How can I get free milkweed?

If you mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Live Monarch – 2020 Seed Campaign, PO BOX 1339, Blairsville, GA 30514, the foundation will send back 15 butterfly garden seeds, including milkweed, for free.

Which milkweed is best for monarchs?

Female monarchs will lay eggs on all nine milkweed species, but they prefer some over others. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and common milkweed (A. syriaca) averaged the highest number of eggs.

Why are there no monarch caterpillars on my milkweed?

If disappearing caterpillars are 5th instar caterpillars, odds are they moved away from your milkweeds to find a safe place to form their chrysalis (they typically do not pupate on milkweed plants). If earlier instars or eggs are disappearing, a more likely culprit is a monarch predator.

Where can I find monarchs on milkweed?

The best place to look for monarch eggs is on milkweed because it is the only plant that adult monarchs lay their eggs on. The trick is to look on the underside of the leaf but you may sometimes find eggs on the stems or flower buds as well.

Is Save Our monarchs legit?

A grassroots non-profit organization, Save Our Monarchs is the only foundation in the U.S. whose sole mission is to save the monarch butterfly by planting more milkweed – the sole source of sustenance of the monarch caterpillar. “Other organizations educate people about the plight of the monarch butterfly.

Does milkweed grow in Texas?

Green Milkweed, Asclepias viridis This common native milkweed in our area is sometimes called Green Antelope Horn Milkweed or Green Mlikweed and is the most common milkweed in the state of Texas. The Edwards Plateau is the western reach of its range, which starts in East Texas.

What milkweed is native to Texas?

Butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) is a milkweed native to Texas. Courtesy of Thomas Muller/Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center. As native plants disappear, the rush to plant host plants and halt the monarch’s decline has led the public to plant commercially available tropical milkweed.

What milkweed is bad for butterflies?

Tropical milkweed
This is the reason Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), an introduced species native to Mexico, is developing a bad reputation among monarch biologists and conservation organizations. It can delay the butterflies’ instinctual fall migration through North Texas to the point of destruction.

What lays black eggs on milkweed?

Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves–generally–but we’ve seen them on stems and on the leaf edges. They usually deposit a single egg beneath the leaf, but we’ve spotted as many as four on one leaf. They secrete a glue so the egg will adhere.

Do ants harm monarch caterpillars?

Predators such as spiders and fire ants kill and eat monarch eggs and caterpillars. Some birds and wasps feed on adult butterflies. These predators are easy to see, but monarchs also suffer attacks from parasites, organisms that live inside the monarchs’ bodies.

How far away can monarchs smell milkweed?

two miles away
I have heard that Monarchs can smell milkweeds from over two miles away. It may be from even further away if the milkweed population is large. Wow, do they have good senses, but their survival depends on them finding milkweeds. Monarchs use receptors on their antennae to “smell” the milkweeds in your landscape.

Is Save Our butterfly legit?

Save Our Monarchs is a non-profit organization created with a mission to plant milkweeds to repopulate the world of the Monarch Butterflies. Proceeds of each purchases will be donated to Save Our Monarchs to combat the loss of habitat for the monarchs.