Mary, you gave me a good idea. Going to do what you told me and get them covered. I read on the web, that the common milkweed, could cause the bees leg to get stuck on the flower. That's why I won't plant that one. I've haven't had luck with the native ones. I just found out recently, that you had to do the cold stratification to the seeds. I would just plant them. I just got new native seeds, but going to wait till next year to plant them, maybe start them in December inside the house. I've read that you need 6 to 8 weeks to do that or more. Tropical & Swan seeds, we have just put in the dirt and they come out. Are all the giant milkweed the same? I've never saw any seed pods on the ones that I have. I did see the seeds fro sale on Ebay, but it was strange to me, because I never saw my plants with any seeds. True, they do eat them right away, but they've had flowers on the plants I bought, just no seed pods. Going to order them and see. Did you do the cold stratification to the seeds before hand? If I can get those to come back, that would be awesome, because their leaves are bigger and thicker than the others.

I have never seen any bee or other pollinator getting stuck on my common milkweed. I did read about this kind of thing about swamp milkweed, too. My thinking about this is that it is native in my state, so hopefully the insects around here are used to it. I guess if I do witness this I would cut of the flowers before they open. It grows fast and has big leaves, so plenty of caterpillar food.

After reading that article, I just got scared and didn't try planting them. The article didn't say anything about the swamp milkweed, just the common one. I have bought swamp milkweed seeds, but have had no luck getting any seedlings. I recently bought the swamp milkweed and the whorled milkweed seeds, but haven't tried planting them again. I read that I had to do the cold stratification, which will take a long time. I think I'm going to wait for December to try this. I'll have the seeds ready by March to plant. Can't find the article I read, but this one also says it,

http://cherylharner.blogspot.com/2014/07/milkweed-pollinators.html

I found this other one that explains it,

https://berkshirefarmsapiary.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/milkweed-for-honey-bees/

I learned that the pollen sacs of common milkweed have v shaped hooks which often snag the legs of insects that visit them. Some may lose a leg escaping while others can’t escape at all and die.

That is why I don't plant that one, got scared. I think it's a native here in Florida, but I haven't planted it. I haven't had any luck with the native ones. If no one else has had any problems with it, might not be as bad I would think. I don't know, might have to re think it.

C Gigantea, Swan and Tropical do not require cold stratification, but most of the milkweed native to the USA do. Common, Swamp, etc., require cold stratification.

If you're worried about the Common blooms harming your bee's, just do as Iris suggested and snap off the flower buds before they open. Like Iris, I've never noticed damaged bees around the blooms but I'm sure it is a possibility for many varieties of milkweed, due to the method of pollination.

The common does give good germination following cold moist stratification, it grows fast and produces big leaves. Once this plant reaches a certain height, you can cut off the top and it will often times put out several new branches from lower leaf nodes, producing even more leaves for food. I've recently been harvesting the lower leaves of the common as the tops continue to grow more leaves. Next month, I'll cut out the tops and hope to get fresh new growth on the lower stalks. Otherwise, by mid summer, the plants become quite tatty and not attractive to the Monarchs. I've never stripped the Common so severely this early in the year but have had so many little cats to feed this spring, the leaves have been needed. I will be curious to see if the bare stalks will produce new growth, once the plant is topped.

If you decide to give the C Gigantea another try, best of luck with it. I hope you are able to get some of these plants permanently established in your garden one day. Maybe you could cover them, too, in the beginning, until they've had time to build up a good root structure. Maybe the little cats feeding on them before they have a good support system stresses them and causes them to die?

Mary

Those are very good ideas. Going to order the common milkweed seeds. I monitor the plants and see about the bees. If I see anything, than I'll take off the flowers. You might be right about the Giant one. The plants I bring are usually on the smaller size, and the cats do eat it as soon as I bring it. We always have Monarchs in Miami throughout the year. Some times more than other times, but we usually see at least one every day. Going to try and cover the new Giant one, when I buy it. See if it gets bigger before putting it out there. I'm going to order some of the Giant milkweed seeds too. Need bigger leaves, they eat the Tropical in no time. The Swan they did like too. The first plant I bought, was on sale for $25, came with 8 seed balls already. I've saved some, gave some to a friend, and planted 3 of them. I than went and bought 2 medium ones, which they eat also. I also got seeds for the Dutchman's Pipe for the pipe vine butterfly. Was going to plant them, but they also need the cold stratification. I have to Calico flower one, that's for the Polydamas, but that butterfly has not come this year. I also got the P. Incense by error, and it's everywhere. Very aggressive, but the Zebras's love it. I have Zebras all over my yard.

