Will you help save the monarch butterfly by collecting and planting milkweed seeds?

Question

Hi. The monarch butterfly population is getting smaller due to less winter habitat and less milkweed in which to lay their larva in the spring.
Help by collecting milk weed seeds and giving them to others in your area.
Our main job here on the central coast of California is to save the tall, wind protected trees, near the ocean, where monarchs hang in during the winter.
Please email us at [e-mail].
We have a message board where we can communicate with each other.
Thanks.
P.S. If you have not seen the hundreds upon hundreds of monarchs hanging off the limbs of large trees, I suggest you come to the central coast some time after Christmas or before April. Contact us for more information.

Answer 1

I have milkweed in my garden and it self plants. Since I am fond of monarchs and their caterpillars, I have moved them from plant to plant as necessary when they have laid eggs here, which has not been for several years.

Answer 2

I have a packet of seeds of the Asclepias Speciosa native California Milkweed I bought from Sierra Seed Supply last year. I missed the planting season so I'll have to wait until after the frost. I haven't decided to start the seeds in trays and place them in the frig or try my luck in a raised garden bed. I'll also try and mix some seeds in with regular landscaping too.

When I was a kid I used to visit my Dad during summers in Woodland, Ca. A few of the neighborhood kids used to collect the Monarch Caterpillars just before they would turn into a cocoon, even letting them go in their rooms and watch them until they emerge as a butterfly and then let them go. About 20-25 years ago here in the Sacramento area, I used to see Monarchs all the time, but over the years they got fewer and fewer until there were a couple recent years when I didn't see any. Last year actually saw two of them fly in and out of the yard, a sign of progress!

Answer 3

Simply throw them to the ground, they will soon come up, and yes you will attract the monarch butterfly, and a few more unexpected butterflies as well. They will lay their eggs on the plant, the Caterpillar will eat the plant bare (or close to it), it takes about two weeks before it turns into a cocoon then roughly another two weeks before a butterfly emerges. I call the plant a 'Swan Plant' as the seed pods resemble a swan. Any blue flowering plant will attract butterflies.

Answer 4

Finally someone is here to help the cause..remember the caterpillars have to be saved too!!!