To the Agricultural Question

[Bugbear]

Speaking of cactus hedges, (and not knowing where you are located), I am really fond of the leafy cactus Pereskia spp. as a hedge with its lovely rose-like flowers -- but that is far taller than the Asclepias you mention. I am not sure how well Pereskia does in desert conditions, it's more of a tropical cactus that can withstand tropical wet and dry seasons.

So now I'm curious, where are you?

I'm out in the east boonies of the Phoenix, Az area.

I have a Pereskia, and I grow it in a container because it has to be protected from the one or two nights of frost we have out here.
It will probably become trained as a bonsai one day. It does seem to flower a lot, though they seem to last about a day.

The desert milk weeds can get about four feet tall, and form leafless clumps of ugly, milky stick twigs.
That's why I like them.

I do have a Hoodia gordonii which would make an interesting, low hedge plant, but mine hasn't flowered yet, and they don't root well from cuttings and layers.