for any released in October.
Thus, for me, I drew the line at not taking in eggs once August has concluded. August 31st each year, for me, would be the last day I would take, and starting September 1st, I no longer take in eggs. But again, that's for me, from my experience, and based upon my location, milkweed availability, and the weather of Michigan.
Does that help?
Autumn Joy sedum is another late summer bloomer and grows in zones 4-11.
It’s excellent that you are highlighting native fall blooming flowers! It seems like most states or locations have people who are as dedicated to native plants as you are to monarchs. A quick internet search will put you in touch with these groups. For instance, here on Long Island NY (zone 7a) we have a group called the Long Island Native Plant Initiative that sells many - you guessed it - native plants. In planting my milkweed, I also took the steps to plant and cultivate late blooming natives, like New England Asters and several local species of goldenrod. I also added cone flowers and sunflowers, including Mexican sunflower - which is huge with many flowers. Gardening and monarch conservation go hand in hand for many of us!
Since this is your first go around with asters, I suggest you really study up on them. I bought asters that looked like yours from a big box store (kinda short and squatty), and while I can’t recall if they were labled New England Asters, they didn’t attract any butterflies or bees, even after two years. My best asters came from heirloom seeds that were sown in the fall. The first year of growth, they look like weeds and don’t grow much - I ripped out several plants before realized what they were. The second year they come in strong and get very tall (over 6’ and flop over). There is an old gardening rule for asters and goldenrod, cut them in half or a bit lower, mid-spring to early summer. Pruning promotes more flowers and less height. I have to put metal garden cage sections around my asters to keep them upright and off the lawn because they top out at 5’ high.
I am a native Plant gardener. A member of "Wild Ones", growers of native plants. When the monarchs migrate in the fall they seem to love , aromatic Asters and Profusion zinnias (profusion zinnias not a native plant). The zinnias are orange and bloom all summer. The aromatic zinnias bloom in September until frost. I live in Northwest Indiana.
Sorry the aromatic asters bloom from September until frost. Typo
Hey, all, how is the planting going?? Hoping the native plants do well as they do seem to begin in fall. Native flowering plants here, Piedmont of N. C., include our much successful summer and full fall Lantana, that has even been known to root and made new “bushy” flowering ones! They will bloom til Oct. 31 here, when it’s usually below freezing temperatures, too cold for most any species. Even Datura, a night blooming lily , 9/26/24, attracts butterflies if in earlier parts of the shady days. You probably know about Coneflowers, Shasta Daisies, black eyed Susans, (though mine re-seeded itself during the early-summer drought), and of course Asters though haven’t seen as many butterflies including M. B.s on those as much as others. Goldenrod and other field-type native plants grow so wild it’s difficult to even walk through them. Also purple Mexican Sage, especially for smaller butterflies, are making a big bold round. Best to you, and hope I didn’t make many typos, take care!
Asters are attractive in the garden! Good to see you again!
I'm very much looking forward to seeing them bloom, though I doubt it's this year. Still, I'm a patient man! Thanks for being back again!
I have a big yard ocer here near Ann Arbor and I let half of it go nuts at some point in early July. Native aster, goldenrod, queen anne's lace, chicory, joe pie, wild daisies all
grow in that patch. Then they go to seed and the birds eat that all winter.
I'm easily open to a wild patch in our own area, but not too wild...I'm dealing with an invasive species in my own yard that has some seeds that spring out if it just gets grazed. Been hit in the eye several times while weeding them. Started wearing gardening goggles. So, as long as I can keep that sucker and my neighbor's tree of heaven out, I might have a wild patch too in the future.
Thanks for the insights for a Michigan yard addition! I'll look into some of those options!
I'm in 6A as well....I would also recommend a plant called Button Blazing Star. It is also a late blooming nectar producer.
Butterfly weed is another one that I would recommend you look into for the monarchs as well. They love mine for the nectar of the flowers, but it is also a host plant as is the swamp milkweed! I'm just south of you in Indiana!
