Asclepias curassavica, Tropical Milkweed. 3-4" pot
Asclepias curassavica, Tropical Milkweed
FS, Hardy to Zone 7, Annual, blooms July to fbe st, 3.5’ x 1.5’
This plant is an annual, grown from seed and not native. it will succumb to the first hard frost in October/November. Nevertheless, this is an important milkweed to grow or keep on hand if you’re raising Monarch butterfly caterpillars at home or in a school situation. Generally, caterpillars prefer fresh young milkweed leaves. So, towards August and September when most local Milkweeds are still green but their leaves have usually toughened a bit, it’s advisable to have on hand some Tropical Milkweed plants, whose foliage always remain tender.
Even if a caterpillar eats most of the leaves on a Tropical Milkweed plant, the leaves will grow back. Its clustered red and yellow blossoms are beautiful, and like most annuals, they bloom for months . It is not messy like Common Milkweed. If you’re raising caterpillars indoors, get enough plants so that you can rotate them in your rearing cages (see our store for all the needed caterpillar rearing paraphernalia), always keeping your caterpillars happy and well-fed.
Besides being an attractive host plant for Monarch caterpillars, Tropical Milkweed attracts a wide variety of butterflies, bees. beetles, and hummingbirds that feed on its abundant nectar. The plant is hardy to zone 7 and may reseed in protected areas.
There is some controversy regarding this plant and Monarch Butterfly health. Some observations of southern states growing tropical MW have shown that because it does not die back Monarchs may rely too much on the plant and not continue the migration due to its availability. In Michigan the plants die back in the fall. There have also been other theories about the plant. We suggest, gardeners do there own research annually.
Please Note - Tropical Milkweed has been a discussion topic for the last few seasons. Is Tropical Milkweed bad for the Monarchs. Some feel that the monarchs rely on it too much and it may interupt their migration - is one issue. In our climate it of course dies back. We suggest this short article in Birds&Blooms. You can decide for yourself. https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/attracting-butterflies/tropical-milkweed/
Asclepias curassavica, Tropical Milkweed
FS, Hardy to Zone 7, Annual, blooms July to fbe st, 3.5’ x 1.5’
This plant is an annual, grown from seed and not native. it will succumb to the first hard frost in October/November. Nevertheless, this is an important milkweed to grow or keep on hand if you’re raising Monarch butterfly caterpillars at home or in a school situation. Generally, caterpillars prefer fresh young milkweed leaves. So, towards August and September when most local Milkweeds are still green but their leaves have usually toughened a bit, it’s advisable to have on hand some Tropical Milkweed plants, whose foliage always remain tender.
Even if a caterpillar eats most of the leaves on a Tropical Milkweed plant, the leaves will grow back. Its clustered red and yellow blossoms are beautiful, and like most annuals, they bloom for months . It is not messy like Common Milkweed. If you’re raising caterpillars indoors, get enough plants so that you can rotate them in your rearing cages (see our store for all the needed caterpillar rearing paraphernalia), always keeping your caterpillars happy and well-fed.
Besides being an attractive host plant for Monarch caterpillars, Tropical Milkweed attracts a wide variety of butterflies, bees. beetles, and hummingbirds that feed on its abundant nectar. The plant is hardy to zone 7 and may reseed in protected areas.
There is some controversy regarding this plant and Monarch Butterfly health. Some observations of southern states growing tropical MW have shown that because it does not die back Monarchs may rely too much on the plant and not continue the migration due to its availability. In Michigan the plants die back in the fall. There have also been other theories about the plant. We suggest, gardeners do there own research annually.
Please Note - Tropical Milkweed has been a discussion topic for the last few seasons. Is Tropical Milkweed bad for the Monarchs. Some feel that the monarchs rely on it too much and it may interupt their migration - is one issue. In our climate it of course dies back. We suggest this short article in Birds&Blooms. You can decide for yourself. https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/attracting-butterflies/tropical-milkweed/
Asclepias curassavica, Tropical Milkweed
FS, Hardy to Zone 7, Annual, blooms July to fbe st, 3.5’ x 1.5’
This plant is an annual, grown from seed and not native. it will succumb to the first hard frost in October/November. Nevertheless, this is an important milkweed to grow or keep on hand if you’re raising Monarch butterfly caterpillars at home or in a school situation. Generally, caterpillars prefer fresh young milkweed leaves. So, towards August and September when most local Milkweeds are still green but their leaves have usually toughened a bit, it’s advisable to have on hand some Tropical Milkweed plants, whose foliage always remain tender.
Even if a caterpillar eats most of the leaves on a Tropical Milkweed plant, the leaves will grow back. Its clustered red and yellow blossoms are beautiful, and like most annuals, they bloom for months . It is not messy like Common Milkweed. If you’re raising caterpillars indoors, get enough plants so that you can rotate them in your rearing cages (see our store for all the needed caterpillar rearing paraphernalia), always keeping your caterpillars happy and well-fed.
Besides being an attractive host plant for Monarch caterpillars, Tropical Milkweed attracts a wide variety of butterflies, bees. beetles, and hummingbirds that feed on its abundant nectar. The plant is hardy to zone 7 and may reseed in protected areas.
There is some controversy regarding this plant and Monarch Butterfly health. Some observations of southern states growing tropical MW have shown that because it does not die back Monarchs may rely too much on the plant and not continue the migration due to its availability. In Michigan the plants die back in the fall. There have also been other theories about the plant. We suggest, gardeners do there own research annually.
Please Note - Tropical Milkweed has been a discussion topic for the last few seasons. Is Tropical Milkweed bad for the Monarchs. Some feel that the monarchs rely on it too much and it may interupt their migration - is one issue. In our climate it of course dies back. We suggest this short article in Birds&Blooms. You can decide for yourself. https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/attracting-butterflies/tropical-milkweed/