This year, everything is late coming back. I usually have swamp milkweed coming up by now. I do have some potted swamp milkweed on my patio that has overwintered and is sprouting. But nothing in the garden has begun to grow yet. It's late, but spring is late this year. And by this time last year, I had seen my first Monarch. I'll be surprised to see them before the end of April.

Sandy

Thankyou Sherry and Sandy! I have been wondering if I should just count mine dead or pull them up.

Last year was my first year with milkweeds so I have no idea if these overwinter well here.
My inground A.Physocarpa, A.Incarnata, and A. Curassavica have yet to make an appearance.

But my A.Incarnata in pots are starting to bud along the base and the stem!!!!

Sherry, my monarchs loved the tropical milkweed AND the a.physocarpa... ALOT! I hope swan milkweed comes back. I had to relocate caterpillars when they ran out of it.

I'll keep waiting. Hope some of them come back.

Nel

I've never had milkweed and I was wondering the same thing, I started seeds this year from my plant last year so either way I will have milkweed if that doesn't come back ;)

That will be great for the cats, as I read on this forum that Monarchs lay on young plants.

Is it possible that A. Curassavica would live through a freeze. I know we had a couple of days that hit the high 20's this past winter, and although most of the leaves fell off the plants never died. I actually cut them back a few weeks ago to keep them from being too leggy.

What about the milkweed at Lowes{{gwi:807}}, they're labeled as A. Tuberosa but look like Tropical. Has anyone seen them that can give a good idea of what type they are?

This post was edited by rickinla on Fri, Apr 12, 13 at 22:45

Nel, I don't know where you are, but if you're anywhere in the east, you've had a colder than normal spring, so yours might come back up yet. I raise mine in raised beds in my garden, because where I live, the constant wetness in winter kills more overwintering plants than cold. I couldn't even grow butterfly bush successfully until I put them in raised beds.
A friend sent me some seeds, including A. physocarpa. I planted them in one of those little 6-packs, and, hopefully they'll come up and thrive. I've tried growing this plant before, and it croaked after a big rain. So, I'll plant these in raised beds, and, also up by the main road where the ground is very well drained. A. physocarpa is a plant that really likes arid conditions, which I don't have here.

Rick, I haven't seen the A. tuberosa in Lowe's, but it's probably A. curassavica. It COULD be A. tuberosa though - got a picture?

Sherry

A. tuberosa has thicker leaves and light orange flowers. It is also more cold tolerant than Tropical Milkweed.

I don't have pictures but the flowers are yellow like the 1 that was id'd as a.curassavica on this site last fall. Last fall they they had the yellow one and a red and yellow one, and both were labelled as a.tuberosa.

In a mild winter I have had curassavica come back. Only one out of about 8 plants, but it has happened, so yes, possible. I wouldn't count on it though.

~Laura

I know a local nursery that has Asclepias curassavica and puts on signs/labels Asclepias tuberosa. I tried to tell them what it is, but they still do this. In this area, A. tuberosa will not survive in our climate, yet every once in a while a list is published or given out, suggesting A. tuberosa as a regional plant for butterflies. I have no idea who makes up those lists...smacks of ignorance. I use A. curassavica, as well as A. texana and A. asperula. Those last two I grow from seed, the A. curassavica by seeds and cuttings.

Curassavica comes in both red/yellow and its yellow cultivar. It has a shallow root system and is easily transplanted. Tuberosa is more orange (except Hello Yellow) and has a long thick tap root. Doesn't take kindly to transplanting.
Tuberosa also has more texture to its leaves.

Most of us have experienced a cold spring this year so I'd give your in ground milkweed extra time to show before reworking the bed. My swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) is showing growth on some plantings and other plants nearby have yet to show nubbins poking through the soil. Common Milkweed I grow in a big pot is just now showing new growth, yet, in prior seasons, it would be first up and showing 12-14 inches by now. Best rule of thumb is to allow plenty of time for variences in soil temps and individual plants.

If you have hot, dry conditions, then consider trying butterfly weed (A. tuberosa). Once established, the plant can take droughts and even some cutting. It is the least favored by monarch caterpillars, though, because it has very little toxin in its roughly textured leaves, but other butterflies and adult monarchs LOVE it as a nectar source. In my experience, it is the longest blooming of the perennial milkweeds. The colors are various shades of orange plus a newer color called "Hello Yellow". They can bloom the first year but it is commonly expected they will not bloom until the second season of growth. As Leafhead mentioned, it also doesn't transplant well, due to the deep taproot it develops. Plants can be started by rooting cuttings, though the cuttings can take a while to develop roots. In my area, it grows in the wild and is commonly known as butterfly weed.

