Gordon Bakke Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I fairly recently began to plant a small patch of my yard with plants that will hopefully encourage and entice butterflys to feed and perhaps to multiply. Migrating populations in the U.S. seem to be under siege as a result of habitat loss. There seems to be one plant group above all others that is key to survival - Milkweed, or Asclepias species.Plant it, and they will come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WryAwry Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 ... as so eloquently discussed by Barbara Kingsolver in "Flight Behavior". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bakke Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 (edited) This experiment on my part, of planting Tropical Milkweed has proven effective. In fact, Monarch butterfly larvae continue to strip the plants on my property, and both caterpillars and butterflys have been more or less constantly on site for about a year. My only concern is that the milkweed plant (which is native here) could prove problematic to local cattle farmers, as the plant is toxic to some degree. On the other hand, I constantly find seedlings in the Solanum (nightshade) family growing here that I'm sure are every bit or more toxic. Edited September 5, 2016 by Gordon Bakke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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