A place to give, get and share info about milkweeds for butterflies, especially Monarchs.

I am starting a garden this year dedicated to Milkweeds that will grow in my zone 6. I have some I've purchased from NARGS and some coming that I am getting in trades. I will be winter sowing most of mine.

I would love to hear about what you grow and any info you can share.

These are the seeds I have so far
Swamp milkweed from a white parent
Variegata
Curassavica silky red and silky gold
Hallii
Sullivantii
Viridis
Speciosa
Purpurascens
Syriaca
Incarnata 'Cinderella
Incarnata Red milkweed

There are still quite a few more I'd like to have.

Hi luvs!!
I've grown these:
syriaca for many years. It is a thug, so beware. Fragrant though, and loads of bloom.
Incarnata, Swamp, white flowering, has twice now only lived for 2-3 years, then sudden death. Two locations but both on the moist cooler side of the house.
curassavica, Tropical, does well here in my warmest beds, and also self sowed a bit from there this spring- only been growing this about two years.

@luvsgrtdanes

I would trade some of what seed I have for some Purple. Are you sure they are Purple?

What I have: T - Tender in my zone 5B

Tropical MW – (A. curassavica) -Regular - T
Tropical MW – (A. curassavica) Silky Gold – T
Butterfly weed MW – (A. tuberosa)
Swamp MW - (A. incarnata)
Swamp MW - (A. incarnata) – Mixed pink and white (Milkmaid/Ice Ballet)
Woodson Swamp - (A. incarnata ssp pulchra)
Common MW - (A. syriaca)
Whorled MW – (A. verticillata) – Extremely limited
Green Milkweed – (A. viridiflora) – Extremely limited
Climbing MW – Honey Vine (Cynanchum laeve)
Giant Swan MW – (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) - T
Blue Milkweed - (Tweedia caerulea ) - T Extremely limited

@DavidLMO I would definitely be interested in trading. I got the purple from a reliable source but I haven't grown them yet but have no reason to think they aren't purple. I will send you a tree mail in the morning.

Hi Sally thanks for the info. I will keep the syriaca being a thug in mind. I have a big tub I may be able to plant it in.

Here's what I think I remember that I have:

Tropical MW – (A. curassavica) -Regular
Tropical MW – (A. curassavica) Silky Gold
Butterfly weed MW – (A. tuberosa)
Swamp MW - (A. incarnata)
Common MW - (A. syriaca)
NOID MW - (A. NOID) from a reliable source, of course 🤠

Have plenty. Would love to share.

luvs, the syriaca makes deep fat rhizomes? roots that want to wander, You can probably have a nice clump in the tub, but may want to have something along with it, as the syriaca gets tall and stems might get bare later in summer. It doesn't so much choke anything out as come up in all kinds of far flung places, (middle of prized iris, for example, lol)

I will Sally, usually do annuals in the planter.
Nice list tx_flower_child.

My biggest concern is aphids and how to control them. Of course I don't use pesticides but have a hard time keeping up with hand squishing and hose spraying. What's a gardener to do

Something you all might find interesting is that NGA is a co-founder of the National Pollinator Garden Network, which is a consortium of gardening and wildlife organizations that are working together to promote the planting of plants that benefit pollinators. As part of that organization, I've renewed my own interest in the subject, and milkweed is obviously one of the top plants that comes up when considering butterflies.

In the recent seed swap hosted by poisondartfrog I called dibs on a good number of different species, and I'm excited to try to get them all established here. On our property we have 90 acres with a variety of different soils and conditions. Some is forested, some is very wet bottomland, and some is open pasture. My hope is to get milkweeds to naturalize in many of these areas. With luck I'll have some reports of success in the future!

I wish you well Dave, I have the worst luck with milkweeds except for Tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica
I want to grow Asclepias viridis and Asclepias asperula, which are the ones most indigenous to my area but no luck.
Of course I don't have all those different soils like you do, I heard that they are very soil specific.
I still keep trying and hoping for the best.

The aphids were really horrendous for me this year. No answers from me. Where were my good predators in my totally organic yard?

We have had good luck with soap and water spray, when the caterpillars are not present, then we rinse it off.

Common - A. syriaca puts down deep roots so it is not gonna like a pot unless it is a BIG one.