I did read the article milkweed as honey plants on beeculture.com. They didn't single out any kind of milkweed. I didn't figure out how to put up a link, so I took a screenshot of something that seemed odd to me. My common milkweed is going to flower soon, so I will be paying close attention.

Mary, did you ever grow latifolia? i think it's a very interesting looking plant, so I would like to try growing it. Thought I would ask you first if it's complicated to grow though.

Hi Iris, no I've never grown it. In fact, I'm not certain I've even met one in person. When we lived in Birmingham, the property above us on the crest of Red Mountain had a long entrance drive up the side of the mountain and the owner planted a lot of what I thought were Rhododendrons throughout this area. I often wondered if any might have been Mountain Laurel but I never ask. Her property was a lovely sight in spring. Growing Mountain Laurel sounds challenging but doable. Or are you asking about the holly?

Mary

I was wondering about Asclepias latifolia. I think the common name is broadleaf milkweed. In my quest for emergency milkweed I came across some pictures and thought it's an interesting looking plant.

oops, so many with latifolia in their name. No, I've never met this plant, either! :-) Well, just had a look. This Asclepias latifolia does look interesting. Certainly those big leaves would be great and Annie's has the growing zones listed as 4a to 9b. If you could get it established, it would return each year, which would be ideal. It also says it is drought tolerant once established. I wonder how much rain it can tolerate? It looks like an ideal milkweed for Texas and Oklahoma. Are you considering starting from seed or purchasing a plant?

Mary

Looks really hard to find a plant, so seeds it is. The only success I have with seeds I had is when I can just throw them in a pot and keep moist though. That's why I thought I ask you first. The small new butterfly area is on a slope, so it's hard to keep it wet. Might be a good spot if I could keep it going.

Update: here is a follow up photo of one of the Calotropis Gigantea seed I planted on April 21. I planted the three seed in a 2-2.5 inch pot. Once they'd germinated and had true leaves, I re potted into individual 4 inch pots.

Today, May 21, the youngest seedling has already put out three sets of true leaves and is beginning to push out new leaves at the leaf nodes. I didn't measure the leaf length of the oldest leaves but I'd guesstimate 1.5-2 inches long already.

As a comparison, the little tropical mw seedling sitting next to this seedling is still in a 2 inch pot and is actually older than the C Gigantea seedling .... Mary

This is a great looking plant. Are you keeping them inside?

They have been kept in the gh since re potting. Two or three days ago I moved them outside to begin hardening off.

Mary

I could use a greenhouse of some kind. My daughter sent me text she has seen her first Monarch in Paraguay. Didn't attach a picture of it. Just one of this really cute guy

They look great. I ordered some seeds from Ebay, lets see when they get there. I also ordered some of the Common Milkweed to try. I bought from someone that had done the cold stratification on the seeds already. My Monarch cats seem to have disappeared for now. Thank God, because they ate everything I had. Doesn't look like the 3 Swan milkweed plants are coming back, not even the big one. All 32 plants of Tropical milkweed from Home Depo, are also gone, starting to put out leaves again. The Giant one, was still small, so it might have a chance of coming back, they left inch long leaves. Going to put some Miracle Gro on them tomorrow, hopefully they'll come back soon. My Spider plant is flowering already, all I can say is, it's beautiful. No cats on it yet, hopefully they'll get bigger before they do come.

My brother moved to Daytona Beach about 2 weeks ago. Going to see what I can get there for my butterflies. I saw 3 different vines growing in his yard, but I only new 1 of them. I got some Paw Paw seeds, might plant some at his house. We didn't have time to explore, maybe next time. It's about 3 in a half hours from Miami. I might post the vines and see if anyone knows what they are.

The one I planted is called, cleome spider flower, very pretty.

Ha ha. When cleome showed up in my yard a few years ago I was afraid I was growing. "Weed" .I have a sheltered life. wish I could just mail you a spriggle of my common, by now I have enough to feed an army. But it's probably against the law to do so without some license.

