Yea, Summer is here

Saw our first Monarch laying eggs on 4-30-10. We have 16 Chrysalis & one large cat. On our lanai I have 4 box planters full of Milkweed where I place the little guys and there are about 5 in there. I am trying to hunt every morning and when I get home from work.

Tried something new with the floral foam. I "painted" it with a plastic like paint on the bottom 1/2 ....... to hold the water in. I put them in water upside down to soak. I'll let you know if it works well.

This message was edited May 7, 2010 11:36 AM

you can just see the floral foam soaking in glad container on the bottom right of the nursery.

Todays morning cat hunt was OMG I found 22 cats.
We had one newly emerged butterfly greet us for morning coffee. :)

I have a garden FULL of milkweed from seeds from my home state of CT, but still have not seen ONE monarch around here. Husband is threatening to pull up the "ugly" milkweed, but I am thrilled to see it flowering finally! Last year was my first year after planting the seeds to see any milkweed, and it wasn't much. This year there's LOTS and it's beautiful, and I WANT MONARCHS! I see by my butterfly diary that the first monarch cats I brought in last summer were the end of June; I hope my milkweed lasts that long!!!

I have noticed over the last week when our temps dropped to the low 80s we didn't see many cats... the closer to 90 the more cats we have found.
I have 47 Chrysalises (sp?) looking like jade decorations. We have released 9 butterflies.so far with .. 4 waiting to be released tonight, and lordy knows how many cats in the nursery - too many to count. Don't give up... if you have milkweed they will come.

Here in Florida the milkweed lasts year round, you might want to pinch them to make them fuller - mine get very leggy if I don't.

I just got my first Monarch visit last week and I'm all the way down in Tampa! So don't worry, I'm sure they'll show up; they're just taking their sweet time. : )

I went out for morning coffee on the lanai and found 14 new butterflies.
picture attached - 6 girls and 8 boys (I think)

thea.....Don't clip all of the MW, but take the longer branches that are already bloomed and made seeds. Cut them at about 5" or so and put them in some very moist potting soil in heavy shade. Putting a dish underneath the pot helps keep it wet. Clip the upper most tip if there are leaves, that allows more enery to go into making roots. Waala....in a few weeks you have a new plant to set out.

This message was edited May 20, 2010 10:51 AM

Thanks Sheila!! I'm thinking that with all the new MW plants popping up all over my gardens, even if I DO cut down some of the older ones, I will have plenty, but I don't want to take any chances, just in case I get HORDES of monarchs, so I will do as you suggest!!!
But still, not one single monarch in sight!!!!!!!!!
But the buckeyes have been so enjoying the MW blooms, and so have I; they sure do smell sweet! And they've been covered with happy bees! I love seeing ALL these winged creatures in my gardens.....

I have been using floral foam cut in triangle shapes to keep the milkweed fresh............ it is not working as well as I want it to.. but I think it is because of our High 90 degree temperatures, sign today at walgreens said 101.

12 new butterflies this morning.......... :)

Ruth, you might try wrapping the foam with Glad Press 'N Seal. It sticks to itself super tight and would be waterproof. I use the bottom of pudding cups, then poke holes with a toothpick for the stems to go into. When I need more moisture I use a squirt bottle..press it against an empty hole. I poke new holes when adding leaves too, it seems to keep them from wilting as much.

Sheila, what size containers do you use, and how many cats would you raise in each? Where do you get that netting that you put into the covers? I think you've said elsewhere on Dave's, just can't find it....

I have a little info on my diary here.... http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/Sheila_FW/9167/
The material is tricot like the inside of swimwear has. The containers are 3 cup and larger, but anything will do. Just cut a hole in the top and tack the material in place with hot glue.
I usually put lots of first instart (babies) in a cage, as they grow I split them up to more cages. Adults usually no more than three to a cage. The plastic allows you to scrape off the webbing of the chrysalis and pin it to styrofoam to emerge, so I quit using the sticks.

This shows the emerging board I use. I covered it with material and fix it at an angle so they hang free to expand and harden their wings.

So how many seperate cages do you typically have Sheila? And where do you keep them? Your photos are very helpful, thanks so much!

Well we have paneling now in the shop, but this was prior to that. I just stuck up some 6" boards and turn the cages sideways, it helt quite a few.
You can raise them all in one large castle with big plants, but I prefer to watch them closer.

Oh, that's neat! My only shelves are in the house, and it's air conditioned, so that's out. And there's no room in the garage. I like your set-up Sheila! It's got me thinking.....

If your mesh is fine enough weave, they can be outside. I would say under at least the eave of a house for shade, and don't forget the wind can cause problems. The cats might drown if the container tips in a rain.

Thanks for all the tips.
I have now switched to small containers with triangle shaped foam with the pressnseal (also used waterproof medical tape) around them.
When I change out the milkweed I "dunk" the containers to wash off the poo that didn't fall off and rewet the foam. I also redid the bottom of my "cage" and sewed a funnel that now has a hole at the bottom and the poo rolls down and out into a container. Seems to work ok.. if a cat falls it can crawl back up and stay out of the poo. will add a picture later

Please do post a pic when you have time, sounds interesting.

here is the picture.

That works great Ruth! I don't have the big cages, but you have come up with something that is pretty smart!

Sheila, do you put your emerging board in something to keep predators out? Your monarch chrysalides look so neat on the board! I'd be scared to handle each chrysalis, taking it down and relocating it to the board, they look so delicate.

That board pic was taken about two years ago, I don't glue anymore, it was nerve racking. I use straight pins in the silk now. Also I put the whole board inside a zippered cube from MonarchLive.