? For Anyone Familiar w/ Milkweed

[hummingbird]

I ordered 30 milkweed plants (Asclepais Curassavica) that will be arriving on Monday. They are little things coming in small pots with one or two stems in each. I'm hoping to end up with bunched plants. I have no idea how they mature. Would one of these pots mature as a bunch, or do I need to plant a few together to grow them as bunches? Hope that made sense. Thanks!

 

[Durgan]

They grow as individual plants and are effortless to grow. They certainly don't bunch and should be plated about six inches apart minimum. I simply spread the seeds around the garden area and they thrive from year to year often from fallen seed. Each plant has many seeds. The plants gets quite large three feet or more.

 

[hummingbird]

Okay, I laid out plenty of space for them, luckily. Good to know. Thank you

 

[Milkweed Man]

What is your cold hardiness zone? Here in zone 7a this species dies off entirely in October and only grows back from seeds. I have began to plant Nevada native milkweed plants like showy milkweed and mexican whorled milkweed. The native plants grow back as perennials each year. The advantage of natives is that they naturally time themselves for the migration of the monarchs. I also grow curassavica like you have, I trimmed the stem after the 6-14 leaf began to grow. That encouraged branching out. Branching out creates more leaves. More leaves means more food for the monarch caterpillars to eat. My plants spread up to 12" but if you are limited on space they are friendly to each other. I will attach a pict of the roots. I uprooted a plant this weed since it won't grow back after the Winter freeze like native milkweed does. The roots are aprox. 14" across after one Summer of growth.

 

[ChanellG]

Those plugs don't look familiar; I grow tropical milkweed and if planted in the ground (mine is in pots) it can get pretty tall and bushes out a bit. I'd say you need 1-3 feet between mature plants, but if you have butterflies, they will strip all the leaves and you'll want to prune the canes back anyway.

 

[CanadianLori]

Wait - milkweed grows in pots? I could do that. I'm starting to look for them now. This is too cool! I love butterflies. Particularly monarchs.

Anyone know of good sources for these in Canada?

 

[Durgan]

Seeds of milkweed are available in the Fall season. I see them along ditches in the Fall. Also on the edge of the roads in the country

http://www.monarchwatch.org/read/articles/canweed2.htm
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), although native, has been able to successfully colonize areas that have been disturbed by agriculture or development and in many areas the plant spreads in a "weedy" manner. This weedy behavior has been the main reason that some species of Milkweed have been listed as noxious weeds: Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is listed in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan; and Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is listed in Manitoba. The Ontario weed act lists all species of Milkweed as noxious weeds, however, the primary concern is for Common Milkweed.

 

[IcyBC]

I see milkweed growing along the sides of the highway and in the ditches. After watching a monarch migration show, I am so for milkweed, and might try to get some seeds from the wild so I can plant them around my garden. They would be so nice to have.

 

[LIcenter]

I see milkweed growing along the sides of the highway and in the ditches. After watching a monarch migration show, I am so for milkweed, and might try to get some seeds from the wild so I can plant them around my garden. They would be so nice to have.

If you have an area that stays a little damp, Butterfly weed 'Asclepias incarnata' would be an excellent choice for your planting zone. It will come back every year, and spreads by rhizomes, and seeds. I planted three last year, and absolutely love them for their ease of care, and summer long flowers. I plan on picking up another half dozen when my local perennial grower re-opens in a couple of weeks. My Avatar is a pic I took of a Monarch laying her egg on one of my Butterfly weeds last September.

 

[hummingbird]

I got my plants in finally. I hope they take. I'm in the process of building a screened in plant house so I can grow more in case all the leaves are eaten

 

[IcyBC]

If you have an area that stays a little damp, Butterfly weed 'Asclepias incarnata' would be an excellent choice for your planting zone. It will come back every year, and spreads by rhizomes, and seeds. I planted three last year, and absolutely love them for their ease of care, and summer long flowers. I plan on picking up another half dozen when my local perennial grower re-opens in a couple of weeks. My Avatar is a pic I took of a Monarch laying her egg on one of my Butterfly weeds last September.

Thank you for your advice! I will definitely do this this spring. I have seen different butterflies flying over head, and this past year was the black swallowtail, but rarely monarch. I love butterflies and when I see them flying around, I always begged it to stay

 

[Everbrown]

I just found and bought a butterfly weed , and of course after that found seeds . planted some of them also and if we get some rain they may grow. In addition have a few naturaly occurring common milkweed plants I'll leave alone (perhaps the rabbits won't though, we shall see).

 

[grouie]

Are milk weeds grown for their flowers or to attract butterflies?

 

[Everbrown]

Are milk weeds grown for their flowers or to attract butterflies?

The number one reason is the larva (caterpillar stage) of the Monarch butterfly needs milkweed (the ONLY thing it eats).

 

[grouie]

The number one reason is the larva (caterpillar stage) of the Monarch butterfly needs milkweed (the ONLY thing it eats).

Thanks. But I notice caterpillars thrive on so many other plants and in fact they are quite destructive