So you need to know what kind of milkweed is best suited to your state. You can do this easily using our native plant finder . However, the three milkweed plants you’ll find suitable for most garden sizes include the following:
Guide to Milkweed Plants and Monarch Butterflies
It’s not a weed, and it doesn’t produce milk, but the humble milkweed is one of the most important plants you can have in your garden. Despite its misleading name, the milkweed is a tough native plant that grows just as well in North American wetlands as it does in fields and prairies.
The reason why milkweed is so important comes down to the dwindling number of monarch butterflies. While most butterfly species can feed on a variety of host plants, monarch caterpillars can only survive on a diet of milkweed. That’s why monarch butterflies are often referred to as milkweed butterflies!
As monarch butterflies continue to suffer from dwindling numbers , gardeners are doing what they can to restore their populations. Monarch butterflies have a special place in the North American psyche, so it’s no surprise to find that Monarch Munchable plants are more popular than ever. While milkweed is perfect for monarch butterflies, the fact is that wild milkweed is rapidly vanishing from fields and gardens due to threats including a loss of space and the widespread use of weedkillers.
If we are to help restore the rapidly declining population of monarch butterflies, planting native milkweed will be critical. Here’s everything you need to know about milkweed plants.
Milkweed plants — quick facts
The flowers on milkweed are ideal for easy pollination. Their small, star shapes make it easy for butterflies and other pollinators to access the pollen they need, and the flowers come in dramatic blooming colors like purple, pink, green, yellow, and orange. When the flowers are fertilized, they produce seed pods that can release hundreds of milkweed seeds.
You can expect milkweed plants to grow between 2-5 feet, although this will depend on the species of milkweed you have. Whichever you opt for (considering the best native plant for your state), you won’t just be attracting monarch caterpillars. Milkweed is also great to have in your garden if you want to attract native bees, a wide array of butterfly species, and even hummingbirds !
Milkweed plants — a must-have for monarchs
Monarch butterflies use milkweed as both a food source and a place to lay their eggs. Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of the milkweed leaves, and the hatching larvae feed on those leaves. However, despite eating the plant it’s born on, those young caterpillars don’t cause any permanent harm to the milkweed.
One of the most overlooked advantages of being so closely linked to the milkweed plant is that by eating the sap of milkweeds, butterflies and caterpillars become extremely unappetizing to a wide range of predators. Toxic chemicals within the milky sap are great for keeping threats at bay.
User-friendly guide to sketching a monarch butterfly
SYMBOLIC MONARCH MIGRATION
Although monarch butterflies born in the summer will live only a few weeks, the generation that emerges in late summer and early fall is different. These butterflies are born to migrate and may live up to eight or nine months. From the Hendersonville area, their epic journey to Mexico covers at least 2,000 miles. Like clockwork, the first migrating monarchs typically reach their overwintering habitats high in the mountains of central Mexico by the first of November.
The annual international Symbolic Monarch Migration education program mimics the monarchs’ journey by engaging more than 10,000 children from across the United States and Canada in creating paper butterflies to send to students in Mexico. As the real-life monarchs arrive in Mexico for the winter, the symbolic paper butterflies will also be delivered to schools surrounding the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Sometime in spring after the living monarchs’ departure from Mexico, groups of paper butterflies will also return north, carrying special messages from the students in Mexico. United by the monarch butterfly, children across North America learn authentic lessons of conservation and cooperation.
Henderson County youth are invited to participate in the 28th annual Symbolic Monarch Migration education program being coordinated by Bullington Gardens in partnership with local volunteers and sponsors. The following sponsors have provided funding for up to 101 local classrooms and groups (35 from within the City of Hendersonville plus 66 from anywhere within Henderson County) to participate at no charge:
- Bee City USA – Hendersonville: sponsor of 35 groups (within City limits).
- BeeHaven Gardens: sponsor of 10 groups.
- Bullington Gardens: sponsor of 18 groups
- Honeybee Bliss: sponsor of 8 groups
- Milkweed Meadows Farm: sponsor of 30 groups
- Land of the Sky Chapter of the North Carolina Native Plant Society: sponsor of 10 groups
Any group (up to 30 participants) of youth located within Henderson County may take part in the program including public or private school classrooms, home school groups, afterschool groups, childcare centers, girls/boys clubs, scout troops, 4-H clubs, YMCA groups, other youth organizations, religious groups, nonprofit organizations, families, etc. In addition, all participating groups will be eligible to receive a free native milkweed plant or plants (thanks to Timbo Wilkins and Costa Farms North Carolina) and 1-3 live monarch caterpillars and/or chrysalides (as naturally available) to “adopt” to raise and release. Additional details about these supplemental optional resources will be provided to teachers/leaders after registering their classrooms/groups.
Directions for Participation
Schools/Organizations
Review all program requirements in the leader packet. Instead of purchasing a “Passenger Ticket” for your group, please email us and provide your school/group name and location to receive a free registration code and instructions for how to register your classroom/group to participate in the Symbolic Monarch Migration program at no cost. The deadline to request a free registration code for your group is Friday, October 13, 2023. The deadline to mail your group’s symbolic/paper butterflies is Friday, October 20, 2023.
Individual Students
Students who are not part of registered classroom or group may also participate at no charge by creating a paper butterfly and delivering it to Bullington Gardens by Friday, October 20, 2023
