"In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy." 

~Robert Brault

'Tis the season for the annual ritual of pruning back tropical and exotic perennial milkweed plants to mere sticks. Gadzooks, that sounds extreme!

Yup. It is, but beneficial. And the consensus among those in the know are starting to lean strongly towards it being the right thing to do for our Monarch butterflies.

*For those of you who grow Tropical Milkweed or are planning to do so and normally skim through the newsletters, PLEASE take the time to read this post thoroughly. ¡Es muy importante por Monarch butterfly health!

Before we get into pruning, let's inform ourselves why we should. It's increasingly becoming clear that pruning perennial milkweed species in mild winter areas where Monarch butterflies live (especially along coastal overwintering site zones) is imperative to their long term health and population viability. For those that are new to the newsletter within the last year, the question is: "Why?"

Answer: Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, Oe for short. Oe is a parasitic disease affecting Monarch butterflies, which is exacerbated by perennial milkweed plants surviving winter's cold. I don't expect everyone to follow all of the links below, but take for face value the need to prune back exotic perennial milkweeds. 

Below is part of a previous post regarding Tropical Milkweed, also known as Mexican Milkweed, and Oe:


April 4, 2015:

On the continuing saga of Tropical Milkweed and Oe spores:

-monarchbutterflygarden.net

Is Tropical Milkweed Killing Monarch Butterflies?

You be the judge. Personally, I see no reason to castigate A. curassavica for its association of harboring Oe spores more so than native species, and may be causing SoCal, south Texas, and southern Florida races of Monarchs to overwinter in their spring and summer stomping grounds without migrating to traditional Monarch overwintering sites, if these faults are mitigated by following the advice of the article above.

Two opposing views on planting Tropical Milkweed. One is by discovermagazine.com, the other by onearth.org:

Gardeners' Good Intentions Are Killing Monarch Butterflies

Don't Stop Planting Milkweed

From the January 25, 2015 newsletter: 

Continuing on the subject of Oe spores from the previous post, an article by the Monarch joint Venture, titled Q&A about research related to tropical milkweed and monarch parasites gives us more information on the disease, some of the latest research findings, and some tips on how to mitigate the unintentional support and spread of the spores to local Monarch butterfly populations from our well intentioned gardening actions.

 Photo courtesy of University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Microscope photo detailing Oe spores found on the body of an adult male butterfly.

From the October 18, 2014 newsletter:

The time is approaching soon that the Mexican Milkweed, also known as Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias currasavica) in the Container Butterfly Garden will be cut down to mere 4 to 6 inch stubs.

"You're kidding: why?!" you may ask. Not to reinvent the wheel, Is Tropical Milkweed Killing Monarch Butterflies - Grow or No Grow? pretty well covers the topic. The container garden is home to Mexican Milkweed, plus several other California and North American native species. These native species are deciduous, meaning they go dormant during the winter when the plant parts above ground die back, only leaving the roots to regenerate new top growth in the spring. This drastically reduces Oe spores that have been wreaking havoc in certain sectors of Monarch Butterfly populations.

Oe infestations are mostly identified with regions of the U.S. where Mexican Milkweed overwinters, meaning, it doesn't die back or go dormant. Hotspots for Oe are found on the west coast strain of Monarchs, and the Florida nonmigratory race that has come into existence due to the large amount of perennial milkweeds now growing there. What is OE? gives a good description of this parasite and why it is so prevalent on the west coast and Florida. Cutting back Asclepias curassavica helps to severely curtail or eliminate Oe spores from overwintering on the leaves of Mexican Milkweed.
 
The best solution to curtailing Oe in our gardens is to only plant native species, but that is not as easily done as said:

• Native milkweeds are not very glamorous in appearance as is A. currasavica.

• They "go away" in the winter, many times leaving gaping holes in the landscape until the following spring when they pop up again.

• Availability in standard nurseries is pretty much nonexistent.

