Attention monarchs: Milkweed is standing by

The common milkweed growing in the front raised beds is ready for the monarch butterflies. So far, I've heard of sightings in the area — and I did have a "fly by" a few weeks back, even though the butterfly didn't linger.

In previous posts I shared how I started raising monarch butterflies as caterpillars and how to winter sow milkweed seeds (their host plant) in plastic containers.

This growing season, I'm trying to keep the milkweed in the garden healthy. Last year, I ran into an issue with larger black ants farming aphids on the common milkweed. I let it go unchecked and the leaves developed a sooty mold by the end of the season, which made it unusable for food.

This year I've been hosing off any aphids I see appearing with water (or squishing them while I am wearing gardening gloves), but the ants are still on guard. I'm sure they are planning a successful aphid farm for this season as well.

Opportunistic ants on the common milkweed.

It's also interesting to see the other insects that use the milkweed, such as the longhorn beetle (seen below) that also enjoys dining on milkweed.

The bees are also attracted to the flowers, which is all well and good. But, let's be honest. The one insect I'm holding out for is the monarch caterpillar.