Congrats, Susan!
After reading your post, I'll have to try this one again.
Sherry

Calotropis gigantea is the primary host plant (larval and necar) in Hawaii where it grows 20'-30' tall, more like a tree than a bush. I've reared thousands of Danaus plexippus nivosus (White Monarch's) on it in HI, so yes it will and does easily support a very large population of larvae.
Larry

MissSherry, have you grown this plant in the past then? Did you have good luck with it, and did it flower for you?

Larry, thanks for the input. Yes, I have read a lot on the Internet about the plant, and yes, it is commonly called Giant Milkweed Tree and gets very large in comparison to what it will do for me in a much more temperate climate. Apparently the flowers are often used in leis in HI. The flowers supposedly resemble crowns, and hence another common name, Crown Flower. I think the photos of them on the web are beautiful and I hope I get a few.

BTW, I went out to check my plant this morning right after the storm we had with lots of blowing wind and rain, and it looks like it may be producing some flower buds! Yippee! I hope so. I would love to have some seed as they are in the moderate to expensive category. I think I got 10 seeds for $3.00. That's not too bad, but when I get most seeds at 40 for $2.00, it's a sizable jump in cost.

Susan

I used to use this plant in my butterfly sanctuary for the Monarchs but removed it because my husband had an allergic reaction to it. What I liked about it when feeding the leaves to the larvae was that there was very little 'mess' to clean up because there isn't really any 'stem' part to the plant. The caterpillars will eat the entire thing! I'm glad that you are enjoying the Crownflower...Does yours have a fragrance? Mine were very fragrant...another thing I loved about them. (I actually have one tattooed on my ankle)

Wow, cool Sherry! It hasn't flowered yet, so don't know about the fragrance, but it does seem that a lot of milkweed flowers are fragrant.

I went out and checked the plant again, and indeed it is semding up buds. I hope I can get it to successfully flower and produce seed. I don't know yet if I will have the white or lavendar flowers.

I always wash my hands immediately after handling milkweed. In fact, I'm probably somewhat OCD about it. So far, I haven't had an allergic reaction to it or any of my other plants.

Giant milkweed is probably perennial in your garden, Sherry, but for me it will be an annual and I plan to grow it again. It does have a stalk, though, albeit a chunky one with short internodes. It is sending up new basal growth of foliage, too. I really, really like this plant, better than the other tropicals because it is so ornamental and so sturdy.

Susan

I tooks these pics of Calatropis gigantea down in the Florida keys visiting relatives this past March. Knew it was a milkweed, just wasn't sure which one at the time. It's quite impressive, was the first Monarch host plant I'd seen that looked like a shrub!

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I ordered one, Susan, several years ago. It was still in its container in my garden, I'd only had it a few days, and it rained on it - it immediately died! :(
I might have better luck with planting seeds directly in a raised bed - I think that's what I'll try, because it sure looks like a great monarch host plant!
Sherry

Susan,

They must be proud of their seeds at those prices, especially since the plant gets so large, flowers year-round (in tropical habitats anyway) and so produces so many seeds.

In HI it's only known as Crown Flower, and they get to be very tree like with a heavy trunk and heavy branches that the new growth spikes up from. It's mostly found in the poorer traditional Hawaiian neighborhoods along the beaches. Those folks have high regard for it while most of the more affluent folks higher up the slopes seem not to want it in their yards. It is very fragrant and it's common to see it strung on lei's.

My rearing studies during the 80's and 90's showed that the nivosus morph made up about 20% of the Monarch populations in HI, not the so often reported 10%. Rearing studies like mine would be way more accurate than counts of adults, so that's why I did it. With the introduction of a couple of species of Bubuls to HI that tend to feed more readily on the white morph than the orange morph adults, adult counts are misleading.

Larry

Isn't that a gorgeous plant, Terrene? I'd grow it even if it wasn't a Monarch host plant.

MissSherry, they do like to be kept on the dry side, and they like very, very sharp drainage. But, one rain storm shouldn't have done it in. I did notice that mine absolutely did NOT like growing in a pot. I potted it up 3 times because the bottom leaves kept turning yellow and dropping off. Once I got it in the ground, it stopped doing that.

