I had tropical milkweed in several different spots around my yard last year. They were all of blooming and seed setting size by fall. I am looking for signs of new growth, I know that is chancy. I wonder if someone in a similar zone is seeing growth or can tell me what they expect.
Our winter was mild with only one really cold spell and one short lived snowfall.
The reason I say zone 7 or 8 is that I have some against a south facing wall and that bed is definitely warmer. I have Amaryllis living there.

I have a swamp milkweed (I know not the same) and haven't seen any growth yet. I think it may be more cold hardy, so with no growth, I'm not sure if you will be seeing any on your tropical milkweed at this point.

thanks, hamwild. My common milkweed will come later also. Your comment is a good reminder that I should be patient because it is a milkweed, and not compare it to other very different plants that are (just barely) coming up.

FWIW

https://xerces.org/blog/tropic...

Yes that is good to know about this plant in warmer zones. Maybe the wise choice is, dig and discard them anyway. These all grew from seed.
Here they are not evergreen- they frost kill.
I think I will pull and burn them today. thanks @crawgarden

Sally, do you have the swamp milkweed? It has a beautiful flower.

I ordered my swamp milkweed on ebay. It doesn't seem to be an easy one to find.

I've grown swamp MW twice, it lives for 2-3 years then conks out.
I did pull the tropical MW stumps, nothing looked alive anyway.

I hope mine seeds before then. Well, blooms even.

Hamwild, I don't know why it died, exactly. First patch got milkweed beetles, the big fat round ones.

When I used to have tropical milkweed it dies off in winter and then comes back in Spring.

I was fighting aphids all summer last year.

I gave up on milkweeds due to aphids...it is such an aphids magnet.

Some years aphids are awful then the next year no problem Circle of life

I used pelargoniums as side by side plant for my tropical milkweed one time..aphids seem not to like the scent or oil from geraniums so it helps alleviate the transfer of aphids to my other plants. But eventually I got more annoyed when the aphids still finds a way to attack my tropical milkweed...so I gave up oh well..can't win them all!

@sallyg I should have some Tropical Milkweed plants/cuttings/seeds to share either at swap (?) or a social distancing appropriate visit!
For comparison, my Trop plants grown in hanging baskets (so they are easier to move around and bring in...)and overwintered on my unheated porch are just waking up....Wouldn't expect any outside in ground to be stirring yet at all, even though swamp and common are peeking out in places.