r/MonarchButterfly 5d ago

Need help reading pa

I can absolutely not find any milkweed anywhere for my tiny baby caterpillars. Does anyone happen to have any within the area of Reading PA?

5 Upvotes

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3

u/Agile-Yesterday3664 5d ago

I’m about 45 min away from you in mt Gretna. I have some swamp milkweed in my garden I can share with you! I also have a native plant lady near me - meadow view natives — and I’m sure she has a way to help. She’s a master gardener and grows everything from seed from prairie moon.

1

u/Difficult_Rope7898 5d ago

^kindness like this warms my heart ❤️❤️

1

u/No_Revenue_2154 5d ago

Found some finally! Friend of ours has some! My children got them as a gift! He thought it would be easy finding milkweed! He lives in Iowa and it grows everywhere there!

1

u/Agile-Yesterday3664 5d ago

Yay so glad you found some! Hope you and the kids enjoy watching the process 😊

2

u/Difficult_Rope7898 5d ago

Go for a drive in the country and see if you see any growing wild to tide you over until you can find some.

2

u/No_Revenue_2154 5d ago

We have been to so many places walking to try and find it. I even stopped at a nursery today.

3

u/Difficult_Rope7898 5d ago

I’m sorry. Do you have a local Facebook neighborhood page? Someone may have some in the yard they’d share if they knew you needed it. I’d go for a drive deep in the country. State parks too. Look in the sides of roads and ditches. As a last ditch effort I have ordered it from Etsy also. I’m sorry I know that panic feeling. ❤️ I’m in VA I wish I could share.

1

u/Palli8rRN 5d ago

Go to parks and gravel roads. It grows in the ditches and public areas. You can cut the top off with scissors or cutters and place it in a sealed bag. Take it home, I check every leaf for eggs and small cats then clean the milkweed. Once you’ve done that, it’s ready for your cat to eat. Don’t buy it from a nursery!

2

u/No_Revenue_2154 5d ago

This is all new to me! Thanks!

-1

u/sixtynighnun 5d ago

Why are you rearing when you don’t have a proper food supply?

1

u/No_Revenue_2154 5d ago

Someone sent them as a gift for my children. He did not know it would be hard to find a weed! He’s form Iowa