PSA: Prairie Moon has purple milkweed seeds back in stock
mxk3 z5b_MI
3 years ago
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GardenHo_MI_Z5
3 years agoGawdinfever Z6
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Why is milkweed so hard to find locally?
Comments (16)WOW! Thanks for all of the great replies everyone! gardenspider - I posted my zone on this topic as DFW. I guess I assumed everyone knew that was Dallas/Fort Worth...lol. Thanks for the great info by the way! brandon7 - I was at HD yesterday and didn't see a thing. Perhaps I'll call around to a few in the area since they don't all stock the same things. Were they in the perennials section? nancy86 - If I don't find any this weekend, I'll get your email address and send you a SASE next week. Thanks for the great offer! Well, I picked up my tropical milkweed and am a bit disappointed in how it looks. It's got three tall (around 1.5-2' stalks) with just a few leaves on the very top portions. I expected it to be full all the way down, so not many leaves for the monarchs. Hopefully I can find some of the swamp milkweed at HD to add to this bed. By the way, I'm completely redoing this bed and could use some advice. Here is what I plan to plant: Ends - One end has a huge deep pink butterfly bush, the other end has a potted duranta (on the edge of my patio). Back - I plan to plant the milkweeds on one side and some summer phlox on the other (bought 2 of the John Fanick tonight). I also have one purple liatris that I'll put somewhere in the back or middle section. Middle section - so far I have two verbena bonariensis, two purple cone flowers and one black-eyed susan (will center that one since it's the only non-pink/purple in this bed) Front - deep pink (almost red) pentas and a few small other annuals to fill between. I have a hard time deciding where to put everything because almost everything is small right now, and since I've never planted these, I don't really know how they grow. I know I can always move them around later if I need to. Thanks again for all of the great advice!...See MoreButterfly Weed vs. Tropical Milkweed
Comments (39)In our community gardens, a wide variety of milkweeds are offered to the Monarchs. Every year they are covered with cats during different times of the year. It's very common to find a chrysalis hanging from a garden border 2x6 or from horizontal vine supports or any number of different plant stems. It is extremely rare to find any of them on the host plants though, as the little cats seem to want to wander off to do their magic. I'm sure there are predations, but I've photographed any of the beautiful little encasinga and even had the privilege of watching the last instar unzip into the bright green chrysalis. Up until that point I wasn't sure exactly how it happened and it was amazing and surprisingly quick! It takes me a bit of searching to find them at this point because they are so well camouflaged....See MoreIs this a photo of common milkweed? - pic
Comments (53)I want to bump this up again so those who are interested in preserving this plant can add this year's growing information. I had a baby who bloomed this spring but no seed pods. The same with the wild A variegata I dug up three seasons ago. This year it put up four strong stalks and lots of flower heads but again, not one seed pod. I watched the flower heads closely and even though some flying insects crawled all over the flowers, there was no pollination. This particuliar milkweed appears to bloom the earliest of all the milkweeds I have. Maybe there aren't enough insects around this early to aid in the pollination. We had terrible high temps over a long period this summer and it was all I could do to keep the plants alive. Did anyone else have any luck getting seed pods of this plant? I also purchased three small A variegata plants from Pine Ridge Gardens this year (all MaryAnn would sell me as I suspect she was trying to make them available to more of her clients). I'm going to overwinter them in 1 gal nursery pots. I haven't decided if I'm going to try growing them in big planters on my deck next year (mostly high dappled shade) or plant them inground. Maybe I should try putting one in ground this fall and keeping two in the nursery pots over winter. What is the key to getting these plants to set seed pods? :-) ~Mary A baby A variegata - 1st blooming this spring of 2011 the wild transplanted A variegata - aka Red Ring Milkweed - blooming 5-24-2011...See MoreWhy Blue?
Comments (1)Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!...See MoreGawdinfever Z6
3 years agomxk3 z5b_MI
3 years agoGawdinfever Z6
3 years agodandy_line (Z3b N Cent Mn)
3 years ago
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