My cats ate everything, and the seedlings are still trying to grow. They are taking forever. The biggest ones are about 2" only. I'm going to have to bite the bullet, and buy more plants. Oh wow, they do look similar. I hadn't notice, but mines have the flowers on them, very beautiful.

Mary, my giant MW plants had just been sitting there, not growing, but the leaves were erect, not drooping, so the plants didn't look what I'd call bad. Of course, I wanted new growth RIGHT AWAY! Finally, yesterday I noticed that one of the plants has made some new growth from the bottom, a whole new stalk, and it's making new growth on the top of one of the other stalks. We had been having lots of sunshine, lately there's been lots of rain. I'll post a picture of them in a week or so.

Sherry

Iris Stoiser(SC, 7b), the little butterfly your daughter shared with you looks like he has some Aztec designs on his wings! This trip must be very interesting for her, to be able to see firsthand the native butterflies of that region. Thank you for sharing.

Mary

Sherry, hang in there. It might take a bit of time for the plants to become established. It sounds like they must like where they're planted if they are already throwing off new growth. Woohoo, what fun to watch 'new to you' plants grow and flourish. We'll look forward to seeing future photos as they settle in and grow.

The 1st generation Monarchs should be active and moving now. I've had no more Monarch visits, at least that I'm aware of. The last spring cat has formed his chrysalis. This will make 47, the largest number of spring Monarchs I've ever raised. I hope these 1st generation travelers find healthy milkweed waiting as they journey north.

Mary

Here are my white giant seedlings...I soaked them in water for 2 days and they sprouted before I even put them on soil

Yes, a beautiful female. Good for you for growing a lot of different varieties of milkweed. They do eat a lot! My guess is she enjoyed having choices ... you did a great of raising her! And once those C Gigantea plants mature, you will be pleased and amazed with the amount of food they can produce for the hungry Monarch cats. Thank you for growing milkweed for them.

Mary

No need to thank me, I am just here learning. People here know so much, I have a long way to go. Finally another short break in the rain, it's supposed to go on until Thursday. Picked up some of the common milkweed. And saw another cute guy not amused by this weather.

Oh wow. Who is that?!

It's a Tiger swallowtail. The wild black cherries are great host plants for me. Since there was almost no tree when we moved here and they kept popping up themselves I left them even before I knew.

Wow, I've never had that one in my yard. I just noticed this week, that the Polydamas Swallowtail has been in my yard. I saw a butterfly 2 days ago, when looking at the plant, saw some eggs and tiny cats on the leaves. My mother went there this morning, and gave me the news, we might not have enough Dutchman's Pipe for them. We have 2 medium vines, but she say shes there are over 100 cats on them already. My cleome plants aren't looking too pretty anymore. Some flowered, but some leaves are folded, and seems like portion are drying out. I did buy 9 more Tropical milkweed pl;ants from Home Depo, they already ate the 32 previous ones we bought. I went to the one on Bird Rd, more of their milkweed were full of cats, at different stages. I tried to get some plants without them, I don't need more cats, just the plant. The Zebras are still everywhere, going to post 2 pictures I took yesterday, on the Panama Rose plant. They were trying to roost, was almost 7pm.

Oh Iris, I think I had a tiger swallowtail but never saw the cat!

Do you have any host plants for the Tiger swallowtails? At least with trees I don't have to worry about running out of food.

Mary, my daughter just finished her second year in College. Spent 2 month last year in Peru, now 3 month in Paraguay. Insects, especially butterflies and moth are her passion. No idea what kind of job she will end up getting, but we will get a great advocate for conservation.

Iris, I have a lot of different plants and a citrus tree...not sure exactly what she was eating. I saw her mainly around the lemon bee balm, Mexican Tithonia, firespikes. Not sure if she was eating or hanging out.

Mary, sorry for being away so long. Got busy with the Monarchs, a couple of family situations and a graduation. We have released 120 in 2 generations and are working on number 3 now. I did get my seeds, but I also discovered that some plants I was told were common had tags with the scientific name pushed down inside. They are the procera. I had no idea and wonder if they will get as large as the ones in your photo. Now I understand why I saw the comment that one plant was an insurance policy againsst ever running out of milkweed. And I have 4 of them! Oh my. I'm almost afraid to plant the gigantea too. So I still have the seeds.

lascatx, welcome back. Wow, what a fantastic job you're doing. Extrapolate from your 120 Monarchs and just imagine how many Monarchs you've made possible this year! I have seen a few 1st gen Monarchs lately but they could have been some I've released that have hung around for a bit. It would be interesting to tag a few, just to see if they hang around for a bit but I'd be uncomfortable placing a sticker on their wing. I'm sure it's been studied and it doesn't harm them but they weigh so little, it seems like having any additional weight on one side could cause them to have to overcome another obstacle during their lifetime.

