Swamp Milkweed leaves turning purple

10 years ago

Any ideas why these milkweeds' leaves' edges are turning purple? (I think all of them are doing it to some extent, although the picture below is a Cinderella I think.) there is purple spotting also. The plants seem healthy otherwise, although the leaves do look a bit narrow. Budding is starting to happen on some of these.

They are in full sun in a rain garden in zone 7b. The garden floods when it rains but the water is absorbed less than a day later. I do not fertilize. And no aphids yet, although I'm sure they're coming.

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Comments (5)

User
10 years ago
Mine always do that. I figured it was either a "too cold at night" or a "too dry" issue. Either that or that's what it always does. It never has any long term effects except that those lower leaves fall off.
docmom_gw
10 years ago
I wouldn't worry about that.
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pckenyon77
10 years ago
It's a fungal disease for which there is no cure. I've had to deal with it for 3 years now and I finally got rid of all my Swamp Milkweed. Doesn't seem to affect my Prairie Milkweed so I'm switching over.
peggydarling
7 years ago
I disagree with pckenyon. I have the same issue for my swamp milkweeds that are planted in full, all day sun. I found this on wildflower.org: "The leaves on plants exposed to full sun are often purplish toward the end of the growing season." This is true for my gardens. My swamp milkweed leaves in shadier areas stay green.
HU-925800326
4 years ago
Mine are turning purple now, mid mid-June, so not the end of the season… theyre just about to flower (upstate NY.) Also losing plants to Milkweed Weevil.