My parents have a butterfly bush which, I don't really know the species taxonomy name of yet (I'm sure it's a quick Google search away, though), and come spring, I'm looking to go into that realm. There's a tree in the yard that the previous owner found decorative that I think needs to go, and that might be my planned spot for the bush. Not sure yet. I'm finding that my planning of gardening is similar to my chess moves...slow to make if there's no clock involved.
@@MrLundScience I can completely relate. My butterfly garden started in a little corner of our property by my shed. It is now trickled throughout my entire 12 flowerbeds 🤪🤣. I have planted milkweed (swamp, common, whorled, and butterfly weed) all around the house as well as tons of sunflowers, coneflower, blazing star, tickseed, blanket flowers, blackeyed Susan's, asters, chrysanthemum, and joe pye weed. We have an abundance of pollinators that visit 🤣.
@@MrLundSciencethanks so much, truly, as always you have such dedication and helping others as they help the butterflies. It is bound to be a gradual project for almost anyone adding to pollinator gardens. I have done it over maybe a decade ? and feel a lot more knowledgeable now than in the earlier days. I have “always” sought out and discovered a lot in the wild. I have discovered so many native original plants that started coming up in pastures out of the blue now that we simply stopped cutting areas 😅or planned when to cut, trim, etc. Meanwhile paddocks, once upon supported our “pet” horses with proper grasses, gradually gave-way to wildflowers seemingly everywhere. Best to you and it’s great to see you filming videos when time allows! Piedmont of N. C.
I don't know about other areas, but here in 6a Massachusetts, my common and swamp milkweed was done blooming in July. I've already cut off the seed heads to save and plant elsewhere. I do have Joe pye, but that will be done blooming soon. Asters haven't started blooming yet and I let native weeds like snakeroot stay in my garden because they bloom Sept Oct. Physosteggia and blue lobelia are pollinator magnets and bloom for quite a long time.
Thank You
You're certainly welcome. Thanks for checking it out!
I’m in Texas and my favorite choice of nectar flower is Turks Cup. Butterfly and Hummingbird love them. It’s low maintenance, bug tolerant and blooming till late year ❤
You are great and I love that you are highlighting nectar plants! Just a note that talking to a Florist is probably not a great recommendation as a resource. Florists specialize in arranging cut flowers, which for the most part they don’t grow and are usually imported and have been sprayed with chemicals. That’s a whole side tangent I won’t get into here. I’m not saying that there aren’t Florists who are mindful of native plants, but it’s not really what most of them do. I would recommend people ask their local nursery or garden center for advice. Even the big box stores are starting to have a natives section now. You gave some great examples of plants like goldenrod and aster that would work anywhere down the US Eastern migration route. Echinacea, rudbeckia and liatris also work well across that route. Hope everyone starts planting more natives! Monarchs are what got me into native gardening and I hope they do that for a lot more people 😊
Many thanks!
I'm guessing too, this just boils down to my word choice and using "florist" rather than...I suppose I still don't know. "Gardener" sounds too general, as some don't specialize in nectar producing flowers...and while "botanist" would certainly fit accurately, I suppose some might hear the term and not immediately connect it with the worker at a local plant store. Likely, "local nursery"
I know the person I spoke with seemed very informed with ready to go answers to what I was asking, which was cool, and that at the previous place I had gone to, though a similar store, didn't offer a similar experience, so to speak. It can definitely come down to who is working what shift that day. 😉
Thank you for the other tips for some plants to try. 🙏 I'm interested in the goldenrod for sure, though none of the local gardening stores carried it. I tried to call around a bit before making the drive.
I'm excited to see how the aster turns out first, though, to make sure I don't muck it up. I'm starting to think already, I should have maybe spaced them further apart.
Whoa, get ready for the dummies on Reddit, Rich! The monarch groups are full of them. I had to leave those groups! Good luck! 6 of my final 22 eggs made it to chrysalis and am waiting for eclosure later this week into next week. Lots of good flowers around here for them to get some food before the big flight.
