I have 5 monarch caterpillars on one Red Milkweed Plant!

[Botany]

[femmocrat]

1. :woohoo:

I had three on my parsley, but today they were gone. I hope the birds didn't get them.

This is the first year in the past few that I have even seen a monarch. Hopefully people are planting for them now.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Great! Not seen any yet, and concerned - our parsley is usually gone by now.

Not a great year at all for honeybees or butterflies in Raleigh.

[Botany]

3. If you haven't read these books I would highly recommend them

BTW not unless you are into honey production don't worry about honeybees because
whatever you do to help the native pollinators will also help the european honeybees
too.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. thanks. our yard is filled with pollinator attracting plants. This is the first year in many

that the butterfly and bee population is so low - wondering if our abnormally cold winter last year contributed a bit.



Meant for a very scant squash crop. Good thing tomatoes, eggplant and peppers don't need pollinators!

[Botany]

6. I really do have a degree in botany/ecology with 30 years of field experience

I really suggest getting those books because they really made me look at things in
a new way. We have all kinds of really neat native bees such as the leaf cutter bee.


If you don't have any I would suggest planting some Red Milkweed
(Asclepias incarnata) in an area that stays a little damp. No plant
I have seen brings in more native pollinators and other critters then
red milkweed.



Tomatoes, egg plants, and peppers can use pollinators.

If you can keep some area that bumblebees can use for their life cycle.

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. As a seed saver, I would prefer them to NOT have the pollinators!

Although I've created - with bees' help - lots of great new varieties due to the accidental crosses.

No botany degree here - got a PhD in chemistry, but 35 years of hands on gardening is my experience - with lots of reading, of course, as well.

Thanks for the book hints.

[Botany]

8. I have noticed that even with a very healthy native pollinator population .....

.... the seeds from my tomatoes come "true to the parent plant's type"
in >80% of the time. At least from seeds that i have collected and sent
on to other people. I don't have time to grow my tomatoes from seed
so i buy them already started.

Both of those books are really great.

Thanx for the Cherokee Purple ..... it is one of my favorites. I planted
a "Sun Sugar" tomato this season and although it is good it is not as good
as "Sun Gold" ..... At least for this season Arkansas Travelor has done much
better then a Mr. Stripey or a Hillbilly.

BTW monarchs are now highly endangered ..... their wintering grounds in Mexico
have gone from about 160 sq. hecters in the early 1990s to .7 sq. hectors last
year. But I have noticed many more this year then last year on some of my projects.

if you send me your address by DU's pmail I'll send you a few jars of salsa that
I can .... just let me know if you like it spicey ...... serrano peppers are wonderful
hoter then a jalapeno but not as hot as a haberno.

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. I tend to do my tomato seed saving from the first, lowest cluster -

before the bees get busy - and am around the 95 - 98% purity. If you ever want any unusual types - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant - let me know...I have a great way to ship plants inexpensively (and safely) - not sure what my spring seedlings are going to be like next year, since I've been told I will be busy making the rounds on my book tour starting in January (book out Dec 10).

We can trade salsa for seedlings - what fun!

[shireen]

10. Tallamy is AWESOME!

I attended one of his talks and was just blown away, he makes a very compelling cases. Almost all plants in my yard are natives, and it's such a joy to watch the bugs and birds that are attracted to it. And I've only just started …

BTW, i raised 9 Monarch caterpillars and 8 successfully emerged. This morning, I found 14 Monarch caterpillars! Ack! More babies!

[CrispyQ]

5. What a beauty! -nt