• Mail order of small plants or seeds of native milkweeds is about the only way to acquire natives which definitely precludes them from being an impulse item.

If one has A. currasavica planted in their gardens, be it in the ground or in containers, it would be advisable to trim them way down soon so as not to propagate next season's Oe spores, and will also stimulate adult butterflies to traditionally migrate to their ancestral overwintering sites like God originally intended. I will cut mine back around the beginning of December; that will give any adult Monarch stragglers enough time to pack it up and head to their nearest overwintering grounds.

Let's move on to actually cutting back exotic, perennial milkweeds. The Container Butterfly Garden is home to three nonnative perennial species of milkweed; one from the American tropics, the other two from Africa and Asia. Because of the threat of Oe spore infestation, I will hopefully, over time, replace most of them with native or deciduous milkweed species. I'll keep some Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassivica) around to feed any Monarch cats I may put in my cat nursery, as it grows fast and can be kept small in order to place inside the mesh enclosure. Besides the threat of Oe, watering requirements for native plants are reduced vs. thirstier exotics.

Here are some examples on how I cut back my exotics:

 

-Andrew Kliss Photography

Before: Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica

-Andrew Kliss Photography

After

-Andrew Kliss Photography

  Before: Balloon Plant, Gomphocarpus physocarpus

-Andrew Kliss Photography

After

-Andrew Kliss Photography

 Before: Sodom's Apple, Calotropis procera

-Andrew Kliss Photography

After

All foliage was cut off to eliminate Oe spore infection, and to discourage Monarchs from lingering and not migrating to overwintering sites along the coast as they normally should. Another side benefit to hard pruning is that your plants will come out thicker and bushier the following season!

Two main native milkweed species I'll assess in containers are Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa and Narrowleaf Milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis. I'll be purchasing seed soon and keep you posted on how they fare in containers. In the ground, they grow superbly with reduced water needs. There is one of each growing in the garden at this time; dying back to the ground, having gone dormant. Only springtime will tell if they pop back up to resume growing.

"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves."

~Mahatma Gandhi

Forsooth! A gauntlet has been cast. Now is the time to pick up the cause!

"In order to support monarch butterfly conservation, I have planted (or will be planting) milkweed or nectar plants to support monarchs this growing season. #SaveMilkweedSaveMonarchs has great information about how to participate. I challenge the five people tagged in this post to help in this effort by planting monarch-friendly plants, tagging their five friends, or by donating to the Monarch Joint Venture. Include the information in this paragraph and the hashtag in your post! #SaveMilkweedSaveMonarchs" 
~ from #SaveMilkweedSaveMonarchs
 

The Container Butterfly Garden is home to several milkweed species and is in the process of germinating a milkweed relative, Calotropis procera as a host plant for Monarch cats; commonly known as Sodom Apple, amongst other names. C. procera is native to many parts of Africa and the Middle East, its range extending into Asia and Indochina.

Very drought and salt tolerant when established, it makes an excellent candidate for water starved SoCal gardens with some space to offer it. Calotropis forms a woody trunk and stems, creating oodles (yes, oodles) of thick, leathery leaves fit for any self-respecting Monarch caterpillar to munch on.

Growing up to 15 feet tall, and this being a container garden, I don't know how successful such a large plant will thrive in even a largish pot. This is one milkweed that needs a bit of dedicated space to grow in. As of this writing, I have 10 healthy little seedlings, some of which I'll offer to the Parks Gardener at Alta Laguna Park in Laguna Beach, California, for the butterfly garden there; the rest I'll offer to you if you think you'd have a good place for them in your garden. Needs full sun. Think about it, and take a good look around your yard. They won't be ready to give away until spring of 2016.

 

-Google

 
Calotropis procera; Sodom Apple flowers

© Andrew Kliss Photography

C. procera seedlings growing along with seedlings of Pentas lanceolata, 'Butterfly' series. (See 4/25/2015 blog post on Pentas.)

