I’m mistakenly thought monarchs were visiting my desert milkweed here in Phoenix, but you all helped me identify they were actually queen butterflies fluttering around.

After their visits, I spotted a few milky green eggs, which matured over a few days and survived some intense Phoenix storms. Today, I spotted the first caterpillar! Let’s go little buddy!!!

For reference, here’s my original post about the butterfly visits.

I should've taken photos of the market but this is everything I bought at the Grow Native Massachusetts first annual autumn plant market.

I got:

• Agastache scrophulariifolia - giant purple hyssop
• Asclepias exaltata - poke milkweed
• Asclepias tuberosa - butterfly milkweed
• Carex pensylvanica - Pennsylvania sedge
• Cirsium discolor - field thistle
• Eutrochium purpureum - sweet joe pyeweed
• Gentiana clausa - closed gentian
• Housatonia caerulea - bluets
• Liatris novae-angliae - New England blazingstar (the only liatris native to MA)
• Oenothera fruticosa - narrowleaf evening primrose/sundrops
• Polystichum acrostichoides - christmas fern
• Prunella vulgaris var. lanceolata - self heal
• Sisyrinchium angustifolium - blue eyed grass
• Solidago caesia - bluestem goldenrod
• Zizia aurea - golden alexanders
• A very cute fox cookie from a little girl selling baked goods!

It was sooo nice to see so many people out there buying native plants!! If you're near Lexington, it's going on until 3 today!

oh my god I wish I knew how to edit the title but it's Grow Native Mass

This is the fifth year of our backyard meadow, and finally, we are seeing native flowers! I simply stopped mowing sometime in ‘21, and enjoyed the tall grasses the first few years. Now the goldenrods and Frost Asters dominate. We have quite a few invasive species that I will selectively kill. Each spring I mow it once.

We enjoy the deer (including an albino doe), the swallows in late summer evenings, the fireflies, pollinators, birds hunting for seeds in the winter, and the cool air in the evenings rolling in from the forest.

Hey y’all, I’ve seen that the general recommendation for planting milkweed is to direct sow the seeds in the fall. However, the area when I’m planning to grow them is currently being solarized to kill off grass (husband and I are working on a “pollinator meadow” area of the yard

Would it be best to winter sow these guys using the milk jug/ziploc technique and transplant seedlings , direct sow them in the spring when the area is ready, or wait until next fall to direct sow?

I’m in Massachusetts and I spotted this in a zoo. Could you let me know if this is perennial and/or native plant ?

We have had freezing temps nearly every night for a couple weeks now, so I’ve transitioned into winter mode other than some late fall planting I still need to do. I was so sad when the season ended, but ended up finding fun ways to fill my time that I didn’t expect. I’ve been thrifting new pots and other structure/decorative items to make my garden look intentional in the winter time, ordered seeds for winter sowing, and set up a heated bird bath and some suet bird feeders to attract new birds (it worked!! I didn’t even realize we had downy woodpeckers and stellar jays where we live and they literally came 2 days after I set them up!!). Something that is really fun is that the native trees and plants seemed to encourage them to notice our yard!

I also want to plan out my paths this winter.

What are you focusing on to get through the cold months?

I'm a big fan of this tiny grass, danthonia spicata.

the foliage gets about ankle high.

it's a cool season grower, and established plants don't mind the current 40-70 temps, but the steady indoor temps allow them to start smoothly - they can fill plugs with just indoor light in about a month, and mid November is still fine weather for them, and tree leaves are mostly done falling by then, too

seed was collected in June, and given 60 days of cool moist stratification in the fridge. You definitely can't do this with every plant species.

Keys to gardening with this plant are that they are intolerant of taller plants, and can be smothered by leaf litter. Also it's so small I plant maybe 4 per square foot for best coverage

I'm reworking a huge section of my yard and I'm struggling to pick plants. I'd really love a database where I could search by bloom time, height, color, etc, in addition to growing conditions and native range, to help me come up with some good options for tricky areas. Does anything like that exist? What's your favorite search tool for planning/daydreaming/designing your garden?

This sedge (?) popped up in my lawn area. I’m looking to ID whether it may be native and earn a permanent spot in my native plant area

Hey all - I am in NY (6b), and I'm wondering if I anything I should or can do for this late season monarch caterpillar. Little buddy has been hanging out for two days straight on a post on my porch, and we've had cold temperatures the past two nights (down to the 40s). They visibly moved their head yesterday so I know they were alive then but have been in the same spot since Thursday. Both their head and rear are looking a little grayer than they were. They're far away from the top of the post, so if they traveled up there looking for a spot to hang from I think they took a wrong turn.

My general guideline is don't intervene for a wild animal unless absolutely necessary which is why I haven't done anything so far, but this post is right at my front door so I'm walking by multiple times a day and it's keeping the "should I try to help?" question more top of mind than it would be otherwise.

Is it worth trying to move them to a nearby milkweed? I can't tell if they're dead, in cold torpor, or potentially about to molt but taking extra long due to the low temperatures.

Thanks all!

Hi all.

Planted a few trees and just followed some vids online.

Had a question about the little roots that may be tough to see in the pictures. Am I supposed to rip them off? Online vids and guides say yes as they may choke the tree later in the future but id just like to check here. About a third of the 100 trees I planted have had roots like this come up to the surface since planting so I am curious if I should just remove them from all. Thanks

I'm excited, monarchs showed up yesterday! I didn't expect to see any until next year, since it's my first year gardening. I don't think there's many people with flower gardens around here, it's farm country. I could be wrong.

I recently bought a condo that comes with a decently sized yard. This is my first time living somewhere with one - I grew up in an apartment. Had anyone done this course? I was thinking of joining to know more about native planting and long term gardening. Would love anyone's review.

Thanks! I am in Boston, MA

Got stuck on my pant leg at a walk through a native area in New England Zone 6. Pretty small (a little smaller than a sunflower seed).

Any thoughts on ID?

Should I try covering the newly planted plugs and shrubs which haven't established yet? They're all natives. I can try draping sheets over the newest plants if that will help. Any other suggestions welcome. I'd hate to see a massacre today and tomorrow. 😥