Great episode. I concentrated on swamp and common milkweed first. Now, I am focusing on native host plants. I am glad you decided to put an episode out on this subject. I found a list on line of native host plants for butterflies of MI. It has been very helpful. If you ever do a road trip Weesies nursery in Montague MI sells native plants for under 2 dollars each. I get about 20 plants for them a year and it seems like they add new varieties regularly.
Many thanks! I'm slow to move with my nursery choice, I'm finding. But, I think I'll have a plan by springtime! Looking forward to it. 👍
Hi Mr. Lund Science. I'm in my 5th summer now and I have to say that last year was not so good. This year is better however, my first 3 summers I used to see so many monarchs and I think they were ones that I had released as they kept coming back to my garden. Last year and this year, I don't see them coming back only about 4 maybe. I wonder why and it has me worried. I have a small garden but, I have it jammed packed with flowers for the monarchs, humming birds and bees. I love watching them all. It seems that the summer here is winding down and I haven't found any more eggs. I go to a couple of locations that has a lot of good fresh milkweed but, I never find any eggs. So ,I have food for the ones that I have and that's a good thing. I would like to ask you about a microscope because I don't have a clue what I would buy and I couldn't afford an expensive one. Let me know if you have any reccommendations, please. Thank you for all of your time and information.
Greetings Jan!
I'm sorry that the last two years having been as plentiful as the three prior. But, looking at where the numbers have been in the last five years, that seems to be a reasonable possibility.
Something to consider...I personally, have not experienced Monarchs that I release returning to my yard much. Throughout my time of doing this, no matter the residence, it just hasn't happened to me. And at the previous residence, we had cone flowers beyond cone flowers galore. Still, I do know from the tales of others, they have had tagged Monarchs of their own return to their gardens after a day or two of release. (Perhaps they weren't migratory, but on the cusp, hence, the tagging...not sure.) So, from their testimony, there's certainly evidence that some Monarchs do return to yards. Thus, during seasons when the numbers are higher, Monarchs might be returning to yards because there's more competition with other Monarchs for territory, especially with males that stake out territory. Monarchs might return to establish territory in your yard because there isn't better available territory out there, and they gave up looking for better stuff. This is certainly no insult to your yard/garden, but I would imagine on sparse years, it's more likely Monarchs would disperse and find open territory that is less competitive, and years where they are more plentiful, those years might have a higher chance of return visitors. Just a guess, though.
As for the microscope, I avoid endorsing any product brand names (unless it's something I truly have used and love, like Faygo soda, which is amazing, and I'm not paid to say that either...they just are) but I can easily say, if "handheld microscope" is searched for, there's quality ones from $10-$15 that can do the job. I'd get one with a build in LED light, though. Some have different features, and the one I have and use in videos that is handheld cost me $12 at the time. From what I can see, too, the price hasn't really gone up much, even after inflation. They're still in the $10-$15 range, the more expensive types of the same quality exist.
I hope this helps! But also, the next episode shows off the two microscopes I use pretty well, and was to address this kind of a question! You're not the only one who has asked it, so I thought, perhaps being more specific in an episode was worth some time.
Thanks for your efforts in this!😃👍🦋
@@MrLundScience I can't thank you enough as you are the only person I have for information that I trust. Next year I will have more time and I will invest in a microscope then and I thought they would be far more expensive. Good to know.
I was hoping that my Monarchs found good gardens elsewhere as there are many in my area as well as milkweed. I appreciate this information and all the videos you have made and put out here for all of us willing to help. I am more confident when unusual issues pop up and I know I can handle them. I am always experiencing new things. Thank you again!
I don’t see monarch butterflies, at all. Next year, I’m planting native milkweed for them. Currently, I plant passiflora lutea, and zinnias to attract gulf fritillary butterflies, and have watched several full cycles of them this year. I’ve seen the monarchs migrate south across Lake Pontchartrain (27October,2019), and it was really something. I wish I had thought about their needs in the spring.
These are the best suggestions to help our Monarchs on the Internet!
