Have you grown Purple Milkweed?
gawdinfever Z6
2 years ago
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mxk3 z5b_MI
2 years agoNevermore44 - 6a
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Purple Milkweed Seeds are available
Comments (22)I have the big white zinnias too. But the bees and butterflies seem to like the cosmos and salvias best. The bees go nuts for my white datura too. They are so funny. They'll be out there in the early evening before the flowers open buzzing all over the place. They'll force the blooms open enough that they can squeeze inside and then they get stuck. So then I'm out there deadheading and the flower buds are all buzzing angrily and I'm like "sorry guys, I'm not rescuing you. You should have been patient!" I was in the big park across the street this morning and I finally saw one lonely little milkweed. I have been scouring the field where there are normally a lot of them. It makes me really worried for the next generation of monarchs. I'm also worried about the birds. There are hardly any berries and seeds to get them through the winter. The hackberries and grapes are almost totally bare. I bought a couple of feeders and some seed last week for them. Haven't had a chance to put them up yet though. I've got to get all the houseplants inside and settled and then maybe I can work on that! Oh! Speaking of, I noticed that someone said monarchs will feed on Asclepias because it is related to the milkweeds. I was wondering if they would also like hoyas because they're also related. I have lots of them and they have been outside most of the time....See MoreCommercial grown Milkweed
Comments (14)One Monarch site's views on the subject: http://www.livemonarch.com/propaganda.htm In addition, as a member of North American Butterflies Association, I have an issue of the NABA publication American Butterflies, Volume 22: Number 4, Winter 2014, and there is an article called Tropical Milkweed written by Jeffrey Glassberg. I can't find it online at this time, but the last page of the article concludes: NABA has always encouraged the use of native plants. For example, an article by Ann Swengel, in the very first volume of American Butterflies detailed all of the native milkweeds of the Midwest and how to propagate them. And, the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, a major project of NABA, is now the largest botanical garden in the United States that focuses on the use of native plants in a garden setting. However, despite NABA's overwhelming preference for, and love of, native plants, there are instances where non-native plants fill a butterfly need and that demonizing non-native plants is a misguided strategy that antagonizes many people who would be natural allies in our mission to conserve butterflies. Encouraging people to use plants native to their region is a good idea; calling people bad names because they have planted the usual, commercially available, garden plant, is counterproductive. In conclusion. The answer to the question "Can well-meaning people sometimes make things worse" is yes, and that those who have claimed, as a fact, that planting tropical Milkweeds harms Monarchs, may have themselves harmed Monarchs by discouraging people from becoming involved and from creating more habitat for Monarchs....See MoreWinter sowing surprise! Purple Milkweed (Asclepias cordifolia)
Comments (6)Lena, so sorry you weren't in time to pick up some Purple Milkweed. I was gone for most of the summer so wasn't here to tend to or observe my in-ground plants. Many stalks of the Purple MW still have a few tatty looking leaves on the tips but for all intents and purposes, they are gone. I don't know if they would have fared any better if I'd been here. I only realized this spring that I even had Purple Milkweed. Can't remember starting and planting out seedlings but lo and behold, the first blooms produced by these plants were certainly Purple Milkweed bloom heads. Although the blooms were worked over feverishly by the wild bee's, no seed pods this year. :-( The little seedlings I had which were so healthy looking when I left are pretty much gone. I don't know if the roots are still alive. Some seedlings still had a few tatty looking leaves on them when I first got home so I'm hopeful it is just their time to decline for the season. I believe, based on the plant activity this spring, that this milkweed spreads much like the common milkweed. Unfortunately, most of the native milkweeds in my garden look pretty rough before my growing season is done. The little A perennis is still going strong, healthy and blooming so I'm planning on planting a lot more for next year. And I will be growing the Mexican AKA Tropical milkweed again next year for the blooms. So many little insects in my garden nectar on their continuous blooms. Just have to be diligent about squishing the aphids. :-) Mary...See MorePorterweed in differing colors - and, have you grown them?
Comments (7)For my garden the large purple porterweed (Stachytarpheta frantzi) is by far the best. Almost all butterflies and hummingbirds love the purple. I like the blue porterweed also. It is much smaller; it's a perennial for me in the Orlando area. The small butterflies like them quite a bit. The red is small also, but it attracts virtually everything. I no longer have it, because it was very cold sensitive and any type of freeze would kill it. It might do very well in Pinellas. I have had the coral porterweed, but finally got rid of it. It is excellent as an attractor for butterflies and hummingbirds, but it gets very big and in my area only had one good bloom per year. The blue, purple and red are ever-blooming in warm weather. I aslo have a white porterweed that I got many years ago. It is similar in growth and blooming patterns to the blue. It also attracts small butterflies and other pollinators....See MoreJay 6a Chicago
2 years agogawdinfever Z6
2 years agofour (9B near 9A)
2 years agogawdinfever Z6
2 years agoJay 6a Chicago
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agogawdinfever Z6
2 years agoJay 6a Chicago
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agogawdinfever Z6
2 years ago
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