Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Plant it and they will come Monarchs and Pollinators, 2 by greenthumb99

greenthumb99 wrote:
Finally managed to get a photo of a visiting Monarch today. It kept feeding on the top of an eight foot tall clump of Joe-Pye Weed, which made it difficult to get a shot of. Wasted 10 out of 12 shots, good thing cameras no longer use film.$$$

By the way, a while back I posted photos of 3 Milkweed pests. You should check your plants EVERY DAY. Yesterday my Asclepias perennis appeared pest free, but today there were 50+ newly hatched Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars. In another day they would have stripped much of the foliage! Despite checking daily, all my Swamp Milkweed plants have been completely stripped of foliage by Milkweed Leaf Beetles. Milkweed Aphid populations explode overnight. This time of year all aphids are females and give live birth to daughters that are born pregnant! For real!