Milkweed, One Part of a Pollinator Friendly Garden

You’ve probably heard a lot over the last couple years about the Monarch butterflies and their need for support from gardeners like you and me. Hopefully you’ve heard about what these beautiful creatures need to survive and thrive. The main component to their survival is having adequate food sources for all stages of development. That doesn’t just mean the larval caterpillar stage but also as a full grow migrating butterfly.

Asclepias

Monarch butterfly larvae need a plant from the Asclepias genus, also known as milkweed, as a food source. Adult Monarch butterflies will lay eggs on all kinds of milkweed (Asclepias) but tend to lay a higher number of eggs on swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) and common milkweed (A. syriaca). The eggs hatch and the caterpillars grow through stages called instars until they reach the pupa stage and soon will convert to being a butterfly. Milkweed serves as a very important plant in their growth cycle. (Milkweeds Monarchs Prefer – USDA)

Try Planting these types of Milkweed:

• Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed
• Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
• Asclepias purpurascens (purple milkweed)
• Asclepias variegata (white milkweed)
• Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed)

Seeds On the Wind

In the fall milkweed plants produce seed pods that split open and release seeds attached to filaments, called coma, that float on the wind like little parachutes. The wind carries the milkweed seeds over to a spot where it will eventually grow into a new plant. This is a stage where we as gardeners can do a lot of good for the butterflies. When the pods go to seed and turn brown we can gather up the seeds for sowing. We can incorporate these important Monarch host plants in our gardens and create butterfly friendly habitats for them to enjoy.

Collecting Seeds

Collecting milkweed seeds is very simple. Be sure to wear gloves as the sap can be irritating to your skin. When the seed pods are formed you can collect the seed pods and wait for them to brown and eventually release the seeds. Otherwise you can wait until the pods begin opening and collect the seeds gradually release.

Milkweed seeds do need cold stratification which you can do naturally by planting them outdoors in the fall. You can also put the seeds in your refrigerator for 30 to 45 days and plant outdoors in the spring.

Keys to a Pollinator Friendly Garden

To create butterfly friendly habitats gardeners have to incorporate both host plants and pollinator plants. Milkweed serves as both a host and a pollinator since it produces globe shaped flowers that attract pollinators. The adult butterflies will be happy with a number of flowers around so you don’t need to just plant milkweed.

In your pollinator garden you should plant many different pollinator plants like echinacea, rudbeckia, and gaillardia but there are hundreds of other potential plants. As a gardener you MUST be tolerant of some plant damage by insects. Don’t use chemical sprays for control of insects as you will likely damage the one’s you want as well. By definition host plants will get eaten! The fact that something is eating your garden plants actually means you are at least partially successful.

When thinking about a pollinator garden you need to keep one word in your mind, diversity. Having an array of native plants the pollinators can enjoy is critical. Try not to think in a monoculture (one species) mindset but rather plants several types of plants to help out the pollinators.

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