Podcast Episode 20

Grow Milkweed Plants Podcast
Episode 20
California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly

49º Latitude marks the start of the Fall migration

Use this image to determine when you are most likely to observe the peak migration thru your location. Latitude 49º between Washington state and Minnesota is over 2,000 miles. To the East the monarch butterflies will fly over or around the Great Lakes on their journey South to Mexico. Check out the interesting behavior of the migrating monarchs stopping on the shore of Lake Erie near Cleveland, OH. Monarch Migration News: September 17, 2015
By Elizabeth Howard

California Pipevine Swallowtail Project

First, take a moment now to read this article by VOX - How one man repopulated a rare butterfly species in his backyard.

Second, follow Tim Wong on Instagram along with thousands of others @timtast1c

The number of California pipevine swallowtail butterflies has been declining over the years. The host plant for the California pipevine swallowtail butterfly(Battus philenor hirsuta) is the California pipevine (Aristolochia californica) Endemic to California the butterfly and the plant depend on each other for their survival, similar to the monarch butterfly and it's relationship to the milkweed plant.

Learn more about the california pipevine in the facebook group California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly Project

A photo posted by Grow Milkweed Plants (@growmilkweedplants) on Jul 14, 2016 at 9:00am PDT

Here is the chrysalis of a California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly that selected a location on the side of a parking pole. In the podcast I mentioned that the color of the chrysalis was brown and blended in with the leaves. This is true! In fact there were two chrysalises on two parking poles. The brown one was simply to camouflaged for me to get a good photograph. Click on the image to expand it into a lightbox.

California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly Chrysalis

Growing and enjoying milkweed in my own garden is rewarding. Attracting and supporting monarch butterflies is not only easy but its becoming very popular across North America. Both public and private gardens are embracing the many types of native milkweeds that can be found across the country.

Showy milkweed seedlings are now growing in the San Francisco Botanic Gardens!

A photo posted by Grow Milkweed Plants (@growmilkweedplants) on Aug 8, 2016 at 12:16pm PDT

Bug walk in Newport Beach

A short walk across any garden can be educational. While walking with my neice we saw the following animals.

Local Milkweed Report 8/20/16

On May 27, 2016 the first monarch of the season was seen laying eggs on Asclepias fascicularis. The milkweed plants in The Biggest Little Butterfly Garden In The World were already ready for her arrival. It took a few more weeks before I found eggs on the milkweed in my garden.

By August 3, 2016 the first monarch butterfly took flight from The Biggest Little Butterfly Garden In The World. Wahoo! Eight monarchs have been released by the time of this update.

In addition to the released monarchs there are nearly twenty caterpillars that are eating milkweed and growing daily. Below is a short video of one of the caterpillars eating tropical milkweed. I use many tropical milkweed plants as caterpillar food while I increase the native milkweed habitat in The Biggest Little Butterfly Garden In The World.