Almost Should be done by Sunday. All told I will have 6 or 7 areas in total with 84 plants of 13 species or varieties. I grew almost all of it from seed.

Area 1 - The Smorgasbord

12 types of 1 each (Common has 2 and Swamp has 3)
Common
Swamp
Tropical
Purple
Balloon Plant
Butterflyweed
Green
Hello Yellow
Spider
Poke
Sullivants (Prairie)
Showy

Hope to add Redring soon. Last year this area was only Common, Purple and Swamp and I had cats most of the time for 2 months.

Area 2 - Front Football bed

Will plant all whites and pinks of 7 varieties including:

White Swamp
White Whorled
Swamp
Pink Cinderella
Woodson's Swamp
Soulmate
Showy

This is the most formal bed and is bounded on one end with a Contorted Filbert and a Franklin tree (extinct in the wild) on the other and a pink Rugosa rose in the middle.

Area 3 - The New Tropical Bed

I planted 18 plants comprised of

Silky Gold
Butterfly Balls
Silky Yellow
Tropical

Many of these have already started blooming. This area is about 150 square feet and has all manner of tropicals. See: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Area 4 - Half moon

6 Swamp

Bed also has slender mountain mint and Ozark Bluestar.

Area 5

Tweedia going on deck post (with Vigna Caralla - snail vine). Have 6 more Tweedia plants started in the basement which I will add in thext few weeks.

Area 6 & 7

All other remaining plants will be added to the banks that surround 2 sides of my house. Guessing ~ 50 plants in the two areas.

In addition to the mentioned 84 plants, I have 13 under TLC in my "pretend" Greenhouse. I also have ~ 40 + seedlings of 6 species in my basement. I also have more Redring and Purple stratifying in the frig. Hopefully, by summer's end, I should have well over 100 plants.

Have not seen a Monarch yet., C'mon guys - Have I got a meal for you.

Wow David. you should sit down and rest...with your camera of course. I'm gonna sit here and rest...waiting for the pics!

Finished up with 8 areas - 91 Milkweed at this point. Once things get established a bit - will add some pics.

The 18 "tropical" bed milkweeds are farthest along and are starting to bloom. Have a Common that will be blooming real soon ~ 4 feet tall. No sign of eggs yet, but I did see an adult last Sunday.

That' is quite a spread. Banquet!

I've allowed common milkweed to spread for over 15 years in my one flowerbed. This winter we had a garage built, and I decided to leave a 3-4 foot wide bed along the south wall of garage for major milkweed and other bee/BF plants.
Asclepias syriaca
A curassavica
Salvia guarantica Black and blue
Sunflower
Ruellia brittoniana (if it came back)
Lantana
Fennel, bronze
Pentas, red
Butterfly bush
Goldenrod, native volunteer

I think that covers it. Phew. It's pretty crammed and I'll have to rememeber watering if we have any dry spells.

David, I am in awe and also waiting for pics! Good on you. Do you also hand raise Monarchs?

I think Milkweed should have its own forum here as there is so much to learn, share and discuss. Mostly Nature did the growing so many of us are lost when it comes to gardening with.... Lots of questions when you are ready.

For now, one of my favorite pics 'borrowed' from some forgotten site.

Good find Judy, that puts things in a bit more perspective for us.

I have ~ 15 more seedlings and Redring and Purple stratifying. Will plant next week.

No rain for nearly 3 weeks and temps in 90s for 2 weeks and now > 100 3 days in a row. Spending all my time watering new plantings and stuff on deck twice a day.

Judy - I have never raised yet, but may try my hand at it.

Have seen 2 adults so far - no eggs or Cats.

A forum would be keen, though not sure we need a stand alone group here. There are literally hundreds of super sites on the Net focusing on Milkweed and Monarchs and at least a dozen top notch that cover every aspect.

There is also ~ 5 superb Facebook groups.

You've built it...they will come!

Simply Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmazing!! I'm so jealous, David. Wish my garden had just a fraction of yours. Can't imagine the work you've put into it.

Vicki - Thanks.

The watering now is killing me - twice a day for all my new plantings this spring (~ 150 plants) and stuff on the deck (~ 30 pots and planters). Day after Day 95 - 102 is getting old. I dread thinking what August will be like. We have had zero precipitation here in nearly 3 weeks.

I work in my garden ~ 8 hours a day, 7 days a week.

On my deck now enjoying Peruvian Daffodils and Oleander. Oh and my Snail vine (Vigna caracalla) is blooming.

~ 15 Milkweed are blooming - Common is almost done. No eggs or Cats yet.

