Problems with Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

First the lower leaves started wilting, so I watered more. Then they turned yellow and dropped off. Now I have 3' high plants that have bare stems with a little foliage and flowers at the very top, and they are covered with mustard colored insects. Aphids? Help, please.

The insects are definitely aphids, the orange ones are milkweed aphids and there is pretty much no way to completely get rid of them, they go totally nuts for anything in the milkweed family and seem to be more persistent than most of the other types of aphids that I've had to deal with. If you've got a ton of aphids on the plant that could explain why the plant was wilting, and then if you watered when the plant didn't really need water that could explain the leaves yellowing and falling off. What I do with the milkweed aphids is just try to hose them off every couple of days--it doesn't 100% get rid of them but it keeps them under control enough that the plant continues to do OK.

Gross but effective: Smush the bugs that are there. Don't rinse the bodies off. Keeps the others away from the plant.

The only thing that actually worked well for me.

I do like nanbernier. I put on some garden gloves and just gently run my fingers down the stems to crush all the aphids. Their remains do seem to keep others at bay for a while. And even if the aphids have killed a lot of your leaves, as long as it's not too late in the year, these plants are quick to put on new leaves. They're pretty tough plants. And ecrane is right--don't overwater them--they like it a little more on the dry side.

That's interesting--I may have to try smushing them next year instead of hosing them off!

Do wear gloves. They will stain your fingers.

Oh, believe me, I would never even consider touching let alone smushing any sort of insect without gloves on...I could care less if it stains or not!

LOL! I wouldn't care to smush any bugs with my gloves on either! YUCK!!

My glove prints are on a workbench from just after I did this in June or July. I need to sand that down. ~yucky~

It is disgusting, but it is easy to do because they all clump together, on top of each other.

Also, this way you don't have the worry that the same bugs will come back.

I've heard that a mix of 1 tablespoon of RealLemon and 1 cup of water sprayed on aphids will kill them instantly. I've tried it with a generic brand and it didn't seem to work, but it might be worth a shot.
My aphid problem is rather minor. I have two Salvia patens overwintering inside that I think had eggs in the soil. I remember seeing clear little orbs while I potted them up, and tried to get rid of them, but I must have missed a few. The method that seems to work best for me is to crush the aphids.

Thanks for the info. I cut them down to about 2' high a few weeks ago. That may have been a mistake. We will see if they come back this year. For a plant that is supposed to grow so easily in our area, I sure am having trouble. Wondering if I have any gardening skills at all.