No bother, I love research and helping people. Write anytime! Asian worms, if you are sure you have them (not the same as red wigglers) are not only a threat when adults but the hidden risk are all the eggs! Adults die off but cocoons can last the winter in your soil. If you have a garden plot with worm castings created by Asian worms, I would cover that soil with plastic and heat treat it. I would not reuse any soil that has had Asian worms in it if possible. You can hand pick the worms, put them in a bag and place in the hot sun for at least 10 minutes then throw away. Same for any soil from pots where you have those worms. The best university article that I have found on the topic is this one from Cornell. Easy to understand, key info, and lots of useful suggestions: warren.cce.cornell.edu/gardening-landscape/warren-county-master-gardener-articles/invasive-asian-jumping-earthworms Hope helpful! I'm interested to know what you end up doing and if you ever have te to share, much appreciated. 😀

@@homegrownfunfamily You have NO idea of how grateful I am for this insight. I recently moved to Florida and didn't know about the devastation these worms can cause. I know that they have NO predators, so that makes it hard to combat. I tend to hand pick them and feed them to the Geckos or leave them in the sun to dry out. I just don't know if adding worms to my soil/planters will they mate and reproduce with the Asian worms or they will be attacked by them? I think they are Asian worms because their behavior, they jump when touched. They whip all over so they are hard to catch, but I don't know how to find the eggs. I'll read the article and will keep you posted. From the bottom of my heart 💕 I'm very, very grateful 🙏⚘️❤️

It so does! If I put the gourds down on their sides and just looked at them from the side it would look like a display of jicama at the grocery! Fun 😀

Tbanks, I'll show her your comment!

She's humble about how cool they are. Thanks for the compliment, will pass on - it will help boost her confidence!

I find some years heavy with monarchs and some not much. Maybe it's a cycle. Last season pests were more active than the year before.

Boost! I want to know this as well 😊

It looks perfect. Thanks for demonstrating how you did it👍🏻

I don't have to trim it height-wise. Sometimes I trim around the steps but it never creeps totally over them, not invasive.

You can edge it to trim. It doesn't take consIstent foot traffic well. However, your idea could work, will not say "no". It depends on various factors. Weeds do appear and you need to pull them. If you end up getting a bare spot you may get extra weeds. Here's something to consider (and I'm not a fan of grass): Grass has its advantages, especially for moisture and runoff control. If you get lots of rain and your land is not well draining, sedum may rot and may not flourish. If I had a tiny front yard with good grading, no neighbors adjacent, and no foot traffic, I would consider it myself. My front yard is small and gets some foot traffic. When it rains heavily, the sod absorbs the excess water and protects the sidewalk from runoff. The soil under sedum, if not really dense with sedum, could wash away or puddle. Darn grass is actually very forgiving and sometimes has its place. Having said this, it may work for you!

Thank you so much. This was very informative and it gives me a lot to think about. 🤔

Early in the season you can pinch back young stems of butterfly weed (tuberosa) and even deadhead after they bloom to maybe get another flush of flowers! 😀

Yes, I do treat them the same. Today the swamp milkweed has buds on it. I'm experimenting by pinching them off much sooner.

Thanks, learned something new. Although I read on Iowa State's Ag Ext website it is least preferred milkweed by monarchs, they'll use it as a host plant. Better than nothing! Did not know a milkweed vine exusted. I found monarchs will eat butternut squash but not sure it gives them the nutrients they need to be viable. So milkweed vine would come in handy!

My day is made 😀

I should listen to them more, thank you!

Awesome! Just tonight I read this from Univ of Michigan Extension regarding common milkweed: "The potential solution we discovered is based on common milkweed’s remarkable ability to regrow after being cut back. Under most conditions, when a common milkweed stem is cut off near ground level, in about two weeks a new shoot will appear from the roots. These new shoots are highly attractive to female monarchs, receiving two to 10 times more eggs than older stems. In addition, regrowing stems harbor fewer predators, giving young monarchs a chance to grow. In our studies, survival of eggs and young larvae was two to 2.5 times higher on regrowing stems. We have observed that older stems are important, too. As caterpillars mature, they often move from younger stems onto the older ones, so it may be that maintaining diversity in milkweed stem age is key."

Glad I could help! Good luck, appreciate the comment. 😄

Just read an article about how captive raising of monarchs isn't helping the population grow. I'm all for keeping it wild. Also, one milkweed plant isn't going to help much. Caterpillars will be attracted and then run out of food before they can complete the 5 molts. Hope you see some this summer!

The timing on this question is perfect. A few years ago I bought my first swamp milkweed plants as bare root (made sure asclepias incarnata L). They were inexpensive from Home Depot online. I purchased more last year and gave two to a dear friend. He planted them in a patio pot at his home in a retirement community. To his surprise they grew very well and he was excited to tell me all about the monarchs that visited. About a month ago we visited him and he had to use a walker to get around having just found out he was terminally ill. He wheeled over to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a bag containing a milkweed pod bursting with seeds. It was from the plant I gave him. He saw a video where someone had sprouted seed between layers of paper towels and hoped I could get them to grow. That same day at home, I drew upon my prior experiences and lined a large lettuce container with very damp paper towels and made 4 rows of seed spaced about a half inch apart. I also added seed between layers of coffee filters and tucked those into sandwich bags. All of it went into the fridge since I learned milkweed may sprout better after a bit of cold. After a few weeks I took the seed out of the fridge, taped the sandwich bags to an east-facing window and planted the other seed from the container into seed starting cells with lots of vermiculite added to finely textured potting soil. Not long after we got the devastating news of his passing. Another week went by and I lamented to my husband that I was worried they hadn't sprouted yet. Two days ago I looked closely at the bags taped to the window and the seeds had sprouted... took the top off the seed starting tray and those had sprouted too! Guess that's how you grow milkweed. 🌱 Yesterday was our friend's Celebration of Life (was supposed to be his birthday party). He had a long stint of selfless service to his country, family, and community, including an archery club for kids (our connection). I brought one of the bags with sprouted seeds as a tiny tribute. Today would have been his 87th birthday. This past winter I said I have no room left in my backyard for more milkweed...but will make room now. This would make a great video. However, the best content from my life usually doesn't make it to KZbin. In this day and age that is a peculiar thing. Thanks for the suggestion!

Excellent, glad helpful! After I made this video I took cuttings that I was trying to root outside and transferred to vermiculite and they rooted well. Good luck!

That's awesome...fun family experience!!!

@@homegrownfunfamily it was quite fun! We are in the Midwest so we didn't get to see the FULL eclipse but we got to see it cover half of the sun and it was cool!

Addition tip I just learned this week. If you want your starter to be extra active, use less to do a feeding of a 1:3:3 ratio by weight. 1 part starter, 1 part unbleached all purpose flour (I used organic), and 1 part filtered water (warm). My starter is forming a great gluten structure. You could even go up to 1:5:5 and use as little as 10 grams starter.

I use vermiculite to create hypertufa sculpture because it retains moisture and can be formed smooth. Don't believe people or posts that say perlite (the white little pellets in potting soil) absorbs water. Perlite is for drainage. Good luck with all your projects!