Even if you're not involved with planting milkweed, please share this with others who may be.
Why I will be ridding my milkweed by Oct/Nov and not planting it again.
After discovering I had tropical milkweed I went on a hunt this morning to learn more about it.
Because of it's beauty, plants are sold at big box stores and the seeds are all over Amazon.
It is harmful to the monarchs. No matter where you live in the U.S., please help the monarchs by NOT propagating the tropical milkweed.
The problem(s)…
In can be perennial in southern states, not freeze off, die or go dormant. Instead of migrating, the monarchs will stick around and form their own little colonies in those areas. It didn't freeze in my yard during it's growth stage last winter so I'm a contributor. The matter is made worse since I have a nesting ground in nearby Pismo Beach and tropical milkweed, or even native milkweed (at my location) can pull butterflies away from their natural nesting ground.
The larger problem...
More and more monarchs are being infested by a parasite called OE (for short) that can damage their wings and basically eat them from the inside not allowing them to complete their migration.
The monarchs perpetuate the problem by infecting milkweed. The infected milkweed re-infects new monarchs and the cycle continues, get's worse, end of story.
The solution(s):
Only plant native milkweed. It will die off during the winter and kill the OE parasites ending the cycle. If you have tropical milkweed please consider removing it and planting milkweed native to your area where monarchs won't stick around and become infected or spread OE.
In my case, though I can cut back the milkweed in Oct/Nov there are too many seeds that can self-propagate (I will be carefully clipping those off now) and since I am so close to a natural habitat, I will replace them with flowers high in nectar for feeding the monarchs but not welcoming their stay or reproduction as is the desire of most people.
Do your best and due diligence when it comes to this important endangered life-cycle. Please do not plant tropical milkweed. Thanks!
Native milkweed in CA:
https//xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/19-004_Native-Milkweed-in-California_Planting-and-Establishment_XercesSociety.pdfQ&A about research related to tropical milkweed and monarch parasites:https://monarchjointventure.org/news-events/news/qa-about-research-related-to-tropical-milkweed-and-monarch-parasites
Q&A about research related to tropical milkweed and monarch parasites:
https//monarchjointventure.org/news-events/news/qa-about-research-related-to-tropical-milkweed-and-monarch-parasites
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