It has more meaningful values when it comes from real people who don't use a lab or try to sell a book.
We also provide a Habitat for the Monarchs that makes them visit our garden by the hundreds every Summer
with a mix of native and non-native plants.
Our UA-cam channel has more proof: www.youtube.com/@leosilvestri5440/videos
Im outside los angeles, and sad to report minimum cats this year. Good news, tons of giant swallowtails at least.
Butterflies of all kinds love my lantana monarchs and others! Very drought and heat tolerant perfect for where it doesnt go below 50 so the plant stays alive. Hopefully next year will be better for our beloved orange and black gems.
I too hope next season is better, for if it is worse, depending upon how worse, it could be pretty critical. If it's nectar producing and drought tolerant, where it's native, it's likely a great source to have for them. (I just don't know.) And how the climate is changing, where it is "native" might change too...tough to say, and our continent domestic idea of a native vs. introduced species might need to change as the climate does. Tree lines and the armadillos already are. Where lantana might be able to thrive and not freeze out could be different on the map in 5 years. In the efforts of keeping nectar along the migratory fall paths, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on. Thanks for the tips!
my blazing star has been completely done blooming for a couple weeks. Omaha NE
When it was in bloom, what types of pollinators did you see it attract, by chance?
Only problem with those beautiful zinnias is their water requirements are too high for me. With our 90-100 degree heat i was having to water every day, sometimes twice with my big barrel planters.
Certainly understandable. And when it's that high of a temp, the strain on the water supply increases as well.
You can also plant zinnias they bloom into the fall butterflies and bees love them you can plant them by seed and they bloom middle summer into the fall-bonus you can also pull petals there will be a seed attached and can plant them in the spring
Sounds like something worth looking into. Thank you. My first hurdle, though, is making sure I don't muck up these asters! 😃
Why isn't the monarch on the endangered species list? Is there anything we can all collectively do make this happen?😢 Thanks for all you do.
Thanks, Mr. Lund. Would you know if using a 50/50 mixture of whey and distilled water on milkweed to help with aphid infestation would be harmful to monarch eggs? FYI Calendula is so easy to grow even I can do it and it lasts through summer and into frosts even in zone 5 way longer than the golden rod and echinacea does- It's a reliable volunteer plant that can handle a lazy gardener.
Thanks for you channel and I hope you continue for a long time.
I live in zone 9a and very bad OE here. I don’t have good microscope but have a video scope with some magnification. Looking at a moving 3rd instar, I saw something strange towards its rear. Got the scope and made a 5 second video would have liked to send to you. Something moving inside below the skin. Thinking tachinid fly larvae but don’t have enough magnification. The caterpillar moving and so far does not appear to be ill. But worm-like creature inside. The poor thing is doomed. Have you seen this? Would it usually be dead before larvae would be growing?
I think I’m in 9A as well and those tachnid flies are the dang WORST. IT’S SO SAD that you generally don’t know until chrysalis. I understand how best to prevent but it’s tough. Especially because while I didn’t intend to raise monarchs this year, I kept my eye on this one big milkweed plant that I pass on my dog walk because it was alive and blooming way longer than usual due to it staying warm for so long here in NWFL. Yesterday I walked by and it was COVERED in cats - and had practically no leaves left. Couldn’t stand just walking by and leaving them exposed and hungry so I also couldn’t help myself and gathered as many as I could and set up my home Monarch Midwifery station. I have 18 instar 4/5, 5 instar 2 and probably 17 unhatched eggs. Not at all sure it was the right thing to do especially since the 4/5s you find in the wild very likely could already have the tachnid larvae.
Hey, I just had a caterpillar try to form a chrysalis, it was already having a tough time trying to get a good anchor, it eventually did, when it was forming the chrysalis , and as the skin was splitting, i thought everything was doing great and i kept checking on it and checking on it, and i want to say after a day or so it was not making any progress at all i did not have a good feeling about it, maybe the skin was stuck and he or she could not molt and i checked this morning and he or she had died.
