Flowers for Pollinators: Milkweed and the Monarch Butterfly

Adding milkweed to your garden can transform the space with its striking appearance, compelling fragrance, and ability to attract many types of butterflies. While milkweed plants have an eye-catching overall structure, their flowers are quite delicate. Each bloom grows on a short stalk, forming clusters that hang together like nodding bells, and the plants exude a unique, milky sap.

Why Milkweed Plants Are Important to the Ecosystem

Milkweed sustains many types of pollinators, including bees and butterflies. In addition, their leaves serve as an important source of food for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Growing these nectar-rich blossoms can be a great way to help prevent the further decline of the monarch butterfly population.

Which Milkweed Should You Choose for Your Garden?

Milkweeds belong to the genus Asclepias, but within this genus are a variety of milkweed species that you might want to grow. One of the most popular varieties is the common milkweed, which has white, bell-like flowers. The plant's height is often between 3 and 5 feet, and it thrives in sunny areas with moist soil.

If you prefer rose-pink flowers, you can choose swamp milkweed, which grows in wet areas. This plant can be a great addition to your rain garden, especially if you want to have a milkweed variety that grows beyond 3 feet. >Ice ballet, soulmate, and Cinderella are the three popular swamp milkweed varieties that you can choose from.

In drier areas, you can grow whorled milkweed, which is great if you want something shorter with lovely white flowers that open in mid-summer. It hardly grows beyond 30 inches, but it tolerates partial shade.

Known for its upright-facing orange flowers, butterfly weed would be the perfect plant for any garden owner looking to attract many types of adult butterflies. This short plant also thrives in dry locations.

If you live in a warmer area, you could also consider growing tropical milkweed, which has vibrant red and yellow flowers. This milkweed blooms from June to October, and you can overwinter it indoors on sunny windowsills.

Growing Milkweed in Your Garden

Although the name "milkweed" has "weed" in it, making it sound like this plant is poised to take over any garden, most milkweed species behave properly in garden settings. To prevent self-seeding, however, you can remove large seedpods from the flowers before they release their seeds in the fall. Milkweed plants are great for creating borders around garden sections or walkways. Another great growing option is to make a monarch way station, a specialized garden designed to suit the needs of the monarch butterfly's life cycle.

Growing Milkweed From Seed

While growing milkweeds from seed is easy, it can take multiple years before the plants flower. The best way to grow milkweed seeds is to scatter them on open ground in the fall, so they can overwinter in the cold, damp weather. If that's not possible, you can mimic these conditions by wrapping up your seeds in a wet paper towel and then freezing them for a couple of weeks, which will help to soften the seed coat so that they can sprout. If you don't have a lot of experience gardening, you can also buy milkweed plants, which will give you a head start on your garden. Growing your milkweed in containers can also make it easier for you to closely observe the monarch butterfly life cycle.

• Important Facts About Milkweed
• When and Where to Plant Milkweed
• How to Plant and Grow Milkweed
• Cold-Stratifying Milkweed Seeds
• Milkweed: For More Than Just Monarch Butterflies

More About the Monarch Butterfly

• Monarch Butterfly: National Geographic shares important facts about the monarch butterfly, including its food sources.
• Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly: This insect's life cycle is divided into four stages, and this page explains each one of them.
• How to Build a Monarch Way Station: Read this guide to learn about the steps to take to build a monarch way station in your yard.
• The Great Monarch Migration: This page contains information about the yearly migration of monarch butterflies and why it's under threat.
• The Secrets of the Monarch: Learn more about the genetics of the monarch butterfly from this article.
• Do's and Don'ts of Raising Monarch Caterpillars: If you want to raise these beautiful insects, read the tips on this page to find out what to do and avoid to be successful.
• Protecting Monarch Caterpillars From Predators: Use this advice to keep your monarch caterpillars safe from birds and other predators.
• Climate Change Affects Monarchs: Learn how climate change impacts the behavior of monarch butterflies.

Supporting Healthy Wildlife Habitats

• Building Biodiverse and Climate-Resilient Gardens
• How to Create a Good Pollinator Garden
• How to Create a Wildlife Habitat in Your Backyard
• How to Choose the Right Garden Location
• Creating a Wildlife-Friendly Garden
• Planting a Natural Pollinator Garden
• Improving Habitats for Wildlife in Your Backyard
• How to Create a Wildlife Habitat in Your Yard
• Different Places You Can Create Habitats
• How to Manage Your Property to Help Wildlife