Bouncing Bet

I ordered two different Bouncing Bets this year because I wanted native plants, however, I've read that this is an invasive plant. I also ordered several milkweed as I am starting a butterfly garden because this seems to be the Monarchs choice of nectar but I've read that isn't good either. I've also wanted to plant Queen Anne's Lace, but I've read that this is also considered a noxious weed.

Does anybody have any advice or comment?

Check with your local ag agency. What is invasive or noxious in one area may be fine in another.

Invasive or not - they are so beautiful and I want to grow them in my meadow. I'm a bit bogged down with researching lately purpleice, so when you have checked this out perhaps you would post so that I too may take advantage of the info!! :-)

I love butterfly weed (milkweed)!!!!!!! and we do have the monarchs, thanks to them. My DH started cutting the grass around them years ago, and we made fun of him for saving the weeds. That was before we gardened. Now we have beautiful big bushes, that are just full of color. I started some seeds this year of the red. And I don't find them invasive at all, I wish we had more.

I have bouncing betty-it does spread-not to bad
Milkweed-the common weed kind-dont plant it in your garden-Plant it somewhere else for the butterflies-it spreads underground, I fought all last summer with it!!!!!!!
i have other butterfly weeds-they are not like common milkweed!!!!
The flutterbys will LUV you!!! =]

There are alot of nice milkweeds. Asclepias syriaca is the common roadside milkweed that spreads by underground runners. This is the one to stay away from if your worried about invasives. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) has fibrous roots that stay in a clump. It re-seeds but I haven't found it to be a big problem. Butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa) is the pretty orange one. It has a tap root & will spread by seeds. It needs a well drained soil to be happy. It's not happy here but I keep trying. Asclepias curassavica is a tropical milkweed that can be grown as an annual. I haven't had it re-seed here in my zone so I have to start plants every year if I want to grow it. In zones 9 & 10 I believe it is perennial. It has orange w/red flowers and also comes in yellow. Monarchs love all the milkweeds.

Queen Anne's lace is a member of the carrot family and the black swallowtail will lay eggs on it. It's a biennial plant - blooms the second year and then dies after setting seed. It has a tap root and re-seeds like wildfire. They're hard to pull out because of the deep taproot. You could grow parsley, dill, or fennel instead to attract swallowtails. They'll feed off any of those. If you want to grow Queen Anne's Lace keep the spent flowers picked off to keep re-seeding to a minimum.

I have bouncing bet in my garden but I'm not sure I'll let it stay. It's a pretty flower and very fragrant - but it does spread - by both roots and seeds. The rock soapwort is a cousin in the same genus that behaves much better. It's a low growing plant that blooms earlier in the summer. I don't know of a butterfly that uses it as a host... maybe it's just a nector plant? There are lots of flowers that butterflies will sip nector from. Any type of daisies are good. They like the shape because they are easy to rest on. One plant that draws in butterflies here is Verbena bonariensis - they love it and there's always butterflies dangling off it. Mexican sunflowers (tithonia), Joe Pye weed, Maltese cross, zinnias and purple coneflowers are all good nector plants too.

I love Queens Anne Lace, but make sure you plant it where you don't care if it takes over. It reseeds everywhere. The same thing with Bouncing Bet, make sure you plant it where you want it. I planted some B.B.years ago, it turned out to be very aggressive, still have to pull some up every year. All though the Bouncing Bet's blooms do smell heavenly. You almost need beds designated to just having one of these in them.

Does anyone know if Bouncing Bets can be planted in a container? Maybe that would be the solution.
If anyone knows please reply.