I have all sorts of nectar and host plants for butterflies in my garden already.

Right now I'm looking at Swamp Milkweed (Red, or Cinderella)and Butterfly Weed. Any suggestions on which is least invasive?

I have tropical milkweed, butterfly weed, and swamp milkweed. I've not had problems with any of them being invasive.

Hope that helps
~Laura

Thanks, Laura. That's what I wanted to know.

Tropical, swamp and orange milkweeds are clumping and do not spread by runners. They might reseed a bit if you let the plants go to seed.

None are invasive so I would select your preference by color and cultural conditions. Swamp milkweed prefers a moister soil and comes in a pretty pink or white. Fast growing for a perennial milkweed. Butterfly weed (orange) likes good drainage and is very drought tolerant.

I love Asclepias curassavica and grow it like an annual here. Imo it's one of the prettiest milkweeds, plus it makes great caterpillar food.

in zone 5, tropical will reseed a little bit but it's not hard to weed them out in spring. Don't count on those volunteers being reliable plants because they get started way too late to sustain many monarchs.

Like Terrene, I LOVE tropical as an annual but start with plants or cuttings for best results. Good luck, Tony

PS...you can easily start with cuttings if you overwinter one or two plants indoors.

Tony, I have read of others who have over-wintered A. curassavica in the garage or basement. How do you overwinter yours? It is so easy to start from seed, that I hadn't thought much about doing that. I over-wintered some Salvia 'Black & Blue' this past winter in the garage and the plants did great (and are now out in the garden) so the tropical milkweed would probably do likewise.

I've got common milkweed that is already 1-2 feet high, and no Monarchs yet, so do I even need the plants earlier? Although maybe it would attract them earlier to the yard if there are more total milkweeds growing.

Thanks everyone. I'm placing it in a moist area so I am going to try the Swamp milkweed, IF I can find it. It's sold out everywhere.