I grew mine from seed, and as stated kept moving it up a pot size from the seedling pot to 1 gallon size, and then finally in the ground. If ordered from a mail order nursery or even purchased from a local nursery (if you can find one; maybe in Florida, California, or HI) I'd get it in the ground as quickly as possible, just based on the experience I've had with it this summer. I think it likes to have lots of root room and for me, it just wasn't happy in a pot.

Ladobe, I think there is some price gouging going on with milkweeds in a lot of the seed trade right now. With the increase in butterfly gardening and especially, in attracting Monarchs, seed sellers have liberal opportunity to charge pretty much what they want. And, they make a nice profit off of those of us who really crave to own certain species. I did a ton of searching on the net to find A. curassavica seeds, as easily obtained as they are, for less than $3 or $4.00 for 20-40 seeds. Perservering, I finally found Everwilde Farm where they sell them $2.50 for 1,250 seeds. A lot of these folks rely on the fact that people often don't want to buy seeds from various sources, but want to "one stop shop" for all their seeds. They'll offer A. syriaca, 100 seeds for $2.00 and make back their money a hundred fold on other seeds sold at higher prices per number of seeds given. There is another online science and educational website that sells the Giant Milkweed seeds, between 10-20 seeds (not even a definite number) for $10.00. WOW! You're likely paying $1 per seed. That's a bit steep for me. I got 10 seeds for $2.99 and thought that was extreme. Supply and demand drives the market, too.

The Giant Milkweed Tree is also native to India, where it is very superstitious to plant one in your yard for some reason. Lots of folklore surrounding milkweeds alone.

I look forward to growing this one for some time to come.

Susan

Oh WOW! I didn't know about this one, and now that I do, I MUST have it! It is gorgeous, sturdy, and a Monarch host? How much better can it get? LOL Since I am in the same zone as you Susan, I assume that I can grow it as an annual. Where is the best place to buy seed?

I got my seed from Smart Seeds on eBay this last winter. They still have some for sale and I might go ahead and order some for next year. There are other places that sell them, like Educational Science, Milkweed Farm, but a lot of them are out of the seeds for now. Jungle Seeds on eBay also sells them, but for $1.99 for 10 seeds-much better buy....if they germinate. Georgia Vines may also have some seed, but they're kinda expensive, too.

Sorry to hook you on another milkweed, Bandzjmom!

Susan

Note that C. gigantea and many other seldom-mentioned plants are in the Monarch Hostplant FAQ. It's always good to see actual confirmation of these hostplants.

Larry_Gene, I believe that C. gigantea's little sister (I say, "little" because it literally does not get as large), C. procera, is one that I would also like to find eventually, and is also supposed to be a host for the Monarchs.

I really need to review the FAQs. I need to remind myself of what good information is provided to forum members. I tend to get complacent about the FAQs and take them for granted. However, it is definitely THE place to go when one wants a lot of info in one location on the net and is not only just for newbies.

Thanks for bringing that up.

Susan

Thanks for sharing this milkweed with us Susan. I want to provide as many different options as I can to the Monarchs. Right now, I only have Common, Swamp, Tropical, and Butterfly Weed. That fair sized patch of Common Milkweed is now covered with Milkweed Tussock Moth Cats. They sure are cute to look at, but I had hoped to have that patch of milkweed as a backup for the Monarchs. :o)

Thanks larry gene, I will go and check out that Monarch Hostplant FAQ.

Angie

This particular plant does well in a cactus mix... too much water will kill it. They are much like Plumeria (Frangipani) that way. Hubby's problems arose from the white powdery stuff from the leaves.

Thanks for the info Susan. I looked at this one last year. There was some reason that I shied away from it. I think it was either powdery mildew or whitefly. We would grow it under shade cloth and that has an effect on plants. If you see anything like this, let us know.
Thanks,
Elisabeth

I have not had any pests or diseases so far to deal with, and believe me, this would have been the year for it. Knock on wood; don't want to jinx myself. They like full sun and I'm sure good air circulation, so I can see that growing them under shade cloth surrounded by other plants might have caused a mildew problem.

