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

I had a vegetable garden overrun with witch grass once. I didn't know what it was at the time and used a rototiller on it. Big mistake. Made it much worse. It got to the point that I gave up on the garden for two years. Then after research, I decided to use a large piece of clear plastic leftover from an ice rink we had n the yard, and covered the entire area that was about 25x25 feet, with the plastic, weighed it down with bricks and left it there for a whole year. It worked great. We were able to reclaim that area and I got rid of about 90% of the witch grass. I don't know anything about bermuda grass, but I'd research ways of getting rid of that. I can't see using a chemical to get rid of it, in a 50x60ft area where you are going to grow food. If you can't do that, I would think thick cardboard with heavy mulch would be your next best bet. And it will improve the soil and increase your earthworms.

THANK YOU all for your kind words. It makes me want to cry. Truly. I've shared what you've said with my Kindergartners. They are all touched as well. When I told them on Monday morning that we didn't win (a number of them had tuned in Sunday evening to watch to see if we did win) there was this big, "OH!" then someone piped up, "It's okay, we had fun anyway." I gave a little talk about how we DID win because we made such an impact on the Monarch butterflies and how people all across the United States are now more aware of what is going on with the West Coast Monarchs and are planting Milkweed in their own gardens for ALL Monarchs. A little girl, who had watched the Wild Kingdom show said, "The class that won only got a little bit of land with the money they made. We are helping butterflies in a BIGGER land." I said, "That's right! We are making a difference ALL across the United States (and I pointed to the U.S. map) and the kids started to cheer wildly. Point made. I mentioned that we still had time before school ended so we should continue our seed packets. This was met with an overwhelming cheer. Here we are, on Tuesday, and we've made over 50 more seed packets. I ran out of materials and had at least five kids ask, "Can I stuff the envelopes today?" I need to get on the ball! Thank goodness I am letting my Milkweed go to seed...now, off to the garden to feed the gazillions of cat-pits (which, BTW, I've taken a number to school for the children to handle as they LOVE to hold the caterpillars... :) Your support has been TREMENDOUS. Thank you. BTW, if you get a chance, I'd appreciate it if you would check out the latest updates to our blog. I am trying to make it one that is helpful to those who are just getting 'initiated' into Monarchs. I am taking comments and critiques to heart and putting criticisms to 'work' Here is a link that might be useful: tdogmom's blog

Thank you for sharing. I, too, have been watching the population decline through participation (by monitoring and reporting local conditions) in the Monarch Larvae Monitoring Project out of University of Minnesota. (www.mlmp.org) Unfortunately, this decline is not confined to monarchs, but is affecting many other pollinators as well: the honeybee (brought to the new world by European settlers) and many species of our native bees, bumblebees having been hit very hard in many regions. A major portion of our food supply is directly or indirectly dependent upon insect pollinators. As Professor Doug Tallamy says, we need to support the biodiversity that supports us. Another great resource on pollinator conservation is the Xerces Society (www.xerces.org). 1. For food sources, choose plants to provide as long a season of growth and bloom as possible (native plants are best as they co-evolved with our other native species). 2. Don't forget some water - a saucer filled with pebbles and water will do (and male butterflies need the minerals found in mud puddles in order to reproduce). 3. Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides. 4. Consider providing the shelter of a small brush pile, nesting bundle or, more elaborate, an "insect hotel" ... I'm going to let you all do your own search on that phrase. 5. Allow some of your herbs and veggies go to flower and set seed - you'll find them less desirable for culinary purposes, but beneficial insects will love the nectar and birds will enjoy the seed. Instead of deadheading all your plants, towards the end of the season allow some seed heads to remain for the birds - goldfinches love seeds of the purple coneflower, others go for rose hips.