“We're all vulnerable. Mix the wrong feelings together, the right kind of bad with the wrong kind of good, and you'll wind up with a total breakdown.”
~ Caterpillar from Alice

While cruising around the Container Butterfly Garden this week,

-Google

I came upon mas grande Monarch butterfly caterpillars than those posted the last time. Looks like the season is well on its way to being a productive year!

-Andrew Kliss

Fat cat on an Asclepias curassavica.

-Andrew Kliss

Little one on my Asclepias fascicularis.

-Andrew Kliss

Another fat cat munching away on Gomphocarpus physocarpus.

There is an easy way to identify whether a Monarch butterfly is either male or female.

-Google

“When a caterpillar bursts from its cocoon and discovers it has wings, it does not sit idly, hoping to one day turn back. It flies.”

~ Kelseyleigh Reber

Some of the first Monarch caterpillars found in the Container Butterfly Garden! I spotted two last week, but lost one to what I believe is predation or possibly disease, and the other, I have no clue.

Newest members:

-Andrew Kliss

Cat munching away on A. curassavica leaves.

-Andrew Kliss

Little, tiny guy keeping company with a Monarch butterfly egg thrown in for kicks!

“Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”
~Hans Christian Andersen 

A recent report noted increased Monarch butterfly numbers in Mexican overwintering grounds: very encouraging indeed! Some of that success is attributed to U.S. expanded public awareness of plummeting Eastern region Monarch populations. As such, many gardeners, landowners, nonprofits, and governments have stepped up to the plate, creating habitat and planting milkweed throughout the Monarch migratory corridors.

Another related article from The New York Times, Monarch Butterfly Migration Rebounds, Easing Some Fears was brought to my attention by one of this blog's followers: thank you Marion!

-Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

-Google

 Illustration detailing the migratory timeline of eastern races of Monarchs.

...and then there is this that just came in:
Mexico's monarch butterflies die in unusual cold storm, while US conservation effort also imperiled

-dailykos.com

Back in the container garden, all of the plants received their first fertilizing for the new season in the first week of March with a high nitrogen general purpose liquid fertilizer to stimulate stem and leaf production. Later in the year the container garden will switch to both liquid and granular formulas that contain greater amounts of phosphorus to encourage more blooms.

The perennial milkweed I pruned back in winter are beginning to stir, breaking out in leaf and flower buds. Also, the native milkweeds are shooting up stems from their dormant roots, ready for another season.

Monarch butterfly visitors were beginning to flit about the sprouting Asclepias curassivica during our last warm heat spell, but as temps and the weather changed to much needed recent rains, they disappeared. No sign of caterpillars; they'll make their presence known soon enough. News from the Santa Barbara and Frisco Bay areas report Monarch eggs and caterpillars on milkweed, heralding an early spring.  

For those residing in milder climes, now is the time to take stock of your gardens:

• Pot up plants that have outgrown their original containers.
• Prune back overgrown perennials to make them bushier, which produces more leaves and flowers.
• Begin a regimen of fertilizing. I start off the season with a high nitrogen (N) formula to kick start growth, and then switch to higher phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) numbers to stimulate flowering, stronger stems, and encourage a healthy root system.

Just a quick note: the annual Butterfly Jungle exhibit at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (formerly Wild Animal Park) will be opening soon.

-San Diego Zoo

The Newport Beach Environmental Center will open its Butterfly House in mid May.

-Environmental Nature Center

"My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view."

~H. Fred Dale

Here at the Container Butterfly Garden compound, the busy little propagation elves are hard at work again, well, propagating.

With recent purchases and seed swaps of several new species, various aspects of preparation and germination are revving up. Some need cold stratification, while others can be placed in a planting medium immediately.

-Andrew Kliss Photography

Mini Greenhouse

This is the little mini greenhouse setup I have running in my bedroom which includes a grow light stand, greenhouse high dome, tray, and a heat mat beneath the towel. The towel is for catching any condensate that escapes from between the dome and tray. It sits nestled in front of a bay window where I can open the louvers to let in the morning light.

For more info on the equipment, this earlier post goes into greater detail: Saturday, December 7, 2013. Since my initial setup two seasons ago, I've learned a bit and refined a few things:

• Instead of using the plastic cell inserts, I switched to Jiffy peat trays and peat pots. Both come in several sizes. Much easier to use; doesn't cause plant stress from trying to push little seedlings out of the plastic trays. With the peat trays, all one needs to do is cut the individual cells apart and plant it cell and all when ready. Ditto on the pots: plant the whole thing in the ground or larger container.
• The Jiffy brand of seed starting medium was to put it mildly, terrible. Black Gold Seedling Mix I purchased from Green Thumb Nursery is da bomb. Love the stuff. The saying applies here too: "You get what you pay for!".

-Google

 Jiffy Seedling Starting Strips

  

-Google

 Jiffy Pots

Peat starting strips and pots are fairly ubiquitous, as are trays, and covers. They can be found at big box do-it-yourself home improvement centers, Walmart, larger nurseries, and online such as Amazon. The only place I find high domes locally are at the neighborhood Green Thumb Nursery nearby. Generally, for seed germination and small cuttings, the busy little elves here use peat strips. For fast growing plants and larger cuttings, the elves use peat pots.