I have mine in the ground close to a big ole pine tree. I have let the pine needles and leaves lie on the ground to compost over several years and it is now a nice, fluffy mix with sharp drainage where I just recently opened a new planting area. Sure am glad I did because I have some plants that really do like this soil. I did add some organic fertilizer called Lady Bug John's Recipe, a 3-1.5-2 ratio and as fertilizers go, this is a ratio (actually 3-1-2)that has been suggested on several forums I've been keeping up with, providing some micro nutrients as well - feed the soil, not the plant. The theory is that plants can only use this ratio of NPK and anything over that is waste.

I've also planted an Amorpha fruticosa, Anisacanthus wrightii (Flame Acanthus), Oscar Milkweeds, Salvias, Asclepias variegata (Redring Milkweed), and a Desmodium canadense in that area and all are doing excellent.

I checked again today and the flower buds are getting slightly bigger, so say a prayer for me that I can get it to bloom.

Susan

Yup, C. procera has long been in the FAQ, replete with seven common names to choose from. I did this Monarch hostplant report for Carol (biophilia) several years ago.

Yes this is a beautiful plant. I have three growing from cuttings I got about a year ago, they have done well until lately when they've been losing almost all their leaves. The remaining leaves look healthy though. Did have some nice blooms too, but never noticed seeds. Not sure what to look for as I've never seen the seeds. I was looking forward to having them to feed all the monarchs that I can never keep up with on the scarlet MW, but this year have hardly raised any monarchs.
Anyway, yes this is a really nice plant/bush/tree. Mine are still small, 3 or 4 feet max, but I've seen them around 8 to 10 feet here. I'd think more people would have it, I only know of two places, both butterfly gardens, where I've seen any growing around here. A well-kept secret!!
Good luck with those seeds!
kelly

It's interesting that you're finding them to be so sensitive to watering considering that they thrive so well in the volcanic rich soil that gets deep soaked by rain almost daily year-round in Hawaii. Must be that soil just drains better (it wouldn't be all that hard to duplicate it in a raised scree here though). In HI they are almost always planted out in full sun, and like a specimen plant out in the open rather than in groups or groves or near buildings, so they do get good air circulation from the ever present tropical winds.

Their seed pods are about 3"-4" long Kelly. Link below has a picture of them.

BTW, seedvendor.com lists 50 seeds for $5. Better yet if you have access to an established plant do stem cuttings.

Larry

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed pods

Thanks Larry,
Well as I'd imagined they would be, those seed pods would be hard to miss. So I don't know why they didn't seed, but maybe next time.
I'm not sure about the water, as it seems like the leaf drop started while we still had not had much rain (but that's not for certain). We are well-drained and just inland from the gulf and a couple of blocks from a 2-mile-wide stretch of river, where we get pretty steady breezes all the time.
Anyway, they seem to be holding their own, just with fewer leaves, I guess time will tell!
Thanks for the info.
kelly

I just found them searching the web this morning and placed an order with Seed Vendor this morning, Larry, funny you should mention that. Great minds and all that....

Kelly, IME, a lot of milkweeds just drop their foliage reasons known or unknown (and/or it gets fed to hungry cats), and soon enough grows back, so maybe you'll be seeing new sprouts soon. I don't know much about this milkweed, though, and there's not a lot of great info out there. In fact, I've probably seen more info via this thread than I have on the WWW.

Maybe the flowers weren't pollinated effectively, or you have tiny munchers on your flowers, or you've had the dreaded milkweed beetles consume them and any seed pods you may have had?? Some milkweeds are difficult to pollinate because of the flower structure, but I don't know about Calotropis. I know that Asclepias variegata can be difficult and sets few seeds, or at least viable seeds.

Susan, who continues to closely monitor the flowers of CG

Susan, thanks and they do have some new growth, what is there looks pretty healthy. Have had so many aphids and mw bugs, who knows what the contributing factor is. Oh well will also be closely monitoring mine. good luck!

You know the ants help the aphids move around. They even take the aphids down into the soil. I was popping some swamp milkweeds out of their small containers and there were ants on the roots. I'm using a product call Terro near the plants to try to kill the ants. Terro is safe for most creatures. The ants eat it and take it back to the colony and it helps kill the colony.

Runmede, when you say that Terro is "safe for most creatures", can you clarify that?

