Daniel Potter freely admits he’s not an expert on monarchs. But as Professor of Entomology at the University of Kentucky, he and his grad students sure love to run experiments. Recently, they completed a two-year study on the likes and dislikes of the popular orange and black butterfly. Now for the first time ever, there’s a roadmap for building the perfect monarch garden. Continue reading
Monarch butterfly on swamp milkweed
Last week, I was manning the booth at the Master Gardener Demo Garden when someone plopped a tall, spindly plant down onto the table. It looked pitiful; the flowers were gone and the leaves had tiny holes in them. But upon closer inspection, I spotted a few lantern-shaped chrysalises and some colorful caterpillars working their way up the stems. The plant was none other than milkweed. And the ‘lanterns’ contained baby monarchs in the process of forming. Continue reading
“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” – A.A. Milne
There’s something about the color orange that really appeals to my senses. Not nearly as aggressive as red, it nonetheless calls attention to itself in a cool, refreshing sort of way. So I was happy to hear that recently, an orange-flowering species received a perennial plant’s highest honor. In late November 2016, butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) was named 2017 Perennial Plant of the Year. Continue reading