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Butterfly FAQs today: What to do with late season Monarch caterpillars you find this winter? And, some thoughts on the pros and cons of Tropical milkweed, that hearty, ubiquitous Monarch butterfly host plant.
Winter Monarch butterflies are hooking up on the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River Walk. University of Minnesota graduate student Kelly Nail visits to monitor their progress at our favorite public milkweed patch.
Milkweed Guide, Vladimir Nabokov, How to Make Seedballs and a trip to the Monarch Butterfly Roosting Spot all made the Top Five Blogposts at the Texas Butterfly Ranch. Check out our most widely read posts and chime in to let us know why they're popular.
Milkweed for Monarchs seedpods are ready for harvesting in Texas gardens and along highways. Gather seeds now to make butterfly host plants for tomorrow and beyond. The silky milkweed fluff is an intriguing material once used in aviation lifejackets, too. Who knew?
Tips from the Llano River on how to find Monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars plus a tour of the Texas Hill Country attest to the enduring resilience of native milkweed plants.
According to Monarch Watch, the citizen scientist program that monitors the Monarch butterfly migration and started the tagging program, monarch caterpillars consume 200x their birthweight in milkweed leaves in about a two-week period. Commercial butterfly breeders suggest that a single caterpillar can easily decimate an entire one-gallon milkweed plant--175 leaves per caterpillar. Of course, it depends on the milkweed you supply. Our native Texas milkweed, Antelope Horns, Asclepias asperula, is much heftier than the Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, found in nuseries right now--like a beef steak compared to lettuce. Yet, when the Monarchs are flying, any milkweed is better than none. Sound impossible? Watch the video.
Millions of Monarch butterflies are heading to Texas for Spring Break, but who's got milkweed for them to host and nectar on? Fortunately, some local nurseries have "got milkweed" in stock.
Where's the milkweed? Monarch butterflies will be arriving soon and the Boerne chapter of NPSOT will stage a free milkweed workshop next Tuesday. Let's get our gardens ready this spring and put out a welcome mat for migrating Monarch butterflies
Plant it and they will come: More milkweed planting tips for bringing Monarch butterflies into your garden.
Central and South Texas Gardeners' Guide to Milkweed Selection. With Texas as the most important state to the Monarch Butterfly migration, choosing the best plants for Monarch Butterflies is our responsibility.