Is milkweed necessary

12 years ago

I live in Florida in Zone 9 and planted a butterfly garden in an area of my yard this past spring. I have pentas and lantana and salvia. The butterflies are all over them. I also planted milkweed, the common kind you get at the big box store. They are constantly covered with aphids and the leaves are always falling off.

Do I really need them? What else could I plant in their place. I tried spraying the aphids with soap & water first and then neem oil, but they come right back and I'm sick of it already.

Thanks.

Julie

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Comments (5)

butterflymomok
12 years ago
Julie,

If you are just wanting to attract butterflies to your yard for nectar, you don't need milkweed. Most of us that grow milkweed do so for the Monarchs. This is the host plant on which they lay eggs and the caterpillars feed. It does attract other butterflies, in particular the Tropical Milkweed or Asclepias curassavica. But, if you don't want to deal with the aphids, etc, don't plant it. You will still have butterfly visitors.

Sandy
docmom_gw
12 years ago
I agree with Sandy. If you want to have some host plants for butterflies, you could grow dill, fennel, parsley, or rue for the Black Swallowtails. These have relatively few pests.

Martha
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terrene
12 years ago
Asclepias species seem to be fantastic plants for insects - attracting all kinds. However, because I raise Monarchs I patrol the Milkweed regularly from early on in the season, and ANY and ALL bugs get squished or ousted. This includes Slugs, oleander aphids, ants, Earwigs, beetles, spiders, hoppers, etc. Feel bad about the spiders, but they are predators of my precious Monarch larvae! Controlling the insects requires some diligence, and is not very feasible with a large patch and you can't be perfect, but it's not too difficult on small patches.

Aphids are actually not that difficult to control organically and without sprays, as long as you get them early. For aphids, I just check the growing tips closely, and gently rub them out before they get a chance to colonize.
texasmonarch
12 years ago
Don't use pesticides and let lady bugs work the plants.
Hand squish any non monarch insects especially aphids and assassin bugs.

Milkweed is required host plant for monarch butterfly.

If plants get heavily infested with aphids, check for caterpillars, move to other plants and trim milkweed back to encourage new growth.
ericwi
12 years ago
One way to control aphids on milkweed is to simply cut off the infested section of plant, and immerse the whole piece in a bucket of warm soapy water. This quickly kills the aphids, and the plant will generally grow back in a month or so. For this to work, you have to catch the infestation early, before the aphids have a chance to cover the entire plant.