Kids’ garden project: Bring in the monarchs!

Project shared by the team at Go Gardening

If you want to entice lots of butterflies into your garden this year try growing their favourite food – swan plants! You’ll need plenty, so here are some tips for growing them from seed.

Butterflies need food for energy but the caterpillar is the really hungry stage. Caterpillars literally live to eat – and eat, and eat! The swan plant is a favourite food for monarch caterpillars, so it’s the perfect plant for attracting them around your place.

But beware: Swan plants are poisonous. Don’t eat them unless you are a caterpillar!

If you want to plant lots of swan plants (and you need plenty!), try growing them from seed. In most places it’s not warm enough to plant little swan plants outdoors until about November. But spring is the perfect time to start growing them indoors, ready to plant out later.

Swan plants from seed

1. Fill a seed tray (or recycled seedling punnets) with Black Magic Seed Raising mix.
2. Scatter the seeds over the mix and then sprinkle a fine layer of seed-raising mix over the top.
3. Place them in a warm place indoors.
4. Keep the mix moist as you watch your seedlings grow (hint: keep a mist spray water bottle handy).
5. When your seedlings are big enough to handle, plant them into bigger pots, or outside if it’s warm enough.
6. Feed them with liquid fertiliser to help them grow fast and strong.

Hints:

1. Too many caterpillars on a small plant can destroy it before it gets a chance to grow big! You might need to remove some of the eggs until the plants are big and strong.
2. Sow more seeds every few weeks so that you’ll have plenty of food for the hungry caterpillars through until autumn.
3. Monarch butterflies aren’t the only creatures that like to feed on swan plants. Protect your seedlings from slugs and snails, which come out at night. Also look out for tiny yellow aphids and squash them with your fingers.

Fun idea – create a viewing enclosure

Try making a viewing enclosure out of a box. Cut out side windows and cover them with netting. Hopefully the pupae (chrysalis) will attach themselves to the roof of your enclosure. Make sure you let the butterflies escape when they emerge from their pupae. The bigger your enclosure, the more plants you can fit in it and the more butterflies you will get.

Did you know: Caterpillars are eating machines! As they grow they have to change their skins a few times before they are big enough to pupate (go into their chrysalis).

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