Butterfly Weed (A. tuberosa)

{{gwi:461426}}

Tropical milkweed or bloodflower (A. curassavica) is generally grown as an annual in most parts of the US and is not native to the US. It is easily started by seed (the seed requires no cold moist stratification as do so many of the perennial Milk Weeds) and the Monarch mama's favor it as a host plant. The leaves are smooth and delicate, easily eaten by the tiny cats and the leaves and stems contain high amounts of the toxin the cats and butterflies need to help them survive predators. Colors are the orange/yellow or yellow. There is a new variety known as silky red and the orange color of the bi colored blooms tends toward a very dark red orange. The color difference is very striking when grown next to the older orange/yellow variety. In my limited experience, this new color MW also seems to be a very strong grower. This milkweed is also easily increased by taking cuttings and rooting them in water or damp rooting medium.

Once A. curassavica begins blooming, it will continue to put on blooms until a fall frost kills it.

Topical Milkweed (A. curassavica)

{{gwi:461427}}

As you can see, blooms on both Milkweed plants are strikingly similar.

Mary

Such pretty pictures, Mary!

I ordered some seeds and plugs from a new (to me) nusery - 'must be somewhere in the midwest, because they advertise prairie plants mostly. I ordered some purple milkweed plugs. They say it can grow in a wider variety of situations than other native MWs, so I thought I'd give it a try. The flowers are SO beautiful, and, if they're like every other milkweed, butterflies will like to nectar on them.

I also ordered some seeds for Scutellaria latifolia, a type of skull cap that grows here off and on. The flowers are beautiful!

Also, some prairie phlox/P. pilosa, which, oddly, grows on dry roadsides here. I've got dry areas of the meadow where it should do. This is a plant that blooms early every year, and the flower color is variable between pink, purple and blue - 'love it!

' Also ordered evening primrose seeds/P. biennis, which I've been looking for forever and couldn't find.

Sherry

New research published in 2014 cautions against Tropical Milkweed / Asclepias curassavica; in some areas it does not die back and can harbor the OE parasite which is lethal to Monarchs. See article about Dara Satterfield's research: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/15/how-well-intentioned-americans-trying-to-save-monarch-butterflies-may-actually-be-destroying-them/
If you live in a region of the US where Tropical Milkweed / A. Curassavica does not die back, there are two options: cut it back to no more than 6 inches high throughout the fall and winter, or better yet, go with Milkweed species that are native to your area. In Texas choose from these natives:

Antelope Horns / A. asperula; Green Milkweed / A. viridis; Butterfly Weed / A. tuberosa; Whorled Milkweed / A. verticillata; Texas Milkweed / A. texana; Swamp Milkweed / Pink
Milkweed / A. incarnate; Showy
Milkweek / A. speciosa and hybrid
Common Milkweed / A. syriaca

There is a yellow form of Tuberosa called 'Hello Yellow'.

My tropical I overwintered in my garage as it isn't reliably coming back here in pots. I cut it all back to prevent OE...which is the controversy of Tropical.(lost my first round of monarchs in 2014 to OE)

My tropical pots look great & are flowering already here. Ready to see the monarchs & queens but it has been a very rainy & cool spring for us(desperately needed lots of rain since we have been in Extreme Drought for 3-4 years here)!

I'm in 8a here in North Texas & have Common milkweed that is coming up in my pots I started last year from seeds, just bought a plant of Swamp & Whorled from a local grower here in North Texas. I have plants of Texas Milkweed (A.texana) I started from seeds last year as well as seedlings of Texas, Side Cluster Milkweed(A. oenotheroides), Swamp & Wand Milkweed(A.viridiflora). Lost my Swan milkweed but trying to start seeds again this year.

A friend & I went out recently & dug up(with a deep "sharp shooter" shovel) local milkweeds of antelope horns(A. asperula) & Green milkweed(A. viridis) that grow here. I have seeds of both but they are several years old. We are both doing our best to be ready for monarch babies!

Happy Butterfly Gardening,

Lila

I was in the garden today and counted 5 monarch cats on my orange butterfly weed. James

Oh, this is wonderful news. What area do you live in?

Mary