Dave - 90 acres. Wow. What I could do with that. My poor little city lot is almost tapped out. This year I will likely have ~ 200 MW of ~ 12 varieties. Last year I had 110 plants.

I had my first Monarch show up May 29th and last one was Nov. 3rd. Aside from very bad weather days, I saw Monarchs here every day in that period. Started finding Cats in late June and then saw them off and on til late Oct.

I got a late start raising, but I did observe many and watched them die from T flies, etc. OE is not a big problem here. I did raise 2 - released one. Neato. Will raise many more this year.

Very active in all things Monarch related.

David I have a 1/2 whiskey barrel I was going to put the A. syriaca in it's about 24'' deep.
What is OE?

I grow A. curassavica, orange, yellow, and red. Also California narrow leaf (A. fascicularis), Gomphocarpus Physocarpus and Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Tweedia caerulea and Tweedia solanoides, that's what I have in a full grown state. I'm germinating Asclepias purpurescens and I have two up in just three days. RobinSeeds just put some more up for sale, these are 2016 seeds from Duane in Washington and are a good deal too (If I say so myself, ok, I'm part owner). I still have Monarchs flying around, not much for them to eat anymore but they seem to find what few flowers are left. They were feeding on sour grass flowers today. If this weather keeps up the tropical milkweeds will all overwinter, yahoo.

OE is short for a big, long Latin word that kills Monarchs. Read more here: http://www.monarchwatch.org/bi...

And more from me tomorrow on the milkweeds I'm growing. Bedtime for now.

I was thinking about trying something this year with a square raised bed caged area on the front of the property...something less than 4 foot square. I'd have to remove a small tree I have there that I've given up on. I want that for Asclepias asperula. Only thing is I'd have to water it until it is established somehow. In my climate, that is necessary. My place is somewhat a hostile environment for most of the milkweed species, so I'm limited to few species. Wish milkweed was easier to grow! Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetles like it here, unfortunately. And critters who love to dig...the bane of my gardening life!

I have never had any luck with milkweeds. Does anyone know of a variety that might thrive in my Zone 8 Pacific NW garden?

I ordered A. tuberosa and A. verticillata (Whorled Milkweed) last fall from Monarch Watch. About half the native milkweeds in my area require moist or swamp-like conditions so that automatically ruled them out. The plugs transplanted really well and a few of the Whorled Milkweeds even bloomed! The only milkweed plants you can buy easily around here is the Tropical Milkweed and I'm trying really hard to go native. You can find A. tuberosa seeds pretty easily, too. I didn't plant all the plugs in case some died (one did) and I didn't have enough room at the time so I still have some planting to do. I'm curious to see which species the caterpillars prefer and how they fare on the plants.

Good Afternoon!
So Happy to see so many more people eager to Help Save The Monarchs!

Our Garden is a Certified Waystation with Monarch Watch and we grow three varieties in our Garden here in Missouri. In 2016 we released 315 Monarch Butterflies with 200 of those being tagged. Every year, we give away many Monarch eggs to local teachers for their classroom as we are always ready to #HelpSaveTheMonarchs.
We grow three types of Milkweed in our Garden and we give these away to people who stop by to inquire about our Waystation and Monarch Butterflies. I have extra seeds available for free to anyone willing to pay the postage. Sorry to have to insist on the postage paid, but paying the postage ourselves tends to get a little bit expensive anymore. Here are the free seeds available...all from the 2016 Summer growing season:
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

We always wintersow our milkweed seeds in January and let Nature do the rest. No watering trays at this point. (See photo)
One of the keys to saving Monarchs—for their survival now and in the future—is having lots of milkweed.

This year we are including Giant Swallowtail Butterflies in our efforts as each year we are seeing more and more GSwallowtails show up in our Garden to feast on the nectar of the Milkweed blooms and other flowers.
I am looking for someone who would be interested in trading some of their Wafer Ash Tree seeds (Ptelea trifoliata) in exchange for Milkweed seeds.

I've included photos of Giant Swallowtails visiting us in 2016, and some of our Monarch caterpillars & Butterflies, and Milkweed seeds overwintering! Enjoy!!
Have a Great Day! ~ grannyh.