@joannakat
The Monarch Butterfly Garden site has instructions for Fall planting and Winter sowing. Also site is quite comprehensive on all aspects of raising Monarchs with an emphasis on raising the migrating generation.
http://monarchbutterflygarden....
Fall planting:
http://monarchbutterflygarden....
Winter sowing:
http://monarchbutterflygarden....
Spring planting:http://monarchbutterflygarden.net/7-spring-planting-secrets-growing-milkweed/
If you are planning to help raise Monarchs next year you will need to plan now to have enough Milkweed!!!! The seeds you have are most likely Common Milkweed so you will want to plant some Swamp Milkweed, too. Swamp and Common bloom at different times and the plants of each mature and decline at different times for leaves available for feeding cats. I try to have some Swamp seedlings up potted that I can put inside a mesh container when I start finding eggs/cats. I grow about 100 Tropical Milkweed plants each year for the same reason.
At some point Common Milkweed which has a long tap root, will resent being transplanted. Swamp with no tap root can be grown in containers. Monarch Watch a source of flats of milkweed seedlings puts 2 -4 seeds per large cell, not just a single seed.
Milkweed is late to emerge once the weather warms up so be sure to well mark any seeds/plants you plant directly in the ground. If the Monarchs have not arrived when your Common blooms, you can cut back some of the stalks and they will send out new leaves good for baby cats to munch. It might take a couple years to get to see what works for your endeavors timing wise. MW plants in more shade will mature more slowly than those in full sun....My goal is to have plenty of tender leaves for first couple of teeny tiney instars to eat, by the time they are 4 and 5 instars they can eat the tough stuff! I even freeze 30or so leaves as an emergency back up supply!
Good luck. Plant It and They Will Come!
2013: 18 raised, 2014: over 400 raised, 2015: 250 plus, 2016: 400 plus, last three released 2 days ago.
