
Butterfly Weed?
Based on the surrounding coco coir, I’m assuming I planted it. But it looks so much bigger than my other butterfly weed seedlings that I am suspicious 😂

Based on the surrounding coco coir, I’m assuming I planted it. But it looks so much bigger than my other butterfly weed seedlings that I am suspicious 😂
Just saw a massive bumblebee crawling around in my garden. I’m no good at estimating sizes but I would say she’s about an inch. Is she a queen? I’m used to carpenter bees this large but not bumblebees. (Please forgive my dirty nails; I was planting some native violets I’d cribbed from a ditch)
I thought when I had harvested common milkweed seeds from a spot near my house that I would easily be able to grow my own milkweed plants. After all, this strain has proven itself able to thrive in conditions like those found in my yard. Except, after I had transplanted my seedlings (which had been hardened off), they quickly flopped over, turned yellow, and lost their leaves. Strangely enough, however, my Asclepias incarnata and Asclepias tuberosa seedlings seem to be doing just fine in my beds. This is extra odd considering I was worried about the butterfly weed thriving in my clay soil (I did however, per some advice I found on this subreddit, plant them in a drier spot in my yard). I would say it might be transplant stress but I am curious why I am not having similar experiences with my other Asclepias species, especially given that common milkweed is supposed to be the easy one to cultivate. Has anyone else experienced something similar?