Lorna, There are many different varieties of milkweed. Some will spread more than others, and some will tolerate pots better than others. Where do you live? Find out which types of milkweeds are native to your region, and then choose a variety that will fit in with your gardening style. FYI, if you go to the top, right section of this page, just above the search box there is a spot labeled Your Profile. Click there and scan down until you come to the spot where you can amend your title as it shows up at the beginning of each of your posts. You can enter whatever info you want to show up, including your state and hardiness zone. That would help all of us by explaining where you come from. Martha

My faith in humankind has been restored on this beautiful Lord's Day! As I prepare to go to Church & worship my God above, the one who has been taken out of schools, courthouses, & many homes in this day & time, it is so good to see a great bunch of people that are 'back to the basics I was brought up with, in rural NC. I feel that my love for nature & the 'calling to raise b'flies' has been given to me from God, it is the greatest therapy for a person that lives in daily agonizing pain, & I have done that since '82. It has gotten me off of the sofa, looking at soaps. Never was one to pop pills, though there were pills given by the various drs, for Lupus pain, Fibromyalgia pain, which is unrelenting, pain from 3 failed lower back surgeries, & so on. But I can go outside, among my plants, (with a very moderate amount of pain medication), which have always been a hobby all my adult life, & find a peace, unlike any other. Seeing the seeds planted, growing each day, & the growth spurt after the evening t-shower, more than if I had given a good dose of fertilizer, knowing the purity of the water released from the heavens above has a growing power unlike anything man can make. I am not a fanatic, but I do find a special inner peace watching the creation emerging from the chrysalis, knowing it "went in as a caterpillar", came out as a beautiful creation, & that amazing change was done by One greater than I or anyone I know, on this earth in the flesh, today. We all are doing our part to make this world a better place to live in. We are, I believe trying to help get back to that time when the earth was a cleaner place; before the dirt & smut was so in control. I can remember when a young teen guy wouldn't go out without his jeans being starched & ironed, with that sharp crease, & that button down collar wasn't just right. Some of you probably don't remember those days. But in sharp contrast, the more ragged, & dirtier they can look, the better they like it. No more neat clean hair styles, but unkept unruly, & dirtier they look the more "in" they are. I am not being judgemental, to each to his own. But to get out among the plants, gives me a sense of being in contact with something good & clean, no matter how bad the pain, or what is on my mind, I can find a sense of peace unlike any other place, during the normal weekday. I enjoy my Church & what I find there, but I feel I bring part of that home with me, in scripture I hear, sometimes it is reflected in my activities outside during the week. None comes to mind at the moment, but God is so good, to give us these beautiful creatures, & place the love in our hearts to want to help them. To go beyond planting the flowers, but to go that step further that some don't understand. Let them take one egg, watch it go through the stages of growth, into the pupa, then the beautiful chrysalis of the Monarch, especially, like a piece of jade that a master artisian sculpted, & flecked with gold, I sat in total awe when I saw my 1st one, & then to watch when it gets transparent, & see the new creature inside. And, on to the final stage, when that beauty of the spread drying wings is present, they are magestic. Nobody can tell me that came as a result of the 'big bang theory'! Not even sure what they say made the ocean that this big bang or whatever it was supposed to have been. Some magical force? No, a Creator, that loved us enough, & I won't go any further, but we are all giving nature some help that the world has taken away. And we wonder why there are guns in schools, & knives.. I well remember the shock in our small town when the "No guns or knives allowed on school property" sign went up! The very thought of this was shocking, & then the rest is history. We are doing our part to help keep our world a better place to live. I don't know of too many men or ladies who raise b'flies who shot their c-store operator, or robbed the bank, or turned out to be serial killers. Didn't mean to go on so, but I see God Almighty in every butterfly that I release, & I thank Him for giving me the 'want to' to do this hobby. I just found a picture that I took of my first BST & a little saying I felt inspired to write "For by watching the phases of the butterfly, from the egg, to the caterpillar, all the way tp the final stage, the beautiful butterfly; surely we see the Hand of God at work, before our eyes, in today's world, as in the days of old, and appreciate even more His Wonderous Love for us daily." The photo is old, & the ink of the writing is a bit smeared, but it is so special to me. This was before I knew anything about butterflies & the terms, etc. Love to you all & In God I do trust..monarchs

Hi Docmom and Everybody !! sorry for the late reply, but me and my family is currently on vacation here in the mainland:-) we just came from NYC, I get to see the yellowing of the leaves,( in Hawaii, we have trees either too green or brown), in central park, but didn't see any butterfly. its so cold that it wasn't funny anymore ( around 35-45), but I am happy to tell you guys that I was able to see different kinds of butterflies via exhibit on the American History Museum in NYC...I was in tears!!! I was so happy to see Pipervines, black swallowtails, Queens, Blue Morpho, Owl butterfly, tiger swallowtail, atlas atticus, etc..of coarse, it was on captivity, but they explained to me that all those butterfly they exhibited came all the down from south America and florida. I mean wow, that's a lot of butterfly imports! Docmom, I have no clue about if the Monarchs in Hawaii have different genetic what have yous, for the last 4 months of my experience caring for them, I have never encountered OE, except if I feed them store bought host plants..and sometimes they die of natural cause, most of the time, my cats made it to adulthood 99.9%, in my house, we have what we call a " Letting Go Friday", because most of my butterflies emerges on Thursday, ( 5-10 butterflies, but everyday, 1-3 ecloses and me and my 3 year old son let them go on Friday)..its a tough job, a weird hubby for some, but I am going to continue to help them out to flourish in my neighborhood after my vacation. I know some old folks told me that back in the 60s and 70s Monarch butterflies in Hawaii flew all over the islands in clusters, but now you will be lucky if you see one in a day, they are introduced species btw, and we only have 2 native species of butterfly, but the 16-17 including the monarchs were introduced. I think if you guys planted a lot of milkweeds, I am sure these guys will come back. currently, we are in Tampa Florida for family gathering, I am amazed how similar the current weather to Hawaii, and also noticed a few kinds of little butterfly in the open grasslands in which I can ask you guys to identify.

Cynthia, I'd love to see your Youtube video. What is the name or link? Wednesday I watched the PBS Nova program on TV about Monarchs and their unique migration pattern. It was made in 2011 before things got as bad as they are for this butterfly. Even if you saw it back then you may find it well worth watching again. The whole video is online. Sign in for high defination. Here is a link that might be useful: Follow the 2,000-mile migration of monarchs to a sanctuary in the highlands of Mexico.