Five months ago I blogged about how I was going to try to grow milkweed from seed this year in hopes that I could provide information for our community to get more involved in helping monarch butterflies.   According to the Environmental Defense Fund 90% of monarchs in North America have been wiped out over the past 20 years.   Milkweed habitat loss and the ever-worsening impacts of climate change spell bad news for these amazing creatures.  They depend on milkweed for survival. What is so incredible about these butterflies is how they migrate every year to Mexico for the winter and back to the US in the spring.

If you don’t succeed the first time try again

Part 2 is to report back to our readers about how both myself and our garden supervisor were not able to successfully grow milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) from seeds earlier this year.   I put my seeds in the refrigerator and in small pots, but nothing happened after I planted them.   According to our friend Martha Sharp-Halla of Sierra Vista Growers “seeds planted directly into the ground are difficult to start, especially perennial seeds.  Most perennials need several weeks to germinate.  They are better started in small pots in a heated greenhouse and transferred outside in spring after the last frost.”  She went on to suggest that we try planting some outdoors in fall and let Mother Nature cold stratify the seeds.  After that we should give consistent water starting in early spring.   

Cold stratification in the refrigerator should also work for milkweed seeds.  What is supposed to work is placing the seeds in a wet paper towel on a flat surface and then sealing them in a zip lock bag.   After 30-60 days plant the seeds in small pots with bottom heat at 65-70 degrees in spring.  I think my seeds planted in March had way too much heat at the bottom of the pots. I am going to try again and hopefully share some good news next summer.

The Good News

The good news this week is how we are seeing a number of climbing milkweeds (Funastrum cynanchoides) growing at the Zoo intertwined with our little-leaf cordia shrubs.   Monarchs will feed on climbing milkweeds but the species is not an important host for monarchs butterflies, being consumed by them only as a last resort.  According to our Garden Supervisor they are very prolific and easy to grow.  According to my research the best ones to plant are in the genus Ascepia. The National Wildlife Federation recommends 12 species.

One of the best sources of information on how to help monarch butterflies is found on the website of the Environmental Defense Fund.  

If you would like to help form a monarch conservation group in El Paso you can contact me by email.

Rick LoBello
Education Curator

Photos:
Cover: Anne Reeves, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Top: mlhradio, Wikimedia Creative Commons
Second from top: Environmental Defense Fund
Others: Rick LoBello