Tropical Milkweed – Butterfly Lady

Despite the bad rap it has gotten in the past few years, one of my very favorite flowers in the butterfly garden is Asclepias curassavica also known as Tropical Milkweed, Bloodflower, Scarlet Milkweed, and Mexican Butterfly Weed.

A female **Monarch** butterfly (*Danaus plexippus*) is nectaring on the bloom of this **Tropical Milkweed**.

There are many other types of milkweed but Asclepias curassavica is one of the Monarch butterfly’s favorite host plants. Here are eight reasons why it is my personal favorite milkweed.

1. Flowers bloom continuously from spring to fall in temperate climates and in tropical climates they will flower all year.

Tropical Milkweed is noted for its long bloom season, producing clusters of orange-red flowers with yellow centers from late spring to fall.

2. Tropical Milkweed is easy to grow from seeds and is a fast grower.

No need to cold-stratify **Tropical Milkweed**. Just add the seeds and watch them grow! Click here to purchase seeds.

3. You can easily also propagate new plants from stem cuttings.

If you have potting soil and containers available, simply place the stems directly into the potting soil. Keep the soil moist until you start to see leaves sprouting from the nodes (the bumps on the stems where leaves used to be). At the same time, roots will be growing from the nodes underground. These are 4-inch (10 cm) nursery pots.

4. Tropical Milkweed is tolerant of different soil types, growing well in dry, moist, and wet soils.

This **Tropical Milkweed** is growing in a park in Texas where it rarely rains and also experiences hot summers.

5. Tropical Milkweed can be planted in containers.

Plant **Tropical Milkweed** in a large plastic or terracotta container for ease of moving. Also, if you grow the milkweed in containers, you can bring them inside to overwinter.

6. Tropical Milkweed is the host plant for both Monarch and Queen butterflies.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) and Queen (Danaus gilippus) butterflies laying eggs on Tropical milkweed.

7. The flowers of Tropical Milkweed attract many species of butterflies.

Tiger Swallowtail, White Peacock, Black Swallowtail, and Spicebush Swallowtail are feeding on the blooms of Tropical Milkweed.

8. Hummingbirds like to feed on the blooms.

Hummingbirds are attracted to Tropical Milkweed. (Photo by Rhonda Cantu, used with permission.)

Tropical Milkweed is a perennial in zones 8-11. It will grow year-round in zones 9b-11. In zones 8-9 it will die back to return in the spring. Elsewhere in the US and Canada, it is grown as an annual.

If you live in zones 9b-11 where the Tropical Milkweed stays green all year it is recommended to cut it back in the fall or winter so new growth will form. The reason is that Monarchs can get a parasite called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, or OE. OE is a protozoan parasite that is spread to any milkweed plants when an infected adult butterfly flies over the plants. The flapping of monarch butterfly wings exfoliate the OE spores and the spores fall like glitter and stick to the milkweed. When a caterpillar ingests the leaves with the spores they become infected. These spores can survive on the leaves of any Milkweed. So, if Milkweed does not die back and gets new growth then the OE spores may stay present and continue to re-infect caterpillars. This is not an issue in areas where Tropical Milkweed (or any other Milkweed for that matter) dies back in the winter.

**Tropical Milkweed** should be cut back at least once a year about six inches from the soil.

Since I live in USDA Zone 9b where Tropical Milkweed lives year-round, I cut the plant back twice a year, once in mid-summer and again in late December or in January. I will also cut it back once it gets leggy. This does two things, one, it removes a build-up of OE spores on the plant that can be harmful to the Monarch, and two, it encourages branching and therefore produces a healthier plant and more flower clusters.