Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Garden center staffers raise, release hundreds of monarchs

A monarch raised from an egg collected in St. John's garden in central Connecticut.
Some of the monarch chrysalises in Natureworks' care, taken
in late summer during a visit to the store.
NORTHFORD, Conn.  Fifteen butterfly enthusiasts surrounded the wooden rack where monarch butterflies were in the process of emerging from their chrysalises. Some butterflies were already stretching their wings under the warmth of the spotlights.

Diane St. John, the the official butterfly whisperer and retail manager at Natureworks, stood in front of the monarchs, describing the tagging process. The butterflies tagged at the store will hopefully succeed in completing the long fall migration to Mexico.

St. John explained how the tags "track what the butterflies are doing," and described the gentle process that is involved to the attendees: "Take a breath, be organized  read the directions 20 times  and do it," she said, smiling.

Earlier this year the staff had ordered 300 identification tags from Monarch Watch  thinking that would be more than enough  and quickly learned that the monarchs really preferred their organic gardens and official Monarch Waystation. The staff at Natureworks began raising monarchs in July, but only tagged the last generation of monarchs, which coincides with September in Connecticut.

"We figured 300 tags would be plenty so that is how many we ordered, but the eggs kept coming! We used the 300 tags and have kept raising [them] and are now well over 650 raised and released in 2016!" she said. This is the second year the store has tagged monarchs for Monarch Watch.

"In addition to the 650 we raised, we gave about 10 schools monarch eggs to raise in classrooms too. I would say on average, we gave 20 eggs, which would add up to another 200 we have not counted in our total. The classes each needed access to chemical-free milkweed in order to receive eggs and a real passion for wanting to care for the eggs, too."

The success in raising monarch butterflies can be attributed to the diligence of all Natureworks staffers in identifying monarch eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed growing in the demonstration garden at the store. By bringing the eggs and caterpillars indoors, the staff ensured that the caterpillars collected would have the best odds of surviving. (When left outdoors, the survival rate is lower, for reasons such as predatory insects.)

The monarch butterfly has experienced a population decline in recent years, due to pesticides, a decline in milkweed and logging of their overwintering grounds in Mexico. According to the World Wildlife Fund Mexico, monarch numbers increased from 42 million to 150 million last year. However, the numbers are still well below the 22-year average and the five year target of 225 million monarchs set by the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Read more here.)

Grow it and they will come
"Once I learned how to recognize the eggs and chew marks on the leaves, finding the monarchs to raise was easy. It became hard to not find them this year," she said.

The success of an abundant monarch population depended on Natureworks providing the two things monarchs need most. "Lots of larval food plants (the plants the butterflies lay eggs on and the caterpillars eat) and no spraying of garden plants," St. John said. "An organic yard is essential, and having a neighborhood of organic yards is ideal. A safe habitat that provides food is the perfect combination."

During the prime monarch season, (end of July through September), the staff would find 30 eggs easily, St. John said. "At home I took 80 or so eggs off my plants in two days." To keep track of the growing numbers, Natureworks began documenting when eggs were brought into the store to raise. "My coworker Amber [Robinson] loved to go hunting for eggs, and at a few times in the summer we could not possibly care for more and would stop ourselves from looking. Any babies or eggs brought in on milkweed we intended to feed to the indoor caterpillars we would keep inside, too. It took a team of us to care for so many being raised. All of them needed fresh milkweed and clean cages, twice a day."

A determined caterpillar
One monarch caterpillar can be credited with St. John's exploration of the monarch world, which made her realize the connection between organic land care and planting the right plants to attract monarchs.

"I planted one Asclepias tuberosa at home years ago and saw my first caterpillar eating the leaves later that summer. I found chrysalises on our swingset, which is 30’ away from any asclepias in the yard and learned how the caterpillar had to travel all the way there, through the lawn  which had now been transitioned to an organic lawn."

