u/sugar_plum_fairies

These guys are so cute and adorable and SO tiny!

But, are they friend or foe?

Got my first caterpillar on my common milkweed! I had given up since the flowers stopped blooming weeks ago.

I am so excited!

I added pictures of my small butterfly garden. My milkweed has seedpods on it, and I don't want them to over take this whole spot. Nor do I want them spreading outside the area.

I would like to try putting some milkweed in large bins and place a couple in the yard for next year. We have a couple bins that are a foot or two across that we have succesfully used for vegetables in the past.

Should I pluck the seedpods? Give them away and save a couple to container plant them? Let them go natutally?

My ultimate hope is to add a big beautiful butterfly garden to the front yard, but we are a few years away from that (beed to do a major front steps/porch redo).

Any advice?

Sorry for all the multiple posts over the last few days, just trying to learn (and remember) everything I can.

I googled these and it comes back with Great black wasp and red tail spider wasp. Both of them look like something I want to stay far far away from. But sounds like they are solitary wasps and if I leave them alone they leave me alone. Should I be concerned about them in my milkweed?

The red bug, (milkweed bug?), I have never seen before, are they good to leave alone or should I try to discourage them?

This toad is freaking huge! I have a ton of bugs, mostly ants, all over my milkweed. Should I let the toad help eat them? Keep him away if I can?

Aarrgh!!! I am SO excited!!!! This is my 3rd year with this butterfly garden and as we have seen a few butterflies flying around- like 3 in the last 3 years- I have a visitor!!!!

I posted a couple days ago about my milkweed, I have not had good luck with it growing, I have tried for 6+ years!

I am so excited!!!

I planted a butterfly garden a couple years ago and the plants established and looked really good. Last year I threw in some common milkweed seeds in the bare middle, and never gave it another thought.

This picture is a couple weeks old and the milkweed is already 4-6 inched taller and starting to bloom (and wow! Does it smell good!).

However, I am worried about my other plants that they might get choked out. My goal is to fill in this flowerbed, but I don't know if I should try to thin out the area?

Should I leave it as is, or would you put milkweed in one flower bed and my other plants in another? (Keeping them close to each other, but separating them so they don't get choked out).

In this one flower bed I have

Cone flowers (white and wild berry)

Blazing stars

Dahlia

Meadow sage

Galliradia

Butterfly milkweed

Common milkweed

Bee balm

Am I over thinking this and all will be fine?