By Diane St. John SEPT-OCT 2018 – The summer of 2018 has turned out to be a very good year for monarch butterflies in our state. The milkweed has had a great growing year and the monarchs arrived earlier than normal. I found my first eggs right after we had the damaging storms in May and am wondering if they were carried here by wind rather than their normal northern migration. At Natureworks in Northford I saw monarch eggs on our display garden milkweed in May, a pleasant shock as I had not seen an actual butterfly and would not see one for several more weeks I have talked with…
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Is Tropical Milkweed Harmful to Migrating Monarch Butterflies?
By Diane St. John [Editor’s Note: At the Connecticut Flower & Garden Show in February 2015 this became a contentious topic. We asked Diane St. John of Natureworks for clarification.] MAY-JUNE 2015 – In Connecticut, we have several perennial, native milkweed species that are the larval food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars. They include the widely available Asclepias syriaca (Common Milkweed), Asclepias tuberosa(Butterfly Weed) and Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed). Asclepias curassavica (Tropical Milkweed) is an annual milkweed. It grows quickly in containers and dies when the cold weather comes. The monarch nectars at its flowers and lays eggs on its leaves, just like the perennial milkweeds. There has been a…