Here are the other milkweed species currently growing in the container garden:

© Andrew Kliss Photography

Asclepias curassavica; Tropical, or Mexican Milkweed

© Andrew Kliss Photography

Gomphocarpus physocarpus; Balloon Plant

Photo by Charlotte Masarik

Asclepias eriocarpa; Indian Milkweed

Photo by Charlotte Masarik

Karen Schwager pointing to A. eriocarpa naturally growing out Laguna Canyon Road inside the Laguna Greenbelt.

At least that's what I think she's pointing to...

Both photos above of A. eriocarpa were kindly submitted with permission by their author via Karen Schwager, who subscribed way back when to the now defunct newsletter showcasing the Alta Laguna Park Butterfly Garden and the local butterflies visiting Laguna, when I took care of it as Parks Gardener for the city of Laguna Beach, California.

The Container Butterfly Garden has some A. eriocarpa struggling to grow in pots, but from what I've read, it resents not being in the ground. Hopefully what I do have will grow sufficiently to the point that I'll be able to donate it to a friend of mine who owns some acreage in the mountains above Murrieta, California, where I assume it will thrive, as there are patches of A. eriocarpa growing within relatively close proximity to his land.

This milkweed would be an excellent addition to a xeric garden or a yard bordering a greenbelt area where hopefully, if successfully grown, would produce viable seed that disperses into the greenbelt. Being a native, introducing it to a local native greenbelt area would not be a Bozo no-no, and in fact add to the biodiversity of the greenbelt. We like diversity. Diversity is so PC.

Other milkweed species growing in the container garden:

© Andrew Kliss Photography

Asclepias fascicularis; Narrowleaf Milkweed

© Andrew Kliss Photography

Asclepias speciosa 'Davis'; Showy Milkweed 'Davis'

A. fascicularis and A. speciosa 'Davis' are excellent candidates for today's drought conscious gardens. Both are California natives. In fact, A. fascicularis is found growing naturally in coastal/intercoastal areas of SoCal, whereas A. speciosa 'Davis' is found growing in slightly higher elevations.

Because of our dearth of available water, these two, and others, merit serious thought for possible incorporation into ones' own gardens. They need full sun; can't tolerate much shade, although I've had good luck growing A. fascicularis under the dappled shade of Coast Live Oaks in Alta Laguna Park when I was Parks Gardener there. Both are very easy to grow, and once established, one can ignore them if wished. Both species slowly form clumps that can eventually be divided and placed in other parts of the garden, or gifted to friends.

They aren't easy to find in more traditional nursery offerings, but that may change, as people's gardening habits must change in order to adapt to the very real spectre of reduced landscape irrigation. In fact, here is a timely article appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle featuring both of these milkweed species:

Milkweed an airbnb for migrating butterflies in your garden

If anyone is seriously thinking of trying out some easy to grow, drought tolerant milkweed plants for their own gardens, please email me and I will respond with a list of links to various online mail order offerings of these plants. Please remember though, that they need full to almost full sun in order to thrive.

-Google

Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella'; Swamp Milkweed 'Cinderella'

A. incarnata is a lovely blooming plant, the variety 'Cinderella' producing vivid pink flowers. Swamp Milkweed is not relegated to just swamps; it also grows along riverbanks and in moist meadows throughout its native habitat. Stuck in a pot or planted in the ground here in coastal/intercoastal SoCal, average watering keeps it thriving. It will even take a bit of drought if necessary.

© Andrew Kliss Photography

A.incarnata 'Cinderella' in the container garden

The above photo above illustrates a holistic approach to gardening utilizing I.P.M. (Integrated Pest Management) in action against oleander aphids infesting my A. incarnata milkweed plant. When I first spotted the aphis attack about a month ago, I was keeping them in check using Safer's Insecticidal Soap, making sure there were no Monarch caterpillars hosting on the plant. Last week I noticed ladybugs on its leaves whose adults and larvae prey on aphids. Also spotted was a predatory fly that also feasts on them. Hopefully, and not far behind, parasitic wasps will join in to balance the aphis imbalance.

