Does anybody have any milkweed seed that they would be willing to trade for postage? Would like to try my hand at raising cats with my grandchildren next year. Teach them an appreciation for the beauty in nature.
milkweed seed for trade
I'm going to go out to a field and collect a pod from common milkweed that is native here. Should be opening right about now. Have you seen any near you?
but isn't that a VERY invasive type?! Scary!!
from what I've read here you should go with the native variety, and hopefully we'll be eaten out of house and home so won't have to worry about that.
I'm just starting now mostly planning for next year, but did collect a few cats from a nearby field.
I'm sure someone here knows for sure
I have lots of Silky Gold if you want to send .41 poatsge in regular envelope. They are flat seed so don't need bubble envie
From my experience the common milkweed is what my cats eat, I have several other verities of milkweed and have not had a cat on them. My best find for cats are the milkweed in my sunny flowerbed. I leave some milkweed grow for the cats and the other I cut down when I see them pop out of the soil in spring. If you don't want to grow it and you have a nearby wild area that you can easily get to, you could go looking for cats and put them in a cat cage and watch them. I put in fresh milkweed everyother day, I have it in a plastic butter container with wet oasis, used to arrange fresh flowers in, this keeps the milkweed fresh. Once the cats "J" they will not need the milkweed.
Right now I have 10 cats, out of this 10, 4 are in crystilis, 3 are "J" and the remainder are still eating and growing.
If you have any questions for me, I'll watch this thread so ask away. No expert, but this is my 2nd year doing this. They are fun to watch.
Chris
Ladygardener1 thanks so much!! I am VERY new to this and have lots of questions. It isn't too late to get cats? How long are they in the crystilis stage? You are in the same zone as me so my next question is where do you keep them? What is wet oasis and where do you get it? told you lots of questions...
I can help a little bit here. The wet oasis I think she is referring to is floral foam. The kind that stays wet. You can get it at any Wal-Mart. It is in the craft section. There is the dry, styrofoam kind and the wet kind. The wet kind is great. I usually cut a section of it, wet it, wrap it in foil and then stick the milkweed stems down in it. Since it is wet it keeps them fresh longer. And it holds them in place really well. I wrap it in foil so that the little cats don't get on the stuff. I don't know if it is good for them or not. I am not in your zone so have no idea if it is too late to get cats this year or not. But it would be a good idea to go ahead and get some milkweed and plant it then it can come back next year even bigger and that way if you don't get cats this year you will have plenty for them to come to next year. I would love for you to get cats this year but I just don't know in your zone. Hope I helped some.
Leslie
you might find a stray cat this year - but about 2 weeks ago is when I looked in the field and only found 3, and I have been back twice and haven't seen any more. I'm thinking they have to get ready to start migrating soon so the cat stage is about done. All my info is from reading here on the forum, so I don't know for sure.
I have 3 in chrysalis now, waiting for them to eclose in the next day or 2. I'm hoping one will on Saturday - we are having a sister day/garden party so it would be a nice touch to have a monarch eclose. I'm thinking even if one does on Friday, I can wait til Sat to release him/her.
I'm really excited - was planning this for next year, then driving by the field of milkweed, "stopped and shopped", so am happy to have a few to watch this year.
That would be cool debilu. A very nice touch to have one of those beauties eclose. I would think they need to get eclosed and get started on their way soon, shouldn't they? Maybe I will see one of your babies down here as they migrate. LOL. I will say hi for ya.
Leslie
Leslie, thanks for getting up early and fielding some of these ?'s for our friend. [_]? You explained the oasis to a T .
Now for the others, my daughter had an old aquarium that leaked and bought a wire and plastic top at a pet store to keep a pet lizard in that was a long time ago. I use that for the cage it works well and the cats go to the top and fasten themselves to the wire to "j". I keep the whole thing outside in the shade on a roofed deck. You don't want any rain water getting in when the butterflies emerge, they need it dry for their wing to unfold and dry. ( learned that last year, he made it, but the one wing never unfolded all the way, he flew crooked).
As far as how long the process takes, sorry I didn't write the time line down, but it seem to take forever. But it was getting quite chilly out, so maybe temp plays a roll, (anyone have an answer here).
I have a few butterfly bushes near the milkweed patch plus other plants the butterflies like, so I think that is why I found so many cats.
This am, I have 4 chrysalis and 3 "J" ing. Need to get a picture.
debilu, I like your stop and shop, very cute : )
Chris
Sorry...my name is Debby. Thanks for the information. Milkweed is plentiful in my area. Someplaces there are fields of it. This is something that would love to do in the spring!! I am also very interested in the seeds Chris has. They will be an annual in my garden so I don't have to worry about them being invasive, I just have to worry about me being a pest to Chris with all my questions about sowing the seeds and havesting them in the fall ;) Thanks again to all. I am going to check the milkweed here to look for cats. thank you all again. talk to you soon!!
Hi all, I am so excited. This is my first yr at this and I have 10 chrysalis and a small cat. This was for the grandkids but I am having the most fun.
I planted Ascoepias,red and yellow. Grew from seed had a time with the rabbits and ended up with 1 red blooming and 2 yellow getting a little bit of size to them, they really attracted the monarchs I got most of my cats from them. Then I went and got are native milkweed to feed them. Also planted some for my GD at her place and she told me she has chrysalis hanging everwher at her place.
Debby.... this is the milkweed that I'm referring to that I find my cats on. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/40130/
I have a white milkweed and a orange "Gaybutterfly" but no cats on them at all. I think the monarchs are so use to the native milkweed that they don't bother with the other, I don't think changing diet on them would be good. If you find them munching on a certain milkweed, continue to feed them that kind. Just mho, but I could be wrong.
Oriole, let me know how your diet change turns out. No grandkids here but I get so much joy out of releasing my butterflies, if they are just emerged they will climb onto my finger and I place them on the butterfly bush in the sun to dry and warm themselves, don't pick them up by the wings, just a reminder.
Debby, my seeds would be perennials for you but if you want I'll send you some when mine get ripe. That will be awhile as the pods are still very green.
Chris
Lady, that worked out fine. I released my first butterfly yesterday.What fun. I will be doing this again.
I had my first 3 monarchs eclose this am, and got to watch the third - excellent for a first timer!
I'll post a pic later
Hey Chris. Thanks for that. I am just so thrilled I can actually answer someone's question. I am so new at this and still a little nervous but I have been able to pick up so much on here and I love sharing it when I am certain I know what I am talking about. I will never answer if I am not 100% sure because I know someone else will be 100% sure. I have GF's right now, 5 chrysalid and three little ones. Still finding them on the passion vine or what is left of the passion vine. That is why I have three little ones. I have released three and it is a wonderful experience. Except for the one that just took off without saying goodbye. Thought that was a little rude. But the last one flew around my head twice before flying off and I thought that was sweet. So far I have not had one stay in my garden to partake of any of my plants. Someone said they have to go mate pretty quick so maybe that is it. I always try to put them near my Lantana when I release them but they all just fly away. Oh well. Thanks for the compliment again. That was really nice.
Leslie