There is a patch of anise or fennel weed that reseeds every year in the lot behind our house. It seems to attract butterfly habitat, but not sure about milkweed. However, about 5 years ago, we awoke one morning - and going outside, found ourselves in the midst of a huge Monarch migration. What a sight, they just kept on coming, and seemed to be from the ocean. It looked as though they were headed for a huge growth of wild mustard - down in the canyon behind our house. We have lived here over 30 years, and that was the first one we had seen. Fantastic! We see swallowtail, mourning cloaks, a few monarchs every year, but that migration was a once-in-a-lifetime event, I'm afraid. Bejay

I have common milkweed growing all over my property. I never cut it down, even if it grows in a flower bed. It really is a butterfly magnet. Not only have I seen Monarch butterflies attracted to it but other varieties of butterflies too. I also have other varieties of Milkweed but the butterflies don't seem to be as attracted to them as they are to the common variety.

Full sun for sure is best. I would say that a field that is never mowed might present a problem for the light weight seeds to get down the the damp soil where they need to be to germinate. I have not deliberately grown any from seed, but have had many sprout where they darn well please. I do find that the A. incarnata, spreads itself around much better than A. tuberosa. Incarnata or 'swamp milkweed' likes a moister situation too, which I have. Send off an email through Garden Web if you would like some seeds. I have a lot more incarnata, the pink one, than tuberosa, the orange. But only on pod would yield several dozens seeds, so I think I will be able to accommodate all who want some.

I've been raising Monarchs for nearly 10 years and my property is a Monarch Waystation and yes I've heard this about tropical milkweed. There may be problems growing in the southern zones where Asclepias curassavica is perennial but not here in zone 6 (in my experience). Our season just isn't long enough - often the tropical milkweed doesn't even have enough time to produce mature seed pods, before it's killed with a hard frost. What's more, as soon as it gets cold at night the Monarchs are out of here pronto (usually around late Sept/early October). There is no chance whatsoever they are going to hang around because of the tropical milkweed. I grow common, swamp, purple, and orange (butterfly weed) milkweeds and it is a finicky genus - not all species do well every year, it is a target for insects, and it randomly dies back, so I grow a fair amount of the tropical because it attracts egg laying females to the garden. I then collect the eggs and raise them on whatever cuttings are doing well, the caterpillars are adaptable, and if I've got a lot of hungry 5th instar caterpillars to feed, will sometimes collect extra common milkweed cuttings from wild sources.