i have ironweed sending you e-mail:)

You can order Tropical Milkweed plants (asclepias curassavica) in bulk fairly cheap. It's an annual rather than perennial but Monarchs love it for laying eggs and it's very pretty. I can't recall the Monarch website that sells them cheap. Maybe someone else will know. I think they were less than a dollar apiece if you order a lot. Monarchs like Swamp Milkweed (asclepias incarnata). It's perennial, but that one might be difficult to keep watered in Colorado. They will use Butterfly Weed for laying eggs (asclepias tuberosa) but it's not their favorite. Very pretty though, easy to grow from seed, and perennial. Common Milkweed (asclepias syriaca) has large leaves but it's an aggressive spreader and might eventually be the only thing you have in your garden. There was a post recently about Purple Milkweed (asclepias purpurascens) which also has large leaves but supposedly not as aggressive as Common Milkweed. I'm giving that one a try this year. I would suggest ordering some Tropical Milkweed plants for this year and also starting some milkweed from seed that will be perennial. They're pretty easy to grow from seed. Winter Sowing works well for them (starting outdoors in covered vented containers) and it's inexpensive. Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing Forum

Joe, I wintersowed some milkweed seed this year. It's up but still small, I have most of those other plants that are mentioned in this post. Don't forget to plant some Maypop for the Gulf Frits. Yes, I get them here in NE OK. They have had a program going at the botanical garden in Tulsa in past years. Not sure if that's still going on. Also I grew fennel last year and I had a lot of those Monarch caterpillars on it. With fennel, IF they leave you anything, you can use it in cooking or just enjoy the fragrance. But usually they strip the plant down to bare stems. They can be found in dill umbels, too.

Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens) has reddish midveins but also has reddish purple flowers, so if the plants have salmon-colors flowers they are probably just a variant of Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)