Milkweed & Monarchs

This just might be a picture of one of the last Monarch butterflies that arrived @ Hutchinson Community College's DEMO garden in mid October. The colorful plant is a tropical variety of milkweed called Asclepias curassavica or Scarlet Milkweed TROPICAL SUNSET. An annual in our zone, this flower's seed can be purchased online for a reasonable price. Serious gardeners are trying to plant varieties that attract multiple types of butterflies. This is one.

This butterfly is a Swallowtail enjoying the tiny petunias planted in a master gardener's home container. This prolific bloomer is a trailing petunia called Calibrachoa, also commonly called million bells. It is not winter hardy here in Kansas so is grown as an annual. It comes in a large range of colors and works very well in containers or hanging baskets. It can even be used as groundcover in smaller garden plots. Photos submitted by bcrockford.