Red Tropical Milkweed Plant, Asclepias Curassavica

Description

Asclepias curassavica  has a few nicknames.   Mexican Milkweed and Blood Flower to name a few.  The striking flowers are Red, Orange and yellow making it an attractant for the Monarch butterflies as well as a host plant with prime egg laying leaves for their young.  The plentiful smaller leaves provide much food for dozens of growing monarch caterpillars.

Growing.  Asclepias Curassavica is a tropical species but can be grown as an annual  in regions that freeze and as a container plant and brought indoors over the winter.  It will do best if the soil is kept moist but will tolerate some dryness. You can cut it back at any time to promote new growth just be sure to carefully inspect any cuttings for small monarch larvae and eggs.  They are very small. Each plant will fill out and grow up to 4’ tall, providing a lot of food for the caterpillars. The roots will not spread but they may self-seed and I’ve found the young seedlings can be transplanted easily.