Why I Oughta...

I've tried to plant milkweed in various years via seed.  And, have never had any real success.  Either they didn't get enough water or the seeds didn't germinate.  This year, I didn't plant any.  But....we NOW have a single Milkweed plant.  A volunteer.  It is growing right by the Limelight Hydrangeas on the side/front of the porch.  I suspect that this came via the downspouts - as they exit near this location.  The seeds went airborne, drove down into the bed and irrigated via the downspouts.  It hasn't fruited, so I'm not sure it will come back next year. Below is a look at the volunteer milkweed:

Back in March of this year, I posted a photo of a couple of Milkweed seed packets that we received from the Save our Monarchs Foundation that are appropriate for our 5B zone here out in the Chicago Suburbs.  I also had t his older packet of Milkweed seed that we received at a parade in 2016 that I never planted.  With Spring here and the back of our yard still a mess, I just decided to sow them directly in the ground and cross my fingers that we'll see some action on them as the weather warms up.  I put them in a staggered row with the two Foundation packets on the right and the parade packet on the left. I put the empty packet envelopes down in the soil and took this photo so I can go back there later this Summer, see if anything is happening with them and then know which type is which.  I'm hoping that a few of seedlings will emerge and we'll get a nice first year plant that can help the Monarchs this season.  I took the Bird and the KotBT out there and...

At the Memorial Day Parade in Elmhurst over the weekend, I grabbed two packets of these Milkweed seeds.  Those of you who have been paying attention to the plight of the Monarch Butterfly know that they're in trouble and gardeners in Illinois can help by planting Milkweed.  (BTW, this isn't the first time I've covered butterflies on the blog.   Here's a post about our Butterfly project from back in 2013 .) Over the past few decades, Monarch populations have decreased by over 90%.  Yeah!  90%?!!?  And it is happening for two reasons:  weather and habitat.  We can't control the weather, but we CAN control the availability of the right habitat for these guys.  And the right habitat is all about Milkweed. That means that backyard gardeners need to start thinking about dedicating a space for cultivating Milkweed and thanks to the First Congressional United Church in Elmhurst ( who was giving out these seeds at the parade), I'm going to do ju...