As to your question about the C procera; I have extremely limited experience with these plants but will relate my experience of last year. For me, the procera seems to grow more slowly and produces smaller leaves than C Gigantea and from researching this plant, it's growth pattern resembles a small tree, where as the C Gigantea grows more like a shrub.

My C Gigantea was grown from cuttings and put in ground in late spring. The Procera was grown from seed and grown in pots all season. Last Fall, I cut it back because during the summer, the bottom leaves kept falling off so all I was left with were leaves near the top of a single stalk. This may have been caused by growing the plants in small pots plus they had very limited care while I was away for a couple of months. One Procera I planted into a much larger pot early summer and it did show better growth. This year, I decided to plant them out into the garden in a bed with a light slope so they have good drainage. They have just now begun to put out new growth. I'll know better the end of this season how they do in this situation.

You may see stronger growth if you can grow them year round out doors and in ground. I have fed leaves of both these plants to older Monarch cats and they ate them so I'd think either plant would make a great secondary source of food for the little cats. However, I personally feel the C Gigantea will produce more leaves in the same amount of time. Since you already have seed of the C Gigantea, you might consider germinating and growing at least one plant, so you can compare the differences.

For me, Common just doesn't hold up well throughout our growing season so I have these healthy plants to use, if needed, to feed the late season cats. And this year, because I had so many early spring cats, these plants were a lifesaver. The Monarch cats I raised would never have survived here without this backup food source as there was simply not enough native milkweed growth to see them through to maturity. It's a good feeling to know that for however many cats I commit to, I have enough food for them.

Mary

It sounds like common is better suited to cooler climates and would be pushing it down here. I am going to try a gigantea. Have to, right? In the name of science and all that is curious -- plus to get some of those humongous leaves! LOL

In addition to the butterflies I released, I adopted out a number of cats and eggs. Not all of the eggs proved to be viable, but I think all but one person had some successes -- and the one had bunch hatch, but a neiighbor sprayed and it poisoned her milkweed. :-( Sigh. Gotta focus on the successes and what you can improve.....

I just told DH about your comments about the growth differences and he said, "well, then let's plant some." Guess what we will be doing this afternoon.

lascatx, so sorry to learn about the spray and the demise of your friends cats. That is a dicey situation, having a neighbor who would actually spray near enough to a neighboring garden to kill plants. You are right, it is a mindset and hopefully, slowly changing. If for no other reason than to help maintain a healthy pollinator population. Without them, we're all in a world of hurts.

You know, I can't recall much mention of people in south Texas growing common milkweed. I think the way it can travel underground and pop up in unintended places probably keeps many home gardeners from planting it. And I don't know why it doesn't hold up well here for me unless it is the long season of heat and humidity. I've left all the common alone this spring in case I get lucky and have some early summer Monarch cats to raise. My garden is beginning to look rather wild with all those tall stalks sticking up any and everywhere but so far, they are healthy so I am ready for more Monarch cats. Probably explains why the little baby rabbit took up residence with me! :-)

Looking forward to hearing your opinion of the two varieties of 'giant' milkweed plants once you've had a chance to observe them. Do you think they will survive your winter in ground? There were some garden web folks living in and around Houston who grew/grows them in ground year round. If you're in that zone, it will make it so much easier to maintain these plants.

I admire your work with the Monarch's. Thank you for making time in your life to help them. More healthy first generation butterflies are moving North because of your efforts.

Mary

Mary, my common milkweed isn't staying where it is supposed to either. And the smell seems to be really strong this year. Not bad, but really strong. The bees love it and I haven't seen any getting stuck.

I do like the pink flowers and am intrigued by the fact that common has scented flowers. I hope I at least get to see it and smell it sometime.

