Tropical Milkweed vs Native Milkweed for Monarch Butterflies Gardening Class // Green Thumb Nursery

Green Thumb Nurseries - Gardening in SoCal

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Here at Green Thumb Nursery we absolutely love our Monarch Butterflies and because of this we commit a lot of time into diving deep into the research when it comes to helping the Monarch Butterfly populations thrive. Unfortunately, there is a lot of incorrect and misguided information circulating around the internet on Tropical Milkweed and Native Milkweed regarding their impacts on the Monarch Butterfly so we wanted to take the time to put together a well-researched fact-based video to help to set the record straight and to provide more clarity on the subject. We hope you will find a lot of value in this week's video when it comes to Tropical & Native Milkweed as well as the importance of having pollinator-friendly plants in your garden! Thank you for joining us for the class! Don't forget to join in on the conversation - if you have questions, additional sources, comments and the like - we encourage positive dialogue on this topic in the comments as we are all here to learn how we can best support the Monarch Butterflies!
If you are interested in any of the plants featured in the video be sure to head down to your local Green Thumb Nursery (we have five locations in Southern California; Lake Forest, Ventura, San Marcos, Canoga Park and Santa Clarita) we are happy to help you with all of your gardening needs!
For our store hours, our store location addresses, to sign up for our weekly newsletter / coupons, to read new garden articles, research plants via our brand new plant library, order sod, gift cards and more please visit us at: www.greenthumb...
Nectar plants featured in the video:
Lantana
Buddelia
Black Sage
California Golden Rod Manzanita species
Coyote Brush
Liatris
Asters
Yarrow
Echinacea
Salvia gregii
Agastache
Zinnia
Cosmos
Bottlebrush
Sunflower
Native milkweed
Tropical milkweed
Sources:
North American Butterfly Association OIKOS Volume 125, Issue 8. page 1081-1091. Mexico
overwintering sites decline.
Insect Conservation and Diversity
Royal Entomological Society.
Volume 5. Issue 2
Three factors of migration decline.
Monarchbutterflygarden.net
Is tropical milkweed killing monarch butterflies?
nababutterfly.com
American butterflies winter 2014
Tropical milkweed and the injurious effects of well-meaning people.
The Journal of Parasitology
Volume 103, Issue 3
June 1, 2017
Texas Butterfly Ranch Researcher: Feb 22,2021
Article Title: tropical milkweed impact on the monarch butterflies “vastly overblown,” says long
time butterfly researcher
...and many more used to better understand the full scope of the arguments so that we could consider points from all sides.
Thanks for watching!

Опубликовано:

13 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 18

@TIERRAYLOMBRICES 2 года назад

I put the native milkweed seeds in the freezer for a week they all germinate and are growing fast, because I only have tropical milkweed and like you said is good to have both kind of plants and I cut the tropical ones to the ground level every December.

@dougspindler4947 Год назад

Thank you for your video - Excellent presentation.

@pennymitchell6886 Год назад

Great information. Thank you!

@daniellejeanette 5 месяцев назад

Very informative! Thank you!

@mickidonahue4038 3 месяца назад

Thank you for being so thorough in your explanation. New subscriber here

@jkardo21044 2 года назад

We live in Lake Forest and have a rather pathetic tropical milkweed that was strong enough to provide a breeding ground for 2 monarch caterpillars. We watched the entire process, from the caterpillar picking the place to establish it's chrysalis to hatching the most beautiful monarch who proceeded to fly to our nectar plants. We have a video of the entire hatching process (which I would be trilled to share). It is spectacular. In these difficult times, we are reminded how amazing Mother Nature is!

@kristinswan220 2 года назад

I go to green thumb a lot

@cherylgann1993 2 года назад

Thank you Cathy and Green Thumb team!!

@RobbieAndGaryGardeningEasy Год назад

I had a yard full of monarchs. That was when I had tropical milkweed. We also have two varieties of native milkweed. A couple neighbors were upset I had the tropical milkweed, so I got rid of it. Which intern got rid of all the monarchs. I have never seen any monarchs lay or go near our native milkweed, and none of my neighbors the same thing. Now that a tropical milk weed plant has started to grow back into my yard on its own I am starting to see monarchs. To me I think The monarchs here are seeking out tropical milkweed? So what are your thoughts, as none have gone near any of the native milk weeds here in SoCal. Thanks

@GreenThumbNurseries Год назад

Yes, we see a very similar trend with the milkweed varieties we carry in-store. Tropical milkweed attracts plenty of monarchs and they seem to prefer it over the native varieties we have carried and still carry now. Tropical milkweed contributes to a healthy population of monarch butterflies and they should not be banned or frowned upon. It is our opinion that planting both, tropical and native milkweed, and being sure to cut back alternating sections of your tropical milkweed throughout the year to minimize the growth of OE on the plant is the best course of action because then the local monarch butterflies will always have a host plant available to them throughout all times of the year. Unfortunately, as far as what has been going on with the negative tropical milkweed press...there are some players in the garden industry who cornered the native milkweed grower market for themselves and then they started to spread misinformation about unproven harmful effects of tropical milkweed on monarch butterfly populations so that they could make themselves look like the morality thought-leader of gardening - these theories have since been proven false by quite a few top monarch researchers over the years. Thanks for commenting and taking the time to watch our new video!

@seedandtrellis1698 2 года назад

Thank you so much. I really enjoy learning from you!

@GreenThumbNurseries 2 года назад

We found out that Ventura County has reclassified Tropical Milkweed as a type B noxious weed this week - we are assuming that this is because there are monarch overwintering groves in Ventura and Santa Barbara and we saw some studies that recommended, just to be safe, not to plant tropical milkweed near the overwintering sites just in case it affects their migrations. It is still our belief that tropical milkweed is helpful and necessary to the monarch populations and without it...the monarch populations would suffer drastic population declines as the first generation of monarch butterflies depend on the availability of tropical milkweed to lay their eggs on early in the migration season (before any native milkweed is available) which allows for the second, third and fourth generations to flourish - the fourth generation being the one to finally migrate south. If the first generation dies off without having host plants available to lay their eggs on, then the second, third and fourth generation populations will suffer. Regardless of our thoughts and the data that we have found backing it up from our research we will follow all guidelines and rules set forth by the responsible government agencies.

@juneramirez8580 2 года назад

I live in zone 9b low AZ desert. I grow desert reed type, pine needle and AZ milkweed all native. They do not die back in my garden. Do they carry the parasite also? I grow tropical milkweed and that is the only milkweed I see Monarchs on to lay eggs and for your caterpillars to grow and eat. They much prefer the tropical milkweed. And I do cut it down late winter. I think I get the last of the egg laying butterflies because last year I still had hatching ones late in our mild winters. Today is June 1st 2022 and I have yet to see a Monarch.

@GreenThumbNurseries 2 года назад

Yes, both native and tropical collect oe spores on the surface of the plant. If your native doesn't die back over winter I'd recommend cutting it back as well.

@daniellejeanette 5 месяцев назад

HI 👋 from Arizona as well, zone 9a. Some monarchs do overwinter in AZ so that could be why that happened!

@sandieminasian4930 2 года назад

Great info, thank you. I won't destroy my tropical milkweed after all, I'll grow it alongside the showy. You did not mention the nemesis of the caterpillars in my yard, the tachinid fly! They decimate my caterpillars, from the first generation to the fourth. I'm not sure what to do about them, they're supposedly beneficial insects but not if you want to host monarchs!