"Dear Mike's Garden Center,
Please stop selling Asclepias curassavica (tropical milkweed, bloodflower, scarlet milkweed, sunset flower, silkweed). They hurt us. Please carry Asclepias incarnata, A. tuberosa, A. syriaca, A. speciosa, and A. asperula instead.
It's actually illegal to ship curassavica to Texas.
Sincerely, the Monarchs."
The Mike's Garden Center manager was brusque and pounded on themes that were not relevant to my request that they consider not selling the milkweed that hurts Monarchs and is deemed by the Texas government to be a noxious weed which cannot be shipped here. We had brought in two Asclepias we'd purchased only to discover they were A. curassavica. Earlier I had at first mistakenly called Weston Gardens in Bloom (8101 Anglin Dr, Fort Worth) where I had purchased an A. tuberosa (and wanted to buy their A. incarnata) to ask if they accepted returns. They graciously said yes if we brought the receipt. I figured Mike's Garden Center might be just as gracious and if not I'd just have to destroy the Monarch-killing plants. I went. I brought my neck fan because it is always a miserable apocalyptic-temperature at Mike's except in January. I saw the "NO RETURNS NO EXCHANGE" sign and said "OK. But I'm really here to talk to the manager." The cashier said they might make an exception under the circumstances and she said she'd get the manager. He showed up loaded for bear. Calmly, I showed him the facts from the federal government's website, and the statistics from the Smithsonian, and "Molecular Ecology." I asked if he'd consider not selling it anymore as politely as if my beloved genteel gramma were watching me. "Irregardless of what's on your little paper people buy it." "It's not my little paper -- it's a government website." "Irregardless, people buy it." "Because tropical milkweed doesn't die back and they are trying to help the Monarchs and they don't know about the harm curassavica does. You didn't even identify it as Tropical Milkweed -- only as Asclepias. This kills Monarchs, and you could sell the good ones instead." But he was loaded for bear and he shot his load. Kept barking at me that I wasn't getting a refund. "That's not why I'm here. I wanted to ask you to consider not selling plants that hurt Monarchs." Kept barking at me that I wasn't getting an exchange. Still calm, still smiling though it didn't reach my eyes: "That's not why I'm here. I wanted to ask you to consider not selling plants that hurt Monarchs." Lather, rinse, repeat repeatedly. I said to Husband "Let's go. No, don't pick them up carefully, we have to destroy them." I grasped one of the two $15 plants and snapped its stems in half, walked out to the parking lot and holding it by the mangled stems bashed it to bits. The root ball got even by bouncing back and slapping my face. I was covered in dirt. I smiled instantly and gleefully, and took a photo of my dirty self in front. Weston Gardens in Bloom (8101 Anglin Dr, Fort Worth) sells the good milkweeds (Asclepias incarnata and A. tuberosa), not the killer milkweed and graciously will give you an exchange if you bring the receipt. On Mother's Day they have tea, live chamber music, and gifts for Mom in their lovely wedding-ready show gardens. read more