And it wasn't just monarch caterpillars that peaked her interest. St. John said she began bringing inside black swallowtail caterpillars that she found munching on the bronze fennel while at work at Natureworks and raising them on the cash register counter.

"Customers would ask what it would turn into because they had those 'destructive' caterpillars in their own gardens on their parsley and dill  and were destroying them," she said. "When they would see the photo of the beautiful butterfly the caterpillar would become, they stopped destroying them and also became enthralled by watching the life cycles."

The knowledge continued to spread. St. John connected with a customer who gave her advice on raising the swallowtails, and soon St. John joined the ranks of presenting to the public black swallowtail butterfly information. "Seeing the look of wonder on my own kids' faces and the kids who come to the garden center made it easy to want to raise more and begin talking and teaching about the lifecycle and what the butterflies need to survive," she said.
During a recent lecture, Diane St. John explains the different types of
milkweed gardeners can grow.

"I really wanted to raise monarchs but could not find any caterpillars. I ordered them from Monarch Watch one fall, but many did not survive and I decided, if I want them to come to me naturally, I needed to plant more of what they needed to survive, which was any type of Asclepias." When a milkweed plant appeared in her Connecticut garden, she allowed it to become more established and let it spread over the next few years. She also began to grow other varieties of Asclepias and soon, the monarchs found her. 

At the same time, the host plant for the monarchs also began to find a foothold at the demonstration gardens at Natureworks. "We allowed the common milkweed to weave its way through the display gardens more than it had been allowed to in the past."


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Providing milkweed for monarchs

[Continued from Garden center staffers raise, release hundreds of monarchs]

To encourage Natureworks customers to also create monarch butterfly habitats, the store recently welcomed customers to attend an informational workshop on growing milkweed from seed. "If you plant it, they will come!" she said.

For milkweed seeds to be viable, they need to be harvested after the milkweed pod has opened on its own.





The key to growing viable milkweed  any type  is to use seeds from milkweed pods that have popped open on their own. St. John warned to not use seeds from green pods because they are not yet ready. (If you are worried about the seeds spreading before you are ready to plant, St. John advised putting a rubber band around the seed pod to keep it closed until you are ready to harvest it.)

One way to grow milkweed is to place the pod outside in late fall, so that the seeds will be exposed to moist stratification. (Basically this is when the seed is cold, then wet, then dries out. This process continues throughout the winter, causing the seed to "wake up" and germinate.) It could take two winters for milkweed to grow this way.

Wherever you decide to plant the milkweed seeds outside, St. John recommends marking the area so baby plants are not accidentally weeded out next spring.

Another way to start the seeds outside is to plant the seeds in trays in late November and December and place them in a protected area, specifically away from cold northwesterly winter winds. (An area next to the shed is one possible area.) Let the leaves land on top of it, as any other overwintering plant would experience. "When it warms again, say April, move the tray to where there's more sun," said St. John.

To start any milkweed seed indoors (end of January/beginning of February in the northeast), you'll need a paper towel and a plastic bag. Moisten the paper towel so it is damp (not soaked) and place your seeds on top. St. John said to roll up the paper towel and place it inside the plastic bag and then keep it refrigerated for 45 to 60 days. After 45 to 60 days have passed, take the plastic bag out of the fridge and plant them in seed containers (St. John recommended cow pots for ease of transport) with seed-starting soil. Some of the seeds may have begun to germinate already. Mix some kelp in, since it helps seeds germinate, according to St. John. And if you want to germinate the seeds even faster, she recommends using a heat mat. (St. John's stratified seeds germinated within five days with a heat mat.) Keep the seedlings indoors until the last frost has passed.

Yet another method of growing milkweed involves the annual variety. However, for those who live in the southern United States, St. John said to chop it down and let it regrow so it doesn't carry over bacteria into the next growing season. (The bacteria can lead to problems for the monarchs.)

"Annual milkweed is good for people who want to do this but only have a deck," she said. 

