This is a friendly reminder to trim back your milkweed throughout the fall and winter (any and all types of milkweed) in order to prevent the spread of OE (the deadly Ophryocystis elektroscirrha protozoan) to our delicate and threatened western monarch butterfly population.
If milkweed is not trimmed back, the OE protozoans from this season will survive on the old growth and infect the new butterflies this spring. We don't freeze here, so the milkweed does not die back on its own.
It is especially important to keep tropical milkweed cut back. I cut it back to about 6-12 inches and remove all leaves and debris under the the plant in my landscape work. This ensures that there will be no lingering OE on the leaf litter.