Trouble with Butterfly Milkweed

I have purchased several Butterfly Milkweed plants from High Country Gardens, so I don't question the quality. I happened to be in Santa Fe and purchased two while there and carried them home in my brown-thumbed hands. Everyone seems to have great luck with these plants, but each one I have purchased is either dead or dying. I have planted them in both partial sun and full sun. I live in east Texas right on the line between Post Oak and Blackland Prairie regions. We have sandy soil and it's dry here. We do have irrigation, but plant mostly xeric plants. When I plant the milkweed, I mix some chicken/cow poo thoroughly into the hole with the sandy soil. I cover it with 1-2 inches of cedar mulch. The plant does fine for a while, but then develops yellow spots which eventually become totally yellow leaves, then branch by branch the plant dies. They never flower, because they never get big enough. High Country said it was my mulch, but one of the plants hardly has any over it now and that hasn't seemed to solve the problem. Why, oh WHY, can't I grow this wonderful butterfly magnet? Thanks.

I think the chicken/cow poo and sandy soil mix is what's doing it. They are pretty easy to grow and don't need any admendments. I'd leave out the poo.

My husband read in our newspaper that when using bark for mulch you need to add some lime until the bark ages because it can take some of the nutrients out of the soil to break down that your plant needs. Can't remember exactly what they take (nitrogen maybe?) but possibly this will help. Even if you moved the mulch it may need some lime anyways from when it was there. I was told that caused the yellow spots on leaves. Just my 2 cents worth.

I believe that milkweed does not like to be transplanted. It grows a very deep tap root. Try growing from seed. I don't know about Texas, but the usual Florida milkweed, Ascepias curassavica, grows very easily from seed, and is not in the least fussy about soil.

I have some beautiful milkweed from High Country Gardens that is growing very well. I agree with leaving out the chicken/cow poo because milkweed normally grows in poor soil so it probably doesn't like the extra nutrients. Mine gets topped with cedar mulch too--it hasn't affected it at all and my plants have been in the ground for four years.

I agree....the kinder you are to milkweed the worse it grows. It is a " lean sandy soil, drought tolerant, very adaptable " plant that seems to thrive on neglect. I too learned the hard way....the more you do to care for it...the sooner it dies.

http://www.floridata.com/ref/a/ascl_cur.cfm

Another thing that could have contributed to the problem was if the poo wasn't well composted before use--poo that's too fresh has too much nitrogen and can burn even plants that do like fertilizer.

Agree with ecrane3 any type of manure needs to be aged 6 months or more or will burn plants. Have you tried to peat moss mixed in the whole to retain some moisture if planting in sand. Or even compost if available. I grow asclepias incarnata Ice Ballet and grow in an area of what they consider High Plains Desert so I add Peat in every hole, we only get approx 16" of precipt a year (colorado). Also might try mulch to retain some moisture. Good Luck, Kathy.

I agree with everyone. I live here in FL, we have very sandy soil. I found that the more I neglected the Milkweed, the better it grew. I didnt amend the soil at all and I water only when it begins to droop a little....I prune when it gets too leggy. other than that, I dont mess with it much

BUT, I live in the mountains and it is very rainy here. The soil is clay. The wild form of butterfly weed grows even in 1/2 shade. The only thing I do it give it some phosphates because our soil is low in phosphates here.

Amazing picture, woodspirit!

Thanks. I am planting more seed today.