Very helpful. Will be checking my butterfly milk weed for seed pods. Are u supposed to deadhead the flower head portion? Does that promote more blooms? Does it affect seed pod development?
Great question! Deadheading CAN help butterfly weed produce a second set of blooms, but it actually reduces the amount of seeds you'll be able to harvest. Oftentimes the second blooms do not produce seed heads or the seed heads are too immature to harvest. On the flip side, if you're wanting to control the reproduction of your butterfly weed plants you can deadhead to prevent them from spreading seeds into other areas of your landscaping.
No seeds☹ My swamp milkweed grew from seed this year (followed your cold strat video guide). Flowered and then died WAAAYYY back. Aphids decimated it. The ladybug beetles couldn't keep up with the bazillion aphids. I hosed them off but they returned within hours. I didn't use any insecticide as I was hoping for monarch caterpillars to live on this plant. Major fail. New growth is sprouting, but I'm going to kill it off this fall. I will try again next spring with more seeds.
We had a HORRIBLE year for aphids this year too - they got my milkweed, butterfly weed, and sooo many of my sumac bushes! We had a really mild winter this past winter so I suspect that had a lot to do with the aphid population this year. Neem oil is my go-to for aphids, but it will kill the monarch caterpillars if ingested. A few other tricks I've used before - coffee (in a spray, not in grounds) or black tea sprayed around the plant and on the leaves. Also campanion planting with marigolds, lavender, or mint (in a container! mint will take over your garden in the ground) have been known to deter aphids. Let's definitely hope for a better year next year!
@@BrightLaneGardens All of my garden is in raised beds or terra cotta pots. I have mint and lavender (started from cold strat seeds) in pots. I will group them around the swamp milkweed (also in terra cotta pot) next spring. Thanks for these suggestions, Anna!!
Hahaha I'm so glad someone finally called me out on this! I have NO idea why but most of my herbaceous perennials and garden plants are male, but my shrubs and flowering trees are allll female 😂 I don't script my videos so that's just how it comes out haha. Hope all your 'she' plants are doing great this year!
Thank you so much for this, I love them so much!!! i love the seed holder, I will be getting that!!!
It's one of my favorite new gardening purchases this year!! Sooo helpful for storing my collection!
Very helpful. Will be checking my butterfly milk weed for seed pods. Are u supposed to deadhead the flower head portion? Does that promote more blooms? Does it affect seed pod development?
Great question! Deadheading CAN help butterfly weed produce a second set of blooms, but it actually reduces the amount of seeds you'll be able to harvest. Oftentimes the second blooms do not produce seed heads or the seed heads are too immature to harvest. On the flip side, if you're wanting to control the reproduction of your butterfly weed plants you can deadhead to prevent them from spreading seeds into other areas of your landscaping.
No seeds☹ My swamp milkweed grew from seed this year (followed your cold strat video guide). Flowered and then died WAAAYYY back. Aphids decimated it. The ladybug beetles couldn't keep up with the bazillion aphids. I hosed them off but they returned within hours. I didn't use any insecticide as I was hoping for monarch caterpillars to live on this plant. Major fail. New growth is sprouting, but I'm going to kill it off this fall. I will try again next spring with more seeds.
We had a HORRIBLE year for aphids this year too - they got my milkweed, butterfly weed, and sooo many of my sumac bushes! We had a really mild winter this past winter so I suspect that had a lot to do with the aphid population this year. Neem oil is my go-to for aphids, but it will kill the monarch caterpillars if ingested. A few other tricks I've used before - coffee (in a spray, not in grounds) or black tea sprayed around the plant and on the leaves. Also campanion planting with marigolds, lavender, or mint (in a container! mint will take over your garden in the ground) have been known to deter aphids. Let's definitely hope for a better year next year!
@@BrightLaneGardens All of my garden is in raised beds or terra cotta pots. I have mint and lavender (started from cold strat seeds) in pots. I will group them around the swamp milkweed (also in terra cotta pot) next spring. Thanks for these suggestions, Anna!!
💚👍it seems that all your plants are male, all of mine are she's 😂 Great tips Thank you ✌️
Hahaha I'm so glad someone finally called me out on this! I have NO idea why but most of my herbaceous perennials and garden plants are male, but my shrubs and flowering trees are allll female 😂 I don't script my videos so that's just how it comes out haha. Hope all your 'she' plants are doing great this year!