Joepyeweed, there isn't anything in the garden "more sturdy" than the milkweed stalks except for the stakes used to hold up the fencing which are about 3' from milkweed plants. Next time should I just leave the cat on the ground? Should I put some sticks in the ground around the milkweed for them to use? I've been searching all day for three 5th instar cats that were there last night and I can only find one. I'm so mad at myself but I didn't think the 5th instar would be a good time to bring them inside just to pupate. There's one very large 5th instar still eating. Should I bring him inside to pupate? I collected five 1st instar cats. Two look like they just came out of the egg. I've got them in one little container with holes punched towards outside and bridal netting under top. Three are still first instar but much larger than those tiny ones. I put them in round container about 5-6 inches across with 16 little air holes and a round of tulle under the top. The three larger ones are crawling all over the container. I got them onto clean milkweed before I put them in container. Assuming they'll just crawl around until they're hungry as they were on the milkweed in container already so they know it's there. Who am I kidding? I have no clue what they "know"...LOL. I panicked when I couldn't find the chrysalis I saw on one of the plants yesterday. It's hanging from the bottom of a milkweed leaf. It's at least 50% larger than the chrysalis of the one I raised inside from 3rd instar. Should I leave chrysalis on milkweed leaf or is it still in danger of being parastized and/or eaten by something? I'll defer to the more experienced on that one. I'm much more nervous about these guys than I was about the BSTs since there seems to be so many more things that can go wrong with the poor little things. I didn't collect all the cats yesterday because once my little "Bug" was in his chrysalis I knew I had about 2 weeks when I could go home for a couple days without worrying about him being cleaned and fed. I was somewhat selfish as I haven't gotten home to sleep but twice in couple months...I need some solitude...LOL. After not being able to find 2 of the 5th instars today I just had to bring in the five 1st instars I could find. There may be more but this is enough for now. At least I can easily bring the containers and milkweed in water home with me while these cats are still small. It's a window of opportunity I really need. I'll do my best to give these five a chance to make it into butterflies. That's all I can do. After getting dinner for my father I have to run out to the store and get a darn paintbrush to move them when I have to clean out the containers. It's the one thing I didn't have ready for this enterprise! Thought I could just have them transfer to new milkweed when change time comes but they're not as easy to move along as 3rd instars! This is WORSE than having a baby...at least the baby cries when something is wrong or they're twisted about something...LOL.

1. This is the first year I have seed pods on some of the plants. How do I harvest the seeds, and what do I do with them so that I can plant them in the new garden. And WHEN and HOW do I plant them? The best way is to put a kneehigh or tie a netting aoround the pod so when they open, your seeds dont; all take off. Once you retrieve the seeds, seperate them from the white fluff. Then what i have been doing this season is soaking the seeds in warm water for a few days. the seeds will "Pop" and you will see a little sprout. At this point, i just stick it in the soil and let them go. 2. Does milkweed need full sun or can it tolerate partial shade? The new garden will not be as sunny as the current one, but it gets good morning sun. Mine does wonderful in partial shade. it is in the sun in the monring but then the passionvines end up shading them. I have milkweeds growing under my porterweed so they can grow under things to which has a lot of shade. i think yours will be fine. 3. Can I transplant the existing milkweed, and when is the best time to do that? I know milkweed has a long taproot... is it hard to transplant? Hard to transplant. better to try to transplant little tiny ones than big ones as they usually go capoot. Flutter

Turk's Cap is a host to the White Skipper, but it's range is only into parts of very southern Texas. It might host Painted Ladies since they use many malva family plants, but probably not a favored host. I grow it for the hummers. Yes, it was the Clammyweed I really wanted. Caelsapinia gillesii is hardy in Oklahoma City as well. I tried to grow seed this spring, but the seedlings did not make it in our weird spring weather this year, darn it! So, yes, I'd love some seed from yours! The Verbesina I have is alternifolia, or Wingstem. It's a pretty plant with a pretty bloom, and what's really cool is it blooms heavily in shade to partial shade which is what it prefers. I also have Cosmic Orange cosmos and Peppermint, red/white striped Zinnias, and Verbena bonariensis. I may have some Dwarf Red Porterweed if I can figure out how to harvest the seeds. They were definitely pollinated by the hummingbirds, the Cloudless Sulphurs, Gulf Fritillaries, and Monarchs, all of which loved the nectar on it. I may also get some seed from my Night Blooming Jasmine, a sphinx moth fave, as well as a white Datura inoxia. Senna bicapsularis is not hardy in your zone or mine, but it reseeds prolifically. I just pull the seedlings I don't want. It is a very nice host plant, the leaves hold up much better than my Senna hebecarpa for raising caterpillars. Waiting til November is probably a good idea because then the frenzy will be over (I hope my tomatos ripen before frost; cross your fingers) and I will have been able to collect all my seed. Susan

I've been raising Monarchs for nearly 10 years and my property is a Monarch Waystation and yes I've heard this about tropical milkweed. There may be problems growing in the southern zones where Asclepias curassavica is perennial but not here in zone 6 (in my experience). Our season just isn't long enough - often the tropical milkweed doesn't even have enough time to produce mature seed pods, before it's killed with a hard frost. What's more, as soon as it gets cold at night the Monarchs are out of here pronto (usually around late Sept/early October). There is no chance whatsoever they are going to hang around because of the tropical milkweed. I grow common, swamp, purple, and orange (butterfly weed) milkweeds and it is a finicky genus - not all species do well every year, it is a target for insects, and it randomly dies back, so I grow a fair amount of the tropical because it attracts egg laying females to the garden. I then collect the eggs and raise them on whatever cuttings are doing well, the caterpillars are adaptable, and if I've got a lot of hungry 5th instar caterpillars to feed, will sometimes collect extra common milkweed cuttings from wild sources.