So as always I'm tempted to plant some milkweed. Having learned at least a little from past mistakes, I'm hoping to find milkweed that is native to where I live - I'm in Dallas which is Zone 8a.

Sadly, too many local nurseries sell nonnative milkweed, probably because it's bright and cheerful and pretty.

I don't want to plant from seed because that's sure death in my hands. But if I can find a native milkweed. assuming there's one for my area, I would promise to love and cherish it.

I'd prefer to grow it in a large container but could start digging. My yard, such as it is, has shade, part shade, part sun but doubt any spot with 100% full sun. However, my perennials that 'say' they need full sun, are thriving without it.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

The 'better' nurseries here are starting to stock Frostweed and Milkweed.One is holding some Frostweed for me. And the other is stocking up a lot of different types of milkweed.
Maybe I should post my question in one of the 'anything and everything' forums since I'm not getting a response here or maybe everyone is in deep thought.
I'd rather not plant milkweed than to gamble on picking the wrong kind. Guess research is called for. And that means OCD will keep me up all night. Sigh. At least it's for a good cause.

Asclepias oenotheroides is one of them. There's a few more, I think. Asclepias prostrata is one, but it is extremely endangered, you probably won't (and shouldn't) find it for sale

Tfc, there are several resources for finding which milkweeds are native to your area. Here are three:

Milkweed Finder - Xerces Society https://xerces.org/milkweed/mi...

Find Native Milkweed by State https://www.milkweed4monarchs....

Milkweed Map - discover native milkweed by state https://www.growmilkweedplants...

Thank you both. This will speed up my research and maybe my OCD won't kick in.

Good luck and have fun! Planting flowers for butterflies shouldn't be stressful. 💛

The native that grows here is Asclepias asperula. I've never tried to move and transplant it. I'd intended to gather some seeds this year and see if I could establish some in a large container, but on the still day when the pods were bursting everywhere I didn't go right with a sack and collect any. The first breeze dispersed them over many miles I'm sure. I do grow Asclepias tuberosa in a large container, but that the pretty, ornamental one. Reportedly not as good as the natives. It's a native plant in the sandy bar ditches in the eastern part of the county though. I've not seen anyplants on offer in the Abilene nurseries.

Hmmm...
Ida thought asclepias tuberosa for sure... especially in Dallas...

I see those antelope horns milkweed (Asclepias asperula)... makes me envious...
https://dallascountymastergard...

Have you researched matelea vines yet? you all have some really pretty ones out there...

I find matelea fairly easy to grow from seed... the monarchs will use them, as much as any other milkweed...

Found a post discussing Pearl Milkweed 'Matelea reticulata' here in tx forum:
The thread "Looking for Pearl Milkweed 'Matelea reticulata' Seeds" in Texas Gardening forum

I've changed my mind. I realized that having one or two milkweed plants just isn't enough. If I had the space and some extra money, then I could create a field of milkweed.

LOL! That's probably true @tx_flower_child because just a couple of fennel plants isn't enough grazing to support the number of BST caterpillars that show up. I'm constantly having to remove eggs and a lot of baby cats just to have enough food supply to sustain a couple so they are able to reach maturity. Learned that the hard way - and I'm not willing to share the parsley with them at all. It's not unusual for eggs to be deposited 3-4 times in a single day. I'd like the native growing in a big container as an ornamental. There's plenty of plants in the pasture of those, but not the fennel.

needrain said: just a couple of fennel plants isn't enough grazing to support the number of BST caterpillars that show up.
I'm constantly having to remove eggs and a lot of baby cats just to have enough food supply to sustain a couple so they are able to reach maturity.

I'd plant more host plants!!!!!
No such thing as too many butterfly caterpillars.

tx_flower_child said: I've changed my mind. I realized that having one or two milkweed plants just isn't enough. If I had the space and some extra money, then I could create a field of milkweed.

?
I don't get it.
One or two host plants is always preferable to zero...
Monarchs seldom get to my garden... but I
encourage milkweeds...
I had asclepias tuberosa naturals growing on the place when I got here... I tried growing them from seed... worked well... until the voles found them and wiped out entire bed...

So... other plants... like the above mentioned mateleas, and the Asclepias syriaca, and, the tropical milkweed...

One year in town... The monarch caterpillars on those tropical milkweeds... Amazing!

Please don't give up... Buy seeds for the asclepias tuberosa... they're very easy to grow from seed... The monarchs like them fine...

tx_flower_child said: I've changed my mind. I realized that having one or two milkweed plants just isn't enough. If I had the space and some extra money, then I could create a field of milkweed.

I bought Asclepius tuberosa seeds on Amazon cheap, did cold stratification and transplanted from.my fancy Chinese food greenhouse in maybe March? (I did remove the lid when I took out of fridge. Up to 4 inch pots about 50 sold at native plant sale for npsot. I have 3 or 4 in my native bed, the rest are up to gallons for the fall sale. I think seeds were $5

tx_flower_child said: I've changed my mind. I realized that having one or two milkweed plants just isn't enough. If I had the space and some extra money, then I could create a field of milkweed.

I know how you feel. How can the few I plant possibly benefit the monarchs when so much more than I've added has been lost? But, as others have said, us each adding some is better than none. I'd like to believe that the monarch population will achieve some kind of equilibrium and reach a level where the numbers will be sufficient for the habitat that's available, not unlike American bison, which aren't at the levels they were, pre western expansion.

One plant is enough to sustain one egg laying event. Not all the eggs that hatch will live to be chrysalis forming caterpillars anyway. Growing up here, the native milkweeds were abundant in the abandoned fields and pasture. As a kid I was always searching for the monarch cats and any chrysalis I could spot. Even then, before the monarch population was reduced, you'd find the caterpillars on just a few milkweeds. Some didn't have any. Monarchs come through here so seldom now that some years I don't see any. The milkweed is still here, but it's uncommon to find the caterpillars on any plants now.

We have yet to grow any Monarchs to maturity here. Stink bugs (or a look-alike relative) always devour the caterpillars! I hope the milkweeds growing in the pastures are doing a better job than the ones we planted near the house.

porkpal said: We have yet to grow any Monarchs to maturity here. Stink bugs (or a look-alike relative) always devour the caterpillars! I hope the milkweeds growing in the pastures are doing a better job than the ones we planted near the house.

Wheel bugs, maybe? They are considered a beneficial insect predator and they generally are (look out hornworms!), but I had one living on a fennel plant one year and it ate all the Black Swallowtail caterpillars until it relocated somewhere else (probably after he cleaned out all the available cats). It ate other things too, so I let it be. Here's a link which shows their look and the associated short video is worth watching. Lots of info for the short minutes it takes to watch it. https://www.google.com/search?...

Thank you, Donald, I did learn a lot from that link. I am pretty sure that the bugs eating our caterpillars were not adult wheel bugs; I think I would have remembered the "wheel"! Immature ones, perhaps? They were, however, shield shaped like a stink bug but not vegetarian. I need to see whether I can find them again.

They do emit a 'stink'. One punctured me once when I was younger and picked it up. Painful. I didn't love them for a long time afterward . There are several similar-looking insects. Squash bugs, e.g.

I am wondering whether there is a shield shaped predator bug that I assumed was a stink bug not realizing that stink bugs are vegetarian. Google isn't helping.

Saw this on my hike. Assuming it's a milkweed, but no clue which one.
I did not gather the seeds.