Recently, a native plant group in a nearby town was trying to find caterpillar-safe milkweed plants to buy. It turns out it's just almost impossible. Of the two native plant nurseries in the area, only one verified they truly don't use pesticides on the milkweed at all, but that one couldn't supply many of the milkweed species they wanted this year. They were working with an organization that grows milkweeds for the Monarchs, but then the organization's grower sprayed the milkweed plants when beetles showed up that eats milkweeds. Don't know...it pretty much is true that people need to grow their own plants if they want plants that are truly safe for the insects...or for us, for that matter. Darn shame, too. I'm going to collect Texas Milkweed seeds this year for that one native plant grower that grows pesticide-free milkweed. Doesn't look like I'll have a lot of it...the high heat this summer made the plants shut down on producing seeds, except for a single pllant. Maybe they'll flower again when the heat ramps down in the fall.