If the plants were sprayed with chemical pesticides, I would certainly have stemmed the tide. And the ladybugs. And the predatory flies. And who knows what else. Oh yeah: the caterpillars!!! Frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn if my plants look butt-ugly and have icky creepy crawlies living on them. I do care though that the container garden is healthy, vibrant, and a haven and home for a broad spectrum biomass.

Subscribed to Annie's Annuals & Perennials newsletter, this particular edition of Annie's should be of certain interest and concern to us here in parched and dry California. I bought several plants from her mail order business over the past two seasons, receiving healthy, vigorous plants in tiptop shape:

Garden Beautifully in Drought: A Primer

"When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant."

~Author Unknown

Below is a little refresher video on the importance of milkweed in the garden, and a good intro for those new to the blog and butterfly gardening. The hostess is particularly amusing as she expounds on the generous, anthropomorphic male attributes of one particular milkweed plant species, Asclepias physocarpa, wrongly referred to in the video as Asclepias fruticosa, a closely related species:

A. fruticosa vs. A. physocarpa. For all intents and purposes, both are admiral candidates for a butterfly garden.

-Google

 (Also amusingly known as Family Jewels Plant.)

Asclepias physocarpa;   syn = Gomphocarpus physocarpus

-Google

Flowers of A. physocarpa

There is some confusion as to the taxonomy of this particular species, and is at times confused with A. physocarpa. I know it as A.physocarpa rather than A. fruticosa, and believe that the video is using the wrong nomenclature for the illustrated plant.

The Container Butterfly Garden is home to three rather large A.physocarpa that have been excellent host plant additions here. Monarch caterpillars seem to love it. I find this plant to be as popular a host as is A. curassivica. It's easy to grow, produces prodigious amounts of caterpillar food, and the seed pods are curious-looking enough to be a show stopper.

Easy to grow from seed. There are several volunteer seedlings that have popped up in the garden that I will share with anyone if they survive and want to try one. If you wish to try sprouting some seeds of your own, Joyful Butterfly sells packets of seeds for a reasonable cost. As with A. curassivca, A. physocarpa should be pruned way back in the early winter to minimize Oe spores and urge lingering Monarchs to begin their yearly migration.

Here is a graphical illustration of the Monarch annual migration cycle from a onearth.org article entitled: Wind Beneath Their Wings. Graciously brought to my attention by Karen Schwager of Laguna Beach, California.

-onearth.org

The illustration records the adventures of the Midwestern and Eastern race of Monarchs. Our Western race overwinters along the California coast vs. Central Mexico where Midwestern and Eastern Monarchs overwinter.

 On the continuing saga of Tropical Milkweed and Oe spores:

-monarchbutterflygarden.net

Is Tropical Milkweed Killing Monarch Butterflies?

You be the judge. Personally, I see no reason to castigate A. curassavica for its association of harboring Oe spores more so than native species, and may be causing SoCal, south Texas, and southern Florida races of Monarchs to overwinter in their spring and summer stomping grounds without migrating to traditional Monarch overwintering sites, if these faults are mitigated by following the advice of the article above.

Two opposing views on planting Tropical Milkweed. One is by discovermagazine.com, the other by onearth.org:

Gardeners' Good Intentions Are Killing Monarch Butterflies

Don't Stop Planting Milkweed

"Flowers and butterflies drift in color, illuminating spring."

~Author Unknown

Spring has sprung! Or at least is springing.

Regarding the previous post highlighting the USDA zone map, it's worth mentioning that Sunset Magazine's Sunset Climate Zones maps are much more precise than the USDA zone map that was linked to. I prefer Sunset's over USDA's for western gardens. To simplify things for that article, the USDA map was featured.

USDA Plant Hardines Zone Map

Sunset Climated Zones


I just returned from a week long trip out of state to be greeted by very warm weather and the first Monarch caterpillar sitings! Very early this year as compared to the previous. Last year (the first for the Container Butterfly Garden), caterpillars weren't spotted until well into April/May. One good thing about this warm weather is that the garden plants are literally bursting forth out of their proverbial knickers! I attribute that to the warmth and good timing of liquid fertilizer the garden received prior to my vacation departure. Tropical Milkweed is the attractor ace here, whilst the other species have yet to reveal themselves as caterpillar hosts up to this point.


One way to maintain and increase your butterfly plant stock is to start cuttings, and now is a good time to sprout some in our SoCal area.

Most plants can be propagated via leaf and stem cuttings. Others can be increased through root and rhizome division. One super easy plant to start by cuttings is Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.

-Google

Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica

I start cuttings in sterilized propagating soil and containers nestled under clear covers using a heating mat and grow lights indoors. For many species of plants, propagation doesn't require using all of the equipment mentioned above. The video below illustrates how a grade school-era propagation technique can easily supply your garden with an abundance of butterfly fodder for a pittance, forgoing getting all geeky as Yours Truly does with the lights and the heating mat and the benches and the soils and the containers and the trays and the covers and the foods... Oy vey!

A couple of things to add to Tony's cutting video, would be to change out the water regularly, as you don't want it going bad, ruining your success at rooting cuttings. If handy, use distilled or RO water instead of tap water. Bad juju in tap water; that's why the bottled water industry is so big.

Also, I'm averse to stripping off unwanted leaves, as I believe nipping or clipping them off is safer. There are times when I prepared cuttings by pulling leaves, only to rip off part of the cambium layer attached to the leaf. Your mileage may vary.

Several species of milkweed growing in the Container Butterfly Garden are increasing themselves by casting their seeds to the wind. Many float down into plant containers where the fertile potting soil and necessary moisture are conducive to successful germination.

Waiting until I believe they are large enough to transplant into their own containers, they are removed by gently cutting out a plug of soil around a seedling, making sure a goodly amount of the seedling's roots are included, lifting the plug out with a spoon or something similar, and then back filling the hole in the parent pot with fresh potting mix.

Those of you who have milkweed growing in your gardens may wish to let some of your Tropical Milkweed seed pods mature and disperse, later to find tiny surprises popping up helter skelter that can be left in place or dug up and moved to more desirable garden spots. Or you can collect the seeds, lightly rub off the parachute fluff  between your palms, and plant them in a container of good potting soil. Easy peasy to germinate. Heck, you could even share some of them when large enough with neophytes or like-minded folks!

Another idea: those living in Laguna Beach could raise some milkweed and then donate them to the Alta Laguna Park Butterfly Garden c/o "AC" Anthony Condon, Parks Gardener for Alta Laguna Park.


Starting Your Own Tropical Milkweed from Seed:

• Acquire a suitable container to start seeds in. Something with holes at the bottom to allow excess water to drain out of, and something that is not too deep. Nurseries and big box do-it-yourself stores sell 'em for dirt cheap. An 8 inch diameter shallow pot will accommodate close to a dozen seedlings up until transplanting time.

• Soak seeds in warm water for 24 hours before planting. Not absolutely necessary, but it does aide in faster germination.
   
• Fill container(s) with a good grade of potting soil. tamp down soil firmly but lightly, not too compact. Leave about a two inch clearance from the lip of the pot to the top of the potting mix.

• Dampen soil thoroughly and let drain.

• Place seeds about an inch apart on top of the firmed, dampened soil.
  
  
• Lightly cover seeds with about a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of potting soil. Tamp lightly so as not to disturb seeds. No need to re water.
   
• Optional: cover pot with plastic wrap secured with a large rubber band. Poke a few holes in it to allow a bit of air flow to minimize potential fungal growth.

• Place somewhere that is warm and sunny. Be careful though, you don't want to cook the poor little buggers!

 They should germinate anywhere between 7 to 14 days, depending upon how warm it is. Keep the plastic wrap on until the seedlings barely touch it. Remove the wrap. Keep soil damp, not wet. Wet soils promote disease and can cause root rot.