UPDATE on the C gigantea seedlings:

Today, June 3, is day 35, measured from date of planting seed on April 21 ... the smallest of three seedlings has been re potted into a 10 inch pot. The largest leaves are 4 inches long and almost 2 inches wide and new side growth is already appearing at the lower leaf nodes. Oops, forgot to measure height and it's now pouring rain so will save that for the next update. One of the first true leaves turned yellow and fell off. I added additional perlite to my ProMix to lighten the mix a bit more when I re potted to see if that would help with the soil aeration. I am curious to see how much growth there will be in one season by starting these plants from seed.

If this seedling growth continues at this speed, I think starting these plants from seed might be a consideration for those who could use this plant in their butterfly garden. The seed germinates easily and quickly and the little seedlings appear to be fast growers. For Florida and south Texas butterfly gardens, you would just need to protect the plants from Mama Monarch until the plants became established. ... Mary

My two C gigantea 1st year plants that were dug up and potted last fall and over wintered in the GH are still in their pots and doing well so far.

my largest C gigantea growing in a 28 inch pot

Iris, your mw blooms are lovely! I haven't even seen the beginnings of buds on my common mw. Maybe I've weakened the plants by harvesting so many leaves early on. I can't remember just when they bloomed in seasons past but I'd sure love to see some blooms this year. I adore the sweet fragrance of these blooms.

Mary

So, I adopted out two of the procea. Looks like I actually had 5 at one time, but one apparently didn't have enough steam to come back from being stipped by the early cats. I'm hoping that gives me one good one and an insurance policy. I also finally got the gigantea seeds into pots --- why not? LOL Yesterday, I went out with another monarch momma and she showed me how to identify 2 native varieties of milkweed we found. I don't know where to go looking for it, but think I could identify it now. The cats in my enclosure are sure enjoying what I brought home now.

Speaking of cats, we found a Black Swallowtail caat on what was left of our dill. I brought him in because of all the wasps out there...so now I'm feeding this guy the limited amount of dill we have and hoping he will take to the fennel or parsley we have more of. I have no idea how long he will keep munching before he hangs. This is all new......

Is this giant milkweed? My husband texted me this picture asking if it is some sort of milkweed from India. It's kind of cute how interested he is becoming in this stuff.

It sure looks like some sort of milkweed

I agree with Regina. These do look like some sort of milkweed. What part of the country/world were these photos taken?

Mary

This is somewhere in the South of India. Tropical climate. He said it's growing everywhere. My daughter found milkweed in Paraguay. Saw a Monarch there, too. It's really kind of cool.

Yes, it is very cool. There are Monarchs all over the world. They actually aren't really at much risk of becoming extinct, at least no more than the rest of nature. What is at risk, is the miraculous migration cycle that only exists in North America. I also think it is very fun that your husband is becoming so interested in milkweed, etc. I find that most people are fascinated by Monarchs, if someone starts the conversation. I have a short video clip of two of my Monarchs eclosing on my iPad. Whenever I show it to people, they are entranced. Then I explain that I attract them to my garden and feed them my milkweed, and they want to join in the fun. I have milkweed seeds that I collected from my garden, that I can offer them to start their own Monarch patch. It really is fun. Who knows ho many of them actually follow through and plant the seeds. But, at least they have a better understanding of the situation, and can converse with others to spread the information.

Martha

Getting ready to start some calotropis gigantea from seed but after looking through a few old posts, I'm thinking it may be too early. Sounds like it's pretty fast growing. I'm in Missouri and won't be able to set them outside for quite awhile. I was just planning to treat them as houseplants until spring. I don't have grow lights. Do you think there will be enough light if I set them close to a south window? Maybe I should wait a few weeks to start my seeds. Just hoping to give them an early start so my monarchs will have something to eat this summer. I kept running out of milkweed last year and the year before.

I grew Calotropis procera from seed, and it grew slowly after germinating, until it formed a strong root system. I grew mine under lights. If the pots will be getting at least 8 hours of light, in a south facing window, they should be ok.

Thanks Jay. I planted 12 seeds and half of them have germinated. I put them on a heat mat and have moved the ones that have germinated to a grow light that I just got. It's a small one that clamps onto a table but maybe better than nothing and it was cheap. I read somewhere that c. gigantea is faster growing than c procera and I'm just growing it as an annual so I got seeds for c. gigantea.

I'm winter sowing some other milkweeds too.