Date: 06/24/2015

Number: 1

I purchased one milkweed native to S. Africa (Gomphocarpus physocarpus, Balloon Plant Milkweed) back in March and it came with a caterpillar which became a Monarch butterfly. We released it and I was then hooked on Monarchs. I planted the plant which looked ragged but it became a nice, almost 4′ bush. On 6/23/15 I doused it with an enviro friendly insecticide because it was infested with aphids. However since the aphids were not affected, the next day I started spraying the plant with 2tsp soap to 16oz water. To my horror I saw a tiny caterpillar so I stopped. I then checked every leaf which looked like it was chewed and rescued about 5 tiny cats. I placed them on a plate inside the house with milkweed leaves. I continued “soaping” the plant and after an hour I hosed off the entire plant using my hand to support every branch. 15 minutes later I put the cats back on the plant. I noticed several tiny eggs so I will not spray the bush anymore but instead, once a day, I use a cotton swab to rub off the aphids. It works well and the aphids are under control. There are still some on the plant but not as many as before which must have been in the hundreds. I am amazed to have at least 15 cats now on the plant. I have never seen a Monarch butterfly in my neighborhood before so this is truly special. I will continue to plant more milkweeds primarily native ones. My goal is to establish plants that will help pollinators in general but right now I am focused on Monarchs just because of all the cats on my one plant.

San Diego, CA

Latitude: 32.7 Longitude: -117.2

Observed by: Marie
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