A summer project my kids and I are doing. It's fascinating. Stay tuned for updates! This is Day 1-3

Very cool!

Have you planted milkweed?

No, but they are a found on just about every road side near me. I take some leaves and preserve them in water in the fridge to replenish the eaten and dried leaves.

Gosh, you're lucky. I struggle to keep such plants I bought and planted nearby alive.

You should plant some, or spread the seeds in the fall.
They're not just perennials, but some spread far (some just clump) via the roots.

One common milkweed that sprouted from seeds I tossed 2 years ago came up round 5 plants the next and started to flower, this year it's a mini forest. This is in a parkway nearby at the edge of some woods, and they hadn't mowed in 2 years because they were replacing sewage pipes, so hoping next year they won't mow too much down when they resume that. Parks Dept here are imbeciles, killing natives but leaving invasives grow.

There's a nursery called Missouri Wildflowers that sells an assortement of native milkweeds (and other species) with different habits as cheap as they get. Planting various has the added bonus of different flowering periods, so as one ends, another begins, and you're feeding pollinators for an extended season.

Have to be careful with placement, because other than Asclepias Tuberosa and that tropical one people sometimes plant, they're a bit big and course for the formal garden and as I said, can ovetake an area.

Thanks! It's good to get advice from more experienced gardeners, I can't seem to keep a plant alive to save my life,def no green thumb here but I'm hoping to transplant one for these little guys to live on, once they get bigger I'm sure they'll need more than the occasional leaf I'm giving them now.

They're not always the easiest to transplant, but yeah, them critters are gonna need more.

Gotta be careful with little children, as they are toxic (then again, a surprising amount of plants we keep are). Speaking of which, another species which is less rambunctious is Asclepias Verticillata, as if has thin leaves and is shorter. I planted 2 gallon
sized pot ones I got from eBay once, and when I came to water them again a couple of days later, they were chewed to the ground! AARGH! I just hope what ate them (rabbits, most likely) didn't die, although that species might be somewhat less toxic if I recall looking it up after.

They're not that hard to care for, though some live in wetter areas (hence seeing loads rounf roadside ditches), some can take it drier. I've not had luck with Butterfly Milkweed (Tuberosa) tho. Those you might find at Home Depot and whatnot. But watering a garden and all that is easier than lugging out jugs of water to the park for a bunch of plants during a drought hoping that's enough when the rest of the soil just sops it way.

Don't ask me why I started doing this, lots of work just to see not all survive the winter or just get bulldozed or mowed by the city or marmots gobbling up 'deer resistant' plants like they were Romaine Lettuce with a honey raspberry vinaigrette.

hey

That's cool, but be careful—your kids might want some komodo dragon eggs next.

Noice