I am so reluctant to use any of the so-called "safe" products in the garden because down the line they turn out not to be so safe, or as safe as they were originally thought to be.

The only things I am confident about using in my garden are water and hand picking, depending on the intruder. If there is anything out there that is not toxic to caterpillars or butterflies, though, I am surely interested in it.

Susan

I've posted the website below for Terro FAQ section.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for info on Terro

Thought I'd let everyone know that I continue to find Monarch larvae on the Calotropis, and I yesterday I cut 2 leaves off to put in containers. This morning when I checked them, they were still very fresh, even tho I didn't put them in water, and I folded them over to fit in the tiny larvae's container. I was very surprised that they didn't wilt and/or dry out like the A. curassavica, A. incarnata, A. physocarpa, or Cynanchum laeve. I think this will be a very good milkweed to use.

Susan

The monarchs don't lay eggs on my Calotropis gigantea which I'm very happy about. This year they seem to prefer A. tuberosa, Gomphocarpus fruticosus and the other narrow leaf varieties. Surprisingly they aren't bothering with the syriaca this season either.

I grow C. gigantea in containers and winter it over in the greenhouse. I usually get blooms the second season but have never had a seed pod develop.

This is the first time I've ever grown it, Karyn, and it is putting out blooms now. I was afraid it might not set seed, so went ahead and ordered them from the source Larry mentioned.

I've been finding cats all over mine. I hesitated to cut just one leaf for a few tiny cats, but the leaves hold up so well, they have lasted 3 days now. They are very succulent, though, so maybe that's why. The foliage kind of reminds me of the fiddleleaf fig. It's a very attractive plant. Will keep everyone posted as to how the flowers do and if a seed pod is produced. I had read a lot about how a lot of people had difficulty getting their plants to bloom, but I haven't done anything special to mine and it is blooming in its first year. It's not even growing in full sun either.

How big do yours get in pots and what size pots are you putting them in?

Susan

My first year plants are about 2' tall by the end of the growing season and they are in 8-10" pots. My older plants are in 15" pots and are 3 - 5' tall. They can reach the size of a small tree in their native habitat. I'm sure they'd get quite a bit taller if I moved them into bigger containers but I'm tight for space in the greenhouse over the winter. I love the blooms and they last for such a long time. They are used like plumeria blooms for making leis.

Thanks for the info. The reason I moved mine to the ground was the fact that it is supposed to be taprooted, and usually taprooted plants don't do too well in a pot. Even in a 1 gallon pot, it was showing signs of disliking the restriction (yellow bottom leaves eventually dropping off rapidly). Once I moved it, it lost one more leaf, since then, has not lost any. It is also throwing up basal growth as well as growth from the leaf axils.

I do have sliding doors on the south side of my house plus a large Eastern exposure window, so that the room is very bright and sunny during winter. I think it might do okay if I put it in a plastic tub, about 20 gallon. I buy them at Lowe's for $6.00 and drill holes in them. That's how I grow my indet. tomatoes. I can commandeer or purchase another for the Calotropis.

I would like to find seeds for C. procera, which is a smaller plant. I've been looking on the net, but haven't found any yet. C. gigantea is hard enough to find as it is. In their native habitat C. gigantea can get 30' tall, I've read.

The foliage on mine has a lot of holes in it now, from the Monarchs hatching on it. I have been moving them into containers with other milkweeds, but have used about 3 leaves to feed them because they stand up so well. Judicious pruning so that the plant still looks good.

I have A. physocarpa, A. incarnata, A. curassavica, and the Cynanchum laeve. I also have small plants of A. speciosa, A. purpurescens, A. viridis, and A. tuberosa coming along but too small to feed to Monarchs. Monarchs here do not usually use tuberosa.

Thanks for your info!

Susan

This is a study on giant milkweed in Puerto Rico.

Here is a link that might be useful: Calotropis procera, Giant Milkweed

I guess they are calling both C. gigantea and C. procera "Giant Milkweed". Interesting article, though, Runmede. It confirms that these plants do have tap roots. Which makes me wonder how well it really will do in a confined pot. Wish I could find seeds of C. procera. Will keep looking.

Thanks. I saved the article for future reference.

Susan