OK, so someone the other day was posting about how they're great food for the monarchs. I totally agree that that's a great reason to grow them. Someone else in that thread commented that some are quite weedy while others are very well behaved.
Calling all well-behaved asclepius! The ones I have are the totally weedy kind. They pop up everywhere, come back even when I think I've murdered the lot, and generally make my life miserable.
Would someone please list a few that I could grow in my zone 6b garden to both help the butterflies and maintain my sanity while I do it.
Thanks so much.
aesclepius
Hi kiwigal,
This is a good question as I will be planting for the Monarchs next year and was wanting to make certain I didn't end up with a thug.
Which ones do you currently have?
This is one that I'm considering at the moment....looks like it might do.
http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/340/index.htm
Erynne
I have to think the weediness depends on the zone and/or soil and bed conditions. I have had mine for a few years now and have left the seeds on to seed but it never has. Mine has the standard white flower.
I have the garden-variety asclepius tuberosa, with orange flowers. I cut off the seed pods long before they mature or I have seedlings from one end of the yard to the other (literally). It's become nothing more than a pest, and I'm definitely going to kill off as much as I can this fall.
It's those silky seeds that do it. The wind takes them all over. I have it in sun and good soil.
OK people, I've got just the right one for you as long as you don't live zone 8 or warmer. I had Silky Red this year and it is considered a tropical, hence you can grow it as an annual.The butterflies went nuts for it. It does create a lot of seed pods, but it shouldn't become invasive due to its tenderness. You can check out my trade list to see a picture.
And for those of you with established milkweed, the simple solution is to cut off the seed pods as they appear unless you want to collect seed.
Oh I would just LOVE some of that silky red. What would you like in trade?
One of my happiest memories as a child was going through our back fields and collecting all the silky milkweed pods. We used to play with throwing the silky "parachutes" into the wind to see how far they would go.... LOL.
They say that to maximize the Monarch habitat you should group your plants together rather than scatter them around. Maybe you could make 1 Asclepias area or bed and then it would be easier to deadhead. I started transplanting my A. seedlings to one area so there will be about a 4' square area for the b-flies. They are planted thick together and I'll see if they can take that or if I have to chop some out. I'm kind of indifferent to the Cinderella and Ice Ballet flowers but I love seeing the Monarch cats on them and that makes it worthwhile.
Greenjay, Dmail me. What do you have that might be interesting?
Gee-- kiwigal, my asclepias tuberosa seems very well behaved in our garden... http://www.missouriplants.com/Redalt/Asclepias_tuberosa_page.html I wonder if the kind of soil or drainage makes the difference... Or perhaps the 'strain'--I like it a lot. Indeed, I wish it would mulitiply a little bit more!
This is the first year I have had A. currasavica (Milkweed 'Silky Red') and it has been a great...so many different varieties of butterflies love it and it makes a nice 'filler' plant among the red and yellow daylilies and yellow daisies.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/2816/
Here in Zone 6 'currasavica' is grown as an 'annual' , but grown as a tropical perennial in southern climes, I believe. I hope it's not (too) invasive
For anyone reading the thread who wants to know more about creating a Monarch Waystation with your milkweeds and other flowering plants, I found this page helpful-- http://www.monarchwatch.org/ws/certify.html
---whether or not you want to actually get certified...
Mine are well behaved too, but are starting to spread. One ended up in a different bed, but placed itself well. ''Transplant'' those you don't want and they'll die, laugh.
It's the common orange, but I dont get tired of it's color!
Ahhh, so they don't like being transplanted...good to know!
Looong tap roots!