To make new plants from annual milkweed (before the frost gets it), cut underneath the leaf nodes. But be careful to not get the sap in your eyes. (This applies to all milkweed.) "It will be a hospital trip – you won't be able to see within two to three hours," she said as she cut pieces to root. (It is also important to not let children touch the milkweed sap, if they want to help with the process.) To seal the milkweed cuttings, wash the ends under running water until the sap stops coming out.

Remove any leaves that would be submerged in water, and place the cuttings in water to root. St. John advised to change the water every few days and keep it in a bright area. "After a month you'll start to see little roots," she said.

St. John will also be speaking about nurturing monarchs at the upcoming Northeast Organic Farming Association's (NOFA) conference on Dec. 9.

To learn more, St. John recommends reading "How to Raise Monarch Butterflies" by Carol Pasternak.
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The Gardener's October Calendar ~ 2016



Here we go! The season has definitely flown by, and now it's time to clean up after the party!



  • It's time to plant garlic! For instructions, click here. Usually I try to get mine in the ground (in Connecticut) beginning Columbus Day weekend or a little thereafter. This gives the garlic time to start growing before winter arrives. This year when I plant my garlic I also plan to feed it with organic fertilizer and mulch it with straw. My friend did that and her garlic turned out to be enormous! Of course, starting with good quality garlic is key. Do not use the garlic sold in grocery stores. (That is usually sprayed to prevent sprouting.) There are lots of good places to buy garlic. Locally I am lucky to have an organic nursery which sells it, but I have also ordered from High Mowing Organic Seeds and Hudson Valley Seed Library in the past and had success.
  • Have you harvested your Kieffer pears? The stem is the key to the ripened fruit! Click here to learn more!
  • Start planting spring-blooming bulbs now. Use photographs you took in the spring to figure out which areas of the garden need early color. (You did take photos, right?) Not sure what to order? View my bulb picks for 2017 here, or get inspired from the Still Growing podcasts I participated in. (We narrowed our choices down to 47!)
  • Clean up portions of the garden that you won't be leaving to wildlife over the winter. What stays? Echinacea - for birds, mostly! What goes? I cut down bee balm and feverfew. I trim back irises and daylilies - one so they look neater and two so there's less of a temptation for the iris borer to be attracted to and eat my irises. Fall-blooming anemones can be cut back, too, unless you want them to spread by seed. For more ideas, read this story I wrote for the blog that features tips from a master gardener.
  • Keep an eye on the weather - mainly the overnight temperatures. It's time to find spots for all of the plants you plan to bring inside for the winter. For me, that includes tropicals, like hibiscus, orchids and crotons, as well as cuttings of coleus and geraniums that I want to make into new plants for next year. 


A purple/pink Global Warming mum.

  • Keep planting! Add fall-blooming asters and perennial mums to the garden. (NOT the hot-house ones! They won't survive the winter!) You can even add grasses, too. I really like the Global Warming mums because they bloom so much later than everything else - sometimes as late as Halloween! (Which makes waiting around all season for them to bloom worth it.)
  • Add pumpkins to your landscape decorating. You can make a hot pepper mix to spray on pumpkins to keep the squirrels from nibbling on them. (That's usually what I have to do to keep them looking nice.) It washes off with rain though, so you might need to reapply multiple times. Here's a link that shares some possible combinations you can use.






  • Curl up with a good book to tide you over on the upcoming cold nights. Need some ideas for what to read? Check out the gardening books I've read and reviewed
  • Have a fire pit? We are now in the perfect time of year to use it at night. But make sure your property isn't too dry - and don't light a fire when it's windy. Fire pits should be at least 10 feet away from any buildings, and make sure you have water nearby - before you light the fire - that will be used to put it out. Make sure any dried leaves are removed from around the fire pit to prevent stray embers from catching ablaze. And keep the fire small. I usually leave the ashes and burned wood in the fire pit for several days before I remove it. Here are some ways the (cooled) ashes can be used in your garden.
What are you doing in your garden this month? I'd love to hear in the comments below!
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