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I was walking my butterfly garden this morning and noticed 2 rows of white, oblong shaped eggs. They are on a dense butterfly bush, which I believe are not host plants for the butterflies I have seen in the garden. They look like Braconid Wasp eggs, but I am not getting a lot of info from Google when I do an image search. I don’t want to remove beneficial insect eggs, but if they are pest eggs I would love to get ahead of the game and get rid of them. Any advice from the community? Thanks!

Currently have regrowth on my Swan plant but very late in the season where I am (New Zealand) so unlikely to get eaten by new caterpillars.

Wondering if anyone has tried preserving the leaves for the next season? Wondering about pressed into ice trays as swan plant ice blocks, or dehydrating then powdering and turning into a wet mush for next season?

Any other ideas to help my next seasons monarch butterflies would be super!

I am by St Louis and we have clay soil. I am designing a butterfly garden. Will milkweed, butterfly bushes, etc survive with clay soil? If not then I am thinking of doing some raised garden beds for the plants. Thank you!

Hey! So I work at a children’s museum and we have this area with a dome for a butterfly garden but it has been dead and unused for quite awhile now. I have just been put in charge of bringing it back to life and I’m really excited to make it into a cool area for the museum. I love raising plants but I mostly have houseplants and am not too familiar with outside gardening. Does anyone have tips on how to make this butterfly garden a real butterfly garden? I’m currently researching stuff like what kind of plants do I need, should I do it in pots or in the ground, do I need to do anything special, and stuff like that. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!!

I built a monarch garden for my 3 year old. And she absolutely loves it and we get a lot of caterpillars on our milk weeds. But we tend to get a lot of cane toads at night. And I seem to notice a lot of the caterpillars disappear. I know it’s possible they went off to pupate. But I’ve never found any cocoons. Do cane toads eat the caterpillars and if so any good methods or suggestions for getting rid of them?

I found this cocoon on the wall of my ground floor, the location is protected of strong winds but there is a possibility some bug might eat up/disturb the cocoon. I’m not sure if it can/should be done but I kind of want to bring it indoors to check on it’s progress and make sure it’s safe. It’d be an amazing experience but I won’t do it if it’s not safe for the cocoon. Apparently, it’s a common jay cocoon and I have seen many in my garden. I was hunting for eggs a few days ago so I could raise them and I surprisingly found it today.

I found this butterfy with bent wing cant fly, thought ill try to save it. Bent wing, torn wing and food??

Located in Wisconsin, is this tropical milkweed? If it is I assume I should destroy it, if it’s not what is it?

Posting for a friend!

My friend is in Nebraska, zone 5b. She’s been finding that her most mature chrysalises are disappearing from the yard and she is trying to figure out what is taking them. Over the last week 2-4 have disappeared each night. Dealt with wasps and stinkbugs in the past, but both are under control and left remnants behind. It seems whatever is happening now is completely removing the chrysalises and sometimes the leaves they are on as well.

There are some rabbits living under her deck, but they haven’t previously done this. She noted a suspicious looking cardinal that’s been lurking but not sure if they are the culprit.

Any idea what could be stealing the chrysalises? Any ideas/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

hi friends ! i am currently a mom to about a dozen monarch caterpillars that are in their 4th instar and i’m running out of milkweed ! i was able to find some tropic milkweed for now but i have seen different opinions on wether they are good for the caterpillar bc they host parasites. is there anyway to make sure they are safe for my caterpillars? or is there any alternative food i can give them

It’s currently on the underside of a leaf inside a butterfly cage with about 4-5 other very hungry caterpillars….is it safe to leave it or should I remove the leaf?

Hi, one of my purple milkweed plants does not look well. Does anyone know how to help it out? It is in partial sunlight and I water it once/week on average. Does it need more fertilizer? Or perhaps something else?

Looking to plant milkweed specifically for some butters. How long does it take for it to grow? Should I start it in a pot or the ground? Any tips? What other plants are good for butter specific attraction?

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My area is pitifully developed and there are just no plants at all besides a few medium sized trees and bushes. Been planting as many flowers as i can but i'd like to get more variety and stuff pollinators and butters really want. My local stores dont have milkweed plants.