David-- Your list is impressive. Monarchs should be lining up at your door or I guess as Monarchs do flutter around your plants. I hope you do not mind this question here. I have been growing tropical milkweed for 6 years now. I get Monarch caterpillars the last week of October. I have been reading that tropical milkweed is a no-no for Texas. Some say migratory Monarchs pick up diseases here, some say it encourages them to stay, and some of it I just do not understand. It was stated Texas could grow tropical milkweed as long as it was cut to the ground. It didn't t say to cut before or after Monarchs. By my dates I am pretty sure I get the last set of caterpillars of migratory Monarchs. Does anyone know what I am supposed to do with my tropical milkweed? Many blessings to all and all creatures great and small!

Cut it to the ground in October of so. This will minimize OE problem.

From what I have heard from many folks, ALL species of MW made it thru winter in most of Texas. So much for the Tropical naysayers.

To get some better understanding and insight WRT Tropical, find articles by the President of the NABA - he is a scientist and counters much of the mis-information out there regarding Tropical MW. Sorry - I have no links. I need to bookmark them.

@DavidLMO Thank you! My Question is for October if I see caterpillars the last week of October, one year it was the first of Nov. Are they wanting me to cut before caterpillars? Like October first? Do I immediately cut when I no longer have caterpillars? Do I cut two weeks after I no longer see caterpillars? I guess my confusion is that all this talk of cutting is exactly when the Monarchs visit and sometimes they are a week later. I am not a butterfly expert, just want to help. I hope I am explaining where my confusion is coming. One report made it sound like they did not want Monarchs laying on tropical milkweed at all. May all your efforts be blessed.

Well I have no experience there - in TX. ALL milkweed gets OE. Not just Tropical. I am also of the attitude that IF you have cats, why in hell would you cut the plant down and cause the death of the Cats? That is freaking nuts. I would wait til there is no sign of Cats and then whack off to the ground. The problem is that the longer the plant lives, the higher the probability that the OE will get more concentrated.

I understand your confusion. Problem with Tropical is there is a lot of misinformation out there - some is pure BS from some of the "purists".

@Altheabyanothername

Sharon - I found the paper by Dr. Glassberg - Pres of NABA, Send me your regular email address and I will send you a opy of the PDF file.

sallyg said:That' is quite a spread. Banquet!

I've allowed common milkweed to spread for over 15 years in my one flowerbed. This winter we had a garage built, and I decided to leave a 3-4 foot wide bed along the south wall of garage for major milkweed and other bee/BF plants.
Asclepias syriaca
A curassavica
Salvia guarantica Black and blue
Sunflower
Ruellia brittoniana (if it came back)
Lantana
Fennel, bronze
Pentas, red
Butterfly bush
Goldenrod, native volunteer

I think that covers it. Phew. It's pretty crammed and I'll have to rememeber watering if we have any dry spells.

@sallyg - Sally - that is AWESOME. Good on you. You have a very well balanced assortment there. Overall, it is not just a matter of planting Milkweed. Of course, that IS needed for the egg laying and food for the Cats. But adult Monarchs will nectar from ~ 100 different species including Milkweed. Also, that collection will provide interest to many other BFs as well. And that is one of my goals as well - to offer as much as possible that may species - not just Monarchs - will find tempting!

David getting me a legitimate paper or link is awesome! We do not have to know everything. If we know where to go for the answers, we can have all the knowledge in the world.
Many blessings to you and your garden!

My monarchs born yesterday with OE, were not eating off a tropical milkweed, Im really going to have to make sure to cut all milkweeds back to the ground in fall. The one these particular butterflies were eating off of, I tossed in the trash this morning.

That is a great picture Judy posted. I starred it, but have no idea how to find my stars.

Pam, if it helps, when I volunteered at MOSI, we cut back our Tropical Milkweed in February. We cut it back to around six inches from the ground. It sprouts back so fast that there was plenty of new, clean growth for the Monarchs. I find it's also just a good idea to make them more bushy and less leggy. And if you suspect a problem with OE or if you have other problems like out of control aphids, you can really cut it back any time of year. We also planted the milkweed in various patches around the museum so if one got diseased or aphid-infested and had to be cut back, we would have other patches to go to for food.

Well - I added 11 more milkweed to my previous 110 (I am up to 15 or so species/varieties.). I planted 11 Swan Plant - Gomphocarpus fruticosus. My first time growing it!! (I also have 3 Gomphocarpus physocarpus - Family Jewels)

I am doing a comparison of CA and TX seed. TX has 6 plants and CA has 5 plants. They vary in size from 12 - 16 inches or so.

I started them this winter in my basement and have had them filling out in my Greenhouse.
So far my offerings have enticed ZERO results. Starting to get frustrated.

Now they just have to find you David...they will find you!