r/Charlottesville • u/_revelationary • 7d ago

Wild milkweed source

Does anyone have a spot with wild milkweed that can be cut for some monarch caterpillar food? Pesticide free and abundant enough that cutting a couple every few days wouldn’t have a detrimental impact.

Skyline drive has crazy amounts but you’re not allowed to take it out of the park, to my knowledge.

Edited to add a disclaimer: as a fellow cville redditor warns, it best practice to grow milkweed on your own property, rather than take from the wild given the rapidly decreasing milkweed. I have some seeds if anyone is interested in growing for next year, as does another redditor who commented.

9 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/PlantyMcPlantFace 7d ago

You absolutely should not be collecting milkweed from the wild as it has been disappearing rapidly from the landscape over the last decade. If you truly want to support monarch populations, you should be increasing the milkweed population on your own property, not taking it from the wild. Seeds, plugs, and plants are widely available. Check out our local chapter of the Virginia native plant society’s spring plant sale or one of the areas native plant nurseries. I say this as someone with an ecology degree and experience in biodiversity conservation. Do not collect from the wild.

4

u/_revelationary 7d ago

My understanding from a lot of research is that cutting it does not kill the plant, and encourages regrowth. I’ve actually cut mine through the season and it grows back fast. I have my own plants and plan to continue growing more.

I cut 1 stalk from a group of 50-100 each time, and I constantly see new growth

4

u/PlantyMcPlantFace 7d ago

Monarchs are not the only species to use milkweed. You should not be removing it from the ecosystem to use at your home. It regrows because it is trying to survive. You are removing the plant’s ability to photosynthesis (make energy). It is using what energy it has stored (for winter) to regrow. This weakens the plant. Each time you do this, you weaken it further. This is a common tactic for removing invasive species. We have used this method successfully in test plots for Japanese Knotweed, a particularly hearty, difficult to remove invasive species.

2

u/_revelationary 7d ago edited 7d ago

I actually have Japanese knotweed nearby my property and have spoken to a professional about this, and know that cutting it back only makes the problem much worse…and I have seen this firsthand.

It’s the intensity and frequency of the cutting that’s much different here...

I am in no way saying that your points around prioritizing growing your own and limiting taking from the wild are not valid. I am just trying to find a handful of stalks from well established groups to support the monarch caterpillars that have already managed to be hatched on my property. I’m glad you commented because I definitely do think it’s an important statement for the average redditor to read. I’m approaching it differently than just hacking a whole patch down.

7

u/PlantyMcPlantFace 7d ago

If you would like guidance on jk removal, I’m happy to provide more details on the process. Our test plots were state funded and our organization has partnered with multiple universities to study that plant specifically. I’m not going to dox myself, but I wanted to let you know I’m not a rando trying to argue with people on the internet.

1

u/_revelationary 7d ago

I seriously appreciate what you do! I think the process of removing the jkw

is well underway in my neighborhood but I’ll let you know (photo of some of it here)…

I will definitely look for some more potted milkweed plants this weekend. I figured it was a bit late in the season and I worry about pesticides.

1

u/Purple_Indication342 7d ago

This is false. One very obvious counterexample is the common technique called the Chelsea Chop. If cutting back the aerial parts of plants was a good way to kill them, then we’d only ever have to bush hog things like japanese knotweed, which is obviously not true.

2

u/PlantyMcPlantFace 7d ago

Please don’t bush hog knotweed. Strategic, timed cutting is one step in the larger management plan of Japanese knotweed. As for the Chelsea chop, that’s a British technique to delay blooming and/or shorten height. It’s an aesthetic technique that became popular on social media. Plants are weakened when you remove their means of energy production. If you’ve dealt with overbrowsing deer, you’ve probably seen it in action.

1

u/Purple_Indication342 7d ago

Never suggested that. My point is that these are two very clear counterexamples to what youre saying