• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

CNPS East Bay

  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Members Meetings
    • Field Trips
    • Donate
    • Membership in CNPS
    • Restoration Projects
    • Stay Connected
  • Gardening
  • Conservation & Science
    • Conservation Committee
    • East Bay Rare Plants
    • Plants of the East Bay
    • Database of Rare and Unusual Plants
    • Research Grants Program
  • Publications
    • Bay Leaf Archives
    • News Archive
    • Guidebook to Botanical Priority Protection Areas
    • Annotated checklist of the East Bay Flora
    • Resources
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Mission Statement
    • Officers & Committees
    • Press

News · July 29, 2020

Narrow-Leaf Milkweed and Una, Dos, Tres—the Monarch Trio

Last winter we purchased five one-gallon pots of narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) from CNPS East Bay’s Native Here Nursery (NHN) in Tilden Regional Park and planted a milkweed patch in our back garden. This June we found three small monarch butterfly caterpillars on the milkweed, but they had attracted a number of predatory paper wasps. We clipped the milkweed on which the caterpillars were feeding, placed it in a small vase, and put the small vase in a mesh-roofed aquarium we use to protect anise swallowtail caterpillars. We then purchased a 12 x 12 x 24-inch mesh butterfly habitat that could accommodate tall milkweed plants and moved the caterpillars into it along with several pots of milkweed that we rushed up to NHN to purchase. The young monarch caterpillars ate voraciously, spurring us to return to NHN and purchase more milkweed.

Una, Dos, or Tres. Photo by Jane Kelly.

On June 17 and 18, they pupated, forming pale green and gold chrysalises that looked like little jewel boxes. We expected the butterflies to emerge in 10-14 days, but they did not—which added to our anxiety about the health of the developing butterflies. Like so many of their species, our monarchs were vulnerable to a number of problems that could affect their survival.

Una’s chrysalis. Photo by Jane Kelly.

We spent a lot of time viewing Rich Lund’s fantastic educational videos about monarchs and were comforted by his reassurances—especially those that encouraged us to just be patient. On July 12, about 24 days after pupating, the first butterfly emerged. We called her Una before learning that she was a boy. (The male monarch butterfly has a highly visible black spot on each of its hind wings.) Dos, another male butterfly, emerged on July 13, and the female, Tres, emerged later that same day.

Una. Photo by Jane Kelly.

We were able to observe Tres emerging from her chrysalis. It happened quickly. She was very small and dark orange and black in color before settling on a plant and pumping body fluid into her wings to expand them, changing color to a lighter orange and black and preparing for flight.

Tres emerged. Photo by Jane Kelly.

We placed the butterflies on our garden plants in the sunshine and watched over them for almost four hours each until they took flight.

Dos takes off. Photo by Jane Kelly.

Our thanks to Native Here Nursery for growing Asclepias fascicularis, without which Una, Dos, and Tres would not be off on their adventures. Since we are still learning about raising monarchs and understand there is a fair bit of discussion about the plusses and minuses of rearing monarchs in home gardens, we’d be glad to hear from those with more experience who can help us understand how to best support these beautiful creatures.

— Jane and Tom Kelly
July 2020

Visit the Native Here Nursery website for availability and information about growing narrow-leaf milkweed.

Primary Sidebar

Gardening Articles

  • Little Cuttings That Cut It
  • Adding California Native Bunchgrasses to Your Garden
  • Keep Your Native Garden Alive During the Drought
  • I Can’t Wait for My Pink Flowering Currant to Bloom!
  • Online Tools to Help You Create a Native Plant Garden

Subscribe to our newsletter

Upcoming Events:

March 22, 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Online Lecture: San Bruno Mountain, A Bay Area Botanical Treasure (On-line Lecture)
March 25, 9:00 am - 11:00 am
Albany Hill Restoration Project (Albany) (Restoration Project)
April 13, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change – A 25-Year Journey (On-line Lecture)
April 15, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Bringing Back the Natives Tour: Online version (Garden Tour)
April 16, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve (Oakland) (Restoration Project)
April 29, 9:00 am - 11:00 am
Albany Hill Restoration Project (Albany) (Restoration Project)

Join CNPS

Footer

  • FacebookFacebook
  • InstagramInstagram
  • MeetupMeetup
  • YouTubeYouTube

Copyright © 2023 California Native Plant Society, East Bay Chapter — CNPS Privacy Policy