Right. But someone with that author's stature should indicate "tender perennial treated as an annual" rather than categorically saying "Annual". He is not ignorant, but many who are will remain so WRT that plant.

Only thing I truly treat as an Annual are Marigolds.

Yes, Monarch's Promise was from a sport. We did nothing to the plant to create it. We simply propagated it for a year to make sure it was a true form, not changing after several 'generations'. We then sent it to Hort Couture to trial. They had it two years and confirmed that it was true in growth and a viable plant.

If we didn't patent it, we couldn't share it because we knew that someone else would patent it and, at that point, we wouldn't be able to grow it. To date, we have well over $5,000 in patenting the plant. We had no idea how complicated it would be.

We have tried it with Monarch and Queen caterpillars in our lab for three years. It's the same as any other tropical milkweed. We've raised many generations of Monarchs on it.

In our garden, we've had it planted for three years. Monarch and Queen butterflies lay eggs on it, eat it, and pupate/emerge with no problem.

These are photos that someone posted on facebook when they bought some Monarch's Promise. I have permission to share the photos.

I'll be more than glad to answer any questions about this variegated milkweed.

to ATP. @EdithEllen

Thanks for all that info. I DO wish the best of luck with this venture and congratulate you for finding this.

So does it in fact come true from seed or is everything grown from cuttings?

TIA

No, it doesn't come true from seed. All plants grown from seed are the normal solid green leafed plants. It isn't genetic like plants that are bred to produce unusual leaves or blooms. It was a simple sport - a normal milkweed in the thousands we had in the greenhouse - with one branch that was variegated like this.

Charlotte, who was cutting milkweed to feed to caterpillars, brought the plant to me because it was so beautiful. I had studied horticulture in college so I knew what it was and what to do to continue it, if it would continue. It is expected that we'll do little more than break even on the plant and that will take three years, they said. BUT with the patent, we can grow it ourselves without paying for permission to do so. We chose Hort Couture to promote and distribute it to independent retail nurseries. They've been fantastic to work with.

Welcome to ATP EdithEllen!

EdithEllen said:Yes, Monarch's Promise was from a sport. We did nothing to the plant to create it. We simply propagated it for a year to make sure it was a true form, not changing after several 'generations'. We then sent it to Hort Couture to trial. They had it two years and confirmed that it was true in growth and a viable plant.

If we didn't patent it, we couldn't share it because we knew that someone else would patent it and, at that point, we wouldn't be able to grow it. To date, we have well over $5,000 in patenting the plant. We had no idea how complicated it would be.

We have tried it with Monarch and Queen caterpillars in our lab for three years. It's the same as any other tropical milkweed. We've raised many generations of Monarchs on it.

In our garden, we've had it planted for three years. Monarch and Queen butterflies lay eggs on it, eat it, and pupate/emerge with no problem.

These are photos that someone posted on facebook when they bought some Monarch's Promise. I have permission to share the photos.

I'll be more than glad to answer any questions about this variegated milkweed.

When is it for sale 🙂

It is already in many independent garden centers. It isn't available at box stores, like WalMart, Lowe's, or Home Depot. Check with your local retail nursery to see if they have it. If they don't and you want it, you can ask them to order it.

Thank you for the welcome! I'm eager to look over your website. I didn't know you existed. I'm busy teaching an online Basic Disease Prevention in Lepidoptera course and as soon as I finish grading papers, I'll be here often.

@EdithEllen
Well then you already found the butterflies, birds & bees forum I see. We refer to it as the BBB forum. We hope to see you in the butterflies thread.

from the friendly moderator. This is totally the best forum. I mean, you can check out the other forums, but you'll just end up coming back here for more.

I will be ordering this soon 😎

keithp2012 said:I think they would really liven gardens up!

I'm currently growing a little over 1000 plants for monarch butterflies at them moment, and have never heard of a verigated type, although it WOULD be neat to have, just keep in mind where it is located, a lot,of the "pretttier" types attract people to purchase them whe they are not the local species, leading to confused insects because they rely on the cold die off to signify that it's time to migrate..if they don't die off. Many life forms get stranded

The past couple years even local native MW in Texas did not die back for many folks I know. In Southern Florida many Monarchs are year round residents. There is also a growing body of evidence that "Tropical" milkweed is in fact native to Texas and much of the Southern portion of the US. Many plants do not realize there are borders.

Anyone worried about Monarchs not migrating can cut ALL Milkweed to the the ground in late Fall. Pity the poor Monarchs who for whatever reason choose not to migrate.

Mines on its way!

It's pretty

Wow, that's a beauty Keith!

EdithEllen said:No, it doesn't come true from seed. All plants grown from seed are the normal solid green leafed plants. It isn't genetic like plants that are bred to produce unusual leaves or blooms. It was a simple sport - a normal milkweed in the thousands we had in the greenhouse - with one branch that was variegated like this.

Charlotte, who was cutting milkweed to feed to caterpillars, brought the plant to me because it was so beautiful. I had studied horticulture in college so I knew what it was and what to do to continue it, if it would continue. It is expected that we'll do little more than break even on the plant and that will take three years, they said. BUT with the patent, we can grow it ourselves without paying for permission to do so. We chose Hort Couture to promote and distribute it to independent retail nurseries. They've been fantastic to work with.

@EdithEllen I cannot find this plant for sale, do you know online where it's available? Also, all seeds sprouting from it are albino and die, where do you get green seedlings, I planted hundreds and not one green!