Greetings Alex. I'm very sorry that this happened. I can certainly say, this has happened to me before, and multiple times. Not every molt goes perfectly, which is what that final molting of the skin still is...a molt. I've had molts occur in between instars where it doesn't go well, and only have of the molting occurred. As housed with other caterpillars, I've also known, it wasn't really due to any conditions, but due to just the imperfect process of molting.
In other cases, if an OE infection or another type of infection is heavy enough, it could disrupt the process in the way you're describing, but it's tough to tell. In all honesty, though, it sounds like just a bad luck situation with this one. Sorry that it occurred.
@@MrLundScience It was heartbreaking, but i did see a Monarch on one of our window screens and i just decided to go out and test it for O.E, it was my first test, happy to say, it was clean, now hopefully when i used the clear tape on the abdomen, i gathered enough scales to definitively say that “yes that Monarch was clean”
It's good to know that it was clean, as that's a great sign, but I must pose a question, just to make sure...what was the plan if it was not OE free? I very much hope, it was to still release.
In the case of OE parasites, we know that they are out there in nature. The Monarchs and OE have been together for millions of years. So, truly, there is no goal to remove it from nature, as that would mean having to remove even more butterflies from nature, which is never the goal. Instead, we need to have more of a goal of ensuring that we aren't increasing the amount of OE that is naturally out there in our environment. So, if we are rearing Monarchs at home and we have a large OE outbreak...say all 10 of 10 of our individuals have OE, and we're in Michigan (as I know we both are) where OE is low, we probably shouldn't release.
If someone else in, say, Florida, where OE is around 60%, rearing 6 out of 10 individuals wouldn't really cause any true harm to the population, and all 10 could be released.
Thus, if it is a wild Monarch, there's never a reason beyond just curiosity, I suppose, to test for OE. Positive or negative, it should remain wild and free. 😉👍
(I'm confident that you already knew that, Alex. This is just in case others happen by to read of this.)
@@MrLundScience the plan was to keep it until i confirmed the test was clean or not, the thought of euthanizing did cross my mind but without thinking i put the monarch back on the screen and flew away, and i said to myself “well, I hope you are clean”. It was also curiosity,m as well, nature presented an opportunity for me to do a test and i did. You do make a great point since I did not rear him myself, clean or not he or she should still be released, that would be an interesting topic for a video though.
Hi Mr Lund. Why are so many of my Monarchs eclosing with wrinkled wings? I live in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Be careful with Joe Pye Weed. Once established it will start popping up everywhere like common milkweed. If you try to grow coneflowers from seed, remember you must CMS the seeds first like common milkweed seeds. The New England aster will get huge. Mine are about 4-5 feet tall now. Always remember with perennials the 1-3 year saying. First they sleep, then they creep and then they leap!
Definitely some good advice for a guy who doesn't know too much about Joe Pye. I hadn't stumbled upon that part when looking into it. Many thanks!
@@MrLundScience just thought I’d let you know, in 2015 I started my first garden in hopes of getting some butterflies because I had purchased my first DSL camera. I started researching and found your monarch series. My elderly neighbor would leave articles on my back door about monarchs being in danger. That’s why I started researching. Your series was so helpful and now 9 years later, I have 5 pollinator garden areas in my yard with native plants and I am Monarch Waystation certified. I can say over the past five years there is significant decline in activity in my yard. I have over half an acre. I’m in Illinois about 70 miles southwest of Chicago and this year has been so upsetting. So very little activity. I am concerned. My grand kids and I did raise some monarchs and black swallowtail butterflies but we haven’t now for the past three summers 😢
WowI Nine years deep with me? I do feel very honored. This stuff still blows my mind. Honestly. And I never quite know what to say. This all would be nothing if it weren't for others using the information to take actions, and plant milkweed, so thank you triple-fold, always. Always. 😂 (
I still try to be polite to AI. If I were an AI developer, I'd definitely incorporate some way of returning better/more results to people who are polite, lol.