Ventura County Bans Tropical Milkweed

The County of Ventura has recently banned Tropical Milkweed, it can no longer be purchased at nurseries in the county. Tropical milkweed is a non-native milkweed that is a host plant to a parasite of monarch butterflies, that interferes with their life cycle. Read the ban for more details and information.

Milkweed plants serve as the only host plant for the Monarch Butterfly life cycle, and is also beneficial as a nectar source for bees and birds when in bloom. Native species are preferred so as not to disrupt the migratory phenomenon of the Monarch, and also does not harbor the OE parasite that negatively affects the Monarch’s health.