Tag: Common milkweed

Phlowers/Plant – Milkweed

On By TimelessladyIn Phlowers, Plants3 Comments

Asclepias syriaca, common milkweed, is now firmly established in my butterfly garden. Started from a seed, the plant piddled around for a year or two before growing tall last summer. It has naturalized during the time in between then and now, and there are several large clumps of it throughout the bed.

Don’t hesitate to try some common milkweed in your garden if you want to help Monarch butterflies thrive. Milkweed is also a great flower/plant to grow for pollinators too. The bumblebees were enraptured by the bloom, and I was pleasantly surprised by the fragrance of the flowers.

The pollinators did a good job and a few of the flowers have become small pods.

You can see how conditions have been almost perfect this year for growing milkweed. That’s me, standing beside the milkweed about a week ago. Since the photo was taken, the milkweed has grown at least another six inches. My husband estimates it is near seven feet tall.

Grow milkweed in full sun if possible. My garden bed gets a bit of morning shade, but in the afternoon the area is sunny. If you grow from a seed as I did, be patient, it takes a year or two for the plant to become established.

My milkweed blossoms are part of Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Phlutters – Small Miracles Part II

On By TimelessladyIn Phlutters6 Comments

Part II of my small miracles day doesn’t have the beauty of the newly hatched Swallowtail butterfly, but it will help facilitate more miracles. I grow dill and other host plants for Swallowtail butterflies each year. This season I was determined to also grow plants for Monarchs.

I have managed to sprout some milkweed seeds by the winter-sowing method. Because I know the milkweed has a tap-root I chose to sow the seeds in peat pots and enclosed them in a recycled food container during the winter months. They have sprouted. I will get them in the ground as soon as possible so that the tap-root will not be disturbed and the plants will have a better chance at survival.

Asclepias syriaca: Common milkweed is the host plant for Monarch butterflies.

“Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed; their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.), and monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay their eggs. With shifting land management practices, we have lost much milkweed from the landscape.” ~ Monarch Joint Venture

I know the assessment of Monarch Joint Venture is true. I can name three parcels of land within a mile or two of my home where I once saw milkweed. All three have been built upon, weed whacked, or decimated by the relentless need to clear land for business purposes. I’m sure this same problem is rampant across the country.

Due to the loss of habitat for monarchs, this year I collected a bit of seed from a milkweed patch to grow in my gardens. I’ll be planting the sprouts soon so that the long root can develop unhindered. I also have several milkweed seeds in my freezer. I’ll plant a few in my garden beds and also find some areas near me where they might have a chance to grow. If you want to participate in helping Monarch butterflies survive and thrive you can find some good tips here: Monarch Butterfly Garden.