Hi Nicholas,

So glad you asked this! I'm finding that tropical milkweed is not so great as a nectar plant. Has that been your experience too? This is my first year planting it and I have not seen any butterflies nectaring on it.

Since you are on the West Coast, your native plants are different from mine. Around here, I find that the swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) really draws them in when it is flowering. I also saw quite a few butterflies drinking from butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) a few weeks ago. I will be very interested to hear feedback from other members.
Liz

I agree I've only seen monarchs sip nectar from tropical milkweed.

Nicholas

In my yard, the biggest milkweed nectar attractant is the Tropical (A. curassavica). Other insects (bees in particular) seem to like the A. physocarpa.

~Laura

Here in the Midwest it's A. incarnata, which also has more curb appeal than Common Milkweed. It does need a lot of water and likes a cold winter.
You may want to research Milkweeds native to the West Coast to augment your A. curassavica.

In summer it's incarnata in Minnesota

In late summer, when they are about to migrate, hands down its tropical....it's the only choice they have left :)

some nectar on common, but I wouldn't say it's a popular nectar plant from what I've seen.

This post was edited by coolbutterfly on Tue, Sep 10, 13 at 21:25