When the seedling grow to be about 4-6 inches in height, it's time to individually transplant them into larger containers or directly in the ground. They may wilt a little bit at first from transplant shock, but Tropical Milkweed is rather hardy and should bounce back within a few days.

Once they've acclimatized themselves to their new surroundings, feed them with a half strength solution of liquid fertilizer. After that, fertilize them on a monthly basis in order to get them to a good size fast for our butterflies to feast on.

 

Tra-la-la... It's springtime!

"In nature a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly.  But with humans it is the other way around:  a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive caterpillar."

-Anton Chekhov

There's a fair amount to cover in today's blog entry: 

The container butterfly garden is now being visited by various butterfly species visitors: lots of Monarchs, several Cabbage Whites, and a few Sulphurs, or Sulfurs; the spelling dependent upon which side of the tracks you come from. Can't wait to start seeing swallowtail species stopping by.

Margot Norris, who I wrote about in last week's entry, informed me that her milkweed plant is just about stripped clean and the six cats on it are getting very fat. Good work Margot!

James Vaughn of Laguna Beach emailed me recently about his predicament with Monarch caterpillars on his milkweed plants at home and how they've stripped his plants bare also. Wanting to know if it's O.K. to move them to newer plants and how to go about it, he did an online search, learning that one way to perform this is to remove the leaf from the old plant with the caterpillar on it, then placing the leaf and cat on the new plant.

This is a very safe way to transfer them, but a word of caution: make sure the caterpillar has firmly and completely transferred itself onto the new plant. If not, the leaf and cat may fall off and be lost below or even hurt itself. Personally, I gently pick up cats by gently squeezing them 'tween the thumb and the forefinger and carefully lifting. I've done it so many times now that it becomes second nature. Works well except for the tiniest of the tiny ones.

Below are some photos James sent of his caterpillars. Gotta love those Oleander Aphids too: add a contrasty color splash. Happy transferring James!

© James Vaughn

© James Vaughn

© James Vaughn

Monarch cat on a milkweed seed pod.

Helga Robinson of Laguna Beach, California shared this wonderful little video produced by videographer Paul Hengstebeck, also of Laguna Beach. It follows the exploits of a Monarch caterpillar transplanted from Paul's garden outside to inside Paul's home, where our chubby friend (the caterpillar, not Paul) metamorphosizes into a chrysalis.

According to Paul, this clip is a rough draft so to speak. At the moment, he is in the process of creating a more finished video. I'll post it also when ready.

© Google

 Good photo of Monarch caterpillars in its five various stages of instars.

Are Monarch Butterflies Making a Comeback? is an article from a Monarch butterfly aficionado out of Bloomington, Minnesota. Sounds like 2014 will mark a turnaround point in the drastic eastern Monarch population decline. Hopefully, this uptick will last many more seasons.

As for our western race, the southwestern drought we've been experiencing has surely put a dent in butterfly populations in general. It is most certain that wild stands of milkweed plants have felt its effect. One mitigating factor though here on the west coast directly influencing Monarch population numbers has been the increasing awareness of the Monarch life cycle and its complete dependence on milkweed plants.

Here's a little primer for those who aren't aware of the Monarch butterfly life cycle and its total dependence on milkweeds: Plight of the Monarch. Some people are unaware for instance that there are two distinct races of Monarch butterflies in North America.

Not only do milkweed plants afford food for Monarch caterpillars, their blooms produce copious amounts of nectar for all butterflies, bees, and other nectar-loving insects. Those adding milkweeds to their gardens and those reintroducing native milkweeds to their original ranges certainly help support and bolster western Monarch populations.

The container garden can certainly attest to that. Up until this year, hardly ever was a butterfly spotted around the house. Now, with butterfly-specific plants which includes healthy doses of various milkweeds, the yard is constantly being visited by various butterfly species, especially Monarchs.