Spring is finally here in Arizona. We are super excited about spring around here – I love when we get to open the windows to enjoy the beautiful weather, play outside, and plant new things! We have a garden in the backyard that currently has mostly vegetables. We have been changing things up from year to year in the garden pots but this spring we decided to give growing milkweed a try! I got a cheap pot from Target and ordered some seeds on Amazon… and now we wait! I wanted to write a blog post about it so we can keep you updated to see how it goes and if we can get some butterflies to show up around here!
My youngest went to Butterfly Wonderland with his class recently and I had the opportunity to chaperone his class. It was so amazing to see all the different butterflies, the stages of the caterpillar, and how it transforms into a butterfly. We learned that with milkweed added to your garden you can bring the butterflies to you at home too. That’s exactly what we wanted to do! The process is just like any other type of plant – pot, soil and seeds planted. We have been watering it every day here as it is getting hot and seems to dry out quickly. We have also spent some time on the internet researching the plant and what exactly to look for. Its been quite a process for us but the kids have had fun and we all have learned something!
As far as research goes – we found out that the parents lay the eggs on the underside of the milkweeds young leaves. The eggs then hatch and feed on the plant to grow into caterpillars. Once they are big enough and go through their five stages as larvae they then will create the chrysalis on the plant as well. Two weeks later we should see the butterfly emerge! I am really hoping it works out and we can see all this happen. So far as of today we have seeds sprouting so we have been extra excited! That obviously was a basic run down for you all but there is tons of research out there so you can learn more! We will for sure keep you updated as the plant grows and post some pictures too!
Here is the link for the seeds if anyone is interested in trying this at home too! 🙂
David’s Garden Seeds Wildflower Asclepias Milkweed Tropical OS119FGR (Multi) 500 Open Pollinated Seeds
