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>>> Version: 201 We have lots of Common Milkweed and that is mainly what feeds the Monarchs that we raise. We also have planted Swamp Milkweed and Butterfly Bush (the orange flowered milkweed). We have sandy soils here in the center of the Annapolis Valley but the Swamp is doing OK as is the Butterfly Bush. The Monarch caterpillars like the Butterfly Bush as well as the Common Milkweed. We have not seen the caterpillars on the Swamp but at MTRI they had their potted plants of Swamp Milkweed pretty well stripped when some caterpillars found them. Common Milkweed has more foliage than Swamp or Butterfly Bush and makes a better feed source. The problem with Common is that it is very invasive and spreads by its roots. It loves sandy soils. The other two do not. I see no problem with tropical milkweek here. It would not survive our winters. Larry ////// === /////// Larry Bogan Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia <larry@bogan.ca> On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 10:58:15 -0400 Nicholas Hill <fernhillns@gmail.com> wrote: > To reiterate, it is not abundant. It--swamp milkweed-- is listed as S4 > by an organization that keeps track of plants as a science and a > business. While it is no longer considered rare because of finds in > the past decade, it is now listed as uncommon and locally > abundant--hence S4. Common things get an S5 score in the ranking > system. > Hill > > On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 at 10:50 AM, Derek Bridgehouse > <d.bridgehouse@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote: > > From my experience monarch butterflies do well on swamp milkweed in NS .and yes it is abundant . > > > > DB > > > > > >> On Jan 16, 2015, at 10:39 AM, Nicholas Hill <fernhillns@gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> Re. Swamp Milkweed abundant in some parts of NS > >> While there are some large patches of swamp milkweed in some areas, it > >> certainly is not common and is ranked S4 by Atlantic Canada > >> Conservation Data Centre. Around the City, it is absent from wild > >> areas. It comes into stillwater peatlands--fens--around Mount Uniacke, > >> it is patchy in similar riparian fen and rarely on lakeshores in the > >> southwest. It is common in marshes in the Musquodoboit and Stewiacke > >> and probably in many true marshes. I don't think of it as a swamp > >> species because it wouldn't do shade. Because it is patchy and locally > >> abundant, it stands to reason that planting it in the vicinities in > >> between the above areas would help to increase butterfly populations. > >> The common milkweed does well on roadsides and dry old fields. The > >> swamp milkweed will grow in its natural areas as well as in wet > >> meadows that may have been hay fields. It is a good garden plant if > >> the soils don't get too droughty (ie. would need to amend sandy soils > >> with lots of organic). > >> There are lots of other natives that will do for butterflies and MTRI > >> (Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute) has been championing this. Joe > >> Pye is a super native/garden plant and is great addition to the back > >> of flower borders. We need lots of observations by naturalists on > >> which plants attract which pollinators. Does anyone know any group > >> working in the maritimes who keeps track? > >> Nick > >> > >> > >> > >> On Fri, Jan 16, 2015 at 10:03 AM, rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca > >> <rita.paul@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote: > >>> Interesting Dave > >>> One thing I always wondered if Monarchs only utilized Common Milkweed ( > >>> Asclepias syriaca ) > >>> or do they use Swamp Milkweed ( Asclepias pulchra ) as well? > >>> If they use Swamp Milkweed in Nova Scotia there sure isn't any need to plant > >>> any > >>> as there are many acres in the center of the province. > >>> Enjoy the January thaw? > >>> Paul > >>> > >>> On January 16, 2015 at 8:45 AM David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com> > >>> wrote: > >>> > >>> Dear All, > >>> Perhaps Ian is away so I will post this for him. > >>> Yt, DW, Kentville > >>> ----- Original Message ----- > >>> From: David & Alison Webster > >>> To: Ian Manning > >>> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2015 6:53 PM > >>> Subject: Re: [Aliens-L] How well-intentioned Americans trying to save > >>> monarch butterflies may actually be destroying them > >>> > >>> Hi Ian, > >>> Very Interesting. Suggest you post it to the list. The devil, as the > >>> saying goes, is in the details. Hopefully this news will get spread so > >>> gardeners stop planting the wrong kind. > >>> Dave > >>> > >>> ----- Original Message ----- > >>> From: Ian Manning > >>> To: David & Alison Webster > >>> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2015 5:01 PM > >>> Subject: Fwd: [Aliens-L] How well-intentioned Americans trying to save > >>> monarch butterflies may actually be destroying them > >>> > >>> Dear David, > >>> > >>> Read this today, and thought you might be interested. > >>> > >>> Cheers, > >>> Ian > >>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > >>> From: Pamela Zevit Adamah Consultants <adamah@telus.net> > >>> Date: 15 January 2015 at 16:12 > >>> Subject: [Aliens-L] How well-intentioned Americans trying to save monarch > >>> butterflies may actually be destroying them > >>> To: Issg List < aliens-l@list.auckland.ac.nz> > >>> > >>> > >>> Received this through the folks at Xerces Society for Invertebrate > >>> Conservation. On southwest coastal BC the western population of Monarchs > >>> does breed (rarely) as a transient on its way down to overwinter in > >>> California. This is only due to the presence of milkweed grown in people’s > >>> gardens (a plant that is not endemic in my region of BC). This is > >>> well-intentioned but reminds me of the way in which humans have altered > >>> hummingbird migratory pathways through feeders. We now have a species of > >>> hummingbird (Anna’s) that overwinters here and would normally starve if it > >>> wasn’t for feeders (and I suspect some freeze to death during prolonged cold > >>> snaps). &