One can also recycle newspaper to make starting pots for both seeds and cuttings. A thing to avoid though is colored inks; black ink is soy based and safe to use, whereas colored inks may contain toxic chemicals:

 Come spring, I'll be making making cuttings of various plants 'cuz I'm a tightwad and squeak when I walk and don't wish to spend more money on plants than I have to if there's the know-how and the resources to do so otherwise.

“The world contained in a seed, Determined by its program.”
~Dejan Stojanovic

First, a little bit of news about the latest Western Monarch population count. There has been a gradual rise in numbers the past few years overall as illustrated in the graph below, but well below the high of 1997-1998:

-Monarch Joint Venture

Encouraging news indeed. Southern California though, has seen a reduction in numbers according to The Xerces Society article: "Less positive is that in southern California, the majority of the sites surveyed had fewer monarchs than last year." What is shocking when looking at the graph is the plummeting numbers between years 1997 and 1999.

Now on to some fun stuff...

The Container Butterfly Garden has been wheeling and dealing like it never whelt and dealt before, exchanging plant seeds of late with like-minded souls. So, I got an idea (dangerous) of creating and designing a custom seed packet to share and exchange seeds with, which can also be used to store seed in. The Container Butterfly Garden is offering a ZIP file containing two printable PDFs: one for small packets, the other is a large packet. Click on Seed Packet Templates if you wish to use them too.

 

-KlissKraft

-KlissKraft

"I WANT YOU TO PLANT BUTTERFLY PLANTS!"

-Google

Print on a 8.5x11 sheet of paper (size A4 for Euros). 
Cut just inside the black outline, fold, and then glue.

Fold the bottom and side tabs in, using a ruler or straight edge to get a crisp fold and glue the tabs together where they overlap each other, making sure you don't glue them to the inside of the front panel. Next, add a bit of glue to the tops of both folded tabs. Thirdly, fold the back side over, align and press: TA-DA!

A little tip when sending seed via mail: if using a regular envelope, place seed in bubble wrap to protect them from possible damage by postal automated sorting machines, or at least wrap them in a paper towel folded over several times. Small manila cushioned mailers work great too. 

"God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done."

~Author Unknown

Good golly Miss Molly: more point/counterpoint on Oe and whether overwintering perennial milkweeds such as Asclepias curassavica encourages Oe spore transmission, yada-yada...

• Point: Loss of migratory behaviour increases infection risk for a butterfly host

• Counterpoint: Tropical Milkweed and the injurious effects of well-meaning people 

What's a conscientious butterfly garden enthusiast to do? Vacillate. The Container Butterfly Garden will still prune back its curassavicas and other perennial milkweeds until an accord is reached. This way, potential of Oe infection is minimized, plus, plants come out bushier and healthier-looking in the process.

Since we've been touching upon winter pruning and cleaning as of late, for those who grow Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii), severe pruning (Yikes!) is recommended to encourage abundant blooms and keeping the plant within bounds, especially the standard varieties that can reach 8-12 feet tall if not maintained.

There isn't a consensus as to how drastic one should prune: to each their own. Some leave 3-4 foot stems. Others prune buddleia down to 6-12 inch stubs. I'm in the 6-12 inch camp regarding standard growers.

The Container Butterfly Garden is home to B. davidii 'Nanho Blue', a dwarf that if left to its own resources would reach only about 4-6 feet. It's not cut as drastically as standards are (doesn't need it), as 'Nanho Blue' and other dwarfs grow more compactly. 

Here in SoCal, winter/late winter pruning is recommended, although, they can be pruned back into mid spring without too much negative impact. The earlier buddleias are pruned, the less chance of retarding spring bloom later in the season. Once those leaf buds start to swell and unfurl leaves, it's time to prune, if it hasn't been done already.

The video below demonstrates how to cut standard buddleias almost down to the ground. Chris in the video lives in Michigan and cuts his back in April, most likely due to later spring arrivals his region experiences. Here in SoCal, pruning is recommended at a much earlier date. By April , they are already growing vigorously, getting ready to set blooms in the coming months.

Here's a little diagram detailing how to Prune and Shape Buddleia.

BTW: buddleias are super easy to propagate via softwood and hardwood stem cuttings. If you have a favorite plant you wish to add more of to a garden or give a plant to a friend for the price of a bit of time and a little bit of potting soil in a container, cuttings are a perfect solution. With cuttings, the plants you create are mirrors of the mother stock, whereas germinating seed can produce genetic variability, especially when using seed from hybrids and cultivars:

• This guy is not a sheila. Love that thick, square, iron-jawed stance mate! HOW TO GROW PLANTS FROM CUTTINGS. Everything about this guy is bold, even his YouTube video title.

• How to Propagate a Butterfly Bush details making one's own cutting soil and how to take softwood cuttings. 

• And finally, Propagating a Butterfly Bush (and other Herbaceous Plants).