Milkweed Red Tropical Perennial Live Plant Butterfly Garden Attracts Butterflies Asclepias Starter Sz

sclepias or Tropical Milkweed is an upright, open growing flowering perennial native to the American tropics. It is cultivated worldwide for its showy flowers and ability to attract butterflies, especially Monarch and Queen.

Plants grow fast and upright, and generally mature between 3 and 4 feet tall. The narrow, oblong, pointed lance-shaped leaves grow in opposite pairs, spaced out along pale gray green stems filled with a milky sap.

Flowers composed of a bright yellow ring of sepals crowned by a gold orange corolla.

Milkweed is easy to grow, will thrive in a wide range of soil types and is quite drought tolerant once well established. Flowers begin to appear in mid to late spring and continue almost year round. It is generally evergreen in Zones 9B, 10, 11. In Zones 9A and 8B, well established plants will generally freeze to the ground and re-sprout in the spring. The flowers are attractive to butterflies, especially Monarchs and is a great choice for butterfly gardens and mixed perennial beds and borders and requires little care or maintenance. In tropical climates prune back heavily in the Fall to eliminate any risk of interruption of migration patterns for Monarchs. *

*Growers Note: We adamantly disagree with information currently circulating on the internet that this plant poses a hazard for Monarchs. If you have concerns, please research the issue carefully. Go to the source article and review all of the facts. Any POTENTIAL risk can be eliminated by simple hard pruning back